Stars & Strings
Wood & Steel: A Publication of Tayor Guitars
Volume 56 / Summer 2008

The Armed Forces Entertainment organization raffled a one-off, custom-airbrushed T5 at this year's South by Southwest conference held in Austin, Texas in March. Taylor had donated a pair of T5s to AFE, a department of defense agency which coordinates entertainment for U.S. military personnel at more than 350 military installations all around the world. AFE in turn arranged to have both T5s custome painted by artist Justin Barnes (jbgrafix.com), whose airbrush work has been prominently featured on the Discovery Channel's American Chopper program.

Hinder Performance at Lajes Field
Reported by Mike A. Falvo, Ssgt, USAF
Armed Forces Network
June 2008

NOISE: Music News and More, Played at Full Blast
by Peter Gaston
Spin Magazine
June 2008

Hordes of young people gather in the middle of nowhere, raising devil horns and pumping fists along to a rock-radio staple. Laser lights penetrate the deep night sky and catch dust particles launched by the stomping of boots on desert ground. But these are not Doc Martens in the Coachella mosh pit; they’re the combat boots of 5,000 men and women who are mostly wrapped in the sandstone camouflage of the U.S. Army, and strapped with M16 rifles.

Former "Class Clown" Brings Comic Relief to GIs Oversease
by Linda Steinmuller
Canarsie Courier
April 3, 2008

Comedian Tommy Savitt has been making people laugh since his youth in Canarsie. Born in New Jersey, Savitt spent his teenage years in Canarsie and graduated from Canarsie High School in 1988, and was known as the Class Clown. After high school, Savitt graduated from Brook-lyn College then attended Brooklyn Law School. After the first year of law school, Savitt grew restless.

Base Gratitude: Unsigned Acts Rock Out On Military Installations
by Cortney Harding
Billboard Magazine
December 1, 2007

When musician Prashant Vallury was wandering around South by Southwest conference last year, he was looking for opportunities to get his band, hip-hop act Animate Objects, some gigs outside their hometown of Chicago.

Air Force celebrates 60 years
by Staff Sgt. Monique Randolph
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
September 19, 2007

A lineup of top military officials, musical entertainment and the chance to meet those who made early Air Force history drew representatives from each service to the Air Force's 60th anniversary celebration Sept. 18 in the Pentagon courtyard.

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Band rocks Pentagon on Air Force's 60th birthday
by Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
September 18, 2007

The Air Force's birthday celebration at the Pentagon will be rocking as an Atlanta rock band is scheduled to perform Sept. 18 in the courtyard here.

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Iraq & Roll:
Texas Music and the Troops
by Stewart Ramser
Texas Music Magazine
Summer, 2007

Country music good ol' boys Charlie Robison and Kevin Fowler brave oh-six-hundred wake-up calls, fire warnings an several stomach-churning combat-roll landings to bring a slice of home to our men and women on the front lines of the Iraq War.

Tour of Duty: Bands Go to Iraq
by Evan Serpick
Rolling Stone Magazine
May 31, 2007

On the road with the young acts the military books for the scariest gigs on Earth.

Armed Forces Entertainment
by John Schaffer
New York Public Radio, Sound Check
April 5, 2007

As the war in Iraq enters its fifth year, U.S. troops are serving longer deployments and multiple tours of duty. We talk to Wall Street Journal reporter John Jurgensen about Armed Forces Entertainment, a division of the Pentagon that scouts lesser-known bands to entertain troops stationed in across the Middle East.

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Rock in Iraq: Entertaining the Troops
ABC News
April 4, 2007

Meet the group Edison, part of Armed Forces Entertainment for the 21st century.

Rock in a Hard Place
by John Jurgensen
The Wall Street Journal
March 24, 2007

At a U.S. military base in al Qa'im, a dusty town in the Anbar Province of Iraq, 400 soldiers crowded into a storage building doubling as a concert hall for a night last year.

Country artist Robison eager to entertain in Iraq, Kuwait
by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
Air Force Print News
March 20, 2007 Air Force Link

AUSTIN, Texas (AFNEWS) - The air crackles with anticipation, as he makes his first move.

G,C,C,G,C,C,D,G.

The letters are the opening chords of country music artist Charlie Robison's song, "My Hometown," one of the songs he will perform during an Armed Forces Entertainment tour March 18 to 27 to Kuwait and Iraq.

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Armed Forces Entertainment
by Julie Moody
KUT Radio 90.5 - Austin, TX
March 19, 2007

It’s all smiles for Tamara Moes and Melissa Welch with Armed Forces Entertainment. Photo by Julie Moody. listen to radio clip

This week, a group of Texas musicians are headed to the Middle East to entertain U.S. troops.

Last week, Armed Forces Entertainment came to the South By Southwest Music Festival to scout out new talent.

Texas Western players to tour Europe
by Rusty Bryan
January 30, 2007 Stars and Stripes, European Edition

Players from the 1966 national champion Texas Western College basketball team, whose success changed the face of college athletics forever, will tour European bases during Black History Month.

Armed Forces Entertainment bringing rock n' roll flavour to the troops overseas
by Jesse Keith
December 2006 BeatRoute

On military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan music is getting back to basics. For troops in the middle of the war zone it makes little difference what type of music you like. Whatever band is coming to town is the only band coming to town.

Military Finding Lots of Acts to Entertain the Troops
by Ray Waddell
March 11, 2006 Billboard Magazine

Regardless of one's political leanings, few in this business would deny U.S. troops "over there" the right to rock.

Troupe goes thru hoops for troops
by Robert Dominguez
February 21, 2006 Daily News - New York, NY

They've played some pretty tough crowds before, but a Manhattan comedy troupe is about to perform for the toughtest audience yet: thousands of war-weary U.S. troops in Iraq.

Good will played a part i it, but when The Fuzz Band applied three years ago to entertain U.S. troops abroad, the main motivation was to heighten its own profile and win new fans.

World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers have made bringing Christmastime cheer to troops overseas an annual tradition, and this year they are dropkicking holiday greetings to soldiers serving in what they're calling a "forgotten" war.

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Triple H and a pair of World Wrestling Entertainment divas approached the hospital bed of U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Michael Larson on Tuesday night at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

Jenny Boyle didn't make it to Hollywood after her "American Idol" audition. And when the 26-year-old pediatric nurse sings in the smoky Northern Virginia bars where she's a regular act, she has to compete with the sports channel and boozy conversations for the attention of customers.

A group of Washington-area musicians put their personal lives on hold and took leaves of absence from their jobs to go overseas and cheer up U.S. troops. Jenny Boyle and her band…