Guitar festival kicks off
Starting Sunday, Bigfork will play host to some of the biggest names in guitar for a week-long workshop put on by the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation.
The workshop will run through Sunday, Sept. 5, at Flathead Lake Lodge, but the event will also include concerts and some public workshops throughout the Valley. Attending guitarists include seven consecutive Grammy-winner Pat Metheny, solo guitarist Alex De Grassi, and Scott Tennant, founder of the Grammy-winning L.A. Guitar Quartet. The foundation, which formed in 2009, is a non-profit aimed at establishing Bigfork and the Flathead as a center for guitar.
"We've been getting feedback from all over the country that nothing exists like this anywhere," said David Feffer, chairman of the foundation.
People from as far as Germany are coming to the event. A number of locals will also be in attendance. The nearly 50 people participating in the workshop range from an 11-year-old kid to professional musicians.
"It's going great," Feffer said. "It's such a huge undertaking."
In conjunction with North Valley Music School, the foundation has awarded 10 scholarships to area guitar students, teachers and performers, including to two familiar faces in Bigfork — Mikey Boshka and Steve Prunty.
Those participating in the workshop will get a special treat, Feffer said, as De Grassi will be reunited with Montana pianist Philip Aaberg and the two will play together.
De Grassi will be featured in the first public concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, at the O'Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. The next will feature Tennant at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, at Flathead Lake Lodge.
What is being called the "crown jewel" of the week will be a Guitar Extravaganza on Saturday, Sept. 4, at the Lodge featuring workshop instructors in solo, duet and group performances. The 8 p.m. concert will include Matt Smith, Jody Fisher, Mark Dziuba, Doug Smith and Andrew Leonard. Dave Overthrow on bass and Pete Sweeney on drums will also participate in the concert.
"The public concert is a really unique opportunity to hear many of the best guitarists in the world perform," Feffer said.
He hopes that community members will come out for the concerts as a show of support for the event, in hopes that it can be held in Bigfork annually.
"We expect this to get bigger and bigger over time," he said. "Having the community show up in force will do nothing but help in bringing it back."
The festival will also include a number of free workshops throughout the Valley on Sept. 2. These hour-and-a-half sessions will include information, demonstrations and performances.
The free workshop in Bigfork will take place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Bigfork Middle School music room with blues and jazz guitarist Dziuba.
Other workshops include rock and blues guitarist Matt Smith at 4 p.m. at Glacier Discovery Square in Columbia Falls, acoustic player Doug Smith at 4 p.m. at North Valley Music School in Whitefish, and Fisher and Leonard at 2 p.m. at Flathead High School.
Also while in Whitefish, Doug Smith will be joined by others from the workshop to play for patients and staff at North Valley Hospital. YouTube videos of all of these musicians are linked on the foundation's website.
Right now, the money to put on the event is coming out of organizers' pockets and through fundraising. In the future, proceeds will go to support other area non-profits including The Glacier Park Fund, Montana Public Radio and Public Broadcasting, The Montana Land Reliance, North Valley Music School and Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center.
Aside from its workshop and festival, which will be its main event of the year, the foundation also plans to put on concerts and other smaller workshop events throughout the year.
Tickets for the concerts are $28 for adults or $15 for children under 12. Single tickets and packages of tickets can be purchased online at www.cocguitarfoundation.org or in Bigfork at Electric Avenue Gifts and the Coffee Cellar as well as at Montana Coffee Traders locations in Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.