Reprinted from Sandpoint Magazine. 1420 words
For information about ordering the new CD by Beth and Cinde, "Voices
on the Wind," call 1-800-880-3573.
By Steve Sparks
Musical duo Beth and Cinde also known as "Wild Roses" have enjoyed 25 years as friends and collaborators. Soon after meeting in Boise in 1970, they hit the road, playing in resorts in Sun Valley, Aspen and the Canadian Rockies, as well as clubs and concerts throughout the Northwest, in New Orleans, the San Francisco Bay area and AlaskAfter years of touring extensively, they found the lifestyle in Sandpoint to be just the remedy to the hectic life on the road.
Beth Pederson is a graduate in music from the University of Puget Sound, and plays guitar and banjo, while Cinde Borup plays piano, guitar and mandolin. Their voices blend beautifully with natural harmony in a variety of material from folk, country and rock classics to their own compositions, which dominate their current live repertoire and their newest album, "Voices on the Wind" a soul-stirring blend of timeless, mystical journeys featuring Native American flutes, rhythmic hand-percussion and occasional cello or violin passages. Recorded digitally by guitarist Rusty Sabella at his home studio, it marks the first time a recording of this caliber has been produced in its entirety right here on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. What follows is an informal question-and-answer interview with the Wild Roses.
Question: What did the chemistry between you feel like when you first started working on music together?
Beth: It seemed so natural; Cinde was a great harmonizer as well as singer, so we just learned a couple of tunes and it fell together so easily, kinda magical.
Cinde: Well, it was interesting because my style of music was sort of mainstream folk. I'd been playing in little clubs with a guy, and Beth had been playing in bigger places. Her repertoire was a little more varied, so it was interesting how our styles meshed together.
What was your first experience of Sandpoint?
Cinde: We played a lot in B.C. and Alberta, so we passed through on our way back and forth to Boise and were always impressed by it. Then one winter we were snowed in here, and we had a lovely time. It gave us a chance to meet some people and find the tone of the community.
Beth: The night we were snowed in here we had Cinde's 4-year-old daughter with us, and a cat. We discovered the Garden Restaurant and found Richard Hollars there. We had known him in Aspen, so we had a wonderful dinner and got reacquainted. It just felt really good.
That first impression drew you back?
Beth: That's right. We had been on the road and we were burned out, to put it mildly. Hotel lounges were not where we wanted to be, and the place was so beautiful. It was a great adventure.
Cinde: Interestingly, we hadn't even gotten to know this place in the summertime. We saw it in the winter, and fell in love with it with the snow and just the serenity.
You first played locally at the old Donkey Jaw (now Eichardt's) in 1975-76. Was there a music scene here then?
Cinde: People were hungry for music any of the arts. All of the arts were thriving, in a small-town way. There were actors and dancers. The community theater would put on productions and everybody would get involved and try out for a part. It was very arts oriented. People were anxious to see and hear professional musicians, and we were made to feel very welcome.
Beth: There were pockets of artistic people. It was really the beginning of what has developed into quite a mecca for the arts.
Cinde, you've known legendary folk artist Rosalie Sorrels since you were in your teens; how did you meet?
Cinde: I was in a folk trio and really interested in the music. I saw her and she was so wonderful, and she was accessible. Musicians I knew would go to her house and talk to her, but I was much too shy to do that. I looked at her from afar and listened to everything she did. It wasn't until later that I actually became friends with her.
Beth: Rosalie is an experience just to be around, because she's either humming a tune to you or telling a story or reciting some poetry as you're walking down the street. She'll say, "Did you ever read this book and it has this line in it ... ," and you just stop and listen. So it was really exciting to get to know her, and now it really feels like we're good friends, and it's wonderful.
Cinde: The thing about Rosalie is that she is a woman who lives her art every day and every hour. What she sings about and what she's interested in singing about is the way she lives and the way she thinks, and that's what makes her so special and what bonds her to every person who hears her or talks to her. She is so very real.
Your second album "Wild Roses," recorded in 1987, featured all original material. Tell me about that project.
Cinde: That collection of songs was meant to be a songwriters' album.
Beth: ... To hopefully get the songs out to other artists. It was quite expensive. We commuted to Spokane and enlisted studio musicians.
Cinde: We mixed and mastered in Seattle.
Beth: And looking back on it now, because of all the other energies going into it all the other musicians the music came out differently than what we had anticipated.
Cinde: It lost its focus.
Beth: Or our original focus, and so some songs turned into something else. But we went along with it and it was fine. With this latest album, the focus sort of carried itself through.
Cinde: We stayed pretty much at the helm the whole time.
So was there any specific catalyst that began your new album?
Beth: We started individually and together seeking out and learning about metaphysics, and it drew us to The Gardenia Center, and we met some really interesting people there, and it inspired some of Cinde's writing. Then as that sort of grew, people were saying, "You've got to get this on tape." So things started evolving from that point.
Cinde: That's basically it: Our interest in metaphysics drew us along with other people who were interested, and the music sprang from that.
What were some of the highlights of working on the album?
Cinde: It was great working with Wayne Smith, the cellist from The Spokane Symphony.
Beth: And Geir Oslin, who did a lot of the effects and the shakahatchi the big flute and just his energy in that project was really a beautiful thing to experience and to see.
Cinde: And part of the energy of the project too, came from the people who just couldn't wait to hear it when it was done.
Tell me about the beautiful artwork on the cover.
Beth: The inspiration for the cover is the song "All Is Well," and the lines, "Come inside this forest deep and dark" and then, after going through some fearful things you come out under a starry, starry night and everything's OK. We verbalized these ideas to an artist friend Perky Hagadone] and after some sketches, she came up with the oil painting, and we were just ecstatic.
What's next for Beth and Cinde?
Cinde: We have a whole album of folk songs in our minds and in our hearts. We can't wait to do that. Plus another follow-up with this music that we've gotten going, "Voices On The Wind."
Beth: Or, maybe try to mesh those two together, somehow.
Sandpoint-based musician and journalist Steve Sparks played in Hawaii
as `Stevie Guitar.' He is owner of Silent Partner Productions, specializing
in music, entertainment and promotions (208-265-5804).
Go to Sandpoint Magazine contents
Go to Sandpoint Online