Parlor Music

Keith playing Parlor Music from the 1800's. Elzick's Farewell, Dusty Rose, Kentucky Waltz. The first two are of Celtic origin, the last is all American.

In Memory of Oren Siders

Oren Siders died Friday march 9th, 2012. I'd spent the day with him Thursday making a mandolin. He seemed fine, but was a little tired as usual. We glued the back on his mandolin, and knocked off early. I learned today, that he had some complication Friday in his abdomen which would normally be treatable, but in his weakened state it was too much.

I remember, at his retirement party, all these people I'd never met saying what I already knew; how he was so generous with knowledge on how to fix things, loaning and sharing tools and instruments and just about anything you can imagine. Almost any time I called him he'd be off somewhere managing the pouring of a foundation, or fixing a pump, or welding and repairing some piece of equipment.

We loved him. He kept the jam going . He made sure we had amps and mikes and a place to play. Whenever we were without a venue he snagged me to go talk to restaurants and we'd find a new place. That's how we wound up at PJ's.

He played bass to support the group but appreciated being relieved so he could practice some lead. It baffled me how he could keep time so well with the base, but "stray so far" with the fiddle! That is, until I tried it! Playing bass is tough, but fiddling' is just an exercise in unmercifully arduous dexterity. At our age, you shouldn't even try, but Oren seemed drawn to big, complex problems. So I was not surprised when he decided to make bluegrass instruments from scratch.

For the last couple of years we've spent Thursdays in his shop working on fiddles and mandolins. We'd shave and tap and tune pieces of wood, listen to a Lester Flatt album from 1952, and give chewing "tebakky" to Dusty his horse who would stick his head in the door to see what's going on. I wouldn't take a herd of horses for that time now.

Adios cowboy, you'll be sorely missed.





Oren's funeral will be held at Williams Funeral home tomorrow (monday march 12th at 2:00, visitation at 1:00)

Funeral Home Listing

Highlights of RedWing 2011 at PJ's

Some material from last year at PJ's. Sandy is conspicuous by her absence in this photo! Click the photo for more photos.

Once again, RedWing is looking for a new location.

For you restaurants, give me a call. We always bring in a steady crowd.

Jim Hughes Plays a fiddle modified by Keith and Oren

Jim Hughes stopped by to show me some of his "Gourd Instruments" and commented on the sound of my Chinese fiddle. Oren Siders and I (Keith Rowell) have been working on perfecting the "Tap Tuning" and "Chladni patterns" techniques of fine tuning the wooden parts of violins and mandolins for a couple of years now. Jim gives us a thumbs up!


To answer Jim's question "what did you do to it" click here.


Below is a photo of Jim's gourd instruments. They're very cool. He's been busy since I've seen his first one a year ago. It's always nice to see you Jim!

Jim's email: jimphughes@gmail.com
and phone: 770-883-7653

Redwing Moves to Wednesday Nights

We're sticking to the same location at PJ's, but we have moved the jam to Wednesday nights. Make a note of it and come on down and join us. I know this causes conflicts for some so we may change the night again, stay tuned for updates...

The video shows a few of our newcomers, Beth and Rowdy Hood, and (the perennial) Mike Cameron. We've had a fun season playing at PJ's with all the usual suspects; Oren and Sandy Siders, Paul Jacobs, Paul Heath, Dan Kelhoffer, me Keith Rowell. Ronnie Hood's grandkids, Roudy and Beth, are progressing so quickly, it's embarrasing to us old folks. There've been many more that I'm sure I've failed to mention.

These videos (and many more) were taken by Pam Hood. Thank you very much Pam for sharing.