As a way of saying thank you to Shane for his promotion of the CBG movement over the years, and the creation of the CBN site, several CBN members got together and pitched in to buy Harrison Withers' Ghetto Born lap steel guitar. Shane had his eye on it for a long time, but never had the money to buy it.
Harrison shipped it to me, and I hand delivered it to Shane at his open mic night this week. Harrison also included a wooden plaque attached to the back of the guitar.
I brought a video camera along, but the lad I asked to run the camera got it out of focus, so the first part of the event is missing. I replaced it with a still picture and left the audio intact. Shane was speechless and very appreciative that we thought of him.
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Thanks for the very kind words, especially since "sensitive" and "thoughtful" would not be words that would normally spring to mind or be used on an average day about me...it was truly a group effort, by people who mostly have never met, from different parts of the world. I hope to be able to meet Shane next summer when I'm back in the States, so I can buy him a beer, and maybe even jam with him on his new toy. If Dan would drive down and meet us, that would be even better. And if Harrison tooled up on his new Harley, Heaven might be near.
Now if I can only figure out how to get all y'all to York, PA next summer. Hmmmm. Maybe if everyone kicked in 10 bucks...
I would just like to express my admiration of the sensitive and thoughtful way in which Oily went about making this happen. For sharing what was already a generous impulse with others in this way. I am sure nobody will have anything but praise for what you did and how you did it.
Also really good of Dan to make sure Shane got it in the most fitting way, and capturing Shane's reaction on video.
Also, to those who might have liked to contribute, but didn't get a chance to, I'm truly, deeply sorry I couldn't / didn't contact you. I don't know everyone at CBN, and am only vaguely aware that several / many of you have a long history with Shane.
The way this went was, Harrison posted his pics. Simultaneously, Shane and I were looking at them. Shane posted his lust after the Original Ghettoborn, and lamented the state of his finances. A random thought popped into my head when I saw that: "Hey, the guy has put enormous energy into CBGs and this website; maybe I could gift it to him to say Thanks, to let him know just how much people appreciate him..." Then another thought appeared: "Noooo, better would be to take up a collection..." So I ran it by Dan, Ben and Harrison, all of whom responded enthusiastically. Harrison told me Shane had wanted this guitar since he first laid eyes on it several years ago; between Dan and myself, we came up with a relatively short list of contacts. If some of you feel slighted, please don't; it wasn't intentional on either of our parts. We just came up with a quick list of names on the fly, and went with it. I sent Friend requests to those on our list; those who responded were made aware of the project details. Those who further responded back positively were given payment details. I suggested people could kick in 10 - 15 bucks each, and thus we could meet Harrison's sales price rather quickly. Which is what happened, after some good natured negotiating between Harrison, Dan and myself. Dan then offered to have it shipped to him, so he could catch Shane unawares at his Wednesday open mic, and Harrison told Shane that unfortunately, it had just been sold, so as to keep the surprise element. That is the ONLY reason for the secretive nature of the project: to increase the surprise factor. I asked Dan if he could video the delivery, which he most graciously did ( see link above). I think Shane himself said he was speechless, so I guess the surprise worked.
Once again, my sincere, deepest apologies to anyone who may have wanted to contribute, and yet feels slighted. Harrison made a nice plaque that he attached to the back of the Ghettoborn, as you can see from his pic above, which reads "from the Cigar Box Nation." Everyone who contributes to this website, however often, is thus represented in this gift to the man who gave us a place to build, play and share our love for these funky instruments. If you wish to discuss this privately, please feel free to contact me via my CBN Profile page.
Oily "Strat-O'-Nine-Tales" Fool
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