A musical Impact for William Shatner

What can you give a man who already has a couple of Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, and even two Golden Raspberries? Well, if you're the clever folks at the Nashville Film Festival, and you want to honor William Shatner with a special Impact Award, you ask Gibson Guitar Corp. to construct, and artist Mandy Lawson to paint, a customized acoustic guitar to give the veteran actor. The prize certainly made an impact on Shatner when he received the one-of-a-kind instrument from Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz before Friday's NaFF world premiere screening of William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet. "When I was a young stage actor out on tour," Shatner recalled, "I used to bring along a printout with me, to try to learn the fingering so I could play the guitar. But I never mastered it. And even later on, I never had the time -- never took the time -- to learn how to play. But let me tell you -- now I make the time." Shatner looked so unabashedly pleased with his prize that I couldn't resist offering him a fist bump and two words of encouragement: "Rock on!" He exuberantly bumped back, smiled brightly and replied: "Yeah, I'll rock on."