The RedRock Rambler Music Web Site.

Welcome to Inspirations.

Inspirations for my music comes from various places. One of the earliest influences on how I play comes from two basic groups, The Lewis Family, and AP Carter and the Carter Family.

The Lewis Family has long been a resource for music using stringed instruments. Most of their music can be heard without electric or digital influence. The quality of sound in their playing has been unrivaled, especially when it comes to family-run professionals in the music business.

Here is Mom with a 45 record.

Mom had some old 45 records with A. P. Carter and the Carter Family. If memory serves me correctly, a great deal of the earlier music they made had one guitar playing accompaniment, and no other instruments. Their incredible vocals and harmony will amaze you, and at the peak of their professional careers, they were the best in gospel. Later, I found that June Carter's autoharp inspired me further to take up that particular instrument. I still have one and play it often.

I have a confession to make. I've always dabbled, and have not learned enough about playing music in academic form as I should. I have taken courses, had music teachers, even a violin teacher. With all that, I can hear a song and play it the next second, and playing by ear has become second nature. Not to brag, learning your craft professionally is a must. Good thing I am an visual artist, and music is not my craft, just something I like to do and share. Those of you who have spent the time to learn your craft of music, good for you. Wish I had a second life...but here's my story.

My brother, John, got an old guitar and played the Beatles. He was okay, but later he found the clarinet, tuba, saxophone, etc. The guitar went by the wayside. But I remembered the sound, and kept a promise to try that someday. His playing, though short-lived, was a definite inspiration. During high school, I picked around a bit on the guitar, a Fender Newporter. My parents, being church-goers, decided I should play in church. The first time I played in church, the guitar came into the building and was placed beside the outside wall (in the winter). When I got up to play, it was out of tune, to say it lightly. I stood there at the podium wondering if I should attempt to tune it, or try to sing with it in its present chord. Hmm... The minister felt sorry for me and got his own guitar out of its case. The strap could fit an elephant, and the guitar body was big. It seemed even bigger because of my fear. In fact, I would say that guitar was 9 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 2 feet thick. Anyway, I muddled through, and that's a good way to start, at the bottom. There is no place to go from there but up. The minister played and sang in church frequently, and his influence was strong.

Dad decided at some point along the way that he would become a minister, and went to college for that very reason. He was retired from the Air Force, and looking for someone to manage. And he was good at it. After he finished college, a church in Virginia Beach fell into his lap, and we began a ministry there as a family. Mom loved to sing and formed a group. Other men in the church formed a men's group also. With two groups (at least, there were more groups at different times) singing, there were plenty of opportunities for would-be musicians. In our church, one particular lady could play guitar until it smoked, and her name was Francis Hall. Another fellow played a banjo, and a young guy named Jeff Thomas played the guitar. I was playing the guitar early on during this time, but when so many people played, I considered a mandolin. I had also been listening to a great deal of Bill Monroe. That was when I bought my first mandolin. It was an electric-acoustic Fender, and it played close and smooth. I played the mandolin pretty regular after that. Soon after buying it, I figured out the violin fingers almost the same, so I got two of those. A drug addict on the street where I lived in Norfolk knocked on my door one day and asked me if I would be interested in buying two little guitars. They were quite old, she said. Old was right, but they were violins, nice ones. She wanted 25 dollars each for them, so I gave her the money. One I gave to a young musician who eventually moved to Florida and is producing music still, the other I kept. They were some good years. I met hundreds of musicians and learned from them all.

need pic here of the singing group at goodnews, look for the yearbooks that we had and use some of those photos too.

After marrying, I had even more opportunity to play, but rather than play a lot of songs in a short period of time, I was able to perfect my style and learn more serious fingering. I started to read a little music at that time, and could understand nuances in playing style more than before. My husband and I spent some time as missionaries in Spain, and during that time, I got better on guitar and mandolin, while learning a new instrument, the lute. During deputation, my banjo playing got better also, although I chose about 10 songs that I played well, and didn't learn any new ones. I met a man in Kentucky during that time who played the mandolin. His fingers and hands were so malformed by arthiritis that it amazed me he could finger, but those fingers flew flawlessly when he played. I used the autoharp on occassion, and learned to play more the Carter style on that instrument. My father has always played a harmonica, so I got some of those and learned to play them a little, though I still need practice playing them.

So here I am now in Colorado, and I play guitar, mandolin, violin, harmonica, banjo, autoharp, and have recently bought a resonator and am learning that. Besides that, I own a Yamaha Piano synthesizer. Since I teach digital in college, part of my professional studies have been in digital recording. Software is part of that whole big scene, too. Analog playing is still there, but now I can mix a bit more into it than before. I still play acoustic, but now I own some electric instruments. Besides those instruments I have a classical guitar I enjoy playing. In my musical lifetime, I have given away as many instruments as I have kept. A couple of years ago, a missionary family (very musical) came through and I gave them an Ovation mandolin, a Takimine guitar, and the Spanish lute I bought in Spain. Before that, I gave another musical child an Oscar Schmidt autoharp. I gave a Fender guitar to a young man in Spain who was learning to play for services in the villages. The instruments I presently have can be seen on my instrument pictures page in this web site. I have also started building instruments. I have a blue Fender Stratocaster that I am almost done building, and have the materials for a guitar and a mandolin. I work on those in my spare time. Pictures of that process are on the instrument building page in the web site.

I play sometimes in the church my husband and I are members of, but most of my playing comes now in the form of volunteer work, as the gathering of the East Denver Bible Baptist Church gives me that opportunity. Every Sunday, I play for people who get food boxes, and some who don't have homes, or live in a motel. Strangely, it makes the music seem more precious when you realize you play for the people who listen, not for the money.

Well, there it is, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments. I look forward to hearing from you. Above all, enjoy the music.

Marcia Phillips Sanders