GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Season 14 of Postcards begins on February 9, 2023, at 7 p.m. with stories about Verlyn Kling’s 1959 Gibson Les Paul and Jammie Niemeyer’s art and inspiration. Produced by Pioneer PBS, Postcards program dedicated to telling the stories of local artists, history and culture.
The first segment in this episode features the never-been-told history of Verlyn Kling's Gibson Les Paul. When Kling bought his guitar as a teenager in 1959 from Smith Music Company in Montevideo, he had no idea that someday his cherry sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard would become an example of one of the most collectible and valuable guitars in the world. And now the guitar is missing. Hear the story of the guitar’s history from Kling and from Mat Koehler, senior director of product development at Gibson Brands, Inc.
Then, Granite Falls’ own Jammie Niemeyer talks about how she looked to her ancestral roots to inform her most recent art. Niemeyer did deep-dive studies of 44 people important to Black history and the Black experience in America. Niemeyer created portraits of these subjects as she learned about them and how they impacted who she is today. “It made me realize that I came from a very powerful place,” Niemeyer explains.
People in Pioneer PBS’s viewing area can livestream this episode at www.pioneer.org/live on February 9 at 7 p.m. This episode will be repeated on Monday, February 13 at 1:30 p.m. and will be available for online viewing at www.pioneer.org/postcards and on Postcards’ YouTube page at www.youtube.com/@PostcardsOnPioneerPBS.
About Postcards
Postcard is an award-winning art, culture and history program, produced by Dana Conroy with videography and editing by Kristofor Gieske and Ben Dempcy. The program is made possible by contributions from the voters of Minnesota through a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. The 2023 season is made possible by funding from Shalom Hill Farm, Explore Alexandria Tourism, the Lake Region Arts Council, KRAM 96.7 and members of Pioneer PBS.
About Pioneer PBS
Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station, dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.