The annual Islands Luthiers Guild show of hand-crafted guitars and other stringed instruments has a special finish this year.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Adonis Puentes and the Voice of Cuba Orchestra will be performing Saturday, Oct. 21 at Errington War Memorial Hall.
The evening performance will come after the Guitars By Hand show, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature hand-crafted guitars, ukuleles, banjos, harps, lutes, dulcimers and more. The instruments are the work of builders from Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Powell River, according to an Errington hall news release.
The makers of some of the instruments will be on hand to discuss their work at the show, in addition to students from the local Summit School of Guitar Building and Repair, who will show and explain their projects.
Puentes, a Cuban-born musician who’s been living in B.C. since 1998, not only has a long history of guitar-playing, but is benefitting from the creation of Island luthier Martin Beck.
Puentes’ musical education began at age six, with his father, Valentin Puentes, teaching Adonis and his twin brother, Alexis Puentes (now known as Alex Cuba), to play guitar.
Lucky enough to be born into a musical family, learning to play guitar was one of his first steps to becoming a musician.
“The guitar has been a part of my family,” said Puentes. “My dad is a guitar player, my grandmother used to play guitar.
“That’s the instrument that I use to write my songs and to kill my hours and my loneliness. When I’m all by myself, the guitar is my company,” Puentes said. “The guitar is basically the centre of my music, it’s where the songs are born, from my guitar and my voice.”
A new guitar has recently helped in that regard, he said.
“Lately I’m blessed that I have this amazing instrument made here on the Island by this amazing luthier, Martin Beck… Having this guitar, wow, it has inspired me to not only write new songs that I’ve been writing, but also… I have like nine, 10 songs that I’ve never finished, and now with this guitar… it’s totally inspiring.”
Nominated for Juno and Grammy awards, Puentes has seen his star continue to rise in the past six years or so, with opportunities to perform for crowds around the world.
And while his music is influenced by those travels and various musicians worldwide, the Cuban musical tradition remains important to him, he said.
He said son Cubano (a distinct genre of music and dance) is “one of the wonderful things that’s been born in Cuba.”
Later transformed into salsa, Puentes said that music “has given the world a lot of enjoyment, a lot of pleasure.”
“I am very blessed that I can express myself within that legacy.”
Nonetheless, Puentes said he considers himself a tropical singer/songwriter, adding that generally his main goal with his music is to get people dancing.
Puentes’ new album, Dicen (meaning “they say”) will be released Nov. 24. It is a very personal album for the performer, he said, and one that represents his evolution.
The Victoria-based artist said he’s excited to play in Errington for the first time.
The concert, starting off with latin music prodigy Ilhan Saferali, begins at 8 p.m. at Errington War Memorial Hall on Saturday, Oct. 21. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Cranky Dog Music, Heaven on Earth Natural Foods in Qualicum Beach, the Errington Store and online at erringtonhall.tickit.ca.
Admission to the Guitars By Hand show earlier in the day is free.
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