The program originally started in 2007 in Milwaukee, WI, by Patrick Nettesheim, came as an inspiration when Patrick was teaching Veteran Dan Van Buskirk. After the first class, they two headed to the VA Center to perform for patients going through spinal rehab. On a way, they stopped at a music store owned by a Korean War vet. When he heard where they were going, he donated two guitars to be given away to veterans there.
“We knew right then that something special was happening,” said Patrick. “We took a picture of the three of us with the guitars,” he said, knowing this photo would mark the beginning of a special project. He said he knew lessons had to be part of the program; otherwise, the instruments might end up gathering dust under the bed—or on eBay. “The program has now spread all over the U.S. We didn’t want it to move slowly,” said Nettesheim
Guitars for Vets, https://guitars4vets.org. working with the local VA, offers music lessons to veterans suffering from PTSD. The students are given a loaner guitar for the lessons, and upon graduation, they are given a guitar to keep. Following their completion, they continue to meet for weekly jam sessions.
On Wednesday, November 6, the original founder came to Nashville to meet with Pat McGuire, who directs the program in Nashville, for the special presentation at Gibson. In a space scented by the unfinished wood of the shop, Gibson CED James (J.C.) Curleigh addressed the group, acknowledging what a special opportunity this was for a project he called “close to my heart.” He explained that he had grown up in a military family, the son of a general who sent a home a message and photo from on board the U.S.S. Intrepid to Curleigh’s mother just days before he was born, expressing his hope to make it home in time to see his newborn son.
The goal of Gibson Gives Foundation, said Curleigh is to “make music matter—one guitar at a time.” As they give guitars one at a time—eventually thousands, he added, “we make the world a better place.”
CMO Cesar Gueikian, new to the leadership team at Gibson, said, “What better place than this, here in Nashville at the pinnacle of Gibson’s history, where craftsmanship matters and where we build the most awesome guitar Gibson makes. He pointed to 14 Les Paul guitars built in the custom shop in military olive they intended to put into the hands of vets “inspiring them on their journey. He also indicated 32 Epiphone Acoustic Masterbuilt guitars and 19,000 sets of strings also intended for the veterans in the program. Gueikian said it is important to amplify the message of giving back.
A special addition to the presentation was an appearance by Sully Erna of the band Godsmack, whose association with Gibson dates back to 1999. He called Gibson “the Ferrari of all guitars and recalled being influenced by Joe Perry, Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi. “Watching Joe Perry slinging that Les Paul made me want to be a rock star,” he said. He began representing Gibson in ’99 at the first Oz Fest and calls it the “most dependable, prettiest handcrafted guitar,” adding, “I wave that flag proudly.” He called this a proud moment.
Erna reminded the group that “Awake” off his band’s second studio album was used for six years on the Navy’s recruitment video.
Three of the Nashville veterans in the Guitars for Vets program, Brandon Branham, Pete Nugnis, and Henry Thomas, were called to the front and each was given one of the Les Paul guitars on display.
In a “Wait! There’s more!” moment, Curleigh announced that at the company’s Halloween chili cook-off, the top prize was a guitar. Hearing about the upcoming Guitars for Vets presentation, the winner, a 20-year employee at Gibson, said, “I want to give my guitar to a vet.” When Patrick Nettesheim accepted the guitar on behalf of the program, he quipped, “It smells like chili.”
Asked about his involvement in this and other programs that address mental health in the U.S. Erna said that once he was in a position to make a difference, he wanted to choose a platform that had personal meaning for him. As he revealed in his memoir The Paths We Choose, which chronicled his life before Godsmack, he knew the dangers of street life—violence, drug abuse, suicide—and he wanted to offer an alternative. Guitars for Vets addresses a specific mental health crisis through music, his world.
Remarking on the motto of Guitars for Vets, “The healing power of music in the hands of heroes,” Patrick Nettesheim said that the vets in the program are reluctant to call themselves heroes, but he insists that their sacrifice for their country makes them just that. He also noted that in a time of such division, music has the power to unite.
