Fingerpicking good: Cave Creek musician shines at festival
by LeeAnn Sharpe
CAVE CREEK – Forty years of playing the guitar has taken Cave Creek resident Greg Sabena, 51, to a good many music competitions and put him in league with some incredibly talented musicians.
Sabena admits he was once considered the type who “doesn’t play well with others,” but he played solo well enough recently to score a 2nd place award at the Wickenburg Bluegrass Festival. He qualified to win in the specialty instrument category because Sabena fingerpicks the strings rather than using a pick to play his guitar.
“When they don’t have a separate category for fingerpick guitar, you get grouped in specialty instruments,” Sabena says. “I play 6‑ and 12‑string guitar instrumental, totally self‑taught.”
Several thousand bluegrass music lovers attended the festival held Nov. 10‑11, which Sabena won in 2001.
Established 27 years ago, the festival featured the Four Corners championship contests this year for fiddle, flatpick guitar, banjo, mandolin and specialty instruments. The festival places autoharps, dulcimers, accordions, fingerpick guitars, harmonicas, the dobro, or any such folk instrument in the specialty category.
Contestants have three minutes to strum their stuff and hope to impress three “blind judges” who listen through headphones. The competition is done in this manner so the judges will not be influenced by the performers’ appearance.
“I’ve been heavily influenced by all of the masters of the 20th century and play most every style–a cross of classical, folk, jazz and bluegrass,” Sabena says of his style.
“The selection of music depends on the venue. Wickenburg is more a country and bluegrass event, where at the Nationals in Winfield, Kansas, I might play something more complicated.”
Sabena says, “I’ve done studio work for years. I’m not in a band. My kindergarten teachers said ‘doesn’t play well with others,’ so I’ve stayed solo.”
Although he performs most often in California, Sabena has played at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts and occasionally at the Cave Creek Coffee Company.
Reluctant to toot his own horn, Sabena didn’t offer his credentials. But an Internet search reveals a discography of his recordings, including a duet with National Champion Todd Halwell playing “Last Steam Engine Train”.
Guitar makers, also known as luthiers, boast that Sabena plays their instruments and include Lance McCollum of Dream Guitars in Colfax, Calif., and famed luthier Bozo Podunavac in Florida, endorsements that obviously influence guitarists aspiring to attain his level of virtuosity.
His concerts take him all over the Southwest and California for many music festivals and engagements. “Nothing in particular is on the schedule right now,” he says. “But I’m sure there will be more on the horizon.”
In a world electrified and amplified into a cacophony of sound, it’s refreshing to listen to the raw simple notes of fingerpicked guitar.
These days Sarena works at Blue Sage Art Gallery at el Pedregal in Carefree between gigs.
“I supplement the hundreds of dollars I make playing guitar every year by working here,” Sabena says, laughing.
Showing posts with label Wickenburg Bluegrass Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wickenburg Bluegrass Festival. Show all posts
Friday, December 22, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
2nd Annual Wild Western Festival Pioneer Living History Museum
The 2nd Annual Wild Western Festival came to Pioneer Living History Museum in North Phoenix at Pioneer Road and I-17 on Saturday and Sunday, September 23rd-24th. Thousands of western lifestyle enthusiasts came out to enjoy the beautiful fall Arizona weather and plenty of cowboy shootin’, hootin’ and hollarin’, cowboy music and good eats.
DR “Buck” Montgomery bills his event as “Where History meets Hollywood”. Stars of the old westerns including Whitey Hughes, Donna Martell, Peter Brown, Don Collier, Gregg Palmer, Bob Hoy, Marie Harmon, and authors Cheryl Rogers-Barnett and Charlie LeSueur were on hand to sign autographs.
One man from Wittman says he came in to see some of his favorite entertainers from the golden age of the silver screen. “It was a time when the western reigned and the cowboy code was the way we lived.” Donna Martel commented, “It was a simpler time.” Marie Harmon reminisced about all of the stars she had worked with, “So many are gone now.”
From the moment you entered the old west town, musicians greeted you with old west ballads. A mix of modern vendor booths selling everything from resort hotel vacations to guided desert excursions for tourist and beachfront properties in Mexico, stood next to the old west merchants with cowboy hats and sheriff stars for the kids. The big barbeque pit had burgers, dogs, ribs and chicken smelling mighty good. Traditional festival fare like snow cones and kettlekorn were doing a steady business too.
Decked out in classic cowgirl fringed riding skirt and shirt Pistol Packin’ Paula entertained a good-sized audience seated comfortably on the lawn. Her rope tricks, gun spinning and whip cracking had the crowds oohing and aaahing throughout her performance. After, she took time to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans.
Sourdough Slim and Dave Bourne took the stage at noon with a duet of piano and song. Bourne, known as the piano player in the HBO hit series “Deadwood” where his music is used as background in the Gem Saloon, showed his historian expertise as he told stories about each of the songs he played. Some were familiar, but most never made the top 40 list of hits, even back in 1880.
A nice group of award winning traditional cowboy musicians were on hand playing at one of three stages throughout the weekend. Paula Strong and Walt Richards were Western Music Association Best Duo Harmony of the Year in 2005, Tom Hiatt and the Sundown Riders, known as an Arizona Cowboy Balladeer, and Bill Barwick, “voice of the Western Channel” sang and told stories of the old west.
The World Champion Moontee Sinquah Indian Dancers and Flute player added to the traditional western flavor of the event.
Most popular were the gunfights in the old west town with Kowboy Kal, Joey Dillon, Gary “Bad Dog” Bennett, DR “Buck” Montgomery, and Pioneer’s stunt cowboys shooting it out. Crowds gathered early for seats in the grandstand or to stake out a place along the fence to catch the action up close. These gunfighters used more humor than fear in their act and the crowds enjoyed their antics.
All in all, it was a very worthwhile and entertaining festival of old west fun. A bit of advice if you attend next year, wear a hat. Even with the cooler temperatures, the sun was intense with little opportunity for shade. And drink plenty of water.
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DR “Buck” Montgomery bills his event as “Where History meets Hollywood”. Stars of the old westerns including Whitey Hughes, Donna Martell, Peter Brown, Don Collier, Gregg Palmer, Bob Hoy, Marie Harmon, and authors Cheryl Rogers-Barnett and Charlie LeSueur were on hand to sign autographs.
One man from Wittman says he came in to see some of his favorite entertainers from the golden age of the silver screen. “It was a time when the western reigned and the cowboy code was the way we lived.” Donna Martel commented, “It was a simpler time.” Marie Harmon reminisced about all of the stars she had worked with, “So many are gone now.”
From the moment you entered the old west town, musicians greeted you with old west ballads. A mix of modern vendor booths selling everything from resort hotel vacations to guided desert excursions for tourist and beachfront properties in Mexico, stood next to the old west merchants with cowboy hats and sheriff stars for the kids. The big barbeque pit had burgers, dogs, ribs and chicken smelling mighty good. Traditional festival fare like snow cones and kettlekorn were doing a steady business too.
Decked out in classic cowgirl fringed riding skirt and shirt Pistol Packin’ Paula entertained a good-sized audience seated comfortably on the lawn. Her rope tricks, gun spinning and whip cracking had the crowds oohing and aaahing throughout her performance. After, she took time to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans.
Sourdough Slim and Dave Bourne took the stage at noon with a duet of piano and song. Bourne, known as the piano player in the HBO hit series “Deadwood” where his music is used as background in the Gem Saloon, showed his historian expertise as he told stories about each of the songs he played. Some were familiar, but most never made the top 40 list of hits, even back in 1880.
A nice group of award winning traditional cowboy musicians were on hand playing at one of three stages throughout the weekend. Paula Strong and Walt Richards were Western Music Association Best Duo Harmony of the Year in 2005, Tom Hiatt and the Sundown Riders, known as an Arizona Cowboy Balladeer, and Bill Barwick, “voice of the Western Channel” sang and told stories of the old west.
The World Champion Moontee Sinquah Indian Dancers and Flute player added to the traditional western flavor of the event.
Most popular were the gunfights in the old west town with Kowboy Kal, Joey Dillon, Gary “Bad Dog” Bennett, DR “Buck” Montgomery, and Pioneer’s stunt cowboys shooting it out. Crowds gathered early for seats in the grandstand or to stake out a place along the fence to catch the action up close. These gunfighters used more humor than fear in their act and the crowds enjoyed their antics.
All in all, it was a very worthwhile and entertaining festival of old west fun. A bit of advice if you attend next year, wear a hat. Even with the cooler temperatures, the sun was intense with little opportunity for shade. And drink plenty of water.
###
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