The August issue of Guitar Sessions took on an unexpected quality of overall unity due to its coverage of four summer music events: The Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) Convention, The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show, The 2nd International 10-String Guitar Festival, and the Kaufman Kamps organized by flatpicking wiz, Steve Kaufman. Corresponding articles can be found here in this "Cover Story" and in the "Tales from the Road", "Classical & Flamenco", and "Flatpicking" columns respectively. Anyone who attended these summer conventions came away with new knowledge and unforgettable memories, so welcome to the August issue of Guitar Sessions and let's get started on the reportage!

If you're ever due for a vacation in the second week of July, consider coming to the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) Convention in Nashville at the Music City Sheraton Hotel. I have represented Mel Bay Publications at this event since 1997. Hands down, it is the greatest convergence of guitar players on the planet; the knowledgeable, attentive audience is willing to listen to anything of guitaristic quality including straight-ahead jazz, Gypsy jazz, surf rock, classical guitar, and flatpicking in addition to Chet's trademark fingerstyle and its modern derivatives. A fair number of nylon-string players also appear at the CAAS convention and it was there that I first heard the 7-string archtop guitar in the hands of Craig Wagner. The Nashville guitar contingent alone will blow you away with its tasteful composition and arranging chops.

The CAAS convention is a truly international gathering with a healthy representation of Western Europe, The United Kingdom, Central America, Australia, Japan and coast-to-coast USA- all assembled in Nashville to honor the memory of Chet Atkins, CGP (Certified Guitar Player). An amazing array of musicians comes together to celebrate Chet's life and music. It's astounding how such a wide variety of instrumentalists manage to fit seamlessly into the Atkins plaid. Outstanding fiddlers like Randy Howard have performed here, not to mention bassists, steel guitarists, or saxophonist Boots Randolph. This year was no exception with the appearance of the outrageous Washboard Lady and the exceptional Endless Road String Quartet composed of members of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. For one CAAS player or another, they were the perfect accompanists.

For 22 years, "Chet Nuts" have gathered at this convention with entire families in tow. This is heaven for guitar players, of course, with more than two-dozen top performers and ten or a dozen custom luthiers present, plus all the music vendors displaying their wares. Each day from 9-5, up to three workshops or mini-concerts occur simultaneously and some hard choices have to be made. As always, my coworkers and I- who this year included Mel Bay Records publicist Jerry Miller and Colin Bay, Mel Bay's grandson- worked the booth; all this good stuff is going on around us and the guitarists amongst us can only spell each other to catch an occasional performance or workshop and otherwise suffer in relative silence.

We work the show from 9 to 5, however, and are free to attend performances featuring five outstanding performers each evening Wednesday through Friday, with a "Tribute to Chet Atkins" concert on Saturday with one or more surprise guests. Chet himself would attend the Saturday night gala performance and it was a special treat to hear him play. All CAAS musicians are amazingly accessible. Not only can you meet stellar players like Muriel Anderson, Stephen Bennett, Thom Bresh, Nokie Edwards, Buster B. Jones, Laurence Juber, Pat Kirtley, Tony McManus, John Standefer, Guy Van Duser, Joscho Stephan, or Tommy Emmanuel- you can sit down with them in the lobby or over lunch at the Music City Sheraton and talk serious guitar to your heart's content! And of course, there are enough attractions in Nashville for the non-guitarist to find something interesting to do.

Laurence Juber performed a virtuoso fingerstyle set including tunes from his Wings era.	Guy Van Duser played his signature arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever" assisted by the Washboard Lady and dancing girls with lighted sunglasses."

Marcel Dadi was apparently the most gregarious and accessible guitarists one could ever hope to meet. I regret missing him at the CAAS convention by one year, as it was in 1996 that he perished in the explosion of Flight 800. Numerous CAAS attendees were aware that this year marked the tenth anniversary of his death and the Saturday night concert was as much a tribute to him as it was to Chet.

CAAS has a special significance for me and for Mel Bay Publications. It was at this event that I met Australian guitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel, the multi-talented Stephen Bennett, as well as Travis/Dadi protégé, Michael O'Dorn. All three are now well represented in the Mel Bay catalog. UK native Richard Smith recently joined the stable of distinguished Mel Bay authors with his Fingerstyle Artistry DVD, and John McClellan added a Chet Licks DVD to his outstanding Chet Atkins: In Three Dimensions series. Other CAAS artists have contributed to the fingerstyle anthologies or Guitar Sessions webzine that I edit for Mel Bay Publications and I hope to draw upon this amazing resource for years to come.

The Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention is such a special gathering on a number of levels beyond music making. It's a brotherhood and sisterhood of sorts with a genuine concern and respect among its member players, attendees and music merchants. For example, many attendees came by the Mel Bay booth just to say hello and congratulate me for having survived prostate cancer this past year- and some of them had gotten that information second-hand! I am amazed at the repercussions of having shared my diagnosis with a select few at this convention. Many people prayed for me or gave helpful advice about what to expect in recovery. One individual wrote and recorded an original guitar composition called "Faith" and dedicated it to me. I am both honored and humbled by such acknowledgements..

I would be remiss if I didn't mention both the young and the new faces of all ages that seem to be appearing at the CAAS convention in recent years. Last year an abundance of talented teen fingerstyle players was evident at the convention. This year, in his evening performance on Stage 1 in the Sheraton Ballroom, Pat Kirtley asked for a show of hands of those attending the CAAS convention for the first time. Over 70 hands shot up in the audience, witness to the effectiveness of CAAS president Mark and Carol Pritcher's "family plan" pricing of the event.

God willing, we'll all be back next year with even more new faces in the crowd.

Stephen Rekas