'JTG Extravaganza' immortalizes 'Giuseppe's' love of music

MEREDITH — For Giuseppe’s Pizzeria, music has always been as critical to the experience as a good tomato sauce. Since they opened the restaurant in 1989, the Gnerre family – and then the Gnerre-Bourgeois family – has offered live music every night of the week. The family’s support for local musicians goes even further, as they have raised tens of thousands of dollars to help young people pursue their musical dreams.

Since 1996, the eatery has thrown a day-long event, known as the JTG Music Memorial Extravaganza, which pays tribute to Joe “Giuseppe” Gnerre, who instilled a love of music into his children and his business. Proceeds from the day, which features non-stop live music from local performers, are then given out to local students who are enrolled in a music-related program at a college or university.

The 24th JTG Memorial was held on Sunday, and, said owner Julie Gnerre-Bourgeois, the event paid a worthy tribute to the restaurant’s namesake.

“We had an awesome day, over 40 musicians, we raised $4,186,” she said. “Amazing talent, everybody had a good time, it was fabulous.”

Money was raised through a suggested $10 donation at the door. This year’s take was in line with how well the event typically does, collecting between $3,500 and $4,500. Those proceeds are then distributed to a handful of local graduating seniors. And, thanks to a substantial donation by one of Joe’s brothers, Gnerre-Bourgeois will be able to hand out more than $9,000 this year.

There’s still time for local students to apply, as the deadline is May 15. The scholarship is open to graduating seniors from Inter-Lakes, Gilford, Newfound, Plymouth or Moultonborough. Applications are available at each of those school’s guidance offices.

In addition to donations at the door, Giuseppe’s raised money by selling raffle tickets for a Taylor acoustic guitar valued at $2,000. The man who bought the winning ticket surprised Gnerre-Bourgeois by handing the guitar back.

“He is anonymously donating it back to the cause,” she said. The donor is hoping that the Taylor will find the young hands of someone who will appreciate it. “He wants us to find someone that is really in need, who is pursuing music. We have to find that person.”

Growing up in the Gnerre family meant growing up with music, said Gnerre-Bourgeois.

“It’s just sort of our chemistry, my family chemistry,” she said. The weaving together of food and music is evident in the Giuseppe’s motto, which she said was conceived well before the restaurant’s doors first opened.

“Because of the music in my family growing up, we decided to have, ‘Giuseppe’s Pizzeria, very musical, very Italian, very good!’... It was important to have music, otherwise the whole concept wouldn’t work.”

Pursuing a dream

Over the years, more than $50,000 has been collected and distributed to young, local musicians, through the JTG Memorial. Last year, one of those recipients was Noah Smith, a graduate of Moultonborough Academy who is currently attending Belmont University, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Smith knew that he wanted to be a musician from a very early age.

“I told my mom when I was 2 years old that I wanted to learn how to play guitar.” When he was 6, his hands were finally big enough to manipulate a fretboard, and his mother bought him his first guitar.

“I’ve loved music ever since.”

Smith, a songwriter, recorded his first album, “Make a Change,” while he was still in high school. Those songs were in the style of pop-rock, and he said that his time in Nashville has already made an impression.

“I’ve been influenced by country a lot lately,” he said.

Though his dream is to establish himself as a recording artist, Smith is studying music business at Bentley, so that he can find work in the music business even if he’s not one of its stars.

Receiving the JTG Memorial Scholarship was “incredible,” he said.

“It gave me some breaking room with the financial aspect of going to school,” he said. Bentley was far and away his top choice school. “That was where I wanted to be, that money helped me get there.”

And it has proven to be the right choice.

“I already have an internship lined up at a record company for next year, which is amazing,” he said.