Media Update
August 15, 2008
CONTACT:
Roots of American Music
216-321-9353
LEGENDARY ‘70s ROCK BAND REUNITES
FOR MUSIC/EDUCATION BENEFIT
For decades legend has had it that Jimi Hendrix once said that Glass Harp
’s Phil
Keaggy was his favorite guitarist. There’s no written record of that, and, obviously, it can’t be proven now. But just the fact that people who have heard Keaggy were willing to believe it shows just how good Keaggy was
– and still is.
Glass Harp recorded three studio albums for Decca Records, plus a live concert, recorded at Carnegie Hall, in the early 1970s, but the group split up when Keaggy decided to devote his time and talents to Christian rock. But the group has reunited a few times, selling out venues to its large and devoted following. The group will reunite once more, on Saturday, November 1, 2008, this time as a fund-raiser for the non-profit music and education organization Roots of American Music.
This historic concert will take plac e at 7:30 PM the Beachland Ballroom, on Cleveland’s far east side, as part of a benefit evening that will also feature a silent auction of many musicrelated items; and a VIP room (the Beachland’s Tavern) with a buffet dinner and live jazz music.
Tickets for the Glass Harp concert are $50. VIP tickets include a pre-party starting at
6:00 PM, silent auction, priority concert seating, valet parking, dinner and drink tickets for $125 ($75 tax-deductible). For tickets or for corporate sponsor information, call
216-321-9353.
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ROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC
Roots of American Music is dedicated to preserving and promoting an appreciation of
American roots music and how it reflects the spirit and history of our country. Founded in 1999, ROAM provides teaching artists to K-12 classrooms to enrich music, social studies, language arts and literacy through live musical performance and hands-on activities. Each year, ROAM reaches more than 40,000 students in 36 school districts with long-term residencies and one-time assemblies. Recently, ROAM was recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts for its contribution to cultural life in Ohio through the Challenge America Program.
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GLASS HARP
The power-rock trio Glass Harp
– guitarist Phil Keaggy, bassist Dan Pecchio and drummer John Sferra
– began playing around their native Youngstown area In the late
1960s. Signed in 1970 by Grammy-winning producer Lewis Merenstein, who had already produced acclaimed albums by the Spencer David Group, Van Morrison and others, the group recorded three studio albums for Decca Records over the next two years, all at Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland Studios in New York, with Merenstein as producer.
Glass Harp toured and opened for such artists as Traffic, Yes, the Kinks, Humble Pie,
Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, and Grand Funk Railroad, at venues including the legendary
Filmore in New York and Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and at Carnegie Hall, where the group recorded a live album. A DVD of this performance was released in
1997 as Live at Carnegie Hall .
Glass Harp were early proponents of the progressive-rock movement, as well as one of the pioneers of what would later become known as jam rock, with songs often reaching
30 minutes in length, including extended solos and group improvisation. When the group performed a live concert on PBS in 1972, the groundbreaking broadcast was one of the first to be simulcast on both television and FM radio. A DVD of this performance was released in 2006 as Circa 72 .
In 1972, Keaggy left the band to devote his songwriting and playing to the burgeoning
Contemporary Christian music scene. The group finally disbanded in 1973, but they have release two more CDs since then, including 2001’s
Strings Attached, a concert
Glass Harp performed with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. And they have reunited a few other times for concerts.
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