09/18/2025
Wonderful editorial by Rich Wheater for this week's Times-Indicator:
"Family Legacy of Music Flows On"
Dan Price and I both grew-up surrounded by music and
musical encouragement.
In the Wheater Family, the musical heritage consisted mainly of gospel music and a collection of goofy comedic songs. In Orville and Wanda Price's home, the music
spread across a range of genres that spanned from the Gaithers to John Philip Sousa and from James Taylor to Tennessee Ernie Ford. "There was never a time when there wasn't something eclectic playing in the house," Dan said recently.
Christmas gifts for the children, including elder son Terry, daughter Deb and son Dan, included saxophone, guitar, piano and more. More than half a century later, that musical heritage continues across the decades and into succeeding generations.
Terry became a self-taught banjo virtuoso known for the impressive precision and speed that drives so much of the best bluegrass. Deb went on to play the guitar and the "clawhammer" style banjo and performed with husband Mat Emerick as The Patchwork Pear. Deb also taught guitar for many years and she pursued her passion for visual art, too. Much of the mosaic work we enjoy in the Fremont area is her work, and many of the local people now producing mosaic creations got their start with one of Deb's classes.
Dan took-up the guitar, developing proficiency in bluegrass, folk, rock and more. I like to tell people that, with the death of Gordon Lightfoot in 2023, my friend Dan is the only person I know of who can sing all the words of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Dan and Terry performed for years as part of the local bluegrass group Cabin Fever.
The music was muted for a bit when Terry died of complications from blood cancer in August of
2009. Dan's guitar went into hiding until he received a visit from his sister a few months before she succumbed to brain cancer. She dug out her brother's guitar, placed it in his hands, and told him it was time for the music to flow again.
Deb’s son Tracey Veenstra is helping his uncle make the music flow.Tracey's musical development began with the Suzuki violin method and then moved into some masterful guitar picking and a bluesy vocal style.
Uncle and nephew have collaborated on a few local duet performances, including a 2024 concert in the art-filled backyard of Deb and Mat Emerick's art-filled house, now known as the Patchwork Pear Place.
On Saturday evening, Sept. 20, they will return to the PPP and the backyard for another informal outdoor concert. Tracey plays a guitar that belonged to his grandmother Wanda Price, while Dan will play an instrument that belonged to his father, Orville Price. Dan said last week that his old friends Sharon and Tom Bradley and Kevin Cooper will join in for a few songs on Saturday night, too. All three were part of Cabin Fever.
The evening also will include the debut of the Patchwork Jug Band, a local ensemble using a combination of traditional and homemade instruments including, yes, a jug.
The popular 'Two Hot Tamales trailer, full of high-quality Mexican food, will be there to provide nourishment.
The concert is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., but Two Hot Tamales will open to serve at 5 p.m. Patchwork Pear Place is at 308 N. Division Ave. in Fremont, three blocks north of the traffic light in downtown Fremont.
The concert is free, but donations will be accepted to support the Patchwork Pear Place's mission of promoting local participation in the arts and continuing the legacy of artist, musician and teacher Deb Emerick.
