What Boothbay Harbor luthier Rob Dmitrieff thought was a traffic ticket was an invitation to be an exhibitor in Hallowell’s  2^nd Annual Maine Luthiers Exhibition and Music Showcase. The three-day event, Oct. 12-14, features Maine luthiers and bands.

Hallowell City Manager Nate Rudy said 18 invited luthiers, a.k.a. guitar makers who make acoustic and electric instruments, will take part. “They are coming from all over the state.”

How’d he hear about our local luthier?

“We reached out to the stringed instrument makers we knew from last year’s invitational event and one of them told us about Rob,” Rudy said. “Some time after we’d sent out the invites for this year I actually met Rob at the Bourgeois Factory (home of Dana Bourgeoise acoustic guitars) in Lewiston.”

Dmitrieff said he’ll have “a handful” of his Big Wave Guitars with him: an orchestra model, parlor and a dreadnought. At Big Wave Guitars studio, he’s currently working on three guitars. One is a parlor, a commission for another Maine luthier.  In addition to crafting his gorgeous instruments, Dmitrieff makes electric guitar contour braces for Gibson and sells spruce guitar tops internationally.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting other luthiers and musicians,” Dmitrieff said of the event.

Dmitrieff, also a musician, will be at the 5:30 p.m. closing reception at the Hydeout at The Wharf. All exhibitors and musicians will gather there to jam. Musicians are encouraged to play one of the exhibiting luthiers’ guitars.

Throughout the three days, bands will be playing at various venues on Water Street and at the Hallowell City Hall Auditorium. The wicked lineup includes Katie Matzell, The Awesome, The Cowboy Angels, and Mes Amis (Gypsy jazz) . You can check them all out at http://hallowell.org/luthiers

The luthiers’ exhibition will be held at the Harlow Gallery, 100 Water St.  Ned Steinberger, known for his electric string instruments and headless necks (tuners are on the body of the instrument), is keynote speaker; there’ll  also be craft demos and vendors.  And a Steinberger electric Wav Radius bass guitar will be raffled off, for real.

For more details and to buy tickets, visit the event website, above. For more information about Rob’s guitars, visit www.bigwaveguitars.com