Flowers of New Zealand
Moments of Clarity as GillaCamp Goes to New Zealand!
by Richard Gilewitz
Greetings once again and a warm hello to my old and new friends in the beautiful country of New Zealand! Right up front I want to thank Gill Winter of Flying Piglet Productions for a third invite back in nearly as many years.
Due to a shift in career choice made roughly twenty years ago, I still can't say enough about my great fortune to travel and experience the world. Working in the computer industry just did not sit well with me, as my ticket to ride and a beckoning down another road became a moment, or I should say, a period of my existence that seems like both yesterday and in another life all at once. In other words, it sometimes feels as if in a single lifetime I have already become my own Twilight Zone movie!
Back in the late 80s, I could not have possibly predicted that walking away from my career in flight simulation and telemetry satellite systems to begin touring in a beat-up Toyota Corolla station wagon would eventually lead me toward this moment of standing in the mud at a friend of a friend’s farm on the other side of the world – feeding an emu a loaf of bread!
Richard attempts to feed an emu.
Such moments seem to repeat themselves. After three visits to the other side of the world, I have come to believe that I have actually “met someone who knew someone” or performed for practically half of the cast of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It took this third visit to realize that seemingly half the population of New Zealand was involved in the films in some fashion. A friend there claimed that when the films were released it was nearly impossible for him to sit through a showing in New Zealand, as every three minutes someone in the theatre would call out, "There I am!” Imagine that...for three hours.
Until I returned to the USA and viewed my extensive photo collection, I did not realize that there were so many shades of green in a country located in the opposite hemisphere from Ireland. Along with getting yet another kick out of some of the amazing creatures indigenous to the land of the kiwis, I never tire of the expanses of space from mountains and forests to beaches and plains.
Scenery 1
Scenery 2
Blue Penguins hanging out.
Alpaca stare-down.
Seal lazing in the sun
Throughout my musical career, due to strong industry sponsor support with Mel Bay at the helm, I am so fortunate to be in a position to '”pass the torch” of the style of music I have embraced since I was a preteen. “Varied” would be the best way to describe my musical taste, ranging from the music of J.S. Bach and Spanish classical guitar to blues, traditional folk and, as John Fahey once called it, American primitive. In a nutshell, we can just call it fingerstyle guitar - an amalgamation of arpeggio and banjo-style patterns, all rolled into one universal language.
Richard performs in an 1850’s church.
Farewell split nature tour
After several tours in North America and around the world, I began to notice that no matter if I played in Jupiter, Florida, Quebec City, Canada, or the Orkney Islands in Scotland, the questions from guitar players were virtually the same, ranging from fingernail care and hand positions to open tunings, slide playing, tapping, tone, composition, or burnout.
Wanting to share my discoveries, I collaborated with Mel Bay Publications to produce a book entitled Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar Workshop based on my collections of such queries and my responses. In addition to a multitude of States-side dealer clinic programs conducted for over a decade, I have already hosted several three-day fingerstyle guitar camps around the country from Florida to Ohio and on to California. Following my second tour of New Zealand, Steve Johnson of the Mainly Acoustic Music Club who had attended one of my concerts in Upper Hutt, approached me with the idea of his outfit hosting one of these events during my third visit to his country. Steve claims that no less than 50 emails (no, not emus! ) were exchanged between us over a year-long period during his efforts to arrange my first New Zealand GillaCamp.
Gilewitz powdering up before GillaCamp.
GillaCamper taking notes.
Just as I suspected, the New Zealand attendees were no different than students at my other seminars I’d conducted. The sharing of music, newly formed friendships and associations, and a few laughs allowed us to quickly bond as a group. Eventually, everyone had a chance to take a turn in the “hot seat” and perform a tune or two for the group. Shy players came out of their shells, hesitant players asked rapid- fire questions, and performers finally relaxed ...wait, no they DIDN'T! It also was encouraging to see that the same format, exercises and philosophies worked just as well on the other side of the globe as they did in Gilroy, California, otherwise known as “The Garlic Capital of the World”.
Preparing for the Hot Seat
Sharing a tip at GillaCamp
I am also grateful that Steve's group was generous and thoughtful enough to offer financial aid to a few area schools, and for arranging for three students to attend the camp. The NZ GillaCamp sported a diverse group of players including: university students, a doctor and her music teacher who both signed up after attending my concert at the Fairfield House in Nelson, a professor of applied language studies and linguistics from the University of Auckland, and several members of the Mainly Acoustic Club.
NZ GillaCamp gang
The return flight was peaceful enough and I was inspired to watch all three Lord of the Rings films. With arrival in the US closer than the movie finish, I unsuccessfully tried to enlist the help of the flight attendant in convincing the pilots to circle the San Francisco airport so I could finish watching the last of the three films. I also failed in my attempt to get her to announce over the intercom, as a joke, that we would be delayed. Some folks just don't want to have fun, but I guess thirteen hours in the air is enough. One thing is for sure - I can't get enough of New Zealand and I can't wait to make a fourth trip.
Walrus laughing at a Gilewitz joke.
I must also thank some of my other sponsors for going above and beyond the call of duty in support of my tour including D'Addario Strings/Planet Waves for their enormous International attempt to 'hook me up” with some cables through one of their dealers in New Zealand, LR Baggs for their wonderful pickups and DI that saved my sound on a number of occasions, my Breedlove Guitars for sounding just as great after miles in the air, Audio-Technica for their mics that make even my voice sound like a candidate for American Idol, Shubb Capos for their sturdy 6 and 12-string capos, and Intellitouch for making it easy to keep my guitar tuned.
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Richard composted by Paul Lambert.
