Woodstock

The last week of October I flew up to Woodstock, NY. I had reluctantly agreed to participate in an invitational guitar show put on by a fellow named Baker Rorick. The type of situation I have never participated in and have had little desire to do so because I have never been especially keen on pushing my work on people, selling myself when I would rather just sit in my corner, do my work, and have people come to me if they want something I make. This year the appeal was that Baker was featuring women luthiers, and was hoping to gather as many as possible for the event. I reluctantly agreed knowing I'd have the opportunity to meet and be inspired by other builders in a similar position as mine, see how I measure up against the big wig builders, and visit with folks who wouldn't normally get to see and play my instruments outside of following my Facebook page. Soliciting work aside, what I learned over the course of those four days ended up being infinitely more valuable than I ever anticipated.

The best kind of sandwich is a Mac Sandwich.

You may recall that in a previous post I mentioned that some of my dad's cronies aren't the most welcoming of folks in his shop; they aren't unfriendly, they simply overlook me because I am not Wayne Henderson and why bother conversing with a girl when she answers your questions, better to ask Wayne and listen intently when he repeats her verbatim answer that you previously ignored. Wait, I am getting away from my point, which is, while those guys are there, I also have made some truly great friends from of some of my dad's shop visitors. Two of my absolute favorite's, Mac and Mac, decided to drive up to the show and agreed to bring all of my instruments with them, so I was able to fly up, cutting my travel time in half. Another new friend, Alex, drove three hours round trip to pick me up from the airport and then hosted me at his house, that happened to be a few miles from the show, and brought me necessary provisions (wine) throughout the day. The guys all took turns accompanying me at my table when they weren't checking out the other builders, and just standing by me showing their unwavering support. I hope they know I much appreciate their friendship, kindness and acceptance because having that support when it is not always especially strong in the shop means the world to me.

Lugging bulky guitar cases into the wood paneled Bearfield Theater that was already brimming with people when we arrived, I really wasn't sure what to expect. The main theater room was absolutely packed with tables displaying all manner of instruments. We found my booth up on the black painted stage where you had to maneuver some rickety stairs up from the main floor to access it. "Dang, people are going to break an ankle at best if they try to come up here to see me.." I thought as I dragged my instrument cases behind the stage curtains; my table happened to abut the wings, which turned out to be a blessing as the folks wanting to play my instruments were able to get a better shot at hearing, stepping back in the curtains, rather than trying to play out in the melee of the main area.

Me and Kenji.

When we went to set up, a little Asian fellow quietly sat in the chair accompanying my table. I knew I was sharing a table since I only had a couple of instruments to display, so that must be my table mate. He spoke very little English, and after learning he was Japanese, I was pretty excited that my eighth grade exchange student friend Marii taught me some  my Japanese, but what I remember is about as advanced as the first day of nursery school (meaning I can count to 10 and say hello and thank you). I couldn't explain, after seeing his alarmed, pale face as we maneuvered the guitar cases around his beautiful maple guitar already set up on the table that I was taking great care not to disturb his beautiful work. After I was settled and some gesturing, I learned his name was Kenji Sugita. Over the course of the weekend we were able to get by the language barrier a bit; I shared my vegetable lo mein and pinot grigio that Alex snuck in for me, and he brought me coffee and treats when he took a break in the exhibitor rest area in the basement. Turns out, if you don't speak the same language,  just give food.

Ready to greet festivalgoers! 

Of all of the exhibitors stuffed into that room, most were extremely welcoming, friendly, and made a point to come say hello and check out my instruments, as I did theirs. Many of us follow each other on Instagram so I knew a lot of people from their posts on social media. Finally meeting my friend Rachel Rosencrantz in person, after we met via a joint interview with a women's guitar magazine several years ago. And when I saw Isaac Jang heading my way I was ecstatic he offered a huge hug as though we were old friends who hadn't caught up in a while. I truly enjoyed meeting everyone; Heidi the extremely friendly ukulele builder a couple of tables down from mine from Prince Edward Island; Meredith who runs a guitar school and regaled me with tales and pictures of her adorable dog, Pickles; Howard a great builder and dare I say even snappier dresser from England; Grit Laskin the legendary inlay artist; Chuck Erickson, aka the Duke of Pearl, who supplies all of my abalone sheets for inlays...to name a very select few characters. It was truly inspiring to be in the company of these folks, and to be welcomed into their club and know that they considered my work on par with theirs was the most amazing feeling.

Rachel Rosencrantz, Heidi Litke, myself

With Linda Manzer, Cathy Fink, and Heidi Litke

Isaac Jang and Kenji

The only folks who weren't especially welcoming were the couple sitting directly to the right of mine and Kenji's table. I don't think they even introduced themselves so I don't recall their names, Mike maybe. But the interesting, even baffling interaction came as I was bringing in my instruments and trying not to upset my neighbor's guitar. They told me that I should be thankful that Baker decided to seat me, a first timer they had never heard of, up on the stage with these really famous builders. I should be thankful to Kenji especially, because he is so well known, people will come to see him so those folks might look at my work since it is next to his. I thought it an interesting comment, as up until then, I had thought that perhaps I was seated there because my instruments were of similar quality to theirs, that people would want to see them in person simply because they were my instruments with my name on them.  Interestingly, I think I had about the same number of visitors, perhaps more, who came specifically to see my work. I noticed the couple giving the side eye a few times as I spoke with people who told me that they drove to the show for the sole purpose to meet me in person and get to play one of my instruments. I think the main thing I learned from those few negative interactions like that one was that my work is my work, and it speaks for itself, nobody can take that away from me, no matter the comments they make about it.

Avril Smith visited me!

One of the highlights of my Saturday was a visit from my friend George's guitar teacher, Avril Smith.  I knew she was a powerhouse guitar player from George as well as being the current guitar player for probably my favorite band of all time, Della Mae, but I learned she is an exceptionally awesome person as well.  I was also thrilled that Celia Boyd, Della Mae's lead singer stopped by my booth for a chat and to check out my guitars. I admire Celia's exceptional talent but also I feel a kindred spirit in that she isn't afraid to speak her mind when faced with folks who might not see things the same way. I appreciate that she tactfully and thoughtfully stands up for herself when faced with (mostly) men essentially telling her to 'shut up and sing'. Where I try to peacefully and thoughtfully encourage environmental consciousness in my work, she uses her much larger platform to speak for environmental issues, kindness, and equality across the board. I am always inspired by her voice, on and off the stage.

Celia checking out #50

Me and Alex, ready for the show!

Later that evening, Celia invited us to Della Mae's show but I wasn't sure I could attend due to a promise to attend a Halloween viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show, for which I had specially packed a corset and a top hat with a silver skull hand attached. The movie ended up being farther away from Woodstock than we had anticipated so Alex and I decided on swinging by the Playhouse to check out Della Mae instead. Because I was super bummed about Rocky Horror, I decided to still go out in the least weird parts of my outfit because it was Halloween weekend and we had planned to meet some of Alex's friends after the show. In the end I decided my corset and glittery top hat could wait at home (mostly because my hairdo didn't support the hat well enough to stay on). When we rolled into the venue where Della Mae was set to start any minute, I realized this was not the bar scene I had envisioned, and was in fact a prim seated show filled to the gills with fancy adults milling quietly about during intermission, so I thanked whatever internal voice told me to leave my ridiculous get up back at the house, though I still sported some serious red lipstick and big black shoes... Luckily Baker met us at the door and walked us backstage where we greeted the band and watched them warm up. I literally could hardly contain my excitement as the Dellas took the stage, then Alex and I spent the evening hovering in the wings watching their incredible set. I sang along to every song, practically giddy pretending that I was a just few feet further onto the stage than I actually was.

Della Mae killing it obviously. Baker and I danced our shoes off in the wings! 

Talented awesome girls, and me.

While my dad's shop has many options to come in contact with well meaning men, strong, awesome, supportive women to look up to in that area are few and far between. A couple of ladies I have been fortunate to make friends with via my dad are the incredibly talented Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer. I have gotten to know them through visits to my dad's shop, parties, and a few ukulele lessons. Cathy especially has been extremely helpful in championing for me, not as my dad's daughter, but as my own person. I know that may seem odd to specify, but so many people want to support me simply because of my last name that it is extremely exciting when someone sees me and my work for something special in it's own right. For example, one of my dad's friends who was at the Woodstock show introduced me to someone as, "My best friend Wayne Henderson's daughter." I didn't even get a name in that instance. Marcy and Cathy believe in my ability enough that they encouraged me to do this show, offered to demonstrate my work on stage, and often introduce me to their many fancy friends, such as Grit Laskin. Cathy also isn't afraid to push me toward getting out on my own and meeting more people without the shadow of my famous dad to dull my own luster. After an intense day of talking to people, when I wanted nothing more in the world than to go back to Alex's house and hide under the covers, they pulled strings so I could be Kathy Wingert's plus one and join them all for a tribute dinner in town for Linda Manzer. I didn't want to disappoint them, so I went. As usual, Cathy was right and I was glad I had joined in. Turns out my date was pretty awesome too.

At the dinner that evening, I sat at a table with Grit Laskin and his wife, Cathy, Marcy, and Happy Traum, who I knew from running the stage where my dad and I do my little building workshop at Merlefest. Next to us sat Dick Boak, Michael Gurian and John Sebastian. The tables were too crowded to together for Happy to get over to introduce us, so I just turned and introduced myself to John. Turns out he's a big deal...I didn't know that. I asked the only thing I really knew about all three of them, knowing Michael sold his guitar supply company last year and Dick Boak just moved on from Martin. "So...How's retirement?" They all said it agreed with them, allowed for trips to come do things like this, etc. There was a nice camaraderie between the three guys that kept me feeling at ease and that I was welcome to visit with them. I ended up making a few laps around the party before the presentation where my good friend Paul, owner of Dream Guitars, introduced me to more amazingly talented musicians and builders.

When it came time for the award ceremony, where Linda was to be honored with the Traditions Award, we all gravitated back to our seats. I especially appreciated Dick's introduction of Linda when he presented her with her award. He spoke so highly and kindly of her that I was filled with hope that perhaps even the big wigs in this business saw women, if she had enough talent and worked hard enough, as equals and contenders. Perhaps one day I would be able to pass on as much inspiration as she. During her acceptance speech, Linda invited all of the women luthiers in attendance to join her on stage. I proudly stood when sh called my name and was immediately enveloped between these talented, smart women strong enough to be paving their own path in life despite what may be expected of them otherwise.

All the lady luthiers.

As I listened to her speech after sitting back down at our table, Linda said one thing that really stuck with me. She said that when she was young, she would try and try to reach the top of her big brother's tree house, a club of Boys Only, where she was taunted and ridiculed by him and his friends as she climbed and strained to reach the top of the ladder to join them. One thing she realized, is that if she didn't give up, didn't listen to their taunts, and actually made it to door of the house, the boys welcomed her when she reached the top. She said she understood their taunts weren't necessarily because they didn't want her, but simply a hurdle on the way to earn their acceptance. While that treatment is not really fair, I appreciated that perhaps when my dad's friends treat me differently or as though they don't want me, it might not mean they don't think I am good enough, but are just making sure I am strong enough to make it to that top rung. I have noticed that the longer I stay around, the more instruments I string up, the more tunes I learn to pick, they look at me a little more seriously. They listen to my answers and feedback instead of asking the same thing to my dad when he's available. I whispered to Cathy after we sat back down at the table, "So maybe Linda is right, maybe all those guys at the shop don't mind that I am here." Dick Boak leaned over my shoulder and said, "Trust me, we want you here. We are happy that you're here."

Marcy Marxer gearing up to demo my ukulele!

Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz guitars.

Meredith, Maegan, Jamie and Rachel

This is Alex's dog Addie, Harper's white counterpart. I love her so I had to show you.