SHOW 3: ‘An Instrumental Man: Honoring South Charleston Luthier Harold Hayslett’
Click to view “My West Virginia: Show 3″ on South Charleston instrument maker Harold Hayslett. The retired Union Carbide pipefitter has made 81 violins, 63 cellos, 13 violas, plus assorted bows and other instruments. He turned 90 on Dec. 26 and was honored with a West Virginia Cultural Center event , where some of the Mountain State’s finest musicians performed classical, old-time and contemporary music, almost all of it on hand-made Hayslett instruments. Our audio slideshow features more than 30 photographs of that day with music played on Hayslett’s creations.
A companion CD, “The Hayslett Collection ~ A Musical Tribute,” is available for purchase online at cdbaby.com/cd/hayslett. And locally at Taylor Books, Frog Creek Books, Fret’n’ Fiddle and Mountaineer Frames (both St. Albans), Ferguson’s Tea Room (Hurricane) and at Tamarack.
INTERVIEW: Listen to a West Virginia Public Broadcasting interview by Kate Long with Harold Hayslett and family.
December 30th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
What a truly remarkable artist! West Virginia should be very proud of Mr. Hayslett. I missed the concert but thoroughly enjoyed the article, slide show and interview. [I am a former college classmate of Debra Hayslett.]
December 31st, 2007 at 9:40 am
Thanks for your note! I highly recommend the full CD of music played on Hayslett instruments. It really covers a lot of ground, from classical to old-time to contemporary music and some of it is flat-out ravishing. I didn’t use this line in the story or slideshow, but Harold Hayslett really teaches wood how to sing. | Doug Imbrogno