Press > 2006
Canada gets its first real six-string
June 30, 2006
By Kenneth Jackson
Guitar made from Canadiana to be played tomorrow
Blues musician Colin James holds the Six String Nation guitar yesterday during a practice session on the Parliament Hill main stage set up for Canada Day. The guitar was fashioned from pieces of Canadiana and will be passed around by musicians during tomorrow’s performances.
Besides being Canadian hockey icons, what else do Wayne Gretzky, Paul Henderson and Rocket Richard all have in common?
Answer: Pieces of all three’s hockey history can all be found in a specially made guitar called the Six String Nation, which will be passed around and played by the musicians performing during Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa tomorrow.
The guitar features over 60 pieces of various Canadian artifacts, including portions of Gretzky and Henderson’s hockey sticks and gold from one of Richard’s many Stanley Cup championship rings.
Other Canadiana bound up in the guitar include wood from the Golden Spruce, a 300-year-old spruce tree near Port Clements, B.C., as well as a portion of the Wall of The Wildcat Café — Yellowknife’s oldest building — and more.
Jowi Taylor, with the help of master luthier George Rizsanyi, created the Six String Nation. Taylor first came up with the idea 11 years ago and contacted Rizsanyi who thought the idea worth developing.
It took all that time to collect the 60-plus pieces of Canadian artifacts that went into the guitar’s crafting, and only two months to make.
“I was told many times it couldn’t be done but here we are and it’s beautiful,” said Taylor. “The Six String Nation guitar is a way to put all kinds of (Canadian) stories at the fingertips of musicians and in the ears of listeners.”
Taylor will introduce the guitar during Canada Day’s main performance tomorrow evening, when he passes it to artist Stephen Fearing, who will play The Longest Road. The guitar will then be passed from musician-to-musician, including Colin James.
“I think it’s absolutely beautiful. There is so much history in this guitar,” James said yesterday, during sound checks at the main stage on Parliament Hill. “I’m glad he did this. It’s unbelievable.”
KENNETH JACKSON/Metro Ottawa
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