"Three Guitars and a Mandolin" benefit concert February 19

The Chapel at Canyon View Vineyard Church

7:30 p.m.

For those who love the sound of the guitar, an incredible concert featuring four musicians and three sets of different guitar and mandolin styles is coming up in February.

       On February 19 at 7:30 p.m. at The Chapel at Canyon View Vineyard Church, four local musicians will present “Three Guitars and a Mandolin,” a benefit concert to raise money to purchase a voice-activated computer for Dr. Ed Harris. Dr. Harris a local man who is has been disabled since childhood, yet finished his education and earned a Masters degree in counseling from Denver University and a PhD in Theology from Bethany Bible Seminary. The computer will enable him to continue writing books and poetry.

       Cullen Purser and John Winn will play as a folk duo, with John on finger-pickin’ guitar and Cullen Purser on guitar and mandolin. Cullen Purser is a talented guitarist, songwriter, and luthier. John Winn has had a long folk career starting in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village in New York City, with performances at Carnegie Hall and a tour around the country with the several folk groups. Winn has written and produced seven CDs of original folk music with Jon James of Shedd Studios. Winn and Purser will perform several pieces of original music on guitar and mandolin, and two vocal duets.

       John Scott Schultz started playing guitar in 1967 and spent much of the 70s and 80s touring the West in a variety of musical situations. His recently released CD, Not To Worry, features all original music. When playing solo guitar performances, John improvises musical sketches, incorporates loops and other guitar generated sounds, providing listeners with an evocative soundtrack. His next CD, Far Guitar, is currently in production.

       Javier de los Santos, a native of Mexico, graduated from Mesa State College and received a Masters of Music Degree in Guitar Performance from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. He is a master of the classical guitar, and has performed with the Mesa State Symphony Orchestra, and in concerts at the Moss Performing Arts Center, the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine, and his hometown of Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico. 

       This should be a wonderful evening of guitar and mandolin music ranging from original compositions of John Winn, Cullen Purser and John Scott Schultz to the talented classical guitar of Javier de los Santos.

       Tickets are available in advance for $10 at Roper Music, or $15 at the door at The Chapel at Canyon View Vineyard Church the night of the concert. The Chapel is at 736 24 1/2 Road in Grand Junction.

Newly released, this CD tells the story of the lonely minstrel and his observations on modern life. The Dream was written on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's Jr.'s untimely assassination, and was warmly received at the Roper Music Hall concert this spring. The Mountain Bike Song has several wry observations about the "joys" of this popular sport, and the hazards, too. Several beautiful love songs are on this new CD, including Trust, Sweet Colleen and Our Love is Like a Song. In First November Snow, John writes of the beauty and promise of the winter ahead when those first snowflakes cover the mountains.

This CD is a compilation of songs John has written about the wonderful places that make Colorado so special to live in or visit. There are songs about the beauty of the mountains and canyons, the winds that blow through the canyons and the plaintive song of the Canyon Wren (Canyon Wind and Colorado Mountain Song). His songs tell the tale of the wild horses that run free in the deserts in western Colorado (Wild Stallion).