Holsopple Celebrates Guitar's Birthday

It's not every day that we get to celebrate the birthday of an inanimate object.

But this is exactly what communications professor Jerry Holsopple is giving us the chance to do.

Holsopple, now in his ninth year at EMU, will be performing his music tonight in the Common Grounds to celebrate the 60th birthday of his Martin D-18 acoustic guitar. He has titled the event "Songs of Love and Murder" to reflect upon the "love and murder [he] has experienced in his own life," and Holsopple will be playing songs he has personally written over the past 30 years.

Holsopple describes his music as a combination of folk-protest with a bit of bluegrass. Primarily influenced by artists such as Bob Dylan, Holsopple initially played with more of a rock-and-roll style but has recently leaned towards acoustic sounds. The bluegrass sounds in his music have come from "living in the [Shenandoah] valley for so long," but also from an interest in Irish instruments. A majority of the songs will include Holsopple's singing, but several will remain purely instrumental.

Music, however, will not be the only genre in Holsopple's performance. Holsopple will be telling the life story of his guitar, as it has been through a prolific journey over the years, and other stories of inspiration for his songs. Since he began playing guitar and writing songs about 30 years ago, Holsopple has used the composition of his music as a way to express his feelings and struggles with the world as he experiences it. Before coming to teach at EMU, Holsopple worked as a video producer for Mennonite Media, where he primarily made documentaries focused on Mennonite service organizations around the world. Some of his music strongly relates to the things he experienced while at Mennonite Media; they are his own personal responses to the stories that were captured in these videos. For example, one of his songs struggles with what exactly his role as a peacemaker should be when there is such extreme violence in a place like Liberia. In addition to his own personal responses, Holsopple's music also talks about people he has met throughout his global travels.

In addition to his guitar, which Holsopple says "also looks like it has been through love and murder but still sounds great," he will also be playing the mandolin and a unique 8-stringed Irish instrument called the bouzouki. Stringed instruments such as these have always fascinated Holsopple, and these instruments have a special place in his heart. The bouzouki is particularly special to Holsopple because it was custom-made for him by a friend in England. The old Martin D-18's birthday party will begin tonight at 9:00 in the Common Grounds, and the celebration will last somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half.