The Acoustic Guitar Project
Have you ever paid something forward? How about with music? 1 Guitar, 1 Week, 1 Song. That’s the idea behind “The Acoustic Guitar Project.” Write a song in a week, then pass on the guitar to someone else. Through this side project Dave Adams is using the power of music and sharing to connect people all over the world.
What’s Dave Adams all about?
Being positive, being thankful and experiencing as much as possible.
What’s “The Acoustic Guitar Project” all about?
The Acoustic Guitar Project is all about INSPIRATION. For musicians, it’s about striping away the barriers that normally hold them up so they can just create. For people coming to the site, it’s about creating a positive spark that could become something as complex as a project of their own or as simple as a smile. And for me, it’s about doing something that’s so much fun that I fall asleep doing it and wake up thinking about it.
What inspired your project?
Every musician has access to a computer today. It’s gotten to the point where a musician wouldn’t dare put out a professional recording without editing on the computer. These tools are amazing, but they can cripple the creative process, too. I know musicians that will spend years “perfecting” a project on their computer even though they can sit my living room and improvise music that has emotionally overwhelmed me. I thought, “This is crazy. Musicians need an excuse to just play.” The idea of limiting each musician’s contribution to one week, and no editing on the computer, came from that. And for me, when a musician really connects to their music in a live setting, there’s nothing greater.
The idea of a signed traveling guitar actually came to me 10 years ago. I had been living in Sydney for a year, and I bought an acoustic guitar in the hopes of getting motivated to practice, but Australia can be awfully distracting! When I was getting ready to leave and backpack around Europe, I knew I couldn’t bring the guitar with me. I thought about selling the guitar, but instead I decided to give it away to a friend that had just started practicing herself. The act of giving it away felt so good, I told her she had to do the same when she was done with it. I signed it, and said make everyone who owns this signs it, as well. So technically, the project started a long time ago. If that guitar ever comes back to me, I will stop everything I’m doing and dedicate my life to learning how to play for real!
What have you learned?
So much. I could spend a long time on this question. I think the biggest thing is that musicians are just as mystified by their own music as we are. It’s a journey into the unknown every time they write a song, and generally speaking, it’s their openness to magic that determines what will come out of them.
How would you like to spend your time in the future?
I would love nothing more than to spend my days bringing my ideas to life, traveling the world and having meaningful interactions with people.
How can people support your project?
Well, I just quit my job so I can pursue this project full-time so clicking on the Paypal button and donating would incredibly appreciated. But listening to the music and liking/sharing it on Facebook / Twitter is also huge help.
Click below to listen to one of the songs submitted from Helsinki, Finland!