unique, charitable hobby of sorts
among her repertoire: painting Baby
Taylor guitars and seeking out the
legends of Nashville to have them
sign the back to be raffled off at a
fundraiser concert, usually one in
which she was performing. In planning
to attend PeaceJam that September,
Chapman wanted to take her
fundraising to a new level.
“I decided to see if I could have
some really serious artists design the
guitars,” she says. “My plan was to
take them with me to the event, and
in my dreams I thought, I’ll get the
Nobels to sign them and gift them to
PeaceJam. Never did I really expect to
get all the Nobels to sign!”
Five artists committed to the
project, and with the Babys in hand,
Chapman and PeaceJam volunteers
were able to make her dream a
reality. Although it took a nudge from
Archbishop Desmond Tutu to get
the Dalai Lama’s signature, ultimately
Chapman collected the signatures of
10 Nobel winners, including Máiread
Corrigan-Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo
Perez Esquival, José Ramos-Horta,
Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Oscar Arias
Sanchez, Betty Williams and Jody
Williams, on each guitar.
The five guitars were auctioned
off in mid-December on eBay to raise
money for the PeaceJam Foundation.
At press time, the opening bid on each
was at $2,999.99, and Chapman
hopes they will inspire their lucky
owners.
“Music and peace have always
gone hand in hand,” she shares.
“Young people have so much energy,
such great ideas, and they hold the
key to peace in the future. We owe
it to them to inspire them to use their
gifts, musical or otherwise, to create
a bridge between cultures and unfold
into their lives with a sense of hope for
the future.”
bethnielsenchapman.com
peacejam.org
Building Wells
Across the Country
L.A.-based singer-songwriter
Tyrone Wells (810, GSRS) was
profiled in a cover story on Pollstar
magazine in November about the
grassroots approach he’s taken to
building his career. The article relates
Wells’ experience of signing up with
a big-time booking agency, only to
languish due to the bigger fish on its
roster. Wells eventually moved on,
booking shows himself, many on the
band like ours to get this opportunity,”
Lippencott explains. “We wanted to
create a video that was a throwback
to the great stories of thievery, like
an Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian
Job. We contacted a local museum,
and they graciously let us use their
space. On the wall there were super
expensive paintings, and the thought
of putting the guitar in a glass case
just seemed like such a cool idea.”
myspace.com/thenresult
youtube.com/thenresult
Taylorspotting
To lead off his interview in the
January issue of Acoustic Guitar
magazine, former Creedence
Clearwater Revival frontman John
Fogerty was featured in a full-spread
photo with his ES-equipped 510,
his main stage acoustic. Fogerty
talks about his 15-year rededication
to improving his playing technique,
including a hybrid flatpick/fingerstyle
approach inspired by Nashville
players, and the making of his recent
solo record, The Blue Ridge Rangers
Rides Again… Champion surfer Rob
Machado and his longtime friend,
surf filmmaker Taylor Steele, recently
collaborated to create The Drifter,
a film that follows Machado as he
ventures through Indonesia in search
of waves and self-awareness. The
film, which was released in November,
blends elements of a solitary, soul-
searching adventure with Machado’s
experiences with local villagers he
meets along the way. Machado had
picked up a Baby Taylor for the trip,
and it gets some camera time in the
film… In November, singer-songwriter
Katy Perry released a DVD of her
MTV Unplugged performance from
July of 2009. Perry played her 814ce
on several songs during the show…
If you like old school R&B and soul,
don’t miss Raphael Saadiq’s
acoustic set from NPR’s Tiny Desk
Series, which you can find archived
on NPR’s website and YouTube.
com. Saadiq and guitar partner
Rob Bacon cover three tunes
from Saadiq’s Grammy-nominated
2008 album, The Way I See It, a
sweet throwback to the days of the
Temptations and late ’60s soul. The
mini-set features Saadiq on a 314ce
and Bacon on an 810ce as they
strip their tunes down to their pure,
unplugged essence. Saadiq’s voice —
and the guitars — sound great.
college circuit, where’s he’s become
enormously popular, and later signing
with a smaller agency that better
understood the types of venues and
crowd draws he could realistically
expect. Managing his touring logistics
and expenses smartly, Wells says, has
allowed him and his band to support
themselves on tour, even when playing
to modest crowds, as they continue to
cultivate their audience base across
the country. Wells has also gained
exposure through song placement on
TV shows like “One Tree Hill,” “The
Vampire Diaries,” “Rescue Me,” and
in promos for “Grey’s Anatomy.” He’s
currently on tour in support of his
second album, Remain.
Tyronewells.com
The N Result:
Gear and Studio Time
Earlier this year, Taylor Guitars and
Elixir Strings
®
partnered up to give
one lucky band or artist the ultimate
in guitars and strings. Musicians
who had registered with the band-
promoting website Sonicbids.com
were invited to TestDrive 2009, a “fan-
favorite” contest that would award five
select artists with Taylor SolidBody
guitars and Elixir strings and cables.
One overall winner would be awarded
recording time at a marquee studio.
Out of 2,000 entrants, 25 were
voted into the semifinals, and of those
25, five finalists were chosen by the
Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings artist
relations teams. The top five included
power rockers The Better World,
singer-songwriter Matt Duke, genre-
crossing band The N Result, modern
pop act Kenotia, and energetic
rockers Facing Forward. In the
end, it was the New Brunswick, New
Jersey-based band The N Result
that took the top prize. The band has
amassed a strong following both on
campus at Rutgers University (where
most of the band are students) and
along the East Coast.
“We are so excited to record,”
exclaimed Ross Lippencott, the
band’s lead vocalist and guitarist,
upon hearing the good news. As
part of the contest, each band had
to make a video showing how they
were using their gear. Lippencott and
his bandmates decided to make a
full-scale, heist-themed music video
featuring their song “Break it Down”
off their debut album, Lines.
“We wanted to portray how we
felt about having premium products
and what it means to an emerging
A Heroic Effort
Ever since we heard about the
lineup of guests on Doyle Dykes’
new DVD, Live Sessions: People...
Places...and Pickin’ — which includes
Phil Keaggy, Duane Eddy, Tommy
Emmanuel and Steve Wariner —
we’ve been champing at the bit to get
a taste of what Doyle and friends had
cooked up. Alas, our press deadline
kept us from a reviewing it this issue,
but by the time you’re reading this, it
should be available. Doyle says the
project initially was going to be a
follow-up to his Bridging the Gap CD,
featuring him playing live but without
an audience, in various settings. But
according to Doyle, the death of
legendary guitar innovator Les Paul
changed the concept.
“After I got word that our old
friend had died, I felt part of me was
gone,” Doyle explains. “Then one day
I realized that there are so many great
musicians who I admire, and the fact
is there are still heroes out there. So,
I called some of my own personal
‘heroic’ friends and family. Suddenly
this project escalated into a whole
different realm. It was like heaven and
earth kissed and I got caught up in the
middle of the ‘smack’!”
Among the recording locations
were the studios of Ricky Skaggs and
Steve Wariner, along with Doyle’s
own living room. Other guests
included Dave Pomeroy, Jimmy
Capps and John Gardner, plus
Doyle’s son Caleb, daughter Haley
and brother Aubrey. In addition to
the performances, there’s plenty of
bonus footage, including an interview
between Doyle and Bob Taylor at the
Taylor factory, along with interviews
from his Bridging the Gap sessions.
Look for a full review next issue. You
can order the DVD at doyledykes.com.
Western Wins
Congratulations to the 2009
Western Music Association Male
Performer of the Year Bill Barwick
and Female Performer of the Year
Juni Fisher. Barwick, a longtime 410
player, is a multiple award-winning
cowboy performer and a regular at
events like the Walnut Valley Festival
in Winfield, Kansas and the Colorado
Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Barwick
was presented with a brand new
DN8 at the WMA awards event in
November, and dropped us a thank-
you note shortly afterward, following
his regular gig at the Buckhorn
Exchange in Denver, to say the guitar
came out of its case “player ready”
and that it works perfectly.
Fisher, a multiple WMA winner in
recent years, took home a GS5 and
also e-mailed us a gracious thank-you,
following up a couple of weeks later
after some quality time with her new
guitar. A longtime Larrivee player,
Fisher said that Taylors had never
resonated through her the right way.
But when she sat down with the GS5,
her reaction was different.
“Oh, my goodness, the
responsiveness, the clarity of tone, the
sustain: all there,” she said via e-mail. “I
especially like the rich bass tones. This
beauty will go into the studio with me
for my next album (along with a couple
of Larrivees) to go on some tracks… I
am most delighted with this GS5.”
Other Taylor-playing WMA award
winners this year included Dave
Stamey (Entertainer of the Year);
the Sons of the San Joaquin
(Traditional Duo/Group); and Jim
“Curly” Musgrave (Instrumentalist
of the Year). On a sad note, we
learned at our press deadline that
Musgrave had succumbed to a brain
tumor on December 13. Our deepest
condolences go out to his family.
A Nobel Cause
In September of 2006, on the
10th anniversary of the founding
of the non-profit organization
PeaceJam, 10 Nobel Peace Prize
Laureates and thousands of kids from
around the world came together in
Denver, Colorado to celebrate the
organization’s commitment to foster
a new generation of young leaders
committed to positive change in
themselves, their communities and
the world. Among the attendees was
Taylor fan and singer/songwriter Beth
Nielsen Chapman, who has penned
numerous hits for a wide selection
of artists, including Faith Hill and her
Grammy-nominated song, “This Kiss.”
While known for her poignant lyrical
compositions, Chapman counts a
12
www.taylorguitars.com
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