Paul Reed Smith And Band To Play Prince Theatre, February 4

Admission Free for All WC Students with ID

Chestertown, MD, January 14, 2005 — The Prince Theatre Foundation—in cooperation with Washington College's Friends of the Arts, Student Events Board and Office of Alumni Affairs—welcomes the Paul Reed Smith Music band to Chestertown's historic Prince Theatre, Friday, February 4. Show begins at 8 p.m., doors open at 7:30 p.m. The world-renowned guitar maker and founder of PRS Guitars will also receive the “Community First” Award for his generous donation of music education and entertainment to the students of Washington College and the Prince Theatre Cultural Center and Foundation for the Arts.

Admission is free for all Washington College students with ID. There will be a cash bar, but those under 21 are welcomed.

Tickets are $20 per person and benefit the fundraising efforts of the Prince Theatre Cultural Center and Foundation for the Arts. Tickets can be purchased at the Prince Theatre box office, 210 High Street, during business hours, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; by calling the box office at 410-810-2060 during business hours; or through all TICKETMASTERlocations (410-547-SEAT).

Born in Bowie, Maryland, Smith attended Bowie High School and St. Mary's College, where he hand-built his first guitar. In 1975, Smith opened The Guitar Shop on 33 West Street in downtown Annapolis and custom built guitars for area musicians, honing his craft and hoping for a break into the rock music industry.

“The road from my workshop in a historic, haunted Annapolis garret to a state-of-the-art factory was a tough one,” says Smith. “Fact is, I always loved working with my hands. Why else would a high school kid sign up for three or four shop classes at a time? My first guitar was built as a challenge to my college music professor for some credits. I got an ‘A' and decided to pursue my dream of making guitars for a living.”

Now, a quarter of a century later—from lone craftsman to major manufacturer—Smith and his company, PRS Guitars, are recognized for building the world's premier electric guitars. Manufactured on the Eastern Shore in Stevensville, MD, the distinctive style and sound of PRS guitars are known to both musicians and music fans alike, and are seen in the hands of the world's finest players, from Carlos Santana and Dave Matthews to Dave Navarro and Brad Delson of Linkin Park.

In his spare time, Smith enjoys playing and making music with his Paul Reed Smith Music band, which in recent months has traveled abroad to Canada and China, meeting PRS guitar enthusiasts from around the world and working of new material.

The Prince Theatre, located in historic Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore, was built in 1926 as a vaudeville theatre and movie house. The meticulously restored theatre now presents a wide range of musical acts, special events, children's workshops and educational lectures. For more information about concerts and events at the Prince Theatre, visithttp://www.princetheatre.org.