Guitar Masters to Perform in Frankfort Friday: Featuring Eddie and Alonzo Pennington, John Mar

July 28, 2009 - PRLog -- Frankfort, KY —A concert featuring master guitarists Eddie and Alonzo Pennington, John Martin, and Jim Hurst  will take place at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History  in Frankfort on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.  

This concert, hosted by Dr. Erika Brady, is the first in a series of concerts by master musicians who play stringed instruments, including the guitar, banjo and fiddle.  The series is presented as part of “Made to be Played: Traditional Art of Kentucky Luthiers,” an exhibition dedicated to showcasing the art of making and repairing stringed instruments. The exhibition is sponsored by the Kentucky Folklife Program, a partnership of the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Arts Council.

From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., guests will have the opportunity to meet Cathy Currier, a luthier from Richmond, who will be on-hand to discuss and answer questions concerning guitar care and repair.

The concert, which begins at 7:00 p.m., will feature Kentucky master guitarists who are accomplished in a variety of styles.  The events are free with the price of admission.

Eddie Pennington, who has been praised as one of America’s finest country-ragtime guitarists, will demonstrate the thumbpicking style of play, while Alonzo, Eddie’s son, will play a funky hybrid style, complete with original songs, blues, country, thumbpicking, classic rock, funk, and jazz, among others. Jim Hurst combines country and bluegrass and was influenced early in his career by flatpickers like Doc Watson and Clarence White. John Martin, director of guitar and music technology studies at Western Kentucky University (WKU), will sooth the audience with jazz-style instrumentation.

Dr. Erika Brady, a faculty member at WKU and co-host of “Barren River Breakdown,” a radio show on  WKU’s public radio, will be the emcee at the concert.

“Made to be Played” features the rich and fascinating history of Kentucky luthiers—people who make or repair stringed instruments—and tells the stories of Kentucky master luthiers and their handcrafted guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers and other original stringed instruments. The exhibition will remain on display until closing festivities on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Admission, which includes all exhibitions on the Kentucky Historical Society history campus, is $4 for adults, $2 for youth (6-18), and complimentary for children five and under. KHS members receive complimentary admission.  

“Made to be Played” was developed through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and is on display thanks to the generosity of the Dupree family, in memory of Clara Galtney Dupree. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Homer Ledford, a Kentucky luthier and musician who was renowned for the quality, beauty, and uniqueness of his works.  

To find out more about programming and artifacts related to “Made to be Played,” visit www.history.ky.gov/luthiers.

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An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Historical Society, since 1836, has provided connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future.  KHS operates the Old State Capitol, the Kentucky Military History Museum, and its headquarters, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History.   Since 1999, the thirty-million-dollar Center has welcomed more than one million visitors.   For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit the Web site at www.history.ky.gov.

For more information contact:
Laura Coleman
Public Relations and Marketing Specialist
Kentucky Historical Society
100 West Broadway
Frankfort, KY 40601
502.564.1792 x.4419
laura.coleman@ky.gov

W: http://kylincoln.org or www.history.ky.gov

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