Salvo Art House hosts 'The Art of Sound,' bringing together artists and musicians

The Salvo Art House event drew about 30 the evening of May 6.

By Jonathan Simmons
| 6:10 p.m. May 9, 2018

Diane Dixon and Clayton Park, Port Orange residents, sing and play at Salvo Art House's Art of Sound event May 6. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)

Artists and musicians mingle and listen to live music at Salvo Art House's Art of Sound event May 6.

Kevin Holbrook (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)

Clayton Park tries out the guitar and amp created by Rachel Thompson and Kevin Holbrook. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)

J.J. Graham talks with visitors on the front porch of the Salvo Art House.

Rachel Thompson, Flagler County's 2015 Artist of the Year, shows off the art guitar she designed with nephew Kevin Holbrook (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)

Rick de Yampert (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)

Jane Mealy, a Flagler Beach city commissioner, at the Art of Sound event at the Salvo Art House May 6.

The art guitar (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)

Holbrook created this amp in coordination with guitarist Tommy Skeoch, formerly of the band Tesla.

Locals mingle and listen to live music at Salvo Art House's Art of Sound event May 6.

Palm Coast Observer
News

California-based electric guitar and amp builder Kevin Holbrook and his aunt Rachel Thompson, a local mixed-media painter, teamed up to create a custom six-string guitar that musicians tried out at local artist and art teacher J.J. Graham's Salvo Art House in Bunnell on Sunday, May 6 before an audience of about 30 people.

California-based guitar and amp designer Kevin Holbrook and his aunt Rachel Thompson, a local artist who was the Gargiulo Art Foundation's 2015 artist of the year, worked together to design the guitar played at the "The Art of Sound" event May 6.

"It has Australian black opals in it, and it's inlaid with like current after the Tesla coil, so it's got bolts of electric blue in it," Thompson said.

"If you go into a guitar store, they all look the same," said Holbrook, who works as a medical device engineer in Santa Cruz. "This isn't perfect; it's got flaws in it. But it's art."

Thompson said she'd started with inspiration from a Matisse painting, but although "I started out wanting to impose, I ended up exposing," using the grain and swirl of the wood to inform the piece.

Holbrook created the amp used for the event, designing it in coordination with rock guitarist Tommy Skeoch, formerly of the band Tesla. Holbrook made numerous cross-country trips to work with Skeoch on the amp, which Holbrook said can be adjusted to have a "glassy" sound like a Fender or a "grind" like a Marshall.

"It's a unique circuit," he said. "It has a massive variety of different tones that are adjustable with knobs." Thompson used duct tape and pillows to protect the equipment for the plane ride from California to Florida.

The guitar and amp are both for sale: $3,500 for the guitar, and $3,100 for the amp. The guitar will be on display at Frame of Mind Custom Framing & Art Gallery at 23 W. Granada Blvd, Ormond Beach. Call Thompson at 386-864-0318, or, if interested in custom guitar or amp builds, Holbrook at 919-593-6902.

The event also featured an exhibit of music-themed art by Graham and other artists.

Port Orange residents Clayton Park and Diane Dixon — who perform together as the folk rock duo Clayton & Diane — played the custom guitar and Holbrook's custom-built amp, which Holbrook had designed with former Tesla guitarist Tommy Skeoch. (The amp was featured in the April 2018 edition of Vintage Guitar magazine.)

"The Art of Sound" was one of a series of events held at the art gallery that inhabits the yellow house at the corner of Moody Boulevard and North Peach Street. Most events have entry fees, often $10.

Next up is an event slated for May 18: "The Moody Peach Comedy Jam," featuring comedian Paul Jensen and with an opening performance by Matthew Elliott, which will begin at 8:30 p.m. with doors opening for studio visits at 7 p.m. Entry will be $10.

Graham encouraged people who are interested to follow the Salvo Art House on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/salvoartproject/ and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/salvoartproject/. To be added to the Salvo Art House email list, go to http://salvoart.org. Salvo is also working on building a new website.

"We're going to continue expanding and growing, and we're probably never going to be done," Graham said.