Submitted
Specializing in American and European contemporary folk, including Celtic, classical and original music, Acoustic Eidolon will perform for the Western Plains Arts Association, Sunday, Feb. 25 at the Goodland High School Auditorium. Acoustic Eidolon has appeared for WPAA numerous times in recent years. The program begins at 2 p.m. Mountain (3 p.m. Central). Goodland is in the Mountain time zone.
Admission is by WPAA season ticket or adults $20, students $10 at the door. 54th anniversary season programs are made possible through the generous support of area businesses and individuals, including a special season grant by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation.
A few years after the Boulder, Colo., musicians met, neighbors Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire found themselves between full-time musical engagements. Joe called Hannah, saying he’d always wanted to hear the cello and the double-neck guitjo together. He had a feeling the harp-like sound of the guitjo, combined with the warmth of Hannah’s cello, would be beautiful together. Captivated by the music they created together, Joe and Hannah immediately agreed to clear out their schedules, start rehearsing full-time, and form what would become Acoustic Eidolon.
What started as a musical/business partnership and friendship blossomed into their marriage three years later in fall 2001. Joe and Hannah joke that this was a marriage of convenience since they were already together all the time anyway. But, anyone watching them perform can feel the love that draws them together. Their love for one another, and their passion for life, speaks through their music.
Hannah grew up in Champaign, Ill. She started playing the piano at the age of four, then begged to play the cello at age eight. She took the cello seriously from the start, and played in her school orchestra. Hannah studied with Gabriel Magyar of the Hungarian String Quartet. She decided early on to keep the cello her passion but not go to music school, although she continued to study and play seriously. At the University of Illinois, she got a degree to teach English, French and Spanish at the high school level, and then taught for five years.
After her 1992 arrival in Colorado, Hannah enjoyed performing at area festivals and symphony orchestras. She also played with rock, funk, and alternative groups, performing at various local venues and national events. She was a founding member of the Anasazi String Quartet.
In January 1999, Hannah was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation through August of 1999. During that time, she continued to rehearse with Joe almost daily. Acoustic Eidolon was a source of hope and an anchor during this challenging time. During the last several days of each round of chemo, when Hannah felt the strongest, they would go into the studio and record cello parts. As a result, the debut album, Eidolon, was finished in late April 1999, and their first tour was actually during a brief break from radiation. Each year, Hannah celebrates her cancer-free anniversary, and describes herself as “strangely grateful” for her experience. “A wake-up call of that caliber
leaves you pretty much stuck in permanent appreciation mode,” Hannah said. She believes life is a celebration of all that we do have, and a culmination of all we love and are called to do. She and Joe are committed to bringing joy to as many people as possible through their music, and often add in appearances in schools, hospitals, hospices, and even chemo infusion rooms to inspire and help others.
As a Colorado native who grew up near Boulder, Joe began playing the acoustic guitar at 12. By the time he was 14, his dad suggested he take up the 5-string banjo. He immersed himself in Bill Monroe, Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs. Joe excelled on the banjo, and won many contests at regional bluegrass festivals as a teen. Over the next several years, he was involved in various folk, bluegrass and rock groups based in the Colorado area.
At age 23, he attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, Calif. There he studied all styles of acoustic and electric guitar and was fortunate enough to study with many of the world’s finest guitar players. During this time he also started experimenting with different ways of stringing the acoustic guitar. One of the ideas was based on stringing the standard 6-string acoustic like a 5-string banjo. This was an idea that Joe’s father suggested years earlier. With this stringing, he discovered that he could play all his same banjo licks, but on the acoustic guitar it created a whole new sound. This was the beginning of the Guitjo.
After graduating GIT, Joe toured the country extensively playing guitar, banjo, mandolin and vocals with the New Christy Minstrels, a popular folk group based in Los Angeles. In 1985 he returned home to Colorado to start the group Wind Machine with Steve Mesple. Wind Machine toured for the next 14 years, and released 13 critically-acclaimed recordings. It was during those years that Joe along with help from Mesple developed the the 14-string-double-neck guitjo. Wind Machine ended its run in the spring of 1998. At that point Joe thought he would take a long-needed break from performing, but fate had a different plan. Enter Hannah. And as they say, the rest is history. Visit the official website at acousticeidolon.com for videos, pictures and CD information. The couple has produced 13 CDs.