A performance by popular local music group DoryDrive highlighted Saturday's benefit concert Rock the Rumble IV, hosted in Milwaukee by the Harley-Davidson Museum and the nonprofit organization Guitars for Vets (G4V).
Funds raised at the event support G4V's mission to enhance the lives of injured military veterans by providing hope and healing through the power of music. Veterans receive free guitars and music instruction from volunteers through Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities and community-based medical centers.
The benefit also held an auction of classic guitars, featuring a white Gibson Les Paul Studio model electric guitar signed by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Guitars for Vets was co-founded by Patrick Nettesheim in Milwaukee in 2007, and now operates more than 40 chapters in 20 states with the assistance of more than 150 volunteers nationwide. To date, G4V has administered 20,000-plus guitar lessons and distributed more than 2,000 guitars to veterans.
Concert attendees included Sue Baker, program director of the Les Paul Foundation, based in New York City; guitarist and senior vice president of K-Nation Entertainment LLC in Grafton, Jason Klagstad; and Danielle Hanson, organizer of the Eastside Music Tour in Milwaukee.