Cambridge Cowboy Pays Homage to Gunslingers

by Brittany Picklesimer

Boasting one of the largest collections of cowboy memorabilia in the Eastern United States with 15,000 pieces, Howard Cherry’s favorite pieces of his impressive collection remain the clothes on his back.

Howard owns—and sometimes wears—10 sets of American singer and cowboy actor Roy Rogers’ personal clothing. Howard acquired them through a personal mutual friend, who entrusted them to him after Roy’s death.

Roy Rogers, however, was also responsible for Howard’s initial interest in collecting cowboy memorabilia. Howard and Roy became friends after Roy visited the Hopalong Cassidy Museum in Cambridge, Ohio. Posing for a photograph with Roy, Howard introduced his wife to Roy as “your biggest fan from Ohio.”

“It just developed from there,” says Howard. “My wife and I had the same idol [Roy Rogers] and we didn’t even know it!”

That was 1989. Eight years later, in 1997, Howard retired and opened his shop, 10^th Street Antique Mall, which now also houses the Hopalong Cassidy Museum. Through the years, Howard has met hundreds of cowboy stars via various festivals, including the annual Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers festivals in Cambridge. Dealers, collectors and cowboy stars alike convene at the festivals to buy, sell, meet and greet. The festivals are a profitable avenue for the cowboy stars—and their descendants. Howard estimates that Roy Rogers’s granddaughter earned $2,000 through two afternoons of selling autographed photographs of her grandfather.

The most unique piece of Howard’s collection, however, is worth much more than that. A signed movie poster of Roy Rogers’s first film, Under Western Stars, is worth $16,000. Other pieces of Howard’s collection are worth as much as $25,000. Is it hard, then, for him to let go of such rare and valuable pieces of memorabilia?

No.

Howard has learned to keep pieces in his possession for a period of time before putting them up for sale. Then, once it comes time to sell them, it is no longer hard to sell them because he feels that he has already owned them. After all, he has to make a living.

Then again, as long as he’s got the clothes on his back, a gift from a dear personal friend, he’ll always be a very rich man indeed.

Senecaville Drummer Follows Her Inner Beat

by Lindsay Hahn

From the time she was young, Toni Kellar knew she had a strong internal rhythm. What started as a natural talent eventually evolved into a full-time career when she opened the doors of Roots to Rhythm in 2002. Home to a series of interactive rhythmic events aimed to integrate the mind, body and spirit, Toni uses a combination of percussions and body movements to teach others how to find their own inner beat.

The Birth of a Passion

Toni’s love for drumming stems back to high school; as a member of her marching band she learned to play the snare drum, eventually becoming the leader of her fellow drummers. Her passion was put on hold, however, when she entered college and shifted her focus to photojournalism. It wasn’t until 15 years after high school that she re-discovered her passion by enrolling in a hand-drumming class.

“That experience was life changing,” Toni says. “Being able to express rhythm directly from my body and hands to the drum head, and expressing innate rhythms instead of something written on a piece of paper was very powerful.”

From there she sought to expand her knowledge and learn different hand-drumming techniques. Living near New York City exposed Toni to some of the most skilled hand drummers in the nation.

The Birth of Roots to Rhythm

Toni moved back to Ohio in 2001 and, after attending community drum circles, members started asking Toni for personal hand-drumming lessons and to facilitate a women-only circle. From there, the rest is history and a passion was transformed into a full-time job. Toni created the name Roots to Rhythm because she felt she was returning to her “roots” and sharing her love for rhythm with others. A tree metaphor perfectly describes the essence and the heart of the company; Toni says it’s like “finding and mixing nourishment from deep down and all around in order to grow and ‘branch out.’”

Toni’s most rewarding experience since starting Roots to Rhythm is when she hosted a program in an assisted living community. The residents danced around, sang and encouraged others in the group to join. Usually this would be considered a typical situation. However, she soon came to discover that these residents were Alzheimer patients and it was one of the first times they had interacted with one another.

Group drumming or drumming circles have been shown to not only have health benefits but also to increase connectivity and closeness with other people within the group. Roots to Rhythm includes programs for corporate and professional development, health and wellness, school and youth, as well as for community groups.

“Every time I facilitate a rhythm event, I witness people experiencing great joy through their personal expression. It’s incredible,” Toni says.

Through discovering a sense of empowerment and playing rhythms that are naturally innate, Toni is helping others one beat at time.

Ten Questions with Backbone

by Will Cooper

To outsiders Cambridge, Ohio seems like quiet place. Who would think that amongst the sparsely populated city and Appalachian Plateau rages the sound of distorted guitars or the beat of pummeling drums? I mean, Cambridge is certainly not New York City, Los Angeles or anywhere else that is synonymous with exciting new music. However, just underneath the surface lies a burgeoning community of young and old musicians creating riotous sounds out of love and passion. One of these groups is Backbone, a veteran rock band channeling the same formula that led bands such as Nickleback to the top of the Billboard Charts.

I discovered Backbone the way many young people find new music today: the Internet. After spending hours scrolling through a myriad of Southeastern Ohio rap, metal and indie; I was taken back by the familiarity of Backbone’s sound. Immediately after hearing the first chord, I could imagine them hopping around on stage in some small bar in Cambridge to a sleepy crowd of regulars sipping on Coors draft beer.

Backbone is a three-piece outfit comprised of Mark Rossiter, vocals and guitar; Denny “Coondog” Coon, vocals and bass; and Dave “Smack” Eibel, vocals and dums. The members became close friends while growing up in Cambridge and attending at Meadowbrook High School. Since then, they have played off and on while simultaneously starting families and maintaining “real” jobs. Since their inception they have released one full-length album and they consistently perform in and out of state spreading their music listener by listener.

Interested by their local prominence within Cambridge and their ability to deal with the dregs of the real world while still performing in a band, I decided to talk with Backbone’s low end chief, Denny Coon, via email about the past, present and future of his band.

1. Backbone met in high school. What were your first impressions of each other and how did you move from just being friends to being band mates?

Actually, Mark and Dave were neighbors. Mark and I were the same age and spent our time trying to impress the same girls. We picked up guitars around 5^th grade. Mark’s mom was always singing and playing piano and my dad played guitar, so the progression was natural. Dave used to bang on cans and boxes. Eventually, he got his first drum set.

2. How did the band come up with the name Backbone and the album title?

I’m not really sure where the name came from. The band was called Black Saddle before I rejoined. Black Saddle played country and put out a country CD called “Nowhere to Ride”, so the name “Still Nowhere” was rather fitting. Wait until you hear the name of the new one. You are sure to love it.

3. Your first album, “Still Nowhere”, sounds very well produced. Can you discuss your recording process touching on where it was recorded, how long it took and some of the methods you used?

This was recorded in the “Man Cave” studio, which is actually Marks basement. It was recorded analog then digitally put onto to a CD during the final mix. The finished product was sent to a company to be mastered. It was very painstaking process. Mark probably spent close to 4 months mixing all the tracks and comparing volumes and effects to some of our favorite CDs.

4. How are songs created? Does the band write together or do you create your own parts separately?

Mark generally comes up with the ideas, and Dave and I are at liberty to do whatever we want with our parts. We start with an idea and arrange it collectively.

5. I understand that all members of the band have fulltime jobs. How hard is it balancing professional and real-world responsibilities with performing in a band?

It is very busy at times. We went from booking every weekend to trying to every other weekend now. Dave and I are bosses where we work and Mark runs his own company, so it is important to us all to have the time to spend with our families and children.

6. Has there been a shift in your sound since you finished “Still Nowhere”?

Yes, I believe there actually has. The songs we have written for the next CD seem to be a little heavier. But we don’t really write anything to fit a certain style. As you can tell from the “Still Nowhere”, we can’t really be labeled any specific style. We just work with the songs and do what feels natural. If it turns out to be a polka, which will never happen, and we like it then that’s what we go with.

7. What is the best venue to perform at in the Zanesville/Cambridge area?

We play so many, but if I had to pick one it would have to be Shakers nightclub. It is set up like an actual venue. Eric, the owner books a lot of national acts and gives us opportunities to open for them.

8. Your songs are very riff driven. Can you name some of the guitar players of the past that have influenced the crunchy distortion used on your songs?

Mark is a George Lynch and AC/DC freak. I’m not sure he is trying to mimic their tones in any way, but the influence definitely shows.

9. How often does the band play outside of Ohio? What is the reception like?

As of late, we are trying to stay closer to home to work on the new CD. We don’t like to sit in the basement in the summer. When we do play out of state the reception has been really good. I think our originals speak for themselves and they are all songs people can relate to. A good song is a good song no matter where you play it.

10. Do you plan to record a new album?

We are in the works and have quite a few songs written for the new CD. We will be going digital on this one. Much like the other CD, we only want to present songs we believe in. No filler. However, we haven’t set a date or put pressure on ourselves. We are excited to get on it.