4th of July fun video

Just in time for the 4th of July, my friend, Patty Gardner Evans, sent me a Washington Post article and video about Glenn Donnellan, a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra, playing the national anthem.

Okay, I know you're saying, "So? Lots of people play that. Especially on the 4th of July."

How about Donnellan playing the Star Spangled Banner on a violin he made himself?

Still, my son's best friend from college has followed in his family's tradition of making violins. So, while that's cool, it's admittedly not all that unusual.

How about making an electric violin from a Louisville slugger?

While getting ready to go to Arkansas as part of a program offering concerts and outreach programs to more rural parts of the country which might not be all that familiar with classical music, Donnellan was looking for an instrument he could use in a children's concert. Thinking it would be cool to tell kids that hey, they could make their own violins, he proceeded to do exactly that, spending hours backstage at the Kennedy Center, using the stagehands' drill press to make holes in a baseball bat.

The resultant anthem isn't exactly what you might expect from a classical musician -- although the arrangement is his own, it's reminiscent of Jimmy Hendrix -- but Donnellan claims eclectic taste in music and says that "in terms of playing outside the classical box, if you can feel it, you can play it."

And he can definitely do that.

So, wishing everyone a super and safe holiday, and with huge appreciation to all those who've served our country so we can celebrate our freedom, enjoy: