NEW YORK—A mellow crowd, a mix of young and old, sang along to classic guitar tunes at the City Winery on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Adults discussed music classes with wine glasses in hand. Children snacked on cookies in the Dream Guitar Room where glossy guitars were available to try out and play.
For the second year in a row, the Guitar Mash Benefit Concert and Jam invited adults and children to bring their guitars and jam alongside Mark Stewart, Paul Simon’s right-hand man. Well-known musicians including Chad Smith, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, G.E. Smith, Bob Dylan’s lead guitarist, and Captain Kirk Douglas of the Roots, were also among the many to lead classic tunes.
One thing was certain—music united all. Rebecca Weller, the organizer of the concert, is a piano player and a believer that a guitar is a great “connecter.”
“It crosses lines of ability, culture, generation,” Weller said.
Weller often runs into guitar enthusiasts, saying many people she knows have some connection to a guitar player or have played the guitar themselves.
“I’ve always been interested in creating things where the audience is active,” Weller said.
Weller also started the Midsummer Night Swing festival at the Lincoln Center. She brings together other jams through social media.
Children and adults watched the cue notes along with lyrics on the screens. Singer-songwriter David Broza played and sang along with “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” which tells of the last days of the American Civil War.
Music instrument stores Sam Ash Direct and C.F. Martin & Co. contributed instruments to the event as well as the online auction.
The funds raised at the concert will support education programs and bring guitars into local public schools. Beneficiaries of this year’s concert were the Church Street School for Music and Art as well as Little Kids Rock.
The Church Street School for Music and Art is Lower Manhattan’s only nonprofit school for the arts, according to its website. The school provides instruction on all instruments to all ages at all levels. Lisa Ecklund-Flores, the founder and executive director, said guitar lessons are popular at the school because they are accessible.
“There’s a lot more guitar players that are part of the popular culture, and kids start to aspire to be like those guitar players,” Ecklund-Flores said. Her 16-year-old daughter was also at the concert, jamming on her guitar to the tunes.
Pam Salisbury brought her 13-year-old son Dalton to the concert. Dalton plays guitar in a two-man, punk-rock band called The Strangers, and already has a CD coming out. Dalton browsed guitars during intermission, saying he enjoyed himself. His influences are Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones, and Johnny Ramone, from the Ramones.
“You can relate to any song, really,” Dalton said.
