48.0°,
Overcast New York Guitar Expo features Les Paul’s collection
Running his fingers over the guitar strings, he held his breath. “It’s as if I’m touching rock ’n’ roll history,” said Duncan Faure, former front man of the Bay City Rollers.
At this year’s eighth New York Guitar Expo, held at the Freeport Recreation Center in Freeport last weekend, the collection of Les Paul, one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar and the inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul, was on display. Dozens of attendees had the opportunity not only to see Paul’s memorabilia and guitars, but also to play a few chords or songs on them, too.
For the past eight years, Rockville Centre native Richard Johnson has organized the guitar expo in Freeport, and welcomed hundreds of musicians for two days of guitar heaven.
The expo is known for its eclectic collection of vintage guitars and renowned vendors like Sadowsky Guitars, famous for its handmade guitars, basses and archtops, and Taylor Guitars, known for its acoustic and electric guitars used by bands like U2 and soloists like Taylor Swift.
The recreation center, it seemed, was one big jam session. Farmingdale father and son Ken and Christian Hunter were seen perusing guitar picks. With a laugh, Ken, a guitarist, said he brought his son to the expo to expose him to the world of guitars and give Christian a chance to experiment musically beyond the piano, which he plays. On any given day, Ken said that he and Christian jam out, but on the Saturday afternoon, the two were just excited to hang out among other musicians.
Since its inception, Johnson’s vision for the expo has been to foster a community of musicians that welcomes not only locals, but guitarists from New York City and Connecticut. Last year, Long Islanders were able to meet Arlen Roth, a musician known for his work with musical legends including Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and James Taylor.
In the recreation center lobby, Freeporter Al Vinciguerra and O.J. Divietro, of East Islip, sat on the floor in front of the Taylor Guitars display and played “Mystery Train,” a song popularized by Elvis Presley.
“It’s nice for us to show up here,” David Kaye, of Taylor Guitars, said. “We get to show our new products and let people play guitar for a while.”
