August 1, 2022 would have been Jerry Garcia 80th birthday and to celebrate the milestone DGN Custom Guitars, Fandiem and Bandsintown have joined together to celebrate Jerry’s life and legacy with a fundraiser campaign benefiting the Jerry Garcia Foundation.
During the pandemic, devout Deadhead Chris Shand came up with an idea to commission a one-of-a-kind replica of Jerry Garcia’s iconic “Wolf” guitar featuring Jerry’s original art and raffle it off to raise money for the Jerry Garcia Foundation. Chris reached out to friend and fellow Deadhead, Dan Neafsey, owner of DGN Custom Guitars, who was immediately on board with the idea. With the blessing of Jerry’s daughter, Keelin, and his wife, Manasha, DGN Custom Guitars set out to produce this 1-of-1 replica featuring Jerry’s ink and pen drawing titled “Dog”. The original artwork is the perfect adornment for the body of the guitar and is set in the place where the cartoon wolf was located on the guitar that Doug Irwin built for Jerry in 1973.
To align with Manasha and Keelin’s vision of a plastic free planet, this DGN “Dog” guitar is completely plastic free and was built using only responsibly harvested and sustainable woods and materials.
“Wolf is my personal favorite of all Jerry’s guitars,” states Dan Neafsey. “When Chris Shand reached out about this project, it was a no brainer for me. I was so excited to do what I do best and building a guitar like this with no plastic was a super fun challenge. I had to get creative with many of the methods and materials I normally use when building custom guitars, all while staying true to Doug Irwins masterpiece. I think the final result speaks for itself.”
In 2017, Jerry Garcia’s original “Wolf” guitar was sold at auction for the price of $1.9 million, with proceeds benefiting the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“We're very grateful to luthier Dan Neafsey for building this beautiful plastic-free guitar, and to Chris Shand for his profound generosity,” added Manasha Garcia. “It's truly wonderful to see how Jerry's creative spirit continues to inspire artists today.”
The DGN “Dog” guitar and amp will be unveiled publicly for the first time and will be played by Mihali from Twiddle at Jerry Garcia’s 80th Birthday Celebration on Thursday, August 4th, 2022 at Garcia’s at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. The Concert supports the mission of the Jerry Garcia Foundation and the Jerry Garcia Archive Opening.
Starting at $10, participants can “Donate To Win” this custom artifact, which includes:
ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE:
Custom 1-of-1 Jerry Garcia DGN Guitar and amp bundle including:
DGN Custom "Dog" guitar – a plastic-free tribute to Jerry's "Wolf" guitar
Complimenting plastic-free case featuring original Jerry Garcia artwork
DGN 427 Custom tube amplifier complimenting the guitar and featuring tie-dye speaker cloth cover
SIX (6) RUNNER UP PRIZES:
Jerry Garcia Art Giclee provided by Terrapin Stationers
Title: “Ripple”
Artist: Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia Music Arts 1st Edition August 2018
Unframed Museum Quality Giclee with Certificate of Authenticity
Giclee size 11"x 17" on Hahnemuhle Bamboo 290 gsm paper
The fan-sourcing fundraising sweepstakes is running until October 7, 2022 and fans can “Donate To Win” exclusively at www.fandiem.com/jerrygarcia. The more fans donate the more chances they have to win – and the more they support the Jerry Garcia Foundation.
