Duo performs for county
<p>Colin Ross and Mig O'Hara perform at the Parkside Baptist Church in Superior.</p>
With a dimming of the lights, Colin Ross and Mig O’Hara preceded to turn the Parkside Baptist Church in Superior Wednesday night into a speakeasy in the 1920s. That is, when the duo played their more blues and jazz influenced music. Throughout their concert, they also played a variety of county and folk as well.
“I love the music that’s on the cusp between jazz and blues,” Ross said. “A lot of the music hits that sweet spot between classic jazz and traditional blues – jazz chord progressions hung on the rhythmic structure of the blues.”
Besides the concert Wednesday night, Ross and O’Hara brought their music to a local school and assisted living home.
On Tuesday Nov. 1, Ross and O’Hara gave a presentation to St. Regis seventh through 12th graders at the St. Regis School gym in the morning.
Later in the afternoon, the two presented to St. Regis kindergarteners through sixth graders. Wednesday afternoon, Ross and O’Hara performed at Mountain View Village, the assisted living home next to the Mineral Community Hospital in Superior.
At each performance, Ross and O’Hara performed a mix of original music and covers in multiple genres. Ross said he is inspired by the works of Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Count Basie, Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith. He covered some of those artists’ songs during his performances.
Ross and O’Hara have played together for the past 15 years. In her performing career, O’Hara has played in Atlantic City, Miami, New Orleans, the Bahamas, Mexico, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno.
The Mineral County Performing Arts Council brought Ross and O’Hara in to perform. The concert marked the second concert of the 2011-2012 season.
The MCPAC is a non-profit organization that relies on local sponsors. The sponsors for the Ross and O’Hara concert include, grand patrons Roger and Nita Hearst, Blackfoot Telephone, Castles Market, St. Regis Travel Center and Lincoln’s Silver Dollar. Other patrons are Rosie Schreckendgust, Gerry and Judy Kuhl, Eileen Wolff/Rafter Deuce, Nancy Garcia, Ken and Cathy Kuhl, Mineral Community Hosptial, Hyrel Walsh, Big Sky Motel, Mineral Pharmacy and Jim Gross and Cathy Reich. Friends of MCPAC sponsors are Mullan Trail Bank, Emil and Gerri Rasmussen, Dan and Barbara Arnsan, Billy Bricker, Sharon Koke and Bill Melhorn and Jim and Shirley DeBree.