Buddy Blaze joins the 111th Army Band for a very special deployment ceremony at Aloha Stadium
Honolulu, HI (September 10, 2008)– America the Beautiful has never rocked like this before!
More than 8,000 people gathered in Aloha Stadium on Saturday, August 16th to send off the Hawaii-based 29th Brigade, which will be heading to Kuwait and Iraq in late October. Lengendary luthier, Buddy Blaze, joined the 111th Army Band in a respectfully overdriven version of America the Beautiful.
“I''m truly honored and humbled that, Governor Linda Lingle, Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona, General Lee, Col Snakenberg, Command Chief Denise Jelinski-Hall and the rest of our Hawaii-based troops wanted to share this with my wife, Joyce and me,” said Blaze. “It was an experience that is hard to describe.”
Blaze brought his orginial Fubar Guitar, which was custom made for a U.S. military band in Kabul last Christmas, and a Krank amp, made specially with camo Tolex for the performance. The original Fubar Guitar is now in the hands of the 111th Army Band.
“I can''t thank the 111th Army Band enough for their patience, support and for being the caretakers of the Fubar Guitar and Krank Amp,” said Blaze. “And a special thanks to ‘Team Krank’ for their wonderful amp!”
According to Blaze, the combo was “a match made in guitar heaven.”
This isn’t the first time Blaze has reached out to the U.S. military. The original Fubar Guitar was named after and designed for the Fubar Fighters, a band composed of U.S. military personnel stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. The band consisted of two airmen, a solider, a Marine and a sailor. When guitarist John Gardner contacted Blaze for help with a guitar for the Fubar Fighters, Blaze was touched. Major General Robert F. Lee and Chief Denise Jelinski-Hall graciously hand delivered the custom-made guitar to the band in Kabul on Christmas day of 2007.
"To me, the whole Fubar Guitar experience has been amazing. It''s something you carry with you for the rest of your life," said Blaze. "What I have done for the troops is so small compared to what they''re doing for us. It''s all pretty humbling."
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Buddy Blaze Guitars
Buddy Blaze
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