Ken Lelen Combo
Spring 2011 Virginia-North Carolina Tour

Monday, April 4, 2011 to Saturday, April 9, 2011

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We entertained 300 people at five concerts in six days.

I performed with five guitars: 1926 Maurer #493; 1937 Kalamazoo KG-21 (Riggs); 1933

Martin OM-18 (Sandburg); 1938 B&D Groton 1 flat-top; and 1939 B&D Groton 2 arch-top.

Monday, 4 April 2011
Lakewood Manor, Richmond, VA

With 500 residents, Lakewood Manor is a big continuing care retirement facility set in Richmond's northwest suburbs. Twice a year for about five years I've filled Simms Center auditorium. Our 50-minute concert was no less successful even as we emphasized swing tunes from the 1940s in a 13-song set.

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Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Hanson & Crawford, Raleigh, NC

1939 B&D
Groton 2 archtop

Today I picked up my B&D Groton 2 from Hanson & Crawford luthiers in Raleigh, NC who had made repairs to its frets, bridge, saddle and braces. A 153/4-inch archtop made by the Regal Co. of Chicago circa 1939, it is the sibling instrument to my B&D Groton 1, a 15-inch. flattop also made by the Regal Co. circa 1938.

     For more about the B&D Groton 1, see my posting of Saturday, January 15, 2011, "My first vintage acoustic guitar," in this website's Guitars section.

     Built with a solid spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides, the B&D Groton 2 archtop had received a sloppy neck re-set and other repairs by Ithaca Guitar Works in Ithaca, NY prior to my acquiring the instrument in 2009. Thus, the need for a partial refret and set-up work by Hanson & Crawford.

      Alas, with all its buzzing, plinky treble and lacklustre tone, the geometry of the fingerboard is still not right. It may need a full refret, which would include planing of the fingerboard and installing new frets.

Springmoor, Raleigh, NC

In the past five years I've been blessed to play many times for a good-sized crowd of friendly people at this CCRC located in Raleigh's northern suburbs. This time was no different as I played a 70-minute, 15-song concert played for about 85 people. Considering the enthusiasm of the people visiting the stage at the end of the concert, this event could have gone half again as long. What a pleasure.

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Wednesday, 6 April 2011

Stewart Health Center, Charlotte, NC

Stewart is a 50-unit skilled nursing facility I've played here two or three times a year for the past decade. At this event we pulled about 25 people to my 17-song, 60-minute concert. We got people singing, humming along and tapping their feet to the music. Things were going along just swell until Virginia, one of the health care aides at Stewart, joined in with her free-form dance. Then, the crowd lit up even more!

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Thursday, 7 April 2011

Southminster, Charlotte, NC

When I first I played this community two years ago I discovered an audience of sophisticated, independent-minded people. The songs they liked, the questions they asked and the humor the enjoyed — all indicated a high level of taste and interest. Tonight's event was another fun concert as I played 17 jazz and swing tunes in a 70-minute program. I also told a few stories about Swing Shift Maisies of WWII and Skating Vanities of 1946. 

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Friday, 8 April 2011

Carl Sandburg Home, Flat Rock, NC

1933 Martin OM-18 (Sandburg)

Ever since I acquired a 1933 Martin OM-18 guitar once owned by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), I've been determined to learn as much as I can about the man who famously was a poet, folksinger, biographer and womanizer.

     See posting for Wednesday, July 28, 2010, "Carl Sandburg and his Hollywood liaison," in the Newsletter section of this website.

     I visited the Sandburg home because I want to document that part of his life associated with the guitar, which he bought at a Los Angeles pawn shop in 1957 or 1958. What was the 80-year old poet doing in L.A. at that time? Visiting his lady friend Mildred Loewenthal née Norton (1910 - 2001) and consulting on movie scripts with Hollywood producers.

     This was my first visit to the Sandburg Home, which is owned and managed by the National Park Service and set atop 264 acres in North Carolina's western foot hills. It maintains the Sandburg family's personal belongings, library, furnishings, Mrs. Sandburg's goat farm, and some — but not all — of Sandburg's papers.

     On a splendid spring afternoon I worked indoors with curators Ashley Tate and Miriam Ferris at the Museum Preservation Center where thousands of Sandburg documents are stored. Together we poured through hundreds of letters as well as carbon copies of letters sent to or from Sandburg and his family by his literary agent Lucy Kroll and other correspondents. To my delight, a few letters shed new light on Sandburg's female relationships and on his guitar playing.

     Sandburg owned and played dozens of guitars during his lifetime. Late in life he favored classical guitars because they were easier to play than steel-stringed instruments and to honor Andrés Segovia, his musical ami. When he passed away he left behind six instruments, which the Park Service possesses. Still, mine is the only one with such fascinating provenance, including hand-written love notes from Sandburg to Norton.

     My goal is to document Sandburg's work in Hollywood, his guitar playing and his relationship with Norton. Likewise, I want to locate documents, photographs and ephemera relating to this specific instrument. My findings from this day of research at the Sandburg Home will be displayed in the Journal section of this website at a future time.

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Saturday, 9 April 2011

The Glebe, Daleville, VA

This was my first visit to the Glebe, a sprawling CCRC set along the Blue Ridge in western Virginia. We had a meager crowd of 25 people at a Saturday afternoon event at which we played 18 songs played in a 75-minute concert. However, we expect to attract a bigger crowd in October when we return for a mid-week, evening concert.
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                 © 2011 Kenneth Lelen - All Rights Reserved