Congratulations to Matthew Nikkel of Winnipeg!
Winner of the Stonebridge Guitar Giveaway.
The Stonebridge Guitar Give-Away
by Steve Bell Oct. 23/07
Last year, at about this time I walked into a music shop in Nova Scotia looking to replace a guitar cable that had worn out on me. As I walked through the store, I noticed a guitar I had never heard of before – Stonebridge Guitars. As I am naturally curious about such things, I took the guitar off the hanger and was immediately smitten by the thing. It reminded me a bit of my beloved Perry Guitars – lightweight, punchy and loud – but somehow warm and cozy at the same time (it’s hard to explain these things in words and all attempts sound ridiculous.) My manager Dave walked by, stopped dead in his tracks and said – “you’ve go to buy that thing!” And it remains the only spontaneous guitar purchase I’ve ever made.
Only a few weeks later, after a concert in Southern Ontario, a man named Roger Schmidt introduced himself to me as the owner of a new guitar company called Stonebridge Guitars. No way! Sure enough, this man owned the company that has rebranded a hand-made guitar built by an old-world luthier in the Czech-Republic and is now marketing the instruments in North America under the banner Stonebridge.
Needless to say, Roger and I immediately struck up a friendship I hope lasts a long time. Roger himself is an extremely gifted player and composer. I hope to soon spend some time under his tutelage. But he also took an immediate interest in my growing concern for issues of hunger and poverty that plague our world today. I told Roger of my connection to the Canadian Foodgrain’s Bank and that my Symphony tour would be used to promote their work. Wanting to help, Roger offered to give away the same guitar I am now using as my main guitar to anyone at the Symphony concerts who will simply go to the Canadian Foodgrain’s Bank table after the show and sign up for a draw. There is no ticket fee, or requirement to donate, but certainly we hope folks will give generously to the Canadian Foodgrain’s Bank efforts to End Hunger. And, some lucky person is going to get a cedar-top, rosewood sides and back, cut-away Stonebridge guitar.
So, if you want a good chance at the guitar (easily one of the best guitars I’ve ever played) come out to one of the Symphony concerts this fall (check my home in the village for concert dates,) locate the Canadian Foodgrains Bank table in the foyer and sign up. But please consider the cause as well.
Draw date is December 24th.
Posted on October 2nd
hi, as a guitarist want to know the difference between a furch and stonebridge guitarre? thanks
Posted on December 21st
This is an excerpt from a message I sent my sister in Mexico after we went to the Steve Bell/WSO concert.
Lynne & I went on Monday to Brandon, with John & Maggie (our minister and his wife) to see the WSO Christmas concert with Steve Bell and his band. Have you ever heard any Steve Bell CDs? He is an unabashed Christian musician/singer with a very talented 4-piece band (piano, drums, stand-up electric bass and himself on guitar). He writes most of his own lyrics and music and it is such a treat to listen to him. You’d think it odd to find them backed by the Winnipeg Symphony orchestra (60 members of it on the Brandon stage) but the arrangements were so smooth. They have done an 8-city western Canadian tour, including Calgary. They took the WSO’s own assistant conductor with them, a tiny dynamic woman whose name is Rei Hotoda. She conducted all the orchestras they played with on tour.
We were so pleased with the performance that, when we heard they were doing the whole thing again on Tuesday night in Virden, 100 kms NW of Souris, we decided to go on spec to see if any tickets were turned in (it was sold out). We ate sandwiches on the way for supper, driving through at times thick winter fog, with deer materializing out of it and prancing across the highway in front of us, none of which we hit
We arrived to find a parking space right in front of the theatre, and by the time the performance started, we had two really comfortable, lots-of-leg-room seats at the back of the main floor, in the 100 year-old “Virden Aud” (it is called). All sorts of adjustments and helpful people (it was God being his usual wonderful Self with us) made the impossible possible so we could sit together, too. As it turned out, the regular seats would not have allowed me enough leg room for a prolonged sit. So we got to see them two nights
in a row! During the intermission their CDs were for sale and Lynne
went out to get some and while out there she had an amazing and
wonderful 5-second eye-to-eye contact with Steve Bell, himself. He
gave her a BIG warm smile and said “Hi” to her. She remarked to me later that exactly the same thing happened to her when we went to hear Neal Donald Walsch, who wrote the Conversations With God books, in Winnipeg last year. She had an instant connecting brief conversation with Neil Donald Walsch, too. And I know of another time that has happened, with another spiritual leader — unplanned “Godwinks” we call them. They seem to be coincidences, but synchronicities are God putting us together in some impossible way.
Posted on December 9th
Hi,
Having listened to one of your songs few days ago, I was really amazed to find out who the artist was and luckly I found out that it was Steve Bell. You are truly amazing and I can not wait to buy your Symphony Sessions CD.
Wisth you all the best and good luck.
Tariq
Posted on November 26th
No fair! There aren’t any concerts around Central Ohio.
Posted on November 11th
Tell you what I’ll do. Give me a deserving and appreciative name, and I’ll submit that. As you have said yourself…I don’t care for GOOD guitars…
“The Princess” is still stinging from that…and just when she was coming out of her hardshell too…