By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Who knows Pete Seeger, Odetta Holmes, and Richie Havens?

“If you’re not in folk music, you just don’t know them,” says folk musician and singer Shirley Keller. We sit in a private dining room at Cedar Crest where she now lives, and she tells me the story of her life as a musician.

Keller knows these folk legends personally. Her music led her to radio, television, and eventually to producing her own videos. “Music has been my whole life, and all of these people I interviewed on both videotape and audiotape,” she says.

Her passion and talent have opened doors and led her to other, related pursuits. But for most musicians like Keller—whether folk, classical, swing, or pop—the music came first and stayed with them, often becoming an even stronger interest in retirement.

More music in retirement
That’s what happened to Rob Evans, who worked at IBM and owned a  printing company before retiring. While music has been a part of his life since age five, he’s been able to concentrate on it more than ever since moving to Cedar Crest.

Growing up, Evans learned a handful of instruments, including the trumpet, trombone, bass fiddle, drums, and ukulele. But at Cedar Crest, his main gigs are the piano and saxophone.

Every Wednesday afternoon, he plays piano at the Woodland Commons happy hour, which has become a popular event on campus. “We have a lot of regulars now and a lot of people coming over from the other areas of campus. I  particularly enjoy playing at happy hour because we have a good group that comes and stands around the piano and sings,” he says.

Musical chairs
Twice a week, Evans teams up with pianist Irene Goldfarb on the sax to play medleys of ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s swing. And when he wants to practice alone,  he plays either the full-size, digital piano in his home or a grand piano in one of Cedar Crest’s three lounges.