Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, January 2001, No. 97.

News RETURN TO TOP	Flatpicking legend Doc Watson and bluegrass promoter and manager Lance Leroy were inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Honor on October 19, 2000, at the International Bluegrass Music Awards hosted by Marty Stuart. Other honorees included Bryan Sutton for Guitarist of the Year and the Del McCoury for Entertainer of the Year. Rounder Records recently received formal recognition from the city of Boston for 30 years of musical and cultural contributions. This milestone was marked with performances around the Boston/Cambridge area by many of the label’s artists, including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Alison Krauss, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Chris Duarte. There’s much more celebration information available at www.rounder.com.
Events RETURN TO TOP	The sixth annual Acoustic Café concert at the Winter NAMM trade show (Anaheim Convention Center, January 19) will feature Matt Smith and Kalani, Sonia from Disappear Fear, and Isato Nakagawa and Chuei Yoshikawa. For tickets, visit the NAMM show booths of our sponsors: Collings Guitars, J. D’Addario and Co., C.F. Martin and Co., Kaman Music, Santa Cruz Guitar Co., and Mackie Designs. MerleFest, to be held April 26-29, 2001, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, will be broadcast on the Web this year at www.merlefest.org. Among those celebrating the music of the late Merle Watson and his flatpicking father, Doc, are Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs, Peter Rowan, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony and Larry Rice, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and Nickel Creek. Besides a roster of top-notch troubadours, MerleFest features the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and Songwriters’ Coffeehouse, in which selected registrants share the stage with singer-songwriters performing at the festival. For more information, phone (800) 343-7857.
In Memory	Famed guitar collector Scott Chinery passed away on October 24. The self-made millionaire had one of the world's largest collections of new and vintage guitars. Several years ago Chinery and Tom Bacon collaborated on a book entitled The Chinery Collection, a volume that profiled 250 exquisite guitars from the collection. Chinery also commissioned a number of custom archtops by two dozen of the world's finest living luthiers for his "Blue Guitar Collection," a project conceived as a tribute to the legendary James D'Aquisto. Read more about the Chinery collection online at www.chinery.com/index3.html. Trailblazing Brazillian guitarist Baden Powell passed away on September 26 in Rio de Janeiro. The influential stylist blended jazz, classical, and samba threads to create a vital new guitar music noted for its passion, virtuosity, and and invention. He was 63 at the time of death. Read a full obituary in the January 2001 issue of Acoustic Guitar.
Contests	The new Instrumentalist Competition at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (in Wales) will be held July 2–8, 2001. Applications to compete will be accepted until February 1, 2001. The competition is for classical instrumentalists between the ages of 19 and 26 and boasts a £15,000 first prize. There will also be competitions in other categories, including Instrumental Folk Solo and Group. For details, go to www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk or email music@international-eisteddfod.co.uk
New Releases RETURN TO TOP	Merle Travis’ daughter Pat Travis Eatherly has published A Scrapbook of My Daddy, Merle Travis, a large-format, 140-page paperback bonanza for fans of the thumbpicking legend. To purchase, send $24.95 plus $3 for shipping to Pat Travis Eatherly, 3424 Overton Park W., Fort Worth, TX 76109-2504. Budding songsmiths, as well as old pros with writer’s block, will want to clear a spot next to their rhyming dictionary for Rikky Rooksby’s comprehensive book How to Write Songs on Guitar (Miller Freeman, [800] 848-5594, www.books.mfi.com). The Doc Watson Guitar Instrumental Collection, 1964–1998 (Sugar Hill) and Keith Whitley’s Sad Songs and Waltzes are definitive new retrospective collections by two of bluegrass and country’s most-loved practitioners. Read our expert reviews of new acoustic-guitar oriented CDs take from the pages of Acoustic Guitar magazine. Visit the archives and read reviews of scores of great acoustic CDs.
Cyber Notes RETURN TO TOP	Mick Fleetwood, founding member and skin basher of Fleetwood Mac, has teamed with auction pioneer Ted Owen to create www.fleetwoodowen.com, a site peddling high-end memorabilia to the highest bidder. An initial offering of "specialist" guitars is slated for December. Explore Acoustic Guitar’s new online Custom Guitar Gallery at www.acousticguitar.com. More than 200 of the world’s best luthiers are profiled with images, bios, contact information, prices, and more. Fans of old-time music should check out the Old-Time Music Homepage at www.oldtimemusic.playhear.com. This extensive resource offers valuable historical information, biographical sketches of key players, discographies, a calendar of upcoming events, and news from the old-time music community. Rockabilly enthusiasts can click around the clock at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Go to www.rockabillyhall.com to catch the latest news and read artist bios, reviews, and articles about this revitalized genre. Need some help with an Acoustic Guitar lesson? Check out the new Lessons section in the Guitar Talk forums at www.acousticguitar.com. Ask questions, post tips, and get advice from the experts at A.G. about our book, magazine, and online lessons.

 

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