by Staff.
Paul Reed Smith rockin' at the Experience PRS 2009 trade show -Photo courtesy: Guitar International
For the third year in a row the Paul Reed Smith has pulled out the stops for a full force gale of a guitar company trade show near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Stevensville, Maryland. He’d told many of us that his Thursday night party would have some special guests, but nobody really expected to see the likes of Carlos Santana and Buddy Guy at was essentially a private party. And the two were absolutely superb together according to everyone who attended – talk about a perfect storm of Latin and Blues fusion.
Word from the PRS staff was that the event hosted over 1,700 guests that included PRS dealers and distributors, celebrity guest performers, the media and PRS devotees. Almost every where you looked you could catch a glimpse of birds and moons, the featured inlays on PRS guitars. And coincidently, a large flock of birds circled over the PRS tents during the late afternoon on Friday and later PRS aficionados could look up and catch a half-moon holding steady among a sweep of clouds.
Nick Catanese (Black Label Society) and Paul Reed Smith at their Story Telling Session - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
Electric Mary guitarist Irwin Thomas - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
Bug Henderson's cranks out a few riffs at Experience PRS 2009 - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
Duff (Ace of Cakes) plays a set at Experience PRS 2009 - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
Handling the daunting complexity of logistics was the steady pilot of the event, Beverly Fowler, who has coordinated the event for PRS since the first Experience PRS in 2007. Bev’s always upbeat, but incredibly organized and focused…but, then there she is running around in her bare feet. She must be a country girl at heart.
The celebrity list included the great Bugs Henderson, David Grissom, Nick Catanese (Black Label Society), the Australian rockers Electric Mary, Dweezil Zappa, the Paul Reed Smith Band, pickin’ wizard Johnny Hiland, Mike Scott (Justin Timberlake), Howard Leese (Heart), Bugs Henderson, Simon McBride, David Grissom, Jim McCarty (Cactus), Nicky Moroch (David Sanborn), Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake) and more.
Pete Robinson, guitarist with the Australian rockers Electric Mary - Photo courtesy of Guitar International
Flash picker Johnny Hiland - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
Nick Catanese (Black Label Society) and Derek Van Holmes - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
Celtic guitar artist, Tony McManus, wowed the PRS audience - Photo courtesy: Guitar International
