Today I had the pleasure hearing some of Maine's greatest talent. From the legendary Denny Breau, to the "Gunslinger" Arlo West, to a well known teacher and guitarist Steve Grenier, and my own brother Nate Telow. Now while this would be an amazing concert in it's own, the fact that it was for a great cause only made it more enjoyable. Now what was the cause you may be wondering... it was for the Lenny Breau Memorial Scholarship. Helping musicians who are less fortunate monetarily wise but talented none the less get to the place they want to be. Now since the concert was free admission, the money needed to come from side products. So they had food, drink, silent auctions, raffles, and t-shirts. I quickly snagged a t-shirt for fear of them running out (I was correct). I then watched as some great acts went on playing classic rock, to blues, to jazz. I then met up with my brother and talked with him while admiring the huge collection of strats and teles onstage. We where than asked by Nate's original teacher to check out his new teaching studios. We entered the first one and obliviously ignored a beaten up case in the corner. Steve casually said "you see that case in the corner?" and we nodded with a bit of an unsure look. He than said "Lenny's guitar is in there, get it out." and our unsureness turned to pure disbelief. When It was taken out, to some it may have just looked like a guitar, but to people like us who enjoy the guitar in it's entirity, it is a symbol. A symbol of a hero and a shrine to his legendary legacy. The only way I can really describe it is surreal. I imagine it would be like an aspiring artist holding Picasso's paint brush, or an amateur ball player holding Babe Ruth's bat. Steve than gave me a poster commemorating the event. We than walked outside, and the heat finally snapped me out of the daze the guitar put me in. I than looked for Denny Breau to sign my poster. I finally found him and he said: "Who should I make it out too?" and I replied with "Alex Telow" he took the pen away from the poster and said "Your a Telow?" I felt proud to say "Yes, Nate is my older brother". We than began a discussion about guitar and it's entirity and the art and I told him how I was a huge fan of his. As we were talking he was called to the stage to perform. He than signed my poster:
"Alex, Keep Pickin"
-Denny Breau
He said "see ya later kid" and walked off. I than glanced at my poster to see the signature of a legend, and brother of another legend. I was filled with positive energy and couldn't stop smiling. I than watched as he performed, and than as my brother performed. Denny finally closed the show with a set. To someone who is not a Mainer, Denny or Arlo may not be know, and to someone who is not a guitarist Lenny Breau might not be known, but that doesn't deminish their reputation. They are all legends whether it's locally, nationally, or in Lenny's case internationally. And if you have not discovered Lenny's music I would check it out. If you aren't a guitarist you still might find it fascinating. But if you are a guitarist, get ready to spend hours on end trying to play things that Lenny made almost simple looking. Now this if you couldn't tell is not a bio on Lenny. I may do one in the very near future if I have the time, just to open your minds to a genius. He is truly in our hearts and minds.
"The sound of silence is intense."
- Lenny Breau
- Telow
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