Red Wing Student Guitar Show at MSC Southeast features guitars, mandolins & more built by college students on May 7

Every year the Guitar Repair & Building students at Minnesota State College Southeast in Red Wing have the opportunity to hear their newly-built guitars and other acoustic instruments played in concert for the first time at the Student Guitar Show.

NEW THIS YEAR: This year's event will take place in the evening, on Monday, May 7, 2018 from 6 to 8 pm, making it possible for more area students and working adults to attend!

Jerry Kosak, Phil Heywood, Mike Cramer and Brian Wicklund will play the brand new acoustic instruments, giving students the thrill of hearing their instruments played on stage by expert professional musicians.

STUDENT GUITAR SHOW

Minnesota State College Southeast, Red Wing campus
Monday, May 7, 2018
6:00 to 8:00 pm
308 Pioneer Road, Red Wing, MN
Free and open to the public

As the academic year comes to a close, students in the college's lutherie programs are completing an array of new stringed instruments:

• First year Guitar Repair and Building program students build a flattop steel string guitar and have the option to build an electric guitar or bass. 
• Second year Guitar Development and Production students build at least one arched instrument -- such as an archtop guitar or a mandolin -- as well as acoustic and electric instruments of their own design. Their instruments may feature complex finishing techniques and inlay work. 

Spencer Connell is a first year student from Nashville, TN. He is a self-declared "Martin Nerd" and is building a dreadnought he calls a "cowboy guitar." Holding the work in progress, he says, "It's styled after an early D-18, 12 frets to the body, slotted headstock, mahogany back and sides, spruce top." We can expect a big sound from this instrument!

Mitchell Ogle is in second year guitar student and has developed a high level of skill, as shown in the inlay he designed for one of his guitars. "I decided to come to MSC Southeast from Vermont because it was the most in-depth program I could find, and I wanted to follow my guitar building passion to the greatest extent I could," he says. "My fingerboard inlays depict a progression of several different maple leaf species and an outline of the state, all cut from mother of pearl." 

About the Performers

Phil Heywood
Fingerstyle guitarist Phil Heywood has been based in Minneapolis-St. Paul since the mid-1980s, performing locally and regionally while also establishing himself in the greater guitar and acoustic music world. In 1986 he won the National Fingerpicking Championship, and followed up in 1987 by winning the American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival Competition. He plays with a bluesy swing and tone, lyricism, and groove.

Jerry Kosak
Jerry Kosak is a formidable guitarist from St. Paul who regularly performs, composes, and teaches in all styles --- roots and blues, rock, classical, and jazz. Dedication to and study of the wider continuum of music has enabled him to develop his own unique voice as a player and composer. He is equally comfortable with an acoustic, nylon string, electric, or resonator guitar in his hands.

Mike Cramer
Guitarist Mike Cramer is a music major from the University of Northern Iowa. His award-winning flatpicking technique has earned him championship titles in both the Minnesota State Fair Flatpicking Competition and Wisconsin's Upper-Midwest Flatpicking Contest. A fluid and powerful guitarist, Mike is as comfortable playing jazz standards as he is playing Bill Monroe instrumentals. He plays guitar in The Good Intentions and performs in a duo with Brian Wicklund.

Brian Wicklund
A veteran of top national bluegrass bands including Stoney Lonesome, The Barley Jacks, and Brother Mule, Brian Wicklund is an award winning musician and accomplished performer on many instruments, including mandolin. He is an expert teacher and the founder of American Fiddle Method and Fiddle Pals. He and Mike Cramer won first place in the 2017 Minnesota State Fair Americana-Roots Duet Contest, presented by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association.