Fine Bloom is an album graced by three instrumental muses: mandolin player Jenny Hill, violinist Lizzy Plotkin and guitarist Katherine Taylor. In the hives of these queen bees dwells a lone upright bass player, Andrew Cameron. He works his tail off to bring home a steady beat that forms the bottom end of this talented bouquet. Gunnison-based Free the Honey was formed as a string quartet steeped in the Appalachian sound. Its traditional mixture of slow-brewed fiddle is simmered on top of a jangling banjo, which warms when cooked over hot coals. Deep, low tones of double bass penetrate, held together with the churning chunk of a mandolin. Three American girls descant a breathtaking three-part harmony, blending together their soulful whispering vocals into a thick syrupy flow. These three sirens are songwriters accustomed to the classic country tune. Southern heritage runs like long river deltas down their veins. The Central Colorado Rockies beckoned them all distinctly with an older bluegrass mythos. A simpler form of music then made its emergence from floral meadows deep beneath the shadow of a prestigious mountain.
Month: October 2015
A Farmer Far Afield – Kenneth Dellenbaugh
by John Mattingly I can’t quite remember when I met Kenneth, though it now seems that I have known him for a good bit of my life. With some friendships, time is relative, depth and intensity extending the nominal passage of days. Kenneth is now 89 and living in Salida, having recently moved from Creede. …
Foxhunting in Colorado: Headwaters Hounds
by Elliot Jackson “Foxhunting provides those fleeting moments of total abandonment – of wind-in-your-hair, bugs-in-your-teeth kind of living. At its best, it is totally out of control. Hounds are screaming, hooves are thundering, the horn is blasting as you race and jump across country to die for, often in weather not fit for man or …
Quillen’s Corner – The Great Wyoming Hippie Hoax Revisited
by Martha Quillen Two score and six years ago, Ed Quillen and some of his friends started musing about whether Wyoming could be taken over by hippies (in a nonviolent manner, of course). It was a crazy idea, but the events unfolding in 1969 almost made it seem feasible. Student riots, sit-ins, and demonstrations rocked …
Down on the Ground with Rationality
by George Sibley I’m doing a seminar here at Western State this fall, titled “The Colorado River in the Anthropocene.” The Anthropocene, as many of you have probably read or observed yourselves, is an acknowledgement that humans have, over the course of the past 200-10,000 years, begun imposing the kinds of largely irreversible changes on …
The Fairview Lookout
by Ericka Kastner Lovers of four-wheeling, hikes above treeline and ridiculous views of the Continental Divide should put this adventure on their to-do list. The highest fire tower in North America sits on Fairview Peak at 13,214 feet in elevation, just north of the town of Pitkin. This one-room stone hut, constructed in 1912 (just …
Book Review – Our Souls at Night
Our Souls at Night By Kent Haruf ISBN: 978-1-101-87589-6 Knopf: 2015 $24.00; 179pp. Reviewed by Eduardo Rey Brummel What if two seniors who have each lost their spouse spend their nights sleeping together? That is, “sleeping together” in the literal sense, not the euphemistic and adulterous sense that’s far more commonplace. Such a simple suggestion, …
When Sport Becomes Real Life
by Hal Walter Last spring, when coach Jack Swartz asked my son Harrison if he’d like to be on the middle school cross-country team this season, I really had no idea where it would lead. Harrison answered “yes” by nodding his head enthusiastically. He’d had finished a few 5K runs and also had proven himself …
For the Love of a Man and His Words
by Judy Reese They are not all professional theater folk: some have not acted since high school, if at all. Some are his friends; others knew him only through his novels. But at Salida’s SteamPlant, in the town where he made his home, they’ve come together to celebrate Kent Haruf – the man as well …
Affordable Housing – Has it Become a Myth?
by Daniel Smith It’s a phenomenon affecting communities from Denver to small mountain towns – a lack of affordable housing for lower-income workers often employed in service industries vital to a community’s economic health. Many political candidates are voicing concerns over the need for affordable housing, but assessing and addressing the issue is a lengthy …
The Natural World
by Tina Mitchell In the darkening dusk, my husband said quietly: “Your little friend is back.” I snuck to the window to see one of the local gray foxes heading for the spilled seed under our bird feeders. Such a wary, gorgeous, dainty little predator! October often brings increased sightings of foxes: The young have …
News from the San Luis Valley
Costilla County Dealing With Issues Surrounding Newcomers Costilla County is facing issues stemming from an influx of newcomers who are looking for an inexpensive place to live off the grid, according to Colorado Public Radio. A county commission meeting held in San Luis in September brought out impassioned residents on both sides of the issue, …
Regional News Roundup
Juggling Act at 14,000 Feet On Aug.23, Paul Hower of Gunnison issued a challenge to Roberto Milk, the CEO and cofounder of NOVICA (an affiliate of National Geographic magazine that sells fairly traded products made by artisans in poor countries). The task? Juggling a soccer ball 100 times atop Colorado fourteener Redcloud Peak to raise …
The Swissvale Earthship
by MikeRosso Commuters and tourists driving through Bighorn Sheep Canyon this past summer were baffled by the sight of an unusual construction project across the Arkansas River from Swissvale, in what looked like a modern mining camp full of colorful tents. What was in fact happening across from this tiny hamlet east of Salida was …
From the Editor – Change
by Mike Rosso Our cover tagline speaks of embracing change, and not just the change of seasons – although Rita Roberts’ painting goes a long way toward invoking just that – but also the changes that occur in our everyday lives. Change can happen when you least expect it, or it may happen due to …
About the Cover Artist: Rita Roberts
Artist, writer and illustrator Rita Roberts lives and works in Monte Vista, Colorado. Her artwork is indelibly tied to the San Luis Valley, surrounded by the cycles of the upper Rio Grande, which flows a mile from her studio. Born in Nebraska, the artist still gravitates toward farmsteads and big, stormy skies. Her landscapes exist …
