Free Guitars 4 Kids lives up to its name, responds to request from Ashland Schools Foundation
By Damian Mann for Ashland.news
Nothing can stop Jonah Infinity Palombo from “shredding” his new guitar at home.
The Ashland High School freshman is one of many Ashland students who are blown away by a recent donation of 90 new acoustic, electric, bass and classical guitars.
“My first thought was, how do we get all those guitars here and for free?” Palombo said. “I’m just dumbfounded by that.”
In March, the Ashland Schools Foundation reached out to a national nonprofit organization, Free Guitars 4 Kids, which responded quickly.
Within a little over a week, 85 of the guitars were taken home by the students. Electric guitars even came with their own amps and other accessories.
“Being able to practice at home is a big thing,” said Palombo, who is trying to start his own band and has been working on his rock moves.
The whammy bar on his guitar allows him to practice a technique Jimi Hendrix helped pioneer, the “dive bomb.”
Palombo said he’s hoping to hone his guitar skills for next year’s “Clash in the Quad,” where students perform a variety of musical styles from jazz to metal in front of throngs of other students.
Ashland High held the third annual Clash in the Quad last Friday, also sponsored by the Ashland Schools Foundation. Bands win based on how loud the applause level is when they’re done playing.
Erica Thompson, executive director of the Ashland Schools Foundation (ASF), said the project began when an Ashland Middle School teacher wanted to know how to fund a class set of acoustic guitars to start a club in the fall.
Other schools throughout the district also needed guitars.
She did some research and contacted Minnesota-based Free Guitars 4 Kids.
ASF worked with music educators in the Ashland School District to develop a proposal for instruments for all grade levels. After gauging student interest, a request for 90 instruments was submitted in late March.
“We were amazed to hear back the following week that our request was going to be fulfilled,” said Thompson. “We still didn’t fully know what to expect, right up until the truck arrived.”
A FedEx truck filled front-to-back with instrument boxes arrived at Ashland High School a few weeks later.
Ivan Olinghouse, band director at Ashland High, said, “The most unexpected thing was that every guitar came with not only an amp, cable, strap and bag, but also a gift card for three months of free lessons,” he said. “Prior to this, we were unable to send any guitars home with students.”
Olinghouse, already a busy teacher, now happily takes on some extra work helping students tune their new guitars.
He said he buys strings for the guitars in bulk, adding he can keep costs down when he buys them by the hundreds.
Olinghouse said it will be invaluable for his eager students to get additional practice at home. “This is going to have such an impact on so many students.”
Free Guitars 4 Kids fundraises and partners with major instrument manufacturers to place new quality instruments in the hands of young people across the country.
“Music transcends barriers, and every child deserves the chance to explore its transformative power,” said Benjamin Dudley, executive director of Free Guitars for Kids.
Aidan Keith, an Ashland High freshman, said he was playing bass guitar, but his new Fender Stratocaster will help improve his skills with six strings instead of four.
He said he’s a “decent” bass player and plays some soft rock but hopes to get into heavy metal, so he appreciates having a new guitar and also the amp.
“This enables me to learn more songs,” he said.
Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.
