Jorg Graf and new canadian videos

(This was written in summer 2011)



Last month I had the great honor of visiting Burnstown, Ontario, where I met Jorg Graf. Graf’s life story reads like a Defoe novel--the man has survived violent storms in his boat, he was swindled out of royalties from an incredible invention of his, and all the while he’s occupied a remarkable amount of positions as an engineer of all sorts. Recently, he’s turned his formidable talents to perfecting guitar tuning heads. I made the 8-hour trek up to his home (during which I struggled to repair my bank account, which had been the victim of some illegal transactions, and also  braved my first outbreak of hives), where he presented me with my own set of these wonderful pieces of technology, hand-engraved with my name and an inscription noting my being the recipient of the first-ever Graf-Juilliard award. Jorg set a friend and me up at another German ex-pat’shome/resort/cooking camp and the following night I played a concert at the Neat Cafe, owned by the absolutely wonderful Adam and Kim McKinty. This establishment is the cultural and culinary capital of the region, and they frequently host diverse and renowned musical acts in their intimate concert venue. From what I gathered, they had never hosted a classical musician before, and I was more than happy to initiate the crowd. Here are some videos from the event:

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