Flaxwood made its debut at the Texas Guitar Show in Arlington, Texas, this October, which is, ostensibly, the world's largest guitar show; some say the Dallas show is bigger, but hey, this is Texas; everything is BIG there...

Ed Klein, our Southwest Distributor, had done a great job getting things arranged, and we spent the next three days spreading the Flax-gospel in the Lone Star State and beyond. Ed also devised a local marketing ploy, stooping to the lowest form of marketing, recruiting Pamela Evans to hostess our stand.

It worked.

(Err...see her picture and you'll understand why).

Thus equipped with this very charming southern bombshell we set out to conquer the vintage guitar heathens that roamed the halls. Because "vintage" was decidedly the mot du jour, wonderful guitars of all makes and epochs, truly a fabulous display of craftsmanship over the decades, we were, without doubt, travelers from the future at the show, but hey, we love a challenge, don't we, Pamela?

Initially skeptical roamers walked by our stand and eyed us with vintage suspicion, but gradually a few of the more daring axmen ventured in and tried our guitars, and voilá! - as always, our guitar is its own best ambassador. Word spread that the aliens at the end of the hall actually have a pretty cool guitar, and the flow of visitors increased day by day. Ed's musician friends from Dallas showed up (Bryan, Craig and others), and quicker than you can say "the one who dies with the most guitars wins", our stand was receiving local musicians of real caliber. So much so that Mr. Bugs Henderson himself eventually showed up, and duly fell in love with our P90-equipped LIEKKI model.

Bugs, for the uninitiated, is The Man, down Texas-way. Guitar Player magazine claims he is a "national treasure", and over the years he has opened for the likes of Van Halen, the Allman Brothers, B.B King, and Leon Russell, and at some point in his long career played with just about everybody else as well. (Pamela said he had nice legs... but that's just cuz she hasn't seen mine right after I've waxed...).

Being myself uninitiated in the Bugs lore, I did however quickly catch on to him being Top Gun down there, as every time he showed up he had a trail of autograph-seekers, babies were thrust into his arms, and group pictures taken. Anyway, the end result of all this was that Bugs Henderson is now an avid Flaxwood owner and player, and a fine addition he is to this growing and increasingly glorious roster. Welcome, Bugs!

Guitar legend Bugs Henderson with his new Flaxwood Liekki

We spent an unforgettable night with Ed and his darling Robyn down at legendary "Gilley's" (Dallas), a club that is probably the world's most famous C&W joint, the original location having been made world famous also by the '70's Travolta film "Urban Cowboy." Up on stage was the Chris Rivers Band, and they sounded GREAT. I told the guys later that I was blown away by their professionalism; you could have hooked up a feed to national television, and it would have flown very well; perfect pitch singing, exceptional playing, an excellent sound engineer, but most importantly a great feeling, great two-steppers on the floor (aged between 18 and 75) and just an all-round great time.

Bryan Grenvall crowned the night by playing two Flaxwoods on stage, and he played some slide on the Laine that had my hair on end. We later met up with the whole band, and I have rarely felt so welcomed and honoured; go Chris Rivers Band! Make sure you go see them when in Dallas, you won't regret it!

Bryan Grenvall of the Chris Rivers Band playing a Liekki
at legendary bar Gilley's Dallas, Saturday night, October 18, 2008 

We wound up the Guitar show, selling several guitars for cash (which is always nice), picking up new dealers, and meeting reps we will explore hooking up with.

Tired but happy, we headed for a great seafood meal in Dallas (yes, Dallas really has great seafood at the "Oceanaire"), and next morning after another admittedly glorious American Breakfast (cholesterol laced with sugars and free radicals), Ed drove me to the airport, from whence I headed to LA and another guitar fest in Tokyo.

But that's another report that still needs to be written - check in for that soon!

BIG THANKS to all my wonderful Texan friends, new and old!

Ed (you're always there, organized, reliable, and full of a great positive energy), Robyn (Ed' a lucky man), Bryan & Craig (you guys rock!), and a special hug goes to Pamela, a.k.a. Miss Flaxwood USA: I could spend any amount of time with you just giggling at... well just about anything, but especially guitarists (note: I'm a keyboard player myself); Pamela, you clearly know how to awaken my "inner idiot", thank you for that. You are hereby unanimously declared Miss Flaxwood USA for the next four years (after which you will need to campaign for re-election...although we all know the incumbent always has the advantage!).

Over and out,

Kim Lerche

Saturday Night, October 18, 2008, Gilley's Dallas:
From left to right - Carol Langford, Ed, Craig Langford (of Craig's Music Hut and bass player for the Chris Rivers Band), Bryan Grenvall (guitar player for the Chris Rivers Band) & Kim