Damon Marks, 34, established the Traveling Guitar Foundation last year along with Virginia-based instrument builder Keith Ballurio, who builds two custom guitars a year and sends them across the country to be signed by noteworthy guitarists and auctioned off to raise money for school music programs.
Realizing that the recession and state budget cuts have threatened arts programs in many schools, “It kind of made a lot of sense for me,” Marks said.
The first of these instruments raised $800 for music programs at an online auction.
The foundation’s more direct contribution to schools involves Marks and a rotating cast of musician acquaintances delivering guitars and keyboards donated by manufacturers like Yamaha and Dean Guitars to schools that otherwise would not be able to afford the equipment. So far the group has provided about 50 entry-level instruments and lessons on how to play them.
“It’s completely rewarding for me,” Marks said. “I get more enjoyment out of playing for those kids than I do from adults, because they’re un-callous, and I know that everything we do is making a difference for them.”
Marks grew up in Elizabeth and joined his first band when he was 15. He spent years practicing guitar pyrotechnics in 1980s-style rock bands, touring alongside acts like Poison frontman Bret Michaels and Alicia Keys.
He moved to Scotch Plains 10 years ago to escape the chaos of urban life, claiming the peaceful pace of the suburban town is better for his songwriting.
But as he settled into a steady stream of studio musician gigs and work with labels and groups in New York City, his father sat him down and talked to him about giving something back to the musical community.
“He said, ‘But at the end of the day, when you lie in bed and you sit back, what differences did you make in someone’s life?’” Marks said, noting his own love of guitar blossomed when he was able to take classes in school.
Most recently Marks visited the Mosaic School in Harlem along with the rapper Swizz Beats, but he has also helped instruct children at the Bayberry Elementary School in Watchung, and the group plans to pay visits to Belleville and Teaneck this coming school year.
Performer Derek McKeith, who has played for children at several of the foundation events, hopes to convince young people that music is accessible.
“They don’t see how they’d be able to afford the training or just the instrument itself,” he said. “All of this is at your fingertips, you’ve just kind of got to ask for it.”
The foundation has started small, but board member and Cranford resident Vincent Moretti hopes to amplify the frequency of Marks’ visits to the schools.
“If we could visit one school a month, that’s an amazing accomplishment,” he said, noting the hardest part of running the foundation is raising money in a recession. “But we can only be as effective as the funds we have to work with.”
To find out more or donate, visit www.travelingguitar.org
Hey man,
ReplyDeleteKeep up the GREAT work. This is truly a beautiful thing you are doing. Wishing you much continued success with EVERYTHING.
PJ