NMM Live! - T. Wilson King

Description

T. Wilson King to perform on celebrity guitars for opening of NMM Live! concert series Local guitarist T. Wilson King will play iconic Martin guitars formerly owned by Merle Travis, Johnny Cash and Shawn Colvin to open the National Music Museum’s fall NMM Live! concert series. The performance will be held at noon on Friday, September 9 in the National Music Museum’s Janet Wanzek Performance Hall on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD. Admission is free.

King will be joined on stage by Robert Rohlfs, a long-time professional musician and upcoming inductee to the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as Arian Sheets, NMM’s Curator of Stringed Instruments, who will share the history and significance of these great guitars. The featured guitars, all made by C. F. Martin & Company, are part of the National Music Museum’s permanent collections and seldom played in performance.

The Martin D-28 once owned by Merle Travis is customized with the country artist’s name in mother-of-pearl on the fretboard and has a celebrity-filled history. After Travis’ death, the instrument was sold to Marty Stuart, then Johnny Cash. Later, Cash gave the instrument to Travis’ son, Thom Bresh, after the two musicians collaborated on the last two Johnny Cash albums.

Johnny Cash’s guitar, the Bon Aqua, is a 1971 Martin D-28 guitar. It was kept at Johnny Cash’s 100-acre farm near Bon Aqua, Tennessee, where Johnny would go “to cook my own food, read my own books, tend my own garden, water my own land, and think, write, compose, rest, and reflect in peace.” As such, this guitar, which Johnny used while writing songs during the last 30 years of his life, was more intimately connected with him than the hundreds of other guitars that came and went through his hands on the road.

Shawn Colvin’s guitar, the M3SC was created by Martin in response to Colvin’s request for a smaller, more ergonomic instrument. This guitar is one of two prototypes sent to Colvin in 2001 and was used extensively by her until she donated it to the National Music Museum in September of 2005.

Born in Minnesota, T. Wilson King began his performing career early, singing and tap dancing. As a teenager, he was lead singer in several rock and roll bands, playing at sock hops and skating rinks. By stroke of luck, the draft placed him in California’s thriving music scene. He bought a guitar and practiced relentlessly, busking on street corners, in coffee houses, bars and restaurants, as well as taking music classes. During this time, he met music legends, like Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Professor Longhair, Freddie King, Van Morrison, Mike Bloomfield and John Lee Hooker, furthering his education. Tirelessly pursuing his career, gigging up and down the California coast, and from Hawaii to Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas, King shaped his own sound. More than 40 years ago, opportunity brought him to Vermillion; family and love kept him here. King has a long performance history and relationship with the NMM, including helping the Museum secure its B.B King-signed ‘Lucille’ guitar as well as a recent Tommy Bolin-model electric guitar.

NMM Live! will continue through the school year with a series of Friday noon concerts, as well as extended Sunday afternoon performances.

Below is the schedule for the coming months:
• Friday, October 21 (Noon) – Tatag Gamelan, Vermillion’s campus-community ensemble
• Sunday, October 30 (2:00 pm) – Aspen Sting Trio, music by Holocaust-era Jewish composers
• Friday, November 18 (Noon) – Quintessential Winds Quintet, including NMM’s Dr. Deborah Check Reeves
• Friday, December 9 (Noon) – USD Faculty Brass Quintet, holiday concert

Currently on exhibit in the NMM’s Groves Special Exhibition Gallery is Gamelan; A Way of Life. Guests can tour the exhibit on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 AM to 4 PM, and on Saturdays from noon to 4 PM through October 22, 2022.
Admission is free.

NMM Live! is brought to you, in part, by the USD Student Government Association, and by the South Dakota Arts Council. SDAC support is provided with funds from the state of South Dakota, through the Department of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts. More information can be found on our Facebook page, or online at nmmusd.org.