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Luckenbach is ‘Pickin’ for the Record’
Did you know there is a Guinness World Record for Largest Guitar Ensemble? Well, there is. And it’s not held by the Gypsy Kings. Actually, it’s held by “the Germans,” according to a press release we received today.
Regardless of who holds the record, it seems like Texas should own the damn thing. That’s why the Kerrville Folk Festival and Cheatham Street Warehouse have teamed up with historic Luckenbach to break the record while benefiting the Voices of a Grateful Nation Project, a group that assists the troops and their families.
OK, the details. The record as it stands now is 1,802 guitar players picking simultaneously. So, the folks in Luckenbach are calling on all guitar players, even those who can only play a handful of chords, to register to break the record and then head out to Luckenbach on August 23 to try and set the bar so high that nobody can top it.
The current record was set while the aforementioned 1,802 pickers played “Smoke on the Water” on June 26, 2007, in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany, led by the band Party Blues in Bb. Oh, the Germans. What fairly simple tune should the Texas group select as its record setter? “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”? “Home on the Range”? Or, maybe the obvious, “Luckenbach, Texas,” led by Willie Nelson or Shooter Jennings? Register by July 15 at the Voices of a Grateful Nation Project Web site.
Check out what appears to be video of the current record holders doing their thing.
The video below seems to be of a group in Poland trying to claim the record earlier this year. And failing. Hmm. I smell a controversy. If anything it may be the Guinness Record of people butchering the lyrics of a Deep Purple song. (Be the 17th person to ever watch it … now!)
And now, just for grins … Waylon and Willie and the boys …
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By Uh-huh Jackson
June 10, 2009 11:12 AM | Link to this
Watch the beginning of video from Germany again. There’s a damned key-tar on stage. I think that’s grounds for disqualification.
By Dana
August 24, 2009 11:35 AM | Link to this
THEY DID IT! Congrats to Texas and all those that participated yesterday. My daughter notified me there were 1859 and that it was awesome to hear that many acoustics together.