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Welcome to the International Musical Sawplayers Association website. Established in California in 1994, we publish the sawplayer's newsletter and also present the annual "Saw Player's Picnic and Music Festival" on the 2nd Sunday in August at Roaring Camp in Felton, California - www.roaringcamp.com
Charlie Blacklock, master sawyer and founder of this saw association passed away April 17th after being admitted to Alameda Hospital earlier in the day. He'd been in a care facility for a few years and while his strength was low his spirits were always high. He leaves three sons and many granchildren and great grandchildren and joins his wife Viola. If your computer's not blocking it, you should be hearing Hajime Sakita playing his composition for Viola Blacklock.
Viola
Mark your calendars for 2008 - Saturday and Sunday, August 9th & 10th
The '07 Saw Fest will be remembered with fondest reflection - we had, basically, all ages. The youngest was Marika, 7 years old, who played fiddle onstage with Kenny Blacklock playing harmony. We had a huge group with saw players, ukeleles, guitars, banjos and vocals with a wash tub bass - they were awesome and in their twenties and thirties, the PT Wranglers. We had so many fine acts and players I can't list them all here, suffice to say we had fun.
The jam on Saturday night… we had some great music with Caroline McCaskey and her friends. Also, the saw players sawing along with the accordion - such a sound… Haris is right you know - music heals, sounds heal, the body and mind are not separated, but connected with sound, and, of course, flesh and bone. Speaking of which, we had a fabulous bone player, not to mention the jaw harp.
Life is good… with a special niche for sawyers and other music makers and aficionados.
Referring to the photos below: The 1st photo is a picture of the Tom Scribner statue produced by artist Marghie McMahon, and permanently installed in downtown Santa Cruz, California. Tom was the saw-playing lumberjack that the original "Festival of the Saws" was organized around in 1978 - he was a beloved and extremely talented sawyer. The 2nd picture is a photo of Tom himself. The 3rd picture is of Charlie Blacklock, another fine sawyer whose efforts have continued the Saw Festival, and whose musical saws are sold world wide. Charlie organized the California Saw Players Association (which evolved into the International Musical Saw Association in 2003). Charlie is also featured in the "National Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame.” The 4th photo changes as we feature different members, and this time it is of Haris Gershom, from India, who graced our stage in 2003 and again in 2006. Haris designed his Harishophone (note the steel blade), and has developed techniques that use the healing powers of music, incorporating the musical saw.
