Thanks, Daniel W.!

Today's shout out goes to Daniel W., who adopted Strum. Created by the incredibly creative Jim Barber, this Strum was made in 1983 and donated in 2013. Of the character, Jim says, "This was built around the same guitar I learned to play with as a young boy. The mouth was operated by a cord that went around my right foot as I sat on a stool and played the guitar. The rod on the neck of the guitarturned the eyes side to side. I performed with the original character (this version) for a couple years around Minneapolis Minnesota as well as on my local kids TV show, "Breakfast with Casey Jones" on Channel 29 in the Twin Cities in the mid-80's (may have some video somewhere).

Due to the removal of some internal braces on the face of the guitar, the tension of the strings eventually bent the guitar rendering it unplayable. Hence, the loose strings. I then created a new, improved version of "Strum" using a fiberglass backed Ovation Guitar for stability and strength (still have and may use in the future) that I toured across the country with as part of my college act. I used that new character in approximately 2,000 college and corporate shows around the country, singing and playing the song "Cow Patti" by Jim Stafford."