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A guitar made from pieces of Wayne Gretzky鈥檚 hockey stick, Pierre Trudeau鈥檚 canoe paddle, and one of Maurice Richard鈥檚 Stanley Cup rings is on Vancouver Island this week for a series of performances at middle schools.
Voyageur is the name of the 鈥渘ational guitar鈥� at the centre of the Six String Nation project, a 70-minute multi-media presentation going to schools across the country.
The guitar is the property of Jowi Taylor, a former CBC host from Toronto who has been travelling with the instrument to events across sa国际传媒 since 2006.
The guitar is constructed from 63 elements representing various provinces and territories in sa国际传媒 鈥� including a stone from Gimli, Man., and pieces of a tree from sa国际传媒鈥檚 Yakoun River.
Wood from Fan Tan Alley in Victoria is also included.
The guitar is housed in a case that includes parts of ballerina Karen Kain鈥檚 costume, Don Cherry鈥檚 pants and Commander Chris Hadfield鈥檚 spacesuit patch, and comes with a guitar strap with material from a badge worn in Princess Patricia鈥檚 Canadian Light Infantry and cloth from a Japanese-Canadian baseball team circa 1914.
The point is to get audiences thinking about the diverse nature of sa国际传媒, and how intermingling parts of various backgrounds can produce a harmonious sound.
Taylor鈥檚 tour of Vancouver Island got underway Monday with stops at North Saanich Middle School and Bayside Middle School, followed by a performance Tuesday before 250 guests at Government House.
His itinerary continues through the week, with stops today (Colquitz Middle School, Glanford Middle School, Berwick Retirement Community), Thursday (Shoreline Community Middle School, Rockheights Middle School), and Friday (Spencer Middle School, Journey Middle School) around Greater Victoria.
His presentation is always a big hit with audiences, as he gives school staff and students the opportunity to play the guitar.
Taylor doesn鈥檛 play Voyageur during his presentation, but he encourages others to do so. 鈥淭his allows me to put the ownership in their hands.鈥�
Over the years, the guitar has been played by everyone from Stompin鈥� Tom Connors to Gordon Lightfoot.
And while the roots of the project are in sa国际传媒 鈥� Voyageur was built by Nova Scotia luthier George Rizsany, who has made guitars for Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones 鈥� Taylor isn鈥檛 a stickler for Can-Con when it comes to music.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important they play something that resonates with them,鈥� he says.
鈥淚f that happens to be a current pop hit, they should try it.鈥�
Taylor has created an in-class component teachers can later apply, if they choose.
What he accomplishes during his hour with students is enough of a reward for Taylor.
鈥淧eople come up and say the most wonderful and profound things afterwards. They are so heartfelt, you realize that you鈥檝e made an important connection.鈥�