< Previous40 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 Glen and Jovanka Burke, owners of Guitar Lounge in Galveston, are making and selling guitars made from salvaged deck planks from the1877 Tall Ship Elissa. (Opposite) Twelve guitars have been made so far from the salvaged wood with plans to build more. COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 41 FEATURE ELECTRIC ELISSA Islander uses salvaged wood from Texas tall ship to make ‘killer guitars’ story by CHRIS GRAY | photos by STUART VILLANUEVA T he 1877 Elissa, a tall ship in the island’s historic seaport, is in many ways a symbol of Galveston itself — it’s right there on the city’s official seal. The latest chapter in the vessel’s illustrious histo- ry, however, has little to do with sailing. It’s in an entirely different key, you might say. This part of Elissa’s story began in the spring, when staffers at Sea Star Base Galveston, a maritime and aquat- ics-based education organization, reached out to Glen “Falcon Eddy” Burke, owner of the Galveston Guitar Lounge. The nautical nonprofit was going on the market after the 2021 death of founder Charles Doolin, heir to the Frito-Lay snack-food fortune, and needed to unload some inventory. One lot was an actual pile of wood, Douglas fir planks of various lengths. The boards had been part of Elissa’s decking since shortly after she changed owners in 1970, one of the first steps in the iron barque’s decade-plus journey to Pier 22, where she remains one of the city’s top tourist draws. The wood had been sitting in a Hitchcock storage unit since 2013, when the boards were removed during a round of renovations. Burke’s Sea Star contact wondered whether the guitar merchant might use some of the boards to build an acoustic guitar, he recalled. “I said, ‘No, we can’t do an acoustic, but we can sure do 42 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 FEATURE some electrics,’” Burke said. “And he said, ‘Oh, that’s so cool.’” Burke suggested modeling the Elissa gui- tars after his favorite model, the Fender Tele- caster. In his opinion, Fenders are the most durable of the major guitar brands, whereas “they say you got two kinds of Gibson: one with a broken headstock, and one that’s gonna break,” he joked. It happens; Burke figures in an average year he fixes between 20 and 30 broken guitar necks. He and wife, Jovanka, have been running Galveston Guitar Lounge for seven years. The couple moved to the island from Conroe, set- tling full-time into their former vacation home COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 43 and renting out their downstairs space. One day, Burke needed a guitar string and realized he’d have to leave the island to buy one; not long after, the couple parted ways with their tenant and opened up shop downstairs. A lifelong musician — mostly guitar and harmonica — Burke had been working in construction, building and fixing guitars on the side until a back injury — and his wife’s advice — steered him toward full-time luth- ier work. Many of the guitars he sees are in pretty bad shape. Besides the broken necks, he once restored one found in 8 feet of mud after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. He had to bake that one in an oven to dry it out. Besides major repair jobs and the custom guitars he crafts under his personal Fowlcon Guitar Company brand, customers also will ask Burke for what he calls a setup, which he likens to “a day at the spa.” “Bring it in, we’ll go through and fix ev- erything, straighten everything out, clean the strings and oil it up,” he said. “It even smells better when we’re done.” As of mid-August, Burke had made 12 guitars out of the Elissa wood — routing and shaping the bodies, sanding the edges, filling the bolt holes with epoxy. Each one comes with an engraving of the ship on the bridge guard, almost like a signature. They’re meant to be as durable as the boat from which they came. “With the rugged look, they could take a few dings and it wouldn’t hurt anything,” Burke said. Burke also has enlisted Jonathan Frank — an Elissa crew member and island artist who has “probably painted the Elissa more than any other artist in existence,” Burke said — to paint the guitars to match such nicknames as Midnight Rambler, Blue Sky and Into the Mystic. Frank paints the cases, too. In late August, Burke almost was finished with the second batch, and most of those guitars already were spoken for — at $4,500 apiece. All told, he figures there’s enough wood to make between 75 and 100 instru- ments, and plans on holding back a few to donate to The Bryan Museum in Galveston and, naturally, the Elissa herself. He’s hoping to convince ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons to endorse them, too. But as much as they represent a uniquely unusual link to a major island landmark, at the end of the day they’re still guitars — meaning they’re really meant to be played. “These are not just wall-hangers,” Burke said. “These are killer guitars.” (Left) Glen Burke holds one of the guitars he made from salvaged wood from the 1877 tall ship Elissa. The guitars aren’t just for looks; they’re meant to be played, Burke said. (Above) Each guitar comes with a custom case bearing artwork of the iconic ship.Open 7 Days A Week Zero Down / Zero Interest Financing Complementary Award Winning Decorating Service Solid Wood Furniture Free Delivery AWARD WINNING One-of-a-kind Furniture And Home Décor Store. 5 time (2018-2022) Readers Choice Award Winner Bayside Chic Matagorda 455 Fisher St. (Hwy 60) | Matagorda, TX 77457 979-863-5042 Bayside Chic Galveston 4002 Broadway | Galveston, TX 77550 409-621-954046 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 BLACK MAGIC COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 47 Much maligned felines bring joy and luck to owners story by B. SCOTT MCLENDON F or centuries, black cats have been considered everything from bad luck to incarnations of the devil, leading entire cultures, religions and generations to shun them or even kill them. Superstitions surrounding black cats — the most common being they bring bad luck when they cross your path — vary from country to country. But black cats have been revered in some cultures. Scottish and Welsh lore holds that black cats are good omens signifying prosperity and good health, while owners say their felines are gorgeous, intelli- gent creatures who get a bad rap. PAPAL FAUX PAW The first written documentation of black cats being linked to the occult date as far back as the 13th century, when an official church document called “Vox in Rama” was issued by Pope Gregory IX about 790 years ago. In it, black cats were declared an incarnation of Satan that “should not be suffered to live.”48 COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 FEATURE In other words, the pope was telling his followers to kill black cats on sight. But no longer is the Catholic Church at war with black cats, confirmed Father Jude Ezuma of St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, 2011 Church St. in Galveston. “The church calls all the faithful to a faithful and responsible stewardship of the Earth,” Ezuma wrote in a statement. “All of Earth and all therein is God’s creation and gift to us. We are called to receive all with gratitude and to use them in such a way as to give glory to God the creator, making the world a better place for all.” STUBS SMITH Islander Andy Smith has had his black cat, Stubs, for about five years, but he actually didn’t want another cat when he found him, he said. “I had a cat who died and I said I would never get another cat, never,” Smith said. Despite his rough beginnings, Stubs the cat has a big personality and likes to play and fetch like a dog, owner Andy Smith said. Smith found the cat, who had an injured leg that later had to be amputated, about five years ago. COASTMONTHLY.COM | OCTOber 2023 49 But “never” only lasted about five or six months before he met Stubs, Smith said. Stubs was 4 weeks old and had a broken back leg when Smith found him discarded near Dallas about five years ago, he said. “I didn’t want more, but if one happens to need me, you know?” Smith said. “He was all jacked up,” Smith said. “So, we talked to a surgeon about fixing it. And he said he could look at it for about $3,000 and there is no guarantee it’ll do anything. So, I thought about it and said, ‘You know what, this cat is going to have anything it ever wants.” Smith thought he’d see how Stubs made it after the surgeries, but he broke the same leg again, he said. The leg, which didn’t have the same mobility as the rest, would jut out when Stubs would turn a corner and generally get in his way. Eventually, the vet- erinarian amputated the leg, Smith said. Despite Stubs’ rough beginnings, he has PHOTOS: J e NNIF er re YNOLDSNext >