 Start UpLast Forever started with me with an idea and a spinet (sort of like a harpsichord, but smaller), and a singer, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough. I first thought of my friend, Bill Ruyle, a percussionist, and realized I wanted him to be a part of it, without yet knowing what instrument he would play. As it happened, Bill's father had built a hammer dulcimer years back, and Bill held onto it, as percussionists will, on the offchance. Bill also had music school keyboard chops, so I bought a harmonium, and assigned him two instruments he had never played professionally or, indeed, much otherwise. Bill knew a fiddler, Carolyn Dutton, whom he had first met in an experimental music theater production, and she fit right in. Most of the songs on the first CD were developed in rehearsal and performance by Bill, Carolyn, Sonya and me, with other instruments added into the arrangements for the recordingCarolyn Dutton, Dick Connette, Bill Ruyle, Sonya Cohen – photo by John Cohen |
