Latest news with #FenderTelecaster
NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Atlantic City police recover guitar stolen from the band Heart
One of two instruments recently stolen from the band Heart as they were set to embark on the 'An Evening With Heart' tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has been recovered. On Tuesday, police in Atlantic City announced that they have recovered a Fender Telecaster that belonged to the band after officers followed the man charged with stealing the instruments, Garfield Bennett, 57, of Pleasantville, New Jersey, after the theft. Officials said that Bennett 'was observed giving the guitar to a woman who put the guitar in a vehicle' along the 1300 block of Pacific Avenue. Investigators tracked the vehicle using automated license readers after this incident and pulled it over shortly afterwards, police said. The woman voluntarily turned over the instrument and, police said, she told officers that she had bought the guitar from Bennett. The guitar has been turned over to representatives of the Hard Rock Atlantic City, and officials said, it will be returned to the Heart band members. 'The continued use of advancing technology and the hard work and determination from our detectives and patrol officers led to the quick recovery of one of the missing instruments,' said Chief James A. Sarkos in a statement on the incident. 'The Atlantic City Police Department embraces technology that allows our officers to investigate and combat crime.' Officials said that the theft happened around 2 a.m. on May 30, 2025, at the Hard Rock Atlantic City inside the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena. The instruments -- a guitar and a mandolin -- belonged to the band Heart who were playing a concert at the venue. The location of the mandolin is still being investigated. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Atlantic City Police Department Criminal Investigations Section at 609-347-5766 or submit a text anonymously to tip411 (847411). Begin the text with 'ACPD.'
CBC
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
As son battles cancer, London musician's guitar raffle raises thousands for charity
Enter the Haggis guitarist says guitar raffle raised nearly $50K for cancer charities Image | Enter the Haggis Caption: Enter The Haggis performing at their last show in Troy, New York. Left to Right: James Campbell: percussion, Trevor Lewington: guitar/vocals, Tom Barraco: drums. (One Awesome Night Photography) After three decades, a London musician is stepping back from touring to be with his 12-year-old son, who is battling brain cancer. Trevor Lewington plays guitar and sings in the Celtic rock group Enter the Haggis, which performed their final shows in mid-March in Troy, N.Y. The band's sound features bagpipes, a violin and trumpet, and it' been featured in films and on television, including a PBS special. During the band's 18-show final tour in the U.S., Lewington says he decided to raffle off his first-ever guitar, a 1991 American Telecaster purchased at a Toronto pawn shop in the 90s, to raise money to fight paediatric brain cancer. After selling nearly $50,000 worth of raffle tickets to fans during the tour, the band held a draw on Mar. 25, and on Thursday, Lewington presented cheques of the proceeds to two London-based charities. More than $35,000 was donated to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, and more than $11,000 to Childcan. "It's beyond the financial support. It's just knowing ... there's a community of people that are there," he said. Childcan has been particularly helpful for the family over the past year, he added. "They're always reaching out to see how we're doing and trying to see whatever they can offer." Image | Enter the Haggis cheque presentation Caption: Trevor Lewington (second from the left) presents a cheque to the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. Lewington - a guitarist and singer with the band Enter the Haggis - raffled his 1991 Fender Telecaster to raise money for cancer research. His 12-year-old son is currently battling brain cancer. (Matt Allen/CBC Radio) Open Image in New Tab Jennifer Schmittlein of Massachusetts won the raffle, and gifted the guitar to her husband, Jeffrey. The couple have become friends of the band over the years, and in January, took part in Camp Haggis, an annual winter getaway the band holds in Vermont. At the camp, Jennifer approached Lewington, asking if she could buy one of his guitars for Jeffrey's birthday. Out of sheer coincidence, the couple also took home the raffle Telecaster. "We bought one ticket, and out of the thousands of people that bought a lot of tickets, we got lucky," Jeffrey Schmittlein said. The two have followed the band for a long time, attending several shows during the final tour, he said. Media Audio | Afternoon Drive : London musician donates proceeds from guitar sale to fight pediatric brain cancer Caption: Trevor Lewington, a guitarist with the band Enter the Haggis has raffled off his first-ever guitar and raised $50,000 in the process, with proceeds going to pediatric brain cancer charities, as his own son battles the disease. Winners Jeffrey Schmittlein and his wife Jennifer are the lucky fans who took home the guitar. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. After hearing the news about Lewington's son, "I said ... we have to help support Trevor in this project. This is amazing, and he's an amazing guy." Enter the Haggis is known for playing New Year's shows every year at Iron Horse, a venue in Northampton not far from the couple's home. (Lewington proposed to his wife in the venue's green room during one of the annual shows.) During a recent show in Maine, the band was asked to name their favourite place to play gigs. Jeffrey thought the answer would be Iron Horse, but instead, "they talked about so many places and so many people." "It hit me, they know their fans' first names and who they are and what their life is like from so many other places," he said. Not only is the band musically creative and talented, but "they're also just nice people," he said. Back home in London, Lewington says the family's perspective on life has changed since their son's cancer diagnosis, and spending quality time together is the main priority. He says the raffle is a good news story in the midst of the political turmoil engulfing the two countries. "We've had the pleasure of knowing so many wonderful people in the U.S. over the last 25 years of touring in the U.S." he said.
Fox News
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Yankees legend Bernie Williams using his music to help those affected by disease that took his father's life
Bernie Williams knows many people recognize him for wearing pinstripes, hitting from both sides of the plate and winning World Series titles with the New York Yankees. It is where his main legacy lies in the game of baseball. However, throughout the years manning centerfield for the Yankees, Williams' love for music, specifically the guitar, was always prevalent. He recalled to Fox News Digital how, one day in the Yankees clubhouse, rock legend Bruce Springsteen was walking around meeting the players. Usually, the Yankees are the ones being asked for an autograph, but this time, Springsteen was the main attraction as he made his way through the clubhouse. Williams did not want an autograph on a bat or baseball, though. That was too simple. "So, I have this Fender Telecaster in my locker and I said to him, 'Hey, would you please sign this? I'm not going to make you sign a ball or bat. I think this would be really cool,'" Williams said. "So, he signed the guitar saying, 'To Bernie, if you ever get tired of baseball…'" Springsteen, a wizard on stage, may have foreseen the sweet-swinging Williams getting into music in the future. It is his musical career, post-baseball, that is being used to honor his late father's legacy, while helping others along the way. This Friday marks Rare Disease Day, and Williams spoke to Fox News Digital about his work with Tune In To Lung Health, a program created to support patients dealing with interstitial lung disease (ILD), as well as their loved ones. ILD causes irreversible scarring of the lungs that can make it difficult to breathe – so difficult that many patients are left needing to carry oxygen tanks. The disease affects roughly 50,000 Americans each year, and it has no cure. Bernabé Williams Figueroa Sr. died in 2001 due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a type of IDL. "He was the one that taught me how to play baseball," Williams recalled about his father. "He was the one that taught me how to play music with my guitar and all that. All of these things come together full circle with this initiative, where I can really give back to the community, remember his legacy and do great things to my mind as well, being able to feel rewarded as I help other people navigate through these really challenging times." This program explores how music and breathing can help people cope with both the physical and mental aspects of disease, and it has allowed Williams to connect with patients and caregivers through his music. "Music has always been a really important part of my life, and as I've grown older, I can see how powerful music is in all aspects of life," he said. "You can use it for healing. If you're emotional, it can get you through hard times. You can use it for working out. The power of music is just so vast, and for me, it just seems like a no-brainer to introduce it and to try to make it part of this campaign, which utilize the power of music to cope with a lot of these things that you have to deal with when you're going through these interstitial lung diseases like my Dad went through when he was alive." Through the initiative's website, Williams, who has a Latin Grammy nominee under his musical career belt, loves the different ways patients and caregivers can use music and breathing exercises to better their daily lives. "Breathing is a huge part of [singing], using your voice as an instrument," he explained. "The application for people that really value every single breath they take and everything going on in their life is really important, too. So, having that information on hand, you can have these exercises to really improve the quality of your life." Williams said this initiative is "very therapeutic" for him because it allows him to remember those great times with his father through his other passion in life outside of baseball. In fact, Williams will be at the iconic Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with his band on March 27 – MLB Opening Day – to play some tunes and have a fireside chat with fans, which will include this initiative. The signature Jersey Shore venue is the one Springsteen got his start in. It was the start of a pathway to rock greatness, and eventually, to a professional baseball player hungry to share his own music with the world. They would connect again down that pathway. "20 years later, I'm playing on stage with him for one of those Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation dinners. [Springsteen] was a guest performer, and he brought me on stage, and we had this great acoustic version of 'Glory Days' that we played together, him and his wife. That was a great moment in my young musical career. It's one of the things I remember and will never forget," Williams said. Williams will also never forget the man who taught him how to strum that guitar. "As long as I have a breath, I will try to give people information and try to educate people about what I went through and what my father went through," Williams said. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
