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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The string band Wooden Nickel will perform at a chili supper fundraiser Sunday, April 1, at Redlands Community Center. The public is invited.
Wooden Nickel is drawn from a larger group of musicians who gather weekly in Glenwood Springs for acoustic jam sessions. They call it a “fiddle circle,” although there are other string instruments as well, like guitar and mandolin.
There's a lot of grounding energy playing the songs that are hundreds and hundreds of years old, fiddler Don Paine (see sidebar story) said.
“There are variations from one generation to the next, who experiences them and passes them on. There's power to it.”
Oftentimes 25-30 musicians show up for the jam sessions, all with a passion for old-time music, Paine said.
“We also play Irish, and contemporary; it's all acoustic,” he said.
Paine distinguishes what Wooden Nickel plays from what is commonly referred to as “bluegrass.”
“It's all the same instruments but there's quite a difference,” he said. “Bluegrass is a different format, it often includes a lot of vocals,” and many times each musician will take a turn at a solo.
For the most part, old-time music consists of instrumental melodies — the kind played at traditional Saturday night barn dances, Paine said.
“With this event we've mixed in a few vocal tunes,” he said.
Built in 1920, the Redlands Community Center was designed as a golf club, then managed by a women's group who later turned it over to Redlands community members to manage as a nonprofit events center. The community center is maintained through rentals and fundraisers like the one planned for Sunday.
Though located in the Redlands, anyone can rent the community center. Groups that typically meet there include the Redlands Lions Club, the Golden Kiwanis, Boy Scout Troop 303, the Coin Club, and the Saturday Nighters dance club.
People can also lease the building and grounds for weddings, graduation and birthday parties.
Sunday's event will be catered by Walstrom's Catering, the resident caterer and manager of Redlands Community Center.
“The food has just been fantastic,” said Brad Davenport, president of operations and maintenance.
There will be 4, 5 and 6 p.m. seatings for the chili meal Sunday. Attendees are encouraged to buy their tickets in advance for their first choice seating. The music will go from 4-7 p.m.
Tickets are $12 and available by calling 970-242-7066.
Wooden Nickel is drawn from a larger group of musicians who gather weekly in Glenwood Springs for acoustic jam sessions. They call it a “fiddle circle,” although there are other string instruments as well, like guitar and mandolin.
There's a lot of grounding energy playing the songs that are hundreds and hundreds of years old, fiddler Don Paine (see sidebar story) said.
“There are variations from one generation to the next, who experiences them and passes them on. There's power to it.”
Oftentimes 25-30 musicians show up for the jam sessions, all with a passion for old-time music, Paine said.
“We also play Irish, and contemporary; it's all acoustic,” he said.
Paine distinguishes what Wooden Nickel plays from what is commonly referred to as “bluegrass.”
“It's all the same instruments but there's quite a difference,” he said. “Bluegrass is a different format, it often includes a lot of vocals,” and many times each musician will take a turn at a solo.
For the most part, old-time music consists of instrumental melodies — the kind played at traditional Saturday night barn dances, Paine said.
“With this event we've mixed in a few vocal tunes,” he said.
Built in 1920, the Redlands Community Center was designed as a golf club, then managed by a women's group who later turned it over to Redlands community members to manage as a nonprofit events center. The community center is maintained through rentals and fundraisers like the one planned for Sunday.
Though located in the Redlands, anyone can rent the community center. Groups that typically meet there include the Redlands Lions Club, the Golden Kiwanis, Boy Scout Troop 303, the Coin Club, and the Saturday Nighters dance club.
People can also lease the building and grounds for weddings, graduation and birthday parties.
Sunday's event will be catered by Walstrom's Catering, the resident caterer and manager of Redlands Community Center.
“The food has just been fantastic,” said Brad Davenport, president of operations and maintenance.
There will be 4, 5 and 6 p.m. seatings for the chili meal Sunday. Attendees are encouraged to buy their tickets in advance for their first choice seating. The music will go from 4-7 p.m.
Tickets are $12 and available by calling 970-242-7066.
GO&DO
What: Chili dinner fundraiser with old-time Appalachian music by the band Wooden Nickel
When: 4 p.m. Sunday, April 1 Where: Redlands Community Center, 2463 Broadway Cost: $12 Info: 242-7066 |
Paine labors for love
Fiddle and mandolin player Don Paine turned his love of music and string instruments, and his experience as a carpenter into a labor of love 10 years ago when he began making hand-crafted custom mandolins.When he took a year off from his contracting business in Glenwood Springs to build a mandolin, he wasn't expecting the move to turn into a new career. However, people wanted those first few instruments made with such care by Paine and so he continued making them and established Pomeroy Instruments.
He's been able to create a living as an artisan craftsman by selling the instruments locally as well as online, along with performing music with the Defiance String Band, and teaching music lessons.
“It takes a long time to make an instrument, and you're competing with a huge (mass production) industry,” Paine said. “But there is a difference.
“There's a tradition behind that, getting the best tone out of the wood,” a craft that usually requires a long apprenticeship to master.
Paine was joined by his son Josh in 2008, who had made a series of guitars before joining the business. With Josh making mandolins, Paine was free to turn to his longtime interest of building violins.
At a fundraiser concert Sunday for the Redlands Community Center (see side story) several members of the band Wooden Nickel, including Paine, will be performing on Pomeroy Instruments.
Paine will also be in town Saturday, March 31, with his fiddle, when he joins the group Fifth Reel, for the Community Contra Dance at La Puerta Dance Studio, 523 1/2 Main St.
To learn more, visit www.pomeroyinstruments.com.
