D’Angelico Guitars and HeadCount have teamed up to design a set of custom LOCKN’ guitars that will be signed by musicians and then donated to charity. Dubbed the “LEGENDARY LOCKN’ GUITARS,” these one-of-a-kind instruments are expected to be signed by most LOCKN’ headliners -- a list that includes Robert Plant, members of the Grateful Dead, Santana, Widespread Panic and many more.
One guitar will be auctioned at LOCKN’ to support the 22 charitable organizations that form the “Participation Row” non-profit village. A second guitar will be given away through a free raffle to encourage fans to visit Participation Row.
HeadCount, a non-profit organization that promotes civic participation through the power of music, is the organizer of Participation Row and the charity auction. D’Angelico is the official guitar partner of LOCKN’ and HeadCount.
The LOCKN’ guitar auction and giveaway comes on the heels of the highly successful Grateful Dead 50th Anniversary concerts, where D’Angelico and HeadCount auctioned a signed, custom guitar for $526,000 to benefit various Grateful Dead-affiliated charities.
At LOCKN’, guitar and poster auctions raised over $100,000 for the Participation Row charities in the festival’s first two years. The addition of the D’Angelico custom guitars will make the auction even more legendary, said Andy Bernstein, executive director of HeadCount. “When you have an iconic and historic guitar brand like D’Angelico involved, magic seems to happen,” he said.
Brendan Cohen, CEO of D’Angelico Guitars, is also excited for this opportunity. "We were ecstatic to be involved with The Grateful Dead's 50th Anniversary shows and proud to see the impact that the auctioned customized guitars had on such great charities. Now, in partnering with LOCKN', we're looking forward to making another meaningful contribution,” said Cohen.
The auction and free raffle will be held at the Qello Concerts Lounge on Participation Row, in the main concert field at LOCKN’. Qello is the title sponsor of Participation Row for the third straight year.
Organizations benefiting from the auctions include Conscious Alliance, DanceSafe, Habitat for Humanity, LOVE HOPE STRENGTH, and NORML, as well as various local groups like Appalachian Voices, the Blue Ridge Medical Center, the Lynchburg Humane Society, Nelson County Tourism, the Rockfish Valley Foundation, the Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Expression, United Plant Savers, and Wild Virginia.
In addition to organizing Participation Row, HeadCount will be registering voters and demonstrating the iCitizen civic engagement smart-phone application.
The LOCKN’ Music Festival will take place in Arrington, VA from September 10th through September 13th.
