On August 30th, at 7pm, a large crowd gathered into the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara to enjoy good music & support music education for kids. Last year we decided to put on a benefit for Notes for Notes, a local group that empowers kids to explore making music to their hearts desire. They can take home instruments, practice together & record in a studio. Steve Miller played and we ended up raising over $50,000 which funded Notes for Notes for a year and allowed them to open an entirely new program in Nashville. This year grammy award winning band Los Lobos and guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa agreed to play the show.

In the backstage the kids got the oppurtunity to learn from the masters. Pictured here you can see Cesar Rosas showing a Notes for Notes student some tips on playing guitar. Being able to take lessons directly from well known artists was just one of the great highlights of the night for the Notes for Notes students.

Prior to the performances Seymour Duncan CEO and co-founder Cathy Carter Duncan took the stage to sum up why we do what we do. “It is with a great deal of serendipity that we ended up here in Santa Barbara and it is for all of us to treasure that, to smile upon it, to nourish it and give back to music education. That is what Notes for Notes is about, that is what this concert is about and that is what we are about.” After her comments the kids of Notes for Notes took the stage and played an impressive array of musical genres from acoustic medleys to Metallica’s Fade To Black.
Next up was Joe Bonamassa and his acoustic guitar. Few people can entertain as well as Joe with only an acoustic and Joe never disappoints – going from one song that was a deeply and slow moving blues number to a lighting fast number that would have made you think he was playing a Tele with a full backing band.

Los Lobos then took the stage and with the backing of their full band put on many of their hits.  After a couple songs they launched into a specially dedicated version of “Maricela” for MJ of the Custom Shop. About half way through the show Cesar called Joe Bonamassa back out to play and they launched into “Hey Joe” with ample breaks for Cesar, David and Joe to wail off into guitar solos. They then played their hit version of “La Bamba” and finished strong. Here are the highlights from the grammy award winning Back Beat:

After the show the guitar that was played by David Hidalgo was auctioned off and the bidding was closed for the many other items that were donated to be auctioned. It was a gear lovers dream, with dozens of cool items, effects pedals and guitars that were signed by famous artists. Here is a list of the cool stuff that was donated to us for the benefit:

Washburn^® Idol Pro Electric Guitar

Schecter^® Solo Omen 6

Dunlop Joe Bonamassa Wah – Signed by Joe

Dunlop Joe Bonamassa Fuzz Face – Signed by Joe

ESP^® Guitar Signed by a Bunch of Rock Stars

D’Addario / Planet Waves Acoustic Guitar Pack

D’Addario / Planet Waves Electric Guitar Pack

Traveler Guitar^® EG-1 with Seymour Duncan Pickup

LÂG^® T100DCE Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin 

Gibson Raw Power SG

Fender^® Standard Stratocaster^® Signed by Jim Messina with Seymour Duncan Pickups

Iron Maiden Memorabilia 

Bedell Inspiration Series Acoustic Guitar Signed by Crosby, Stills & Nash

Seymour Duncan Joe Bonamassa Custom Shop Pickup Set

Seymour Duncan Lava Box Distortion Pedal

Seymour Duncan Woody Acoustic Guitar Pickup

Zoom G2 Multi Effects Pedal

Zoom G1XN Multi Effects Pedal

Oscar Schmidt OU2 Concert Ukulele

Gretsch^® Boxcar™ Resonator Guitar

Fender^® Squier^® Affinity Package

Lunch, Guitar Lesson, and Custom Pickups with Seymour W. Duncan!

Thanks to all who participated, it’s always something special for us to help give back to the community and the next generation of musicians.
For more information on Notes for Notes, click here.