Barbara Lawlor, Gold Hill.   It is said that people make music. Actually, they are translators of the sounds they absorb from the world around them; the bullfrog plucking of the cello; the lark’s warbling of a flute; the deep throated groan of a large oak branch scraping against the side of a metal silo.

People who are born with the gift of hearing instruments in these sounds apply them to the tools; the strings, keys, horns and skin that produce what, when joined in harmony and rhythm, are known as music. Not to leave out the human voice, one of the most flexible, teachable tools of them all.

The singers and their instruments blend into a genre that reflects their lives and often stamps them as having a signature or style that claims them, identifies them to other areas of music.

As groups merge and submerge, add to and take away with them what they learn as they travel, new sounds develop which become recognizable as groups share their styles.

Last week, the local band known as No Bird Ever Flew played its last performance as a group. Its founder and leader, Doctor Larry Worster, is leaving the Colorado mountains for the sand traps of Tucson, Arizona. He has had split residences for many years, but says it is time for him to live in one place or another, to commit himself to his professional golf career and his wife.

No Bird Ever Flew took the stage at the Gold Hill General Store on Friday night, playing the local’s favorite requests. A typical night consists of a five-person band who has merged their joy with the music they love to play.

Worster came to the Gold Hill area in 1970, left in 1978 to become a certified golf instructor who believes that everyone can learn to enjoy the game of golf: juniors, seniors, men, women, competitors and social golfers alike. He teaches the whole person, seeking to uncover the golfer within. He integrates traditional instruction with high tech video when appropriate, blending what works best for each student. He is a life-long learner and teacher, following a career teaching music both privately and at the college level with a career in golf instruction. He is endlessly fascinated by how people learn.

Larry has been a member of the Indian Peaks team since 2006 and is currently the Lead Golf Course Instructor.

In 2013, Larry moved back to Gold Hill and decided to become a music professor. He and Gold Hill resident Deb Yeager had played together at a Christmas Party, and he heard she was looking for a singer.

No Bird Ever Flew played at Boulder and Nederland venues and as their reputation grew, they were hired to play many private parties and weddings.

Harmonica player David Chamberlain says he was asked to play with the band after meeting them at a Labor Day Party in Gold Hill back in the ’90s. Debra Yeager, who has a degree in musical performance, met at a local Christmas party and joined the four-piece group.

“I studied music in college and was pleased when my voice dropped enough so I could participate in the low repertoires and sing with the band.”

Before the farewell concert, Debra pulled together the pieces they had performed over the years, knowing there would be a nostalgic nuance throughout the evening. It is hard to let go of an annual tradition.

Band percussionist Jim Campbell, the newest member of the group, says he was 19 years old when he first came to Gold Hill in 1982. He entered the Navy when he was in his mid-20s, wanting to learn just about anything. He brought his guitar with him and was soon performing, as well as learning about, electronics. He has spent 20 years with IBM.

“I hope someone will take me as a loan percussionist. I want to make music in my community, playing the North Carolina bluegrass music that is in my background.”

They blended their Americana sound, invited a few more members and became a band during their summer in the mountain group, part of the snowbirds that left Arizona during the air-conditioned months of summer. They will stay in Arizona year-round, find new friends and trust that music in Gold Hill will not die.

Over the years, the band has gone from anonymity to playing Red Rocks.

Their name, No Bird Ever Flew, an old Irish expression meaning that one drink is never enough, brought their special flavor of Americana to the Gold Hill Inn on September 17, 2018. The group features the vocals of Debra Yeager, Larry Worster and Jape Abruscato as well as the stellar playing of harmonica virtuoso David Chamberlain and percussionists extraordinaire James Campbell and Gilbran Chong.

Cheers to their final flight.