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American Idol finalist (season four, finished 2nd behind somebody named [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Carrie Underwood[/lastfm]) [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Bo Bice[/lastfm] paid a visit to Roseville’s Buljan Middle School on Thursday! He was there to take delivery of a guitar custom made for him by the school’s woodshop teacher, Duane Caulkins, whose “WoodShop Rocks” teaches students how to build guitars.
Bo first heard about Woodshop Rocks on a visit to KNCI last year. He saw the “bass” guitar (that’s bass as in largemouth bass) that Duane and his class had made for Brad Paisley–which by the way now hangs in Brad’s home. Bo was impressed and asked about it. In November he was at the CMA radio broadcast. Pat and I have been supporters of Duane’s program and had brought his cards along, in case we ran into any musicians who might be interested. Bo remembered the “bass” guitar, and took a card. He called Duane the next week, told him he was thinking about a guitar shaped like his home state of Alabama, and could Duane possibly make one for him. Duane emailed him photos of the design the next day and Bo was so impressed he said “let’s do it!”
Bo spoke to Buljan’s assembly for about ten minutes–pointing out that if he could dream of being a performer, then anything they could dream could come true too–before plugging the guitar in and cranking up Sweet Home Alabama. Then he took questions from the students, which included “What kind of shampoo do you use?” (Pert Plus) and, “Why do you have long hair?” (“Because I choose not to cut it”).
While the body of the guitar and all construction was done by Duane and his students, the wood-burned artwork of musicians who have called Alabama home was done by a young Roseville artist named Brittany Brazil. She said it took about 60 hours of work to finish the job and the result included the opening notes of “Sweet Home Alabama” etched down the back of the guitar’s neck.
Bo said he planned on playing his new ax that night at his show at Thunder Valley Casino.
See more about Duane’s woodshop program at www.woodshoprocks.com. And find out more about Brittany and her talents at Facebook.com/brittanybrazil.
Great job Duane! Woodshop DOES rock!!
Tom
