Master Craftsmen from Small Town America Answer the Call to “LIVE 8”

Valley Arts Guitar team in Conway, Arkansas Produce Exclusive “Live 8” Guitars for Worldwide Concerts Raising Awareness of African Poverty

FEATURE STORY WITH PHOTOS

In small town America, its hard to imagine that one individual can aid poverty stricken African people thousands of miles away, but in Conway, Arkansas an entire group of dedicated craftsmen challenged themselves to rise up to the call of social consciousness in hopes of making a difference.

With a population of only 43,167, in a city of only 40 square miles, Conway hardly compares to the upcoming LIVE 8 concert which is likely to be the largest global broadcast ever by possibly attracting more than 3.9 billion viewers. With concerts planned for Philadelphia, Berlin, London, Toronto, Rome, Tokyo, Paris, Barrie, Edinburgh and Johannesburg, one may ask how does Conway, Arkansas fit into the scheme of this magnificent endeavor? Very few Americans consider themselves strong enough, special enough or important enough to make a difference, but with time of the essence to produce, these craftsmen and women put their own personal needs aside and dedicated their hearts and sprits into making guitars which will make a difference.

Inside the Valley Arts guitar plant, part of the Gibson Guitar Company, stand a  few, select American citizens who have worked tirelessly over the past week in an effort to provide Bob Geldof and his host of award-winning performers exclusive handmade, Live 8 guitars. These Valley Arts LIVE 8 guitars, created in the shape of the African continent, are each made from select, native African Zebrawood. Each are individually hand-sanded and hand-rubbed.  Each headstock is customized with the LIVE 8 event name, event date and concert location. The LIVE 8 Valley Arts guitar serves as the official logo of the worldwide event.

If you ask anyone who has lent their hand in making the guitars why they did it they would tell you it’s a chance for ordinary people to do an extraordinary thing and call on world leaders at this year’s G8 summit to stop the needless deaths of 30,000 children every single day. Astonishing information for someone from Conway seeing that their total population would be wiped out twice every other day if this was the case in Arkansas. The craftsmen in Conway want to help demand that world leaders take action now. It is a right of the American citizen and the reason why they heard the calling.

This Saturday night, July 2, 2005, the LIVE 8 concerts will be taking place around the world but in one small city named Conway a small group of finely tuned craftsmen won’t be taking the stage at any monumental concert venue but they will all be applauding at the fact that in their own small way they have made a difference. Ordinary people have grasped the chance to achieve something truly monumental.

For More Information:
Caroline Galloway   GIBSON 440-338-3469 caroline.galloway@gibson.com

Jason Padgitt  ROGERS & COWAN 310-854-8140 jpadgitt@rogersandcowan.com