Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 10 Mar 2000 9:53 am |
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LOUD & CLEAR EXHIBITION ON THE ROAD AGAIN
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: JOHN VANCO, ERIE ART MUSEUM, 814-459-5477
Loud & Clear
LOUD & CLEAR: Resonator Guitars and The Dopyera Brothers' Legacy To American Music, organized by the Erie Art Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania, will be exhibited at museums in Oswego, NY, Sacramento, CA, and Lancaster, PA during the year 2000.
In 1926, John Dopyera invented the resonator, or resophonic, guitar. A Slovak immigrant who learned the traditional skills of violin-making from his father as a child, Dopyera was an extremely creative inventor. He had already received several patents for new and improved banjos, which he had been manufacturing with his brother Rudy since the early 1920s. His National metal-body guitar, and the subsequent wood-body Dobro, had a decisive impact on the sound of popular music, especially Hawaiian, country, bluegrass, and blues.
This exhibition surveys the artistry and craftsmanship of the family of resophonic instruments created by the Dopyeras and their successors, including round-neck guitars, lap guitars, lap steel guitars, mandolins, banjos, balalaikas, ukuleles and hybrids. Included is John Dopyera's prototype of the resonator violin, which was never put into production. Drawn from private collections, including the Dopyera family collection, the historic portion of the exhibition explores the development and use of these uniquely American instruments. Also included are examples of the work of contemporary luthiers (guitar-makers) who have extended the tradition of resophonic instruments, including McGregor Gaines and Don Young, John Morton, Larry Pogreba, Ray Watkins and Bobby Wolfe.
Historic photographs of pioneer resophonic artists help tell the story of these remarkable instruments, which (along with the steel drum) are the only significant new acoustic instruments to be introduced in the 20th century. In addition, contemporary resonator players are pictured in a series of original photographs by British guitarist/photographer Dave Peabody. Viewer-activated digital sound devices provide viewers with samples of resophonic music by historic and contemporary players.
http://www.erieartmuseum.org/exhibits/Dobro/dobro.html
The Erie Art Museum exhibition Loud & Clear: Resonator Guitars and the Dopyera Brothers' Legacy to American Music will be seen at these venues during the year 2000:
March 2 - April 3, 2000 Tyler Art Gallery, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, New York (315) 341-2113
April 21 - June 11, 2000 Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street, Sacramento, California (916) 264-5423
September 22 - November 5, 2000 Lancaster Museum of Art, 135 North Lime Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (717) 394-3497
Please contact the institutions directly for exhibition hours, special events, admission fees, driving directions, etc.
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