Saturday, February 25, 9am-12:45pm
At The Music Center, Fremont Street adjoining the Davidson Building at Kellogg Community College.
Community Music School presents its second annual GuitarFest on February 25, from 9 am to 12:45 pm. Musicians can register for $20 before February 18 by calling 269/963-1911 ext. 2585, or for $25 the week of GuitarFest and at the door beginning at 8:15. Guests are encouraged to bring guitars to play along, but are also welcome to come just listen and observe. There will be topics for all skill levels.
The event will feature workshops by Community Music School faculty as well as guest artist Geoff Stockton, with a closing session featuring performances and a raffle drawing for guitar accessories prizes. Geoff Stockton has over 20 years of guitar experience, including performance and teaching, and is experienced across a wide variety of styles – from classical to electronic.
Event sponsors are GHS Strings and Rocktron, with prizes provided by GHS Strings. Students registering for lessons the day of GuitarFest will receive a 10% discount. For questions or to register, contact Ayesha Franklin, Community Music School - Battle Creek Coordinator by phone at 269/963-1911 ext. 2585 or by e-mail at cmsbc@musiccenterscmi.com.
$20 through February 18, $25 after.
How to register
Download the registration form, and then:
Call Community Music School (269/963-1911 ext. 2585) or register at the door.
Visit one of our locations:
PO Box 1613, Battle Creek, 49016
209 West Green Street, Hastings 49058
101 East Mansion Street, Marshall 49068
Geoff Stockton, 34 years old, is a 
professional musician with 23 years of guitar experience and ten years of music teaching experience. He has played with many bands of various styles including rock, blues, jazz, Latin, funk, soul, country and bluegrass. He's also a composer of classical pieces and a producer of electronic music.
He has played on bills with artists such as Mickey Dolenz, Lou Graham, Maceo Parker, the Rippingtons and he served briefly as a guitarist for Robert Bradley. While remaining largely self-taught, Geoff Stockton is known amongst his professional peers as well as the YouTube jazz guitar community as something of a guru in the areas of theory, composition and improvisation.
He is currently authoring an instructional series of guitar books as well as educational jazz material for all instruments. Dozens of jazz improvisation lessons of his can be found on his YouTube channel, and home recordings are available on MySpace.
Michael Siegel of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has been building and 
repairing guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, and various other fretted stringed instruments since 1989. A guitar player since early childhood, the construction of guitars has always been a passionate interest. After playing many fine guitars, he took a keen interest on what made them play so nice and sound so good. After reading every book he could find and exploring how to obtain tools and materials, he embarked on an acoustic steel string guitar fashioned after his beloved Martin D-18. That guitar exceeded his expectations and he has been hooked on crafting instruments ever since.
Hallway Displays by Mike Siegel, luthier, and Rich Butler, The String Collection
Session 1
- Songwriting and Arranging (Geoff Stockton)
- Bass Guitar (Ed Swarthout)
- Fiddle Tunes for Guitar (Steven Williams)
- Campfire Songs (Steve Youngs/Laurie Elmen)
- Exploring American Folk Instruments: slide guitar and auto chord (Rocky Newsome)
- Blues (Doug Acker)
- Introduction to Fingerstyle Guitar (Jim Kuch)
Session 2
- Ornamental Improvisation (Geoff Stockton)
- Bass Guitar (Ed Swarthout)
- Unlocking the Mystery of Jazz Chords (Steven Williams)
- Exploring American Folk Instruments: banjo and mandolin (Rocky Newsome)
- Blues (Doug Acker)
- Campfire Songs 2 (Steve Youngs/Laurie Elmen)
- Steel String Guitar Construction (W. Michael Siegel)
Closing Session
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