By LAURA QUEZADA News Review Staff Writer – Join fellow music lovers and supporters of the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert (HSUMD) on Saturday, June 22, at 4 p.m. for a Benefit Concert. Admission is $10, and food and drinks will be available. The headliner for the evening is The Revelry. Fan favorites The WAZ, Ray and Michelle, Aaron Lee, and Herding Turtles will also take to the stage.
Earlier this year, the HSUMD handed out an announcement at an Open Mic Night at the Historic USO Building. They were requesting funds to repair the roof. They riffed on a folk music tune: “There’s a hole in our ceiling, dear Liza, dear Liza.” The flyer told us that on January 11 one of the old water pipes in the ceiling sprung a leak and requested that we send donations to HSUMD, PO Box 2001, Ridgecrest 93556.
But this was an Open Mic, and immediately, musicians started talking about throwing a concert to raise funds. Charlie Grahamm of Herding Turtles was asked to line up the bands, and he has quite the lineup of many of Ridgecrest’s best.
The Revelry is headed by Will Anderson on guitar and vocals, with Brian Bartels on bass, Paul Gordon on lead guitar, Jan West on drums, and Tanzi Brock on fiddle and keyboards. This is a cover band with plans to write original music. I would label them country rock. They tell us, “The covers we do range from Zach Bryan & Chris Stapleton to Brooks & Dunn and Dwight Yoakam.” They say about their band name, “We just wanted something that was catchy and thought the dictionary definition was suiting: ‘A situation in which people are drinking, dancing, singing, etc. at a party or in public, especially in a noisy way.’” They say, “The USO building has been a part of the community for a long time, and we are happy to be able to be part of the fundraiser. It’s going to be a great night.”
The WAZ is an 8-piece band, plus soundwoman Anissa Rindt. Not all members are available, so they joke that their 4-piece band for the night can be called “The Wing-Its.” They will not disappoint. Vocalist/guitarists Chuck Bolt and Tom Krunchy Rindt, Stuart Nissam on vocals and keyboard, and David Chesire on drums are planning a rock and roll feast for the ears and the dance floor. The News-Review met with Bolt and Rindt at Bolt’s recording studio on his bit of land in the Indian Wells Valley. “It’s my playground,” says Bolt. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a very low-budget, low-rent operation. But I make good recordings out here. And it’s a lot of fun.” He can record up to an eight-piece band in a cool and comfortable space. Primarily, Bolt teaches. “I teach guitar. I teach bass. I teach video editing. I teach audio production. I teach everything I know how to do to people that are wonderful.” Bolt says of the Historic USO Building, “It is the heart and soul of my musical community.” Many bands got their start at Open Mic.
Not only have bands risen from Open Mic, but love stories happen, too. Ray and Michelle Britt met at Open Mic in 2011, and a few years ago, they became Mr. and Mrs. Both take turns singing lead and harmonizing with each other. Ray plays guitar, and Michelle plays “anything I can get my hands on.” Michelle says, “ Our style leans towards easy listening, soft rock, alternative, and more. We love music and are very happy to share our gift to help support to amazing Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert .”
Aaron Lee will be on stage with his solo act playing guitar and singing original tunes; however, he does have a unique band called “Aaron Lee & the Collateral Damage.” Ever since he took the stage at his first Open Mic, locals have been wowed by his sound. He tells us, “The USO is a special place for me; I played an Open Mic for the first time back in 2014 and discovered the amazing local music community in Ridgecrest. As a singer/songwriter, Open Mic nights have always been a great supportive stage to debut new material, so I hope that we can raise some money for the needed building repairs.”
Herding Turtles came on the scene earlier in the year and took this baby boomer writer back to Junior High with their early songlist. They just keep getting better and better. Marghee O’Donnell sings and plays guitar, Duane O’Donnell plays keyboards, sings, composes and manages the band, Charlie Grahamm plays guitars, sings, is the roadie and sound guy, and Lisa Grahamm plays bass. Their songlist is over 80 tunes long. They play a wide range of classic rock covers and original songs meant to motivate and uplift. Duane and Marghee have been making beautiful music together for several decades. Lisa and Charlie have been playing for a couple of years. The band started out as friends jamming. Charlie says, “Now we religiously practice once a week and if we got a show or Open Mic, it can be twice a week or three times a week.” Their fun name arose from a text conversation. Charlie shares, “We were texting, ‘We are on our way like a herd of turtles.’” (This is how band names are born.)
Lisa talks about the heart of the benefit concert, “That’s where we got our start. We know that a lot of people feel deeply about Open Mic. It gives them that opportunity to get up on stage and share and learn; it gives you that onstage experience. There were several who wanted to play this benefit but weren’t able to because their calendars were already filled for that day. But we know that the ones who are on the ticket for that day feel just as deeply about raising funds for the USO building as we do because almost all of them got their start there as well. Or at least it played a part in who they are today. It gives everybody the opportunity to give back for the opportunity that has been given to all of us.”
Tex Hoppus, President of the Board of Directors of the HSUMD, tells us a bit about the building, “The building was built in 1945, the last year of World War II. It was originally for the USO. It was a USO Club that opened in October of 1945.” It closed in 1947 when USO Clubs were being closed because the war was over. “The County bought it along with property around it.’ The County had it for about 30 years when the County moved the services from the building. At that time, it housed the courthouse and library. “They changed its function into a public health clinic. They kept that, but they gave the rest of it, the buildings and the property, to the City. So the City had the building for 20+ years; the last 10 of those, this was just a big storage area that was falling apart, etc., wasn’t being maintained. The City was looking for a buyer or something that they could do with it. The Historical Society came and basically presented a plan to the City Council that we would restore this building, and in return, we hoped to get ownership of the property. And the City said, ‘Yes.’ There was massive community fundraising, donations of materials, and businesses checked in. It was a community effort and the Historical Society did restore this and got awards for it from the State.”
Hoppus tells us that they dipped into funds to repair the initial damages to the ceiling and need to recoup those funds. He says of the problem, “We found the source of the leak was a pipe that just corroded through. That’s between the roof and the ceiling in the auditorium. And we repaired that and then we had to take down some of the ceiling panels that were destroyed, damaged and replace those and replace some of the other parts of the structure and then try to seal it and so forth.” He adds, “We now have a bid to to fix the roof without going into the technical details; it’s many 1000s of dollars worth of work, obviously. And we’re only doing that part of the roof, the kitchen, the kitchen area and there’s two wings off the main building. This is one of the west rooms, and the kitchen is the other one. So this is a fundraiser to help us pay for this and replace the reserve fund that we keep for emergencies and we seem to keep with having this building. In a little over a year from now, we’ll celebrate his 80th year in October of 2025.” One can hope there will be an 80th Celebration Concert.
Hoppus says about Open Mic, “We started using our building for music in 2010. We started having our Open Mic night and we’re still doing it every other Friday. And that is an ongoing kind of signature HSUMD event that helps raise funds. Everything we do is paying for utilities and insurance and materials and, you know, etc. It all comes from donations or membership fees and events that raise money.”
The Historic USO Building serves as a community center of sorts. In addition to Open Mic, there is Classic Music Night every other Wednesday, a breakfast for veterans and their spouses every third Thursday of the month, and a monthly membership meeting that is free to the public and features a historical, educational, and entertaining presentation. Folks can buy Sees Candy and history books, t-shirts, and other goods in their gift shop. The building is also available to rent.
Becoming a member of HSUMD gets you a 10% discount at the gift shop and an informative newsletter.
