The Lowdown

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This week we sat down with Geo Kitta from Guiildaxe Guitars.

Geo began his life journey as a musician in 1966 when he bought a (new) Japanese bass for $40 using paper route money from Woolworths Dept Store in Omaha Nebraska. He suffered through learning how to play on a bass with strings high off the fretboard and no real understanding that it could be adjusted better. He couldn't afford an amp but finally got one, a Heathkit that he and his dad built.

An artist from birth - Geo loved the music around him then and wanted "in" as so many '60s kids did, expanding his creativity into music. Art degrees from the Kansas City Art Institute (BFA) and School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA) kept him busy investigating and making art but all the while playing bass in various bands in Omaha, KC and Chicago.

Geo moved to the Bay Area in 1990 and continued to make art and play music. In 2013, he decided to combine his love of art and music by starting Gildaxe, which initially focused on custom art finishes incorporating the ancient craft of gilding (gold leaf, silver leaf, copper leaf and variegated leaf) and more recently designing my own unique custom bass guitars.

This week we sat down with Pamela and Leigh from Fanny's House of Music.

If you know Fanny's House of Music, you know it's more than a music store: it's a mission. They're excited to announce the next phase of that mission is Fanny's School of Music. Their current building limits the number of students they can serve and programs they can offer. So they formed a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and are launching a capital campaign to build a separate building for Fanny's School of Music. 

In addition to tripling the number of students they can serve, the new building will enable them to provide music therapy offices and a community space for group lessons, workshops, and live performances. 

Like Fanny's House of Music, Fanny's School of Music will be a place where everyone can feel comfortable exploring and growing, especially women and girls. For more information and to learn how you can help, visit fannysschoolofmusic.org.

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