Friday, May 04, 2007

Music in the Valley

One of the things that made life worth living this year was rediscovering music. I went to a folk music weekend called Stringalong in Wisconsin last November, thinking to take up the guitar. Imagine my surprise, however, when instead an autoharp called to me. What is an autoharp, you ask? Well, you put 30+ strings on a box that rings...and tune for the rest of your life. The link above will tell you more about this delightful instrument than you'd probably ever want to know. I fell in love with it, bought one and by December, I was playing it and singing in the town Christmas show.

I met some other musicians at my church, and have started playing weekly with them. We just did a benefit last month in Pueblo at the Union Depot. It was a lot of fun, and only our second time playing in public.

There are a LOT of musicians in Westcliffe - both amateur and some professionals, too. Probably our best known band is the bluegrass group Sons and Brothers.

My next venture is to start an open acoustic jam/coffeehouse at my church on Wednesday nights. I have a feeling people are going to come out of the woodwork, especially in the summer.

As for music - well, I can't get enough of it!