Fifth Reel Music and Dance
Your source for live music and dance in Grand Junction, Colorado
Our New Dance Venue: The Moose Lodge, 567 25½ Road, GJ
Fifth Reel Music
Here are the folk who provide the exciting music you've come to expect from Fifth Reel
Founders
Connie Michael studied classical piano at the Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated from Lawrence University with a degree in music education. A dance musician for more than forty years, she started playing contra dances with a group called Chili Tones in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After moving to Grand Junction she started the band Blarney Pilgrim with friend Ron Young. In 1999 they changed the name to Fifth Reel to embrace new kinds of music they were playing and founded the contra dance series in Grand Junction.
Ron Young has been teaching and calling contra dances and other traditional community dances in Grand Junction and many other Western Slope venues since 1999. He is the band’s vocalist and also plays bodhran. On alternate Mondays, Ron hosts “Cry of the Celts,” a radio program featuring Celtic music. “Cry of the Celts” airs on Mondays from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. on the Grand Valley’s community radio station, KAFM, 88.1, or on-line at http://kafmcommunityradio.org/
Present Members
Norm Ashley decided to take on "fiddling" several years ago. Before that, he was a strictly classical guy, teaching violin, playing in symphonies, and conducting our local community choir, The Schumann Singers. Norm is retired from the Grand Junction Symphony, where he was concertmaster for more than thirty years. He enjoys playing with Fifth Reel and Tea for Two as a fiddler.
After sitting in on a few events, Dave Bumgarner has branched out to playing concerts and dances with Fifth Reel and Friends. He has a gift for vocals, plays guitar, and saxophone and mastered folk music in his college days. Over the last several years he has performed with Frozen In Time String Band, a bluegrass- gospel- country group he cofounded.
John Phillips plays Irish uilleann bagpipes, Irish tin whistle and Scottish smallpipes. He has been a traditional session player for about 30 years and has studied uilleann piping under the tutelage of Jerry O'Sullivan, Jimmy O'Brien Moran and Cillian Vallely. He is a full-time artist and member of Oil Painters of America.
Lyndsey Olish has shared her music in this valley for the last six years. Mostly through the Cavalcade in Fruita as a singer and songwriter. As well as a Patient Experience Specialist bringing her guitar and voice to patients healing in the hospital. She’s also a part of a nine piece local band called “Woodshed” playing Folk and Americana music.
The storytelling aspect is initially what drew her to 5th Reel and Friends. The history, the nostalgia, the theatrics, the attention to detail in all their shows is what intrigued her. They provide a cultural and musical experience like no one else in this valley. She is thankful to have the opportunity to sing alongside them.
Connie Pyle has been playing music for most of her life. She has studied oboe, piano, guitar, and voice. Over the years she has performed in a number of choirs and orchestras, as well as live bands, including country, rock/jazz, and Celtic/bluegrass. In 2011 she released a CD of mostly original music entitled Love is Calling. She gladly joins Fifth Reel and Friends on occasion on vocals.