Guitars for Guatemala Recap

Two Sundays ago was Guitars for Guatemala, a day long music fundraiser at East 54 Urban Village. The purpose of the festival was to raise money for my trip to Safe Passage in Guatemala. The festival started around 11am when I took the stage for an hour. There was a fair amount of people at Streets Deli and we had a big table set up with raffle prizes, information about Safe Passage, and information about the East 54 Music Series.
For the beginning set I probably should have used some sunscreen because the sun was on my face the whole time. It got a little hot but it was a great time playing. Then Dashton came on from 12-12:45. I had only heard a Dashton play a couple songs before so it was great to hear him play a full set. After Dashton was Hearyonder, this was my first time hearing them and I loved the duo of Nellie and Justin's voices. After Hearyonder played we had Puritan Rodeo come on... Proof that it is a small world: Kate Morrison, who I have played lots of Ultimate Frisbee with, turned out to be the flute player for Puritan Rodeo.
After Puritan Rodeo was Tom Maxwell, formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Tom and Justin Johnson played some duos and it was great to hear them feeding off of each others energy. After Tom Maxwell was Rootzie, only Gregory Blaine could come but he played a great set of some classic blues and originals. Justin Johnson played a couple with Gregory and then I had the honor of playing a couple tunes with Gregory and Justin Justin Johnson. Then came John Saylor, who brought it all on the stage, ranging from playing classics to imitating cicada noises. We had a little time to spare after John came off so we had a local musician, Alex Joustra play a set.

The night was coming close to the end so it was time for me and Justin Johnson to take the stage. We played a short set to finish the night off, ending with Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. This meant a lot to me because Hallelujah was the song that really connected me with the children at Safe Passage. When I was down at Safe Passage in 2009 they would always tell me to play "cancion de shrek" because they knew the song Hallelujah as the theme song from Shrek, the movie. After Hallelujah we had the raffle drawings and announced the winners.

I would like to thank everybody who helped make this event possible. I would like to thank all of the musicians for donating their time and gift of music, I would like to thank all of the local businesses that donated items to the raffle, and I would like to thank everyone who came out to Guitars for Guatemala and helped support me on my trip to Safe Passage. I would like to give a special thanks to Anna Young, who came and set up a table displaying her handcrafted jewelry and designs, as well as for donating a beautiful necklace to the raffle. I would also like to give an enormous thank you to Nikki for her amazing help organizing the whole event and making it possible. Nikki and Justin Johnson have helped give me a step up into the Triangle music scene and I cannot thank them enough for all they have done for me. I wish them the best of luck while I'm away on my travels, and I hope to come back and hear about how successfulness the East 54 music series that she has helped run has been.

I am currently in Washington DC right now, figuring out how to get my visa for studying abroad in Ecuador in the fall before I leave for Guatemala on Thursday. Its looking like it will all work out, and I already have plans for Thursday evening when I arrive in Antigua, Guatemala. I will be meeting Mike McCarthy, the guitar teacher at Safe Passage, who will be playing a gig at Cafe No Se in Antigua and he has invited me to play some tunes with him. So hopefully this will lead me into the music scene in Antigua. My first day at Safe Passage will be this Friday and I can't wait. I'm so excited that I finally get to return, I feel like I've been waiting for two years for this to happen. When I post next I will be in Guatemala and will have already played music live and started volunteering at Safe Passage.

Thanks again to everyone for their support!
Until next time - Tristan Green