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Auburn, Calif.
– Anyone who has spent time around the Bassmaster Elite Series knows that 2007 Toyota Tundra
Bassmaster Angler of the Year Skeet Reese loves his music. His morning routine at a tournament consists of launching his Lucky Craft wrapped Champion, tying it up to the dock, then heading back to the tow rig for a meditation / pump up session in the truck.
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Those standing near the parking lot are often treated to a virtual concert of some of Reese’s favorite jams. Well, it now appears that his love of music may have blossomed into a new venture. BASS ZONE .com has learned from a source close to him that he is considering a career change; Skeet Reese Rock Star!
The word in the wind is that after claiming the Angler of the Year title, Reese may be setting his sights on starting a new Techno / Hip Hop / Funk band called “Reese’s Pieces.” Word from the source is that he is currently working to blend a fusion of 50 Cent, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Of course, if you believe that, we’ve got nice piece of ocean front property in Norman, Okla. for you to look at.
The truth is that a friend, a local tournament angler who has started a new program that teaches kids the value of hard work, and that focusing on a goal has big rewards, made the “Angler of the Year Bass Guitar” for Reese. |
“Duane Calkins is a wood shop teacher at Buljan Middleschool in Roseville (a town near Reese’s home in Auburn, Calif.),” Reese told The BASS ZONE. “He made this guitar for me in honor of winning the Angler of the Year, and this thing is really cool.”
Reese put The BASS ZONE in touch with Calkins to find out more about his program.
“I really want to give kids a chance to pursue excellence,” Calkins said. “I want them to see that; like Skeet showed this year, there are amazing rewards available to people who focus on the pursuit of excellence.” Calkins has launched a program called “Wood Shop Rocks” and kids can build their own guitars from the ground up. He has received help from local and National
businesses in launching the program.
His first sponsor was Skip Maggiora of Skip’s Music in Sacramento, Calif. who provides all of the mechanical guitar parts at a discount, and he has recently received help from the Wells Fargo Foundation and its President Chavo Ramirez. “Skip has been a part of this from the beginning,” Calkins said about his best fishing buddy. “And Chavo has taken an interest in the program, and has gotten behind it; their support is invaluable.”
| Calkins said that the program has developed its first satellite branch, saying that Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, Calif. has decided to adopt the “Wood Shop Rocks” program.
About Reese’s guitar, Calkins said that it is one of two like it in the world, the first one hangs in Skip’s Music store in Sacramento, and that both guitars were built off of the measurements of Danny Kadota’s IGFA line class record 19-pound, .5-ounce Castaic Lake largemouth caught January, 8. 1989. |
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“Danny and I are both GLoomis pro staffers, so I was able to get the measurements of the fish,” Calkins said. “The bodies of both guitars are built to those proportions.”
As far as the talk of Reese setting up shop to play the guitar in a Jimi Hendrix styled National Anthem at an Elite Series event next year, he said, “heck no I don’t know how to play,” said the reigning Angler of the Year. “But I think I will call Skip and get an amp so I can bang on it and annoy Kim and the girls.”
For more info about “Wood Shop Rocks,” and to see some of the student’s guitars click:
http://www.woodshoprocks.com
To visit ‘Wood Shop Rocks’” Sponsors visit:
www.skipsmusic.com
and www.wellsfargo.com/about/charitable
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