A Calgary man’s custom-made electric guitar created with a piece of the old King Eddy hotel will soon be on display at the National Music Centre at Studio Bell. Kevin McAuley’s hobby is building guitars out of interesting objects. McAuley came up with the idea of crafting one out of an exit sign – and managed to find one for sale for $20 on Kijiji. “As I was leaving his place, he said, ‘I don’t know if it means anything to you – but I was on the crew that demolished the old King Eddy Hotel, and this is an exit sign that came out of that,’” McAuley said. “I thought at the time, ‘That’s kind of cool. I’m going to build a guitar out of a place that was a music venue that I frequented.’” McAuley says he watched many performances on the stage at the King Eddy. “During the heyday back in the ‘80s I spent a lot of time there listening to the regulars that were that were in there,” he said. “Albert Collins, Pinetop Perkins, Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy – those types of people that would pass through every once in a while.” After cleaning the exit sign, McAuley reenforced it with a wood frame so he could attach the neck to something solid. He then added lights inside the sign with a remote control to change the colours. McAuley and his wife are members of the National Music Centre. They met with president and CEO Andrew Mosker, who thought it would make a good addition to the museum. “He said, ‘Would you sell us that guitar? We would love to have something from the original King Eddy.’ I said, ‘Absolutely not. It’s not for sale, but I’ll give it to you,’” McAuley said. “I’m totally stoked about it; I couldn’t be more honored.” Mosker says the museum’s focus is on collecting and preserving Canadian music history, and though the King Eddy is part of that history, little was saved of the building constructed in 1905 during the renovation process. “It happens to be a building that’s a big part of the historic collection of the National Music Centre,” he said. “We had to take down the original King Eddy brick by brick and then rebuild it into the new National Music Centre – that was a long process.” Mosker says he managed to hold onto some wooden beams and flooring from the old hotel, but he wasn’t sure how they could be used until McAuley showed up on his doorstep. “I found out this wasn’t a one-off project; he’s actually a craftsperson that makes custom guitars,” said Mosker. “So, I said, ‘How would you feel about making two more guitars for the National Music Center collection using these original materials from the original King Eddy?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely.’” Now, all three of the guitars that McAuley built will be part of the ‘living collection’ where musicians will be able to play the instruments regularly. “I always feel like it’s so important to tie back to why the National Music Centre exists,” Mosker said. “Elevating and preserving Canadian music history and then turning it into something living that can be used for creators and artists today, and for the public to enjoy – and I think Kevin is the perfect fit for that.” To learn more about the National Music Centre, you can visit its website. To learn more about McAuley, you can visit his website.
