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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 12:27:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Glenn Martin
Subject: Post to Forum?
To: dave van allen

Dave,
I was hoping to post this to the forum but I'm not a
member. Would you be willing to post it for me, and
Dean?
Thanks for your support,
Glenn

Dear forum members and supporters of the Steelin' For
Hearts Steel Guitar Jam,

My name is Glenn H. Martin and I am the co-chairman of
this event. I would like to respond to a few of the
things discussed on this forum that greatly concern
both Dean Black and myself. First let me begin by
saying that decisions made concerning an event this
big are not made willy nilly and a vast amount of time
and resources go into planning and pulling off this
Jam every year for the past 14 years. Litterally
hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars (which by
the way if the Jam is not successful will come out of
our own pockets). WE PERSONALLY DO NOT MAKE ONE RED
CENT. But could stand to loose a lot. This is not
something that is thrown together in a month. Dean, I,
and our small staff spend the entire year planning
this event, For who? Certainly not for us, (I don‚t
even play Pedal Steel) we do it for two reasons. The
first is a promise Dean (who was one of the original
organizers of the Jam) made to Sonny Hunley before he
died that he would keep this thing alive. The second
is so all the pedal steel players who could make it
could have a chance to meet and greet and play a
little and get to rub elbows with some of their heros.
Personally, I am involved out of my friendship and the
respect I have for Dean in taking on this charitable
event. We hope a majority of the people are glad that
we are fortunate enough to consistently get the cream
of the crop in pedal steel players that the people who
come might never get the chance to see never the less
get to meet. Yes we do pay some of these people to
perform but it is a nominal sum (I‚m sure much less
than they would get for even one hour of studio time).
These are people that you just can‚t go see locally.
Especially not all under one roof. We have been
fortunate enough to have hotel rooms donated for the
event and always research for the cheapest air fares.

As far as moving the Jam to the Birchmere. Latela‚s
was sold last year and we were informed that we would
not be able to have the Jam there. Plain and simple WE
LOST OUR VENUE. I guess we could have just called it
quits but to Dean that was not a viable alternative.
So we began looking for a new venue. Keep in mind many
large venues are open on Sunday for their regular
business. The Birchmere offered us a deal that was too
good to refuse and so we decided on a beautiful and
famous venue. We thought that sounded like a good
idea. It gave us the opportunity to expand into a
bigger and better event. Again for us? No...not for
us but for you.

The locals pickers (as we refer to them) that perform
are players who request a spot. We do not solicit for
these players. Everyone who has ever asked to play at
this jam was immediately put schedule (one of my
functions is to create the schedule). Last year Dean
gave up his spot on the schedule to a last minute
local picker (Al "Boo" Miller). He realized we were
getting more requests from the local pickers to play
and could'nt bring himself to deny anyone. This year
because of the increased interest of people who wished
to play, I (not Dean) put the names in a hat and
pulled out the people for this year and the remaining
names would play next year. We just have too many
pickers to cram into a one day event. Seemed like the
only fair thing to do. Were sorry if anyone felt
cheated. We really hated having to deny anyone, and
was one of our hardest decisions of this years Jam.

As for the admission price. Dean and I have it out
every year over the admission price. I always think it
should be more but he says NO! He always wins. I defy
anyone to find a better price for any show anywhere.
You would have to pay at least that much to see any
one of the big name performers that are on the bill
this year. Ticketmaster, well that came with the
Birchmere. Not a choice. We will be selling tickets at
the door as usual. So you can beat the extra charge.
Better yet, anyone who attends the Jam and is not
fully satisfied that the show was not worth the $25
admission please come see me and I will personally
refund your price of admission. And once again ALL the
proceeds go to charity. Plain and simple, there is no
other steel guitar convention that is non-profit.

I would like to also add that we are always looking
for people to be come involved with the Jam. If you
would like your opinions heard in a constructive
setting please come join us as a member of the staff.
We would like to extend an invitation for anyone who
would like to volunteer to help with either the
planning or the day of the Jam itself to please
contact either me 410-674-7346 or Dean 843-237-3555.
We have a very dedicated but very small staff and can
use all the help we can get. To be honest we have only
five or six people this year at the event because some
of our most valued staff members can not make it due
to unavoidable personal circumstances..

I hope this answers some of the questions/concerns
that some of you had. Why did WE change a good thing?
It seems to have kind of taken on a life of its own
and changed itself as it evolved into the event it has
become. We feel honored to be able to be a part of
such an event and feel it is something that many
people look forward to year after year and we hope
(with your support) to be able to continue for many
more years to come.

A special thanks to all the people who have supported
us over the years. We could not do this without you.

We realize we can't please everyone but we sure as
hell give it our very best shot.

Thanks,
Glenn H. Martin
Co-chairman
Steelin' For Hearts Steel Guitar Jam

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quote:

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As far as moving the Jam to the Birchmere. Latela‚s was sold last year and we were informed that we would not be able to have the Jam there. Plain and simple WE
LOST OUR VENUE.

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