Globe-trotting guitar project stops in musical Motown, spurring songs and stoking sonic embers

DETROIT – Globe-trotting acoustic guitars have been passing through the hands of songwriters from Helsinki to Haiti, Bogota to the Big Apple.

Now, Detroit — home to the Motown Sound, modern techno and the Queen of Soul — has an axe making the rounds of its musicians.

The Motor City is the fifth place to participate in The Acoustic Guitar Project, created by New Yorker and Detroit native Dave Adams.

The rules are simple: Give a guitar to a songwriter for a week. In that time he must compose a song, record it, and upload the recording and a photo with the guitar. The guitar is then delivered to another artist.

The homecoming is particularly special for Adams because contributors to his crowdfunded campaign picked Detroit for a TV pilot he’s filming.