Haines has a shy new band made up of brave old-timers. Rusty Fingers is their name. The group is geared toward people who at some point put down an instrument, but want to pick it back up again. As KHNS’s Jenn Shelton reports, the secular string group meets on Tuesday nights for jam sessions at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This winter, retired Haines local Greg Podsiki posted his bucket list online. One of the things on his list was to start playing guitar again.
“When I was twelve I had three guitar lessons and had to go and play in a recital with about a hundred parents watching,” Podsiki said. “I played Bonanza. It petrified me and I never played in public again.”
Podsiki didn’t expect his bucket list posting to strike a chord with so many others in the community.
“I wanted to get together with other people who were too shy and afraid to play publicly or wanted to learn how to play an instrument, or just were really rusty,” Podsiki said. “You know, people who hadn’t played in years. I really wanted to get with people to encourage each other and play and learn things. And maybe, eventually, get so good that we could play at the Fair or someplace in public. And I was surprised at the number of people who also had those same feelings.”
Podsiki organized a meeting at a local coffee shop to gauge interest. He says about eight people showed up. They decided to set a date for the next week in guitarist Shane Horton’s garage. They all agreed to bring their instruments.
For their first jam session Podsiki put together a few songs, each made up of only a couple of chords. Nine people showed up with a mix of guitars and ukuleles. The group played music and talked about it afterward. They continued meeting each week on Tuesdays, and they kept adding more members. Podsiki says that one of the ukulele players, Mister K, suggested the Mormon church might be a better venue for the growing group.
“We expanded and we needed more space. It’s just a perfect place to practice,” Podsiki said.
Last month, the group changed its Tuesday meeting time from mornings to nights. They now meet from 5 to 7p.m. With the new hours, the group grew even more. Podsiki says the group is now at about fifteen members.
Shannon Spring says the new hours made it possible for him to join the Rusty Fingers. Spring works a 9-5 as an equipment operator for Haines Public Works, but music is his passion. Spring’s fingers are often blackened with grease, and they aren’t quite as rusty as some of the other members.
Spring studied classical guitar in college and he told KHNS that he plays regularly with local bands such as the Men of Mud and Tres Ambience. He says he’s QUOTE “by far the youngest member” of the group. He wouldn’t reveal his exact age, but for a ballpark figure, he told KHNS that he was born in the seventies. He says he’s really enjoying his evenings with the Rusty Fingers.
“It’s wonderful,” Spring said. “It’s a dozen people who are returning to playing music, for the most part. It’s like a drum circle except it’s guitars and mandolins and ukuleles and banjos and basses. It’s really fun.”
Spring says he played with a similar group of musicians when he lived in Ketchikan. It was in that group that he learned how to play standup bass. He said that learning bass created opportunities to play more and more music, especially in rural Alaska.
“As is consistent with most small communities I’ve lived in, there are not many upright bass players,” Spring said. “So I end up playing bass a lot more than guitar. Especially when I play with other members of the community.”
Podsiki, the original organizer of the group, says that no matter how rusty, or how well, someone plays, everyone is welcome. He says he’s delighted when skilled and well-oiled musicians join the Rusty Fingers, because their expertise helps the group learn and get better. He says that he hopes that one day the group will feel confident enough to perform in public. He has interest in entertaining at Haines Assisted Living. But he says that’s only one drop in the bucket of dreams.
“We’re talking about maybe being good enough to perform in the talent show at the Fair. We’ve got a long way to go,” Podsiki laughs.
Podsiki’s original personal goal, which was to relearn how to play his instrument while shedding off layers of shyness, is coming to light. And he says that the Rusty Fingers has opened himself up to more than just music.
“The interesting part is that not many of us know each other more than being in the same town,” Podsiki said. “I wouldn’t say that we were close to each other. We’re kind of from all walks of life. Most of us have lived in Haines for a long time. There’s a few fairly new people. But it’s brought many personalities, who share the same love of playing their instruments with other people. And there’s no politics or anything. We just all play our instruments and sing. And we all just have a good old time.”
He says the group would benefit from a harmonica player, or if someone could play the spoons. The group has practiced over 30 songs since they started meeting. When I ask Podsiki to name a few of them, to give a feel of the style, his list is. . . . long.
“Peaceful Easy Feeling by the Eagles…Amanda..Did She Mention My Name by Gordon Lightfood…500 Miles, Four Strong Winds….Jambalaya…Maui Hawaiian Suppaman..Molokai Slide… My Walkin’ Shoes…Sitting on the Top of the World…Wild Rose of the Mountain…Wreck of the Edmund Fitzegerald,” Podsiki said.
Podsiki says at this week’s practice, the band had an exciting development. He says the group started to get serious with timing, as they dusted off the old chords of Country Roads.
