FIDDLE

Stacy grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado. She sang in a trio with her sisters from the age of 8, and picked up the violin in junior high school. She played classical music in orchestras and string quartets for the first half of her life, then turned to the "dark" side -- bluegrass, and she ain't goin' back! Stacy is a wife of 50 years, a mother of 3, and an RN by career. She's addicted to volleyball, pickleball, and cycling, but would save her fiddle first from a burning building. She can't seem to hold still while making music....it's just inside her. She has found her joy!

Those who wish to sing always find a song. ~Swedish proverb

BASS

David grew up in a military family and spent most of his childhood in Marine Corps bases situated along the Intracoastal Waterway in North and South Carolina. He played saxophone in the high school marching band and first starting playing bass at age 17 in the high school jazz band. David moved to NYC at the age of 23 and played bass in various punk, funk, rock, reggae, metal and blues bands. In 2005 he moved to Colorado and continued to play bass in various rock, country, hippy-swirl and reggae bands. In Colorado he found a wonderful wife and also purchased an upright bass. In order to learn to play the upright he started to attend various bluegrass jams and found that bluegrass was quite fulfilling and fun.

MANDOLIN, HARMONICA

Mike is a Colorado native who has always lived in the northern Front Range area. He began playing guitar in 4th grade, and got his first mandolin at age 18 when his 3 siblings pooled their money for a birthday gift. He played only for his own enjoyment until a neighbor suggested he share his talent at church. That's where he began to bump elbows with other musicians. He started playing outside of church with friends around 2010. He likes to ride bicycles and grow Brobdingnagian tomatoes. Mike and his wife of 34 years have 2 children.

GUITAR

Jan Springer picked up a guitar at age nine, learning bluegrass while her friend took up the banjo. By twelve she was already teaching guitar, exploring Americana, folk, classical, and a mix of blues, jazz, and rock. After many years in music ministry, she moved to Northern Colorado, where she rediscovered bluegrass and picked up a new hobby—pickleball. Jan has performed with Colorado bands Orchard Creek and the Solar Sisters, and now brings her talents as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter to Rusty 44. When she’s not making music, you can often find Jan fly-fishing on lakes and streams alongside her husband, David.

BANJO

Wes is "just a boy from Oklahoma" whose life's journey has taken him many places. Colorado has been his home base since 1968 but his career as a missionary has taken him to live and work in Mexico, Germany and France for a total of 23 years. At age 19, he found a banjo left in a closet by an uncle and first learned to play. Wherever he went, the banjo went with him, and though most of the places he travelled had no real bluegrass scene, Wes continued to find people to pick with and kept his ear to Bluegrass CDs. Returning to Colorado permanently in 2004 provided a chance to find others with bluegrass in their blood and eventually led to the formation of Rusty 44. Wes married his German sweetheart, Gerti; they have two adult children from Mexico and Jamaica.