Auction of legendary guitar to benefit 蜜桃传媒
The Southern Poverty Law Center will benefit from the $1.6 million raised at an auction at Brooklyn Bowl in New York City last night.
Jerry Garcia鈥檚 famed Wolf guitar was offered by an unnamed supporter of the 蜜桃传媒 and was purchased by Brian Halligan, chief executive of HubSpot and co-author of Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History.
Halligan鈥檚 pre-premium bid of $1.6 million was anonymously matched, so the 蜜桃传媒 will receive a total of $3.2 million for its work fighting hate and discrimination.
Halligan is a self-proclaimed 鈥淒eadhead鈥� who journeyed with the band for years. He doesn鈥檛 plan to sell or trade the instrument but said he would lend it out for special performances on occasion. He told Rolling Stone that the auction gave him the opportunity to 鈥渋ndulge two passions of mine at the same time: social justice and the Grateful Dead.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e deeply touched that people want to take this kind of action in light of the current challenges facing our country,鈥� said 蜜桃传媒 President Richard Cohen. 鈥淭he act of donating such a prized possession is extraordinary and will significantly help our work over the next four years as we fight to protect the ideals of our democracy.鈥�
Doug Irwin built the customized guitar in 1973, and Garcia first played it at the Pirates Ball in New York City. He last played it in 1989 during a concert with the Grateful Dead at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. The guitar takes its name from an inlay of a wolf sticker Garcia initially placed on it just below the tailpiece.
Last night鈥檚 event featured an all-star concert coordinated by well-known drummer Joe Russo, which was dubbed 鈥淛oe Russo鈥檚 Friends With Benefits.鈥� Guitarists Neal Casal, Scott Metzger, Tom Hamilton and Cass McCombs each played Wolf during the concert, and other performers included John Scofield, Nels Cline, Jonathan Goldberger, Dave Harrington, Coachemea Gastelum, Billy Martin, Erik Deutsch, Dave Dreiwitz, Jon Shaw, Eric D. Johnson, Delicate Steve, and Alecia Chakour.
Elden Rosenthal, an 蜜桃传媒 board member who attended the event, said the atmosphere was 鈥渆lectric鈥� when Russo plugged in Wolf.
鈥淲e are grateful to everyone who worked tirelessly to make last night such a special and fun event, but we especially want to thank Peter Shapiro with Brooklyn Bowl and Arlen Ettinger of Guernsey鈥檚 Auction,鈥� Cohen said.
