Show me your guitar

Thursday, February 17 (updated 3:00 am)
By Carole Perkins

Throughout history, musicians have revered their guitars, at times giving them names or assigning them human characteristics. Keith Richards slept with his guitar, and George Harrison’s gently wept.

We asked Triad musicians to share their stories about their own pride and joy.

For these eight musicians, their guitars have become old friends or fond memories of loved ones. They’ve survived brawls and rainstorms and have provided inspiration and companionship.

Every musician has his own story to tell, but they have one thing in common: They love their guitars.

Here are their stories:

Herb Stephens, 54, Winston-Salem
Guitar: 1979 Mighty Mite Stratocaster electric guitar

“I became interested in the guitar at the age of 14. In 1974, I met a drummer and bass player Herbie and 'AppleJack’ Robert Walters on bass.

“They asked me if I wanted to start up a band. We formed the band Human Blood, 'HB Productions.’ One very busy day, I accidentally backed over my guitar. It was like running over a child. I got it fixed eight months later and use it on 70 percent of my gigs.

“It’s a great guitar. I just love it. Sometimes I’m so mentally drained after work. But when I walk in and see my guitar, I feel this calmness come over me. I pick it up and play it for a while. I forget about my troubles and my 9-to-5 and just sail on.”

Dr. Kami Rowan, 46, Greensboro
Rowan's website
Guitar: 2003 Concert Classical De Jonge (handmade by Sergie de Jonge)

“My Garcia was my gateway guitar into the classical world. I played an Oribe for 25 years; we had a commitment. My father used some of my grandfather’s black lung check (he was a coal miner) to pay for the instrument. Along the way I stumbled upon my Takamine. Damaged in the factory and originally intended to be sold in Europe, I got the deal of the century. Finally, five years ago, I found my De Jonge. A small, chocolate-sounding guitar, it fits me like a glove. The hours spent playing my guitars have been the most rewarding journey of discovery, expression and growth. My guitars are my friends and my tools for spiritual and emotional grounding. They have enabled and allowed me to always be who I am.”

Patrick Lui, 45, Winston-Salem
patrickluiguitar.com
Guitar: 2007 Thucea classical guitar (handmade by Andrea Tacchi)

“When I was 15 years old, my father decided to get me a summer job working in a bra factory. I spent the money I made there on my first guitar. It was clear from my first lessons that music would be my career. I bought my first classical guitar with the money left to me by my grandmother (Lilly), who I was very close to.

“Maintaining a balance between teaching and performing is a real challenge. I still maintain a concert career performing from small colleges to large concert halls. I play a very unusual instrument made by Andrea Tacchi from Italy. The instrument is lyrical, colorful and sings with absolute clarity. It has a voice all of its own and yet is completely ready to compromise with you. It has become an old friend that I know will never fail me.”

Benjy Johnson, 43, Greensboro
benjyjohnsonmusic.com
Guitar: 1986 Charvel Model 2 electric guitar

“My 1986 Charvel Model 2 was purchased with money earned from working construction with my father the whole summer of 1985. We worked in sweltering heat six and sometimes seven days a week that summer, but all the while I had that new Charvel in my sights. Over the years, he was always proud of the fact that I used that money to buy my first real guitar, and he loved to hear me play. My father recently passed away in July, and although I hadn’t played that guitar much lately, something made me get it out and string it up to complete my new instrumental CD. It sounded perfect for the last three tracks. Now, every time I get that guitar and hear those tracks, it reminds me of my dad, how cool he was and all the hard work we did that summer.”

Jeffrey Dean Foster, 50, Winston-Salem
jeffreydeanfoster.com
Guitar: 1966 Fender Telecaster electric guitar

“My first guitar was a Telecaster I found for sale in the paper. It was road-worn and a real player. The fellow who sold it to me said he had played for Billy 'Crash’ Craddock for years. That guitar has been all over the country with me and has survived club brawls, gun play and rainstorms.

“Once while recording in Memphis, Tenn., I noticed a man playing my Telecaster. After he left, I asked who he was. They said it was Paul Burlison of The Paul Burlison Rock and Roll Trio. Once, while we were in New York City, Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones came by the studio and picked my guitar up and played a few licks on it. He then left the studio with a Zero candy bar of mine. No lie!

“That guitar is still my main guitar. I’ve accumulated a lot of them over the years, but my original dream guitar is still with me.”

Molly Miller, 23, Greensboro
ameliasmechanics.com
Guitar: 2010 Thinline Telecaster electric guitar

“My relationship with guitars began at a young age. I preferred spending my designated practice time making 'instruments’ out of old Tropicana boxes, rubber bands and bits of gravel for tone. My first guitar, a Gibson J-160e, was a beautiful, kind and euphonious speaker and was so light to pick up that he was never a strain on my shoulders. Had my guitar been born a human, he would have been Gandhi. But as the fate of many greats, my first Gibson met an untimely death on a cement floor in Jamestown . I now refer to that evening as 'The night my light went out in Jamestown.’ But as horrible as I felt driving home with my shattered Gibson in his case-turned-coffin, my relationship with music was able to evolve because of the accident. I went out a few months later, bought a Thinline Telecaster and haven’t looked back. Guitars are still my favorite, but like any relationship, sometimes you need a change.

Lorenzo “Logie” Meachum, 58, Greensboro
logieworks.com
Guitar: Circa 1931 nickel- plated Johnson acoustic guitar

“Children in schools call it a hubcap guitar because it looks like it could be an automobile accessory. It’s a silver, shining, Dobro-style guitar made by Johnson. It is very special to me because of the way people are attracted to it whenever I pull it out of the case and start tuning it. I’ve played it in the streets of several cites, a few yard parties and several events at the Greensboro library, and it’s always a star. I often believe my playing skills don’t do it justice, but every now and then, the two of us make musical moments that give great pleasure. “As a gentleman once told me, 'Man, that song gave me chicken skin!’

“Whenever I feel like playing some real blues, I pick it up, tune it and find a glass slide. If I’m lucky, I find that sweet spot on the strings that just transports your ears and your mind to somewhere way down Highway 61.”

Ted Lyons, 58, Winston-Salem
Guitar: 2005 National Reso-phonic Radio Tone “Like most professional guitar players, I have several instruments I use and treasure. However, my main road guitar is a 2005 National Reso-phonic Radio Tone fitted with a Lollar Telecaster-style pickup. Although not an expensive instrument, the Radio Tone is a rare guitar. My style of playing is highly percussive and often somewhat unorthodox. I like to pop and smack the body of the instrument to drive the rhythm. I often scratch my fingernails along the fret board and pound the strings with my hand in an effort to achieve bell-like chords, echo, hum and other interesting and unpredictable aural contrasts. The Radio Tone’s unique internal resonator system and allied electronic pick-up chime and reverberate and allow me, if I’m lucky, to coax from the guitar mysterious, ancient tones and send them out into the air all around.”

Bruce Piephoff, 61, Greensboro
reverbnation.com/brucepiephoff
Guitar: 1968 Martin D-35

“I started playing the guitar around 1968 while a student at UNC-Chapel Hill. I have a 1968 Martin D-35 that belonged to my father. After some wild and reckless years in my youth, I decided to go back to school and get my Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at UNCG where I studied with Fred Chappell and Bob Watson. When I got the MFA in 1984, my dad was living near the Grand Canyon in Arizona, drove his pickup truck from there to Greensboro and presented me with his guitar as a graduation gift. It was gratifying and quite a pleasure to make him proud of me by getting my MFA. Kind of like when Johnny Cash gave Bob Dylan his guitar. (Those were two of my dad’s favorite artists.) He was accepting that I’d chosen to be a writer and a musician.

Contact Carole Perkins at CPGuilford@aol.com