Stephanie Andelman, Nederland. Split up a well-traveled pelican, and you get the two heavily-touring members of Half Pelican. Andy Reiner, of Whitewater Ramble, plays with his fiancé Dr. Joy Adams (Doctor of Music and teacher at Naropa University and Denver School of the Arts), usually on the magnificent stage of the outdoors.

They are known to ski with their fiddle and cello, for show and as a show. Combining their passion for skiing and making music, they often perform at Loveland while skiing before and after their Ptarmigan Roost Cabin lunchtime gigs. Salto is lucky to have them play inside this Friday, as Lika Gitis unveils her paintings.

Half Pelican’s genre is “Pre-Historic Americana” - cosmic acoustic grooves influenced by Appalachian, Bluegrass, Celtic, Scandinavian and Pre-Historic music. They use the cello, fiddle, octave mandolin and clawhammer banjo, layered with sweet vocal harmonies, to belt out original and traditional songs. Psychedelic Old-Time tunes also fall into the mix.

You can hear Half Pelican on the soundtrack of the Netflix series, Godless. And you can watch videos of them playing Bach on the top of 14ers. Dr. Adams plans to perform one of Bach’s 36 cello suite movements per 36 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks. Hiking with a cello is not for the faint of heart, so when you listen to her play in the sky, it is heaven. Joy and Andy also spend time in the studio and on stage, as hired pros. Joy is getting ready for two shows next week with Boulder’s 19-voice women’s a cappella ensemble called Sound Circle. In between teaching and touring, Andy is producing new episodes for his podcast, River of Suck.

Fiddle camps across the USA brought these two together from opposite coasts - Seattle and Boston. Graduates from Berklee College of Music and Eastman School of Music enabled them to fly like pelicans from camp to camp, teaching students on string instruments. Their first collaboration was Cellosaurus Stomp, a dinosaur-themed fiddle tune with lyrics and a dance that has been performed in many flash mobs at fiddle events. Heartfelt and fun, this talented duo may inspire you to adopt a new instrument or find fresh ways of making old music sound new.

First Friday is on May 3, 2019, from 5-9 p.m.
at Salto Coffee Works. Live music by Half Pelican at 6-8 p.m.