Hall of Honor Inductee

David Ferretta

MOUNTED like trophies on the walls of Ferretta's Music Service are dozens of string instruments, ranging from oldtime to recently crafted pieces. Like people, no two of the soundboxes are identical, and several of them could serve as conversation pieces if viewed alone. Among the collection is a Scandinavian violin, c. 1880, an S.S. Stewart guitar of 10 10 vintage, a fretless banjo and a guitar that once belonged to an obscure bluesman by the name of Blind Lemon Pledge. The proprietor of this curiosity shop, David Ferretta is a rotund, personable fellow, an intriguing blend of musician and low-key entrepreneur. All of Ferretta's enterprises are variations on his affection for acoustical music. The Old Time Pickin' Parlor at 1736 E. Evans Avenue is a music school where one might learn such skills as clawhammer banjo style, fiddling techniques and guitar flat-picking methods. The Global Village at 76 S. Pennsylvania Street is one of the few stages in town regularly presenting bluegrass, old-timey and folk music. Twelve years ago Ferretta migrated to Denver from the East Coast. As a conscientious objector he was assigned to work with the American Friends Service Committee in Denver. Following a two-year stint he began working at the Denver Folklore Center, and five years ago he

branched out, opening his own coffee house, store and, later, the music school. Ferretta's latest venture was promotion of this year's Colorado Bluegrass Festival. He has played, promoted and staged a variety of music in the past. A few years ago he formed a group called The Sunday River Bluegrass Show, and he has generally been smitten with bluegrass of late. "It's got me the way music's got me," he said. Ferretta first became interested in the bluegrass medium as a teenager in Bridgeton, N.J. He fell under the spell of a now-forgotten banjo picker. "Every Friday and Saturday night I used

to go to the bar, drink Coke and watch the banjo player," Ferretta recalled. One occasion won Ferretta over for good. A friend and he journeyed to Sunset Park, Penn., for a banjo contest. "We got the dates confused," Ferretta remembers. "It turned out to be a Bill Monroe concert. He was playing so outrageous that day, singing higher than I could think." Like so many people in the bluegrass field, the 31-year-old Ferretta has been profoundly affected by Monroe. The Kentuckian is portrayed by Ferretta as an elderly man of almost superhuman strength. According to Ferretta, "Monroe still works on his farm himself and can hold onto the plow if he has to!' At one time the bandmaster was paying the Blue Grass Boys a daily fee of $5O. On nonpaying days, according to legend, Monroe made a practice of putting his pickers to work in the fields. Of his own playing Ferretta said: "I've always sung bluegrass, and I played some frailing-style banjo, but I didn't have the fortitude to learn bluegrass banjo." However, he is known to have a good voice for the medium and has developed an excellent guitar style. The grueling life of a professional musician holds little glamor for the Denverite, though. "We just played Red Rocks the other night, and it's all downhill from there," he quipped. Ferretta's task in promoting the festival this year is toward a result that is "down home, but not so big that people will stand in awe." If anyone should object to a transplanted Yankee promoting the festival, Ferretta would probably point out that his hometown is in fact located in South Jersey, below the Mason-Dixon line." —John McFadden -- The Straight Creek Journal, Volume 7, Number 34, August 24, 1978