2018 Board MembersPresident: Mary Sanders! ! ! MLSAND123@aol.comVice President: Lois Molitor! ! lfmolitor@gmail.comSecretary: Melanie Blakley ! ! ! dblakley@myninestar.netTreasurer: Barry Levitt! ! ! balcpg@gmail.comMusic Coordinator: Cathy Platt! ! cpplatt@comcast.net 317-485-5010Member-at-Large: Maureen Malone-Reed! mmreeds@yahoo.comPast President: Dave Tucker!! ! dtucker@vinu.eduNewsletter Editor: Susie Kraeszig! ! susankay49@sbcglobal.netWebmaster: Myrna Gray ! ! ! myrna.gray@gmail.comEagle Creek Folk Fest Chair: Dave Wensits davewensits@comcast.net

January 2018 MeetingSunday, January 14, 2018Bethlehem Lutheran Church52nd & Central, Indianapolis, IN1:00 - Slow Jam2:00 - Performance Hour3:00 - Big Band Practice & Bass Workshop4:00 - Sharing Circle

Volume 2018, Issue 1! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! January 2018

THE CENTRAL INDIANA FOLK MUSIC &MOUNTAIN DULCIMER SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER

January Musical Theme“Performer’s Choice”

January Song of the Month“Golden Stairs”

Song of the MonthAlthough all of the songs in the Big Book have been rewritten, including the words, chords, and tablature, some folks have copies of

“Golden Stairs” with an incorrect key signature. Included this month is the correct version.

Thanks to all who helped make the December Holiday Party a success! There was a lot on the agenda, but with everyone’s help we had a wonderful party to kick off the holiday season. It’s really great when everyone pitches in to help. That included setting up the tables and chairs, decorating, bringing food for the pitch in, helping to set up the food, participating in the Silent Auction, performing a song as an individual or group, singing along during the Caroling, and helping to clean up. I think everyone enjoyed the door prizes, too! It was a nice way to end 2017 with the Society, and an enthusiastic way to begin 2018.

From Your President… by Mary SandersAfter a very busy holiday season, I am turning (somewhat slowly) to thoughts, activities, and responsibilities of 2018. The fact that it is so cold that I felt compelled to outfit our golden retriever, Sunny, in a coat hasn’t helped. It probably hasn’t helped that I have more than enjoyed all the food that this holiday has laid before me (note an implied lack of responsibility on my part). Nor has it helped to envision all the work (Society and job) that is beckoning to me. Sluggish as my cognitive tempo seems to be, I was delighted at yesterday’s incredibly beautiful sun shining down on the snow, a reminder that we put away our holiday lights, those lights that warm our sensibilities in winter’s darkness, in anticipation of the coming light of spring. I love these lights, our human attempts to pierce that cold winter darkness. As Howard and I started packing away lights, I listened to recording from one of my most favorite singer-songwriters, Ian McFeron. He and his wife, Alisa, are incredibly talented musicians who live in Seattle. Sugar Cream Pie plays a few of Ian’s songs. A favorite, “You Are Like the Sun”, starts out with, “What color do you see when you look at me?” I started thinking about that line, how music seems so related to color, how songs draw pictures and paint impressions as they tell stories. What colors and shades do we see when we sing songs that are sad, happy, or edgy? Howard’s art teacher has synesthesia. To quote Psychology Today, “Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which a person experiences ‘crossed’ responses to stimuli. It occurs when stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway (e.g., hearing) leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway (e.g., vision).” Around five percent of the population experiences some form of this individual difference, and a study out of UC Berkley suggests that most of us make associations between color and music, a relatively universal set of associations. Most typical of synesthesia is people seeing color around letters and numbers, but there are numerous examples of persons associating visual stimuli with music. Leonard Bernstein and Duke Ellington reportedly associated timbre with color. Billy Joel reportedly associates song tempos with different colors, with blues or greens associated with softer or slower songs, and vivid reds, oranges, and golds associated with strong melody or rhythm. Franz Liszt reportedly instructed the orchestra to play a little “bluer” or less “rose”. Jean Sibelius, Eddie Van Halen, Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, and Vincent Van Gogh are examples of other famous synesthetes who associate experiences of music with color. Such people hear or taste color, hear music when they see color, or see color when they hear music. Marilyn Monroe reportedly was a synesthete but was afraid to tell anyone for fear of being labeled as crazy. 2018 is here, and with it comes the anticipations of a new year. Thanks to Howard Detamore and Lois Molitor, outgoing and incoming Vice Presidents, Steve Kessinger will be holding a bass workshop at our January meeting and we anticipate an upcoming harmonica workshop thanks to George Heavilin as well. Lois has been hard at work scheduling further performers and workshops for our monthly meetings. Thanks to Lois, our March meeting should be truly “green”!! Barry Levitt continues to anchor us as Treasurer. Melanie Blakley, Secretary, continues to take Board minutes and contributes in numerous other ways to our Society’s functioning. Cathy Platt, who has done an extraordinary job this last year (and in prior years), will continue, as Music Coordinator, to schedule gigs that are essential to our Society mandate of sharing music while providing the financial support through donations to allow us to exist as an organization. Connie Temm and Maureen Malone-Reed, outgoing and incoming Members-at-Large, have made sure that we are covered for snacks for our first three meetings (often a difficult task), ensuring that I will continue to eat as if I am on holiday. Dave Wensits, Chair, and the Eagle Creek Folk Festival Committee are hard at work addressing the yearly challenge of creating an effective working committee and securing featured performers, while trying to expand the Festival footprint to introduce us to potential new members. Gary Reiter, Chair, and the Communications/Public Relations (C/PR) Committee continue to address both issues related to communication among members and our Society interface with the larger community. Susie Kraeszig, as always, is doing an incredible job with our newsletter. Myrna Gray continues as our website caretaker and is essential as a contributor to the C/PR Committee. Dan Reneau and Mike Raab continue as our incredible set leaders, and will hopefully train a few more interested individuals to share in this major responsibility (to count us in and lift our legs). What makes us unique as an organization, and sometimes presents a challenge, is that each of us is equally important and responsible for the ongoing existence of us. Experienced musicians or neonates, listeners or players, fiddlers, auto harpists, dulcimer players - we are all a part of a special group of persons who value, love, hear, and/or see music. What colors are the music of 2018?

Money Bag$ By Barry Levitt – January 2018Account status for December 2017 as of this writing (prior to reconciliation):

! $  10,356.96 => Checking balance (higher than one year ago).

$  3,200.00 => Net Gig income over the past rolling year ($350 above prior 12 months)

$  2,200.00 => Membership Dues income over the past rolling year ($275 above prior 12 months)

$  7,558.64 => Total expenses over the past twelve months ($868.47 above prior 12 months)

$ 2,136.94 =>  Operating surplus for the past twelve months ($829.46 better than prior 12 months)

Based on the past rolling year’s experience, we have sufficient funds on hand to cover about 16 months of expenses.

       Membership Status:  In December we had no new member households, four renewals, no reinstatements, and three dropped members. Total memberships stand at 84, vs 76 one year ago.

       Membership Dues:  Annual individual and family membership dues are $25/year. The immediate family, living at the same address, of an individual member may be included in a family membership. If your membership is due or past due, please send a check to CIFM&MDS, P.O. Box 1503, Indianapolis, IN 46206-1503, or catch the treasurer at the monthly meeting.

   Songbooks:  Songbooks will be available in electronic format on flash drives for $10 each. A few copies of the printed “Fiddlers Edition” of fiddle tunes are available for $5 each. See the treasurer at the meeting if you want to purchase any of these songbooks.

January - Performer’s ChoiceFebruary - Murder and MayhemMarch - The Troubles (Irish)April - CitiesMay - Rural LivingJune - No meeting due to our Festival

July - Colonial DaysAugust - SailingSeptember - TrainsOctober - Bob Dylan tunesNovember - PoliticsDecember - Holiday PartyJanuary 2019 - Performer’s Choice

January Notes from your Music CoordinatorCathy Platt

cpplatt@comcast.net; phone: 317-485-5010

No gigs for the Big Band set up yet for this year, but here are the musical themes of the month for the new year.

MEMBERSHIP ROSTER from Mary Sanders

We will have copies of a Membership Roster available at the January meeting. If you find an error or wish to be excluded from this list, please let me know. Thanks to Gary Reiter and the rest of his committee for making this happen!

Mary Sanders(MLsand123@aol.com) 317-258-9751

Ukulele LadiesThe Ukulele Ladies are a welcoming group of women of ALL skill levels who want to play the uke. We meet at either Betsy Wilson’s or Lois Molitor’s houses on Thursday nights. If you’d like to join us, call or send me an email and I will set you up with our Yahoo group so that you will get meeting reminders, music and other info. If you’d like to learn how to play, get in touch! Contact Cathy Platt, cpplatt@comcast.net; phone: 317-485-5010.

Happy Harpers HappeningsHappy Harpers is a group for autoharp players of all skill levels. We meet on the fourth Sunday of each month at members’ houses. We have a Yahoo group which you can join that has music and our calendar. If you have any questions about the group, please call or email C a t h y P l a t t a t 3 1 7- 4 8 5 - 5 0 1 0 , cpplatt@comcast.net

PLEASE NOTE UPDATED INFO! The Dulcimer Only Group (AKA DOGs)

The Dulcimer Only Group is a group of dulcimer players who play the Appalachian mountain dulcimer. We meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday nights of the month at Robin Run Village, 5354 W. 62nd St., Indianapolis, at 7 P.M. Amy Raab will be leading us this winter with music from her collection. This will be a great opportunity to join us! The DOGs is not a closed group. Anyone who wishes to play the Appalachian mountain dulcimer is welcome. Please contact Susie Kraeszig at susankay49@sbcglobal.net or Amy Raab at chicoryfolkmusic@gmail.com to get on the mailing list.

Performers at the December MeetingTheme: “Holidays”

Mike & Toby Raab - “I Saw Three Ships”Myra Dworski & Jon Hall - “Peace Carol”Tom Martz - “Nothing But a Child”Sugar Cream Pie - “A Small Town Christmas”Dianne Kafka - “In the Bleak Midwinter”Allan Gross - “Silent Night”Bill Kissling - “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”The DOGS - “Jingle Bells”John Platt - “Forty Below”Joy Held - “Oy ir Kleyne Likhtelakh”Susie Kraeszig - “Skater’s Waltz”Barry Levitt - “Who Can Retell”Dave Wensits - “Silent Night”

“The best musicians aren’t the ones who always play the fastest and loudest. They are the ones who know when to play fast and loud, and when not to. They are the ones who play what the music calls for, are team players, and always make the audience feel s o m e t h i n g w h e n t h e y p l a y .” www.musiciansunite.com

EAGLE CREEK FOLK FEST 2018 NEWS From Dave Wensits

The Eagle Creek Festival Committee has been hard at work this past month.  Key to having a successful festival is having top notch performers and I am very pleased to announce that our headliners for the 2018 Eagle Creek Festival will be two very highly regarded groups:  Flatland Harmony Experiment on Saturday, and Cathy Barton & Dave Para on Sunday! Thanks to Susie Kraeszig for securing Barton and Para, and Mary Sanders for booking Flatland Harmony Experiment! 

As a Society, we have much in common and much to celebrate! The love of music, the fellowship of our gatherings, and the happiness shared when we play together or for an audience.

I invite you to think about how you can enjoy the Society even more in 2018. One of my goals is to get more involved and get to know more of you. As your member-at-large, I’m here to share your thoughts with the rest of the Board. Let me know if you have ideas or suggestions! mmreeds@yahoo.com

Did someone mention SNACKS???

If you like to have a little snack at our meetings, please consider signing up with a friend or two

to bring snacks. It doesn’t need to be much, and what you bring is completely up to you.

Please sign up at the meeting.

Thank you to JOY HELD and CONNIE TEMM for hosting our snacks in January!

Maureen’sMusings

EAGLE CREEK FOLK FEST DATES

Saturday, June 9, 2018Sunday, June 10, 2018

Bass Workshop

At the January Meeting

Our own master bassist, Steve Kessinger, has graciously agreed to

lead a workshop on playing bass for Society songs. The

techniques will be useful and will be applicable to many styles.

Therefore, the information will be presented so that it can

be applied to all instruments. Participants should bring the

Society songbook and an instrument. The workshop will be

held during the regular meeting at the 3:00 o’clock time slot.

Lois Molitor, 2018 Vice President

2018 MUSICAL THEMES

January - Performer’s Choice

February - Murder and Mayhem

March - The Troubles (Irish)

April - Cities

May - Rural Living

June - No meeting due to the 44th Annual Eagle Creek Folk Fest

July - Colonial Days

August - Sailing

September - Trains

October - Bob Dylan tunes

November - Politics

December - Holiday Party

January 2019 - Performer’s Choice