18-woman vocal group to host free Rangely concert

By Julie Noyes
Special to the Herald TImes
RANGELY | When Sue Coffee, founder and artistic director for the Boulder-based 18-woman vocal ensemble, Sound Circle, entered the TANK last September, she wondered if it would live up to all the hype she’d heard about it: “The first time I walked into the Tank, my rather high expectations were exceeded within the first 10 seconds. I’m a fan.”
Now Sound Circle comes to Rangely to both record in the TANK as well as offer a free concert for the community.
Founded in 1994 and comprising women from myriad walks of life, their “name comes from a very simple improvisational form, the sound circle, in which singers stand in a circle and start to sing, one person beginning with a simple repeated figure, pointing to another singer, who joins in and points to another, until all are in,” says Coffee. “It’s about being in the present: we create a fabric of sound together that is unique to this time and this place and these people. It’s about honoring and trusting your own authentic voice and simultaneously about the deep pleasure of being part of an ensemble—a combination that is a good model for life as well as singing. All of that is what we want to capture in our performances—a freshness, a vitality, a mutual awareness, a quality of presence that is compelling and joyful.”
Coffee has plans once Sound Circle is set up in the TANK, with long-time friend and recording engineer Bob Burnham set up in the newly-outfitted recording studio housed within the container stationed outside the TANK. “What you do is engage with the Tank, and even let it take the lead, sonically. You activate the sound of the Tank with your sound, and then you play with it, respond to it, work with it. I think it’s surprising and even funny to people—it’s just a big rusty tank!—but the quality of sound, and the way it resounds, is incredibly beautiful. So we have a lot of ideas, including some songs we think will work well, but more than that, a long list of improv forms and ideas that we’ll experiment with. Our biggest goal is to learn and grow, to expand how we listen, to have a sonic adventure together. If we come out of the experience with recorded material that seems worth sharing, we’ll make a CD. But I think one of the lessons of the Tank is to be flexible. I’m very moved by the healing power of sound.”
While Sound Circle is one of many artists who will lend their talents to the TANK this summer, it’s their free concert that’s their gift to our community. Called Widening Circles, it’s their first venture onto the Western Slope. Says Coffee, “It’s a ‘compassionate wondering, in song, about the tribal nature of humans, and the roots of the seeming intractability of the political and moral divisions in this country.’ I think we all wonder whether there’s a path forward that can transcend the polarization that’s so intense in our country. This concert is an offering in that direction. There’s a wide range of music, a lot of colorful, rhythmic, energetic music as well as beautifully lyrical music. The concert starts at 5 p.m., and will run 70 minutes with no intermission. We are very happy at the opportunity to connect with people in Rangely.”
Again, this free concert is Friday, June 16 at 5 p.m. at the Rangely Junior/Senior High School. Come connect with Sound Circle.