This summer’s Six String Nation tour centered around an acoustic guitar constructed from over 60 pieces of Canadian history and lore by master luthier George Rizsanyi. More than just a tour, this project was the brainchild of CBC Radio’s Jowi Taylor. His goal was to bring people together through music and storytelling. The guitar comes with some stories of its own — from the bit of gold inlay from the Stanley Cup rings worn by the ‘55-’56 Montreal Canadiens to the 300-year-old albino Sitka spruce felled by a madman and mandated by the local Haida to be allowed to return to the earth, until they granted Taylor and Rizsanyi permission to cut from it to form the body of the guitar. And the musicians who participated in the tour were right for the project, too. I found out about it as I came across a recording of Justin Rutledge’s performance of "Don’t Be Mean, Jellybean" at Toronto’s Cameron House. He prefaces the song by saying "We’re all members of the Six String Nation" and the audience joins in after the first verse for an unplugged sing-along that had me singing along at home (and fighting back tears, I’m such a sap).

The  Six String Nation site has a tour blog, podcasts, and "guitar explorer" which details the various elements of the guitar.

Justin Rutledge’s MySpace page has the recording of "Don’t Be Mean, Jellybean".

Sam Cannon