Photo: Martin honors the Weavers.
Photograph courtesy of Sing Out! magazine.

Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, May 2000, No. 89.

NEWS | EVENTS | IN MEMORY | CYBER NOTES | SEND NEWS

News RETURN TO TOP	Sing Out! magazine started spreading the news about folk music 50 years ago this May, and C.F. Martin and Co. commemorates the milestone with its limited-edition 00-17SO guitar. Each of the 50 solid mahogany axes will sport fingerboard inlays inspired by "The Hammer Song" and bear a label signed by C. F. Martin IV and the surviving members of the quintessential Sing Out! ensemble—the Weavers. June Carter Cash and The Dixie Chicks were among the big winners at the 2000 Grammy Awards ceremony on February 23. Cash took the trophy for Best Traditional Album, and Chicks’ Fly won Best Country Album. The tenth annual Gibson Guitar Awards honored guitarists Lyle Lovett and Sheryl Crow as the Best Acoustic Guitarists, February 22 in Los Angeles. Lily Afshar and Christopher Parkening got the nod for classical guitar. The winners were chosen by a cadre of music industry professionals. Proceeds benefited the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation for autistic children.
Events RETURN TO TOP	Black Mountain, North Carolina, is home to the Lake Eden Arts Festival on Memorial Day weekend. Concerts, dances, and workshops will highlight roots music of all sorts, including African, bluegrass, Celtic, and zydeco. See a roster of artists at www.theleaf.com or call (828) 686-8742 for a brochure. Taj Mahal, David Lindley, Dan Crary, and hundreds of other acoustic heroes have competed at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest over the years. Find out about this year’s contests, concerts, and workshops (May 21 in Agoura Hills, California) by calling (818) 382-4819 or visiting www.topangabanjofiddle.org. Get the blues in the far north at the Hornby Island Blues Society Workshop, near Vancouver Island, Canada. Featured artists include Keith Bennett, Ron Casat, Sue Foley, and Ken Whiteley. For details, visit www.hornby-blues.bc.ca or call (250) 335-2581.
In Memory RETURN TO TOP	More than 80 fiddlers played tribute to John Morris Rankin as nearly 1,000 mourners gathered to mark his passing. Rankin, fiddler with the popular Cape Breton Celtic group the Rankins, died in a car accident on January 16. Blues wildman Screamin’ Jay Hawkins died at the age of 70 in Paris on February 12. Known for his pyrotechnic stage antics and voodoo-tinged lyrics, Hawkins’ biggest hit was the eerie "I Put a Spell on You." Calypso king Lord Kitchener (Kitch) died February 11 in Trinidad. He was 77. His four decades of Caribbean hits included "Green Fig Man," "Pan in Harmony," and "Give Me ’da Ting."
Cyber Notes RETURN TO TOP	Acoustic Guitar’s Web site is now hosting online bulletin boards for discussions about guitars, gear, artists, recordings, and more. Put in your two cents at the Guitar Talk site at www.acousticguitar.com.

 

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