Missoula.com Magazine Spring 2010

Winter/Spring 2010

local luthiers music to our ears from area craftsmen

cup of tea

photographic pics

hair benders

kyi-yo powwow

perfect blends for an “evening in missoula”

what we’ll do for a hairdo

missoulian photographers’ favorites from ’09

a celebration that makes for happy hearts missoula.com magazine

missoula.com magazine

missoula.com magazine

letter from the editor

bookmark it!

O

ftentimes on these pages, I gush on about the changing of seasons, as they unfold outside our newsroom on the banks of the Clark Fork River in downtown Missoula.

Other times, the task is decidedly more difficult – as it is now, as I write before a cityscape hidden beneath a cloud of fog and ice. Only the buzz of cedar waxwings feeding in a frenzy on our backyard mountain ash colors the day. All else, it seems, is gray and cold.

Which is precisely why we went hunting, for this edition of Missoula.com magazine, for the loveliness and the pasttimes that keep us all sane – and even energized – in these sometimes socked-in weeks of late winter and early spring.

Happily, success was just around the corner.

Rob Chaney and Michael Gallacher spent several days with an amazing collection of craftsmen – luthiers, by trade – who build guitars, mandolins and banjos in little shops tucked around town and in draws outside of town. Their artistry is known far beyond Montana, as is the music their handiwork allows.

Nowhere does winter shed its doldrums more enthusiastically than during the annual Kyi-Yo Pow Wow at the University of Montana. The oldest college powwow in the country, the Kyi-Yo is a tribute to the heritage of UM’s many Native students, but also to the months of hard work that goes into assembling such a celebration. Gwen Florio joined our photographers in providing readers with a guide to the powwow, scheduled this year for April 16-17. It’s a not-to-be-missed staple of the season.

Also predictable, although considerably less colorful and with much more varied results (!), is the decidedly Montana tradition of beard-growing in winter, a topic Tim Akimoff and Ken Barnedt tackled for this edition of Missoula.com. What is the deal with this annual show of manliness anyway? And why here, in the West, and not so much in other parts of the country? I think you’ll enjoy their resulting essay and illustrations.

So, too, did I enjoy the look back at 2009 provided by photographers Tom Bauer, Linda Thompson, Kurt Wilson and Michael Gallacher with their annual photo essay on favorite photos from the year past. We could only show a few of those images, all stunning, in the pages of our magazine. We’ve collected hundreds in an audio slideshow you’ll find online at Missoulian.com.

And, of course, our regular columnists have come through with great people, places and purposes for our still-winter days: a visit to Helena’s Blackfoot River Brewing Co., a fly-fishing trip to Oregon (to land monster carp!), a wine-tasting expedition in the Bitterroot Valley, beautiful tables filled with extravagant and delicious meals. More than enough to tide us over until spring.

In fact, the signs are likely already sprouting: the first buttercup on Mount Jumbo, a truly early bird on the lawn, an overachieving ant browsing on a riverside rock. It’s never too early for spring!

Go online to Missoulian.com throughout the coming months to:

go downhill fast!

Chelsi Moy has the latest ski conditions – and tales of gnarliness – from resorts all across Montana on her blog, MontanaSnowSports.com.

sip some suds!

Join blogger Tim Akimoff at his craft beer blog, GrizzlyGrowler.com, and you’ll enter the amazing world of specialty beers and beermakers.

chow down!

MissoulaFoodie.com is our blog for food lovers – be ye a cook, a chef or just someone who enjoys excellent eating. See what we’re dishing up today!

climb a hill!

MontanaAdventurer.com/blog is the place to find outdoor adventure in western Montana. Michael Moore presides over this blog, and takes all comers along on his trips afield: climbing, hiking, biking and buying some really cool gear.

give the griz a little love!

We’ve got Grizzly athletic blogs galore, ready to engage you in commentary, the inside scoop and all things Griz. Join the party at GrizBlitz.com, GrizPawBlog.com and – at Missoulian.com/app/ blogs – our UM women’s and men’s basketball blogs.

missoula.com magazine

missoula.com magazine

missoula.com is is the the flagship flagship magazine magazine missoula.com of the missoulian newspaper of the missoulian newspaper

publisher stacey mueller publisher john vanstrydonck

editor sherry devlin editor sherry devlin

art director director kate art katemurphy murphy

assistantart art director director mike assistant mikelake lake

photo editor editor kurt photo kurtwilson wilson sales & marketing advertising director director kristen bounds jim mcgowan

online director jim mcgowan

writers timothy akimoff

writers tim akimoff

rob chaney betsy cohen

betsyflorio cohen gwen gwen florio

daryl gadbow

daryl gadbow lori grannis kate murphy

michael jamison gregmeseroll patent

bob

michael moore keila szpaller

kate murphy

photographers joe tomnickell bauer

greg patent michael gallacher

jodi rave

linda thompson

kurt wilson

photographers tom bauer

graphic design michael mike lake gallacher diann kelly linda thompson megan richter kurt wilson graphic design diann kelly illustration ken barnedt megan richter sawicki advertising sales chris jacque walawander youa vang 523-5271

advertisingAvailable sales jacque walawander

distribution in more than 160 racks in western Missoula.com magazine is a natural 523-5271 Montana, extension for people who read and rely on the Missoulian newspaper. Reaching 80,000 to 90,000 readers daily, long been .recognized as the most in-depth source the Missoulian has distribution Available in more than 160 thorough, racks in western Montana, of news in western magazine takes this Missoula.com magazineMontana. is a naturalMissoula.com extension for people who read and relyaward-winning on the coveragenewspaper. another step, showing off tothe very best of daily, Missoula in wordshas andlong Missoulian Reaching 80,000 90,000 readers the Missoulian photographs.

Bythe capitalizing on thein-depth Missoulian’s throughout the region been recognized as most thorough, source presence of news in western Montana. and utilizingmagazine its established chain of distribution, Missoula.com magazine and Missoula.com takes this award-winning coverage another step, showing off Missoula.com Web site reachand more readers inBy more placeson than other such the very best of Missoula in words photographs. capitalizing the any Missoulian’s publication in western Montana. presence throughout the region and utilizing its established chain of distribution, Missoula. com magazine and Missoula.com Web site reach more readers in more places than any No such part of the publication may be reprinted without permission. other publication in western Montana.

©2010 Lee Enterprises, all rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

No part of the publication may be reprinted without permission. ©2007 Lee Enterprises, all rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

on the cover:

Petty Creek luthier John Walker works on one of his handmade guitars at his shop near Alberton.

Ryan Springer pedals along the Clark Fork River with a delivery of Le Petit Outre breads bound for downtown Missoula photorestaurants. by michael gallacher

on the cover:

missoula.com magazine

cover photo by linda thompson

missoula.com magazine

vol.4 no.1

inside this issue

contents winter/spring 2010 “Listen to a song like (Simon and Garfunkel’s) ‘Mrs. Robinson.’ That was a good old ’30s guitar. Or the stuff of Crosby, Stills and Nash – they used really good guitars.” page 34

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in season

all year long

24 26 32 34 38 42

10 12 16 20 22 62

the many faces of manliness kyi-yo powwow the perfect cup art of the instrument beauty parlors photographic: favorite photos of 2009

missoula.com magazine

fine dining tablescapes missoula cooks know your vino and your beer on the fly parting shot

the way we were

1918 special delivery A driver for the Perry Coal Company stops for a photograph at the corner of Higgins and Broadway in downtown Missoula before going about delivering coal to heat Missoula businesses and homes in 1918.

Perry Coal later became Missoula Coal and Transfer, then Missoula Coal and Wood and finally Missoula Coal and Oil.

photo courtesy of robert h. laing

missoula.com magazine

fine

tablescapes

D N NG photos

by Tom BauerBauer photos

by Tom

ABOVE: A well-appointed family dining room makes even a simple meal “company ready.” Ambient lighting warms the room and showcases the owner’s collection of rustic, handmade and collected pieces. Comfortable, fully upholstered dining chairs invite lingering over dessert with friends and family.

Barn, handmade by Red Willow for Hunting & Gathering, $119.

Buffet lamps, from Uttermost, $149. Harvest dining table, seats six, $1,295. Elmo upholstered dining chair, by MG+BW, $529.

Jennifer Kuehn, Hunting & Gathering for the Home, 741 S. Higgins Ave., Missoula.

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TOP RIGHT: This Easter-themed table at Pearl Cafe & Bakery features spring pea soup with mint cream, mixed baby greens topped with toasted walnuts, Jarlsberg cheese, and house-made roasted garlic vinaigrette. Accompanying wine: Domaine Parent Premier Cru Pommard French Pinot Noir, 2005. “Princess Cake,” baked by Pearl cake artist Margaret Ambrose-Barton, features sponge layered with pastry cream, raspberry puree and whipped cream, and is finished with a marzipan dome and fresh rose.

Pearl Cafe & Bakery, 231 E. Front Street, is open Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. Enjoy a special three-course seasonal menu of French comfort foods through April, including a glass of wine. Call 541-0231 for reservations and bakery orders.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Caffe Dolce’s hand-painted ceramics are crafted in Deruta, Italy. Featured are: dinner plates in “Pavone” ($70), cake plate on pedestal in “Campagna” ($135), oval platter 17-inch in “Fontana” ($300), 8-inch vase in “Raffaellesco” ($75), candlestick set in “Rico Deruta Blue” ($140), Tuscan oil & vinegar set in “Isabella” ($125), 7-inch olive oil plate, ($36). Table stemware fashioned in pewter and crystal in “Isabella” (red wine stem, ($50), white wine stem, ($45). Also shown in “Isabella” pewter collection: five-piece flatware setting ($250), votivecandle holder ($30). Linens are made from Italian linen- cotton blend from Busatti, Italy, and feature: tablerunner in “Pienza” Terra Cotta 63” x 17” ($85); tablemats in “Pienza” Verde Salvia 19”x19” ($25).

Caffe Dolce on Brooks and Beckwith is open for dinner Monday to Thursday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Call 406-830-3055. All food and wine shown are current items on Caffè Dolce’s dinner menu.

Featured: salad of grilled shrimp, fennel and blood orange; cheese and charcuterie antipasti selections. Desserts: carrot cake and assorted petite cookies. Wines shown: Speri Amarone, and La Tunella Verduzzo dessert wine. For up-to-date menus: caffedolcemissoula.com.

missoula.com magazine

11

missoula cooks

good for you and delicious by greg patent

Raw grains – basmati, quinoa, bulgur – help keep wintertime diets healthy and tasty.

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photos by kurt wilson

W

hole grains, nutritional powerhouses packed with proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbs and some fats, make excellent foods.

They have to, because the nutrients in them nourish the sprouting seedlings that ultimately grow into adult plants.

We know many – rice, oats, corn, wheat and barley – from the myriad breakfast cereals that crowd supermarket shelves.

And when ground into flour, these grains play major roles in cookery.

One of the most ancient grains on the culinary scene is quinoa. Born in the Andes Mountains of South America 5,000 or so years ago, quinoa helped sustain the mighty Inca civilization for generations. Called the “mother grain,” quinoa contains more high-quality protein than any other grain.

It provides all the essential amino acids in a way that meets the standards set by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). And for those who

before packaging, some saponins may persist. Old habits die hard, so despite boxes stating “prewashed, no rinsing,” I rinse.

Bulgar (also spelled bulgur) is probably best known in the Lebanese salad Tabbouleh. It has many other delicious uses in cooking, including soups, breads and desserts. You can substitute it for just about any recipe calling for rice.

Perhaps one of the oldest recorded uses of wheat in human history, bulgar is made by cooking whole wheat berries, drying them, removing a portion of the bran and cracking the kernels into small pieces. A brief soak in warm water is often all bulgar needs to restore its chewy texture and nutty flavor. It typically comes in “fine” or “coarse” varieties. Either one will work in the recipe here.

Syrian Wheat Salad makes a lovely addition to wintertime meals. are gluten sensitive, quinoa is gluten free. It is recommended by the American Dietetic Association and www.celiac.com.

Aside from the good-for-you qualities of quinoa and other whole grains, they’re just plain delicious. And that’s the best reason for eating them.

Though technically not a cereal grain at all, but a member of the chenopodium herb

family whose best-known member is lamb’s quarters, quinoa is easy to prepare, versatile and cooks quickly.

When I first began cooking with it more than 20 years ago, recipe instructions said to rinse the grains in a strainer under cool running water to flush away acridtasting surface substances called saponins.

Although quinoa is scrubbed and dried

Greg Patent is a food writer and columnist for the Missoulian and Missoula. com magazine. Visit his Web site at www.gregpatent.com and blog at www. gregpatentgetsyoucooking.blogspot.com. You can write him at chefguymt@gregpatent.com.

Kurt Wilson is photography editor of the Missoulian and Missoula.com again reach him at (406)523-5244 or at kwilson@missoulian.com.

Your Health – Our Commitment to You. From Day One.

At Community, beating breast cancer is a way of life.

And it shows in the way we do our jobs. Every day we work hard to deliver the best cancer care and treatment available in the region. We offer the region’s premiere breast-health facility in partnership with Advanced Imaging and Montana Cancer Specialists, located on the CMC campus. Not only are we a highly trained team of specialists, many of us carry a second title, Survivor.

That’s just one reason why people call us the “campus of compassionate care”.

Find out more. Call 327-3941 or visit www.communitymed.org

Mike Alexander American Cancer Society Volunteer 2 year survivor

Bridget Shoup Scheduler Advanced Imaging 2 year survivor

Ann Carver R.T.(R)(M)(CT) Technologist Advanced Imaging 11 year survivor

Michelle Weaver Knowles RN Montana Breast Health Navigator 11 year survivor

Angela Schapley R.T. (R)(M) Lead Mammography Technologist 5 year survivor

Janell Hemsley Director, Women’s and Infant Services 10 year survivor

missoula.com magazine

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Quinoa and Basmati Rice Pilaf with Pine Nuts, Saffron and Lemon This is an excellent side dish to serve with all sorts of game, poultry or meats. Pine nuts add a roastiness, and the cardamom pods contribute an intriguing and exotic taste.

1/2 cup quinoa 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth or water 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup brown basmati rice 1 quart cold water 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 large red onion, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 6 cardamom pods 1/2 cup pine nuts 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 2 cups hot water 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled, mixed with 1 teaspoon hot water Finely grated zest of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more if needed 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under cold running water for about 1 minute to remove the acrid-tasting saponins.

Shake the strainer to remove excess water. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a small saucepan and stir in the quinoa and salt. When the mixture returns to the boil, cover the pan, and decrease the heat to very low. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.

Remove the pan from the heat and set aside, uncovered.

Rinse the basmati rice in a fine strainer under cold running water for about 1 minute. Combine the rice with the cold water in a bowl and let stand 30 minutes. Drain well and set aside. Both the quinoa and the rice may be prepared hours in advance.

Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat.

Add the cardamom pods and cook until pods take on a buff color. Add the pine nuts and cook, stirring, until they are golden brown. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until onions are slightly softened.

Add the rice, raise the heat to high, and stir continuously to evaporate excess moisture, about 1 minute. Add the hot water, salt, and saffron. Give the rice a stir and return the mixture to a boil. Cover the pan and decrease the heat to very low. Cook 20 to 30 minutes minutes, or until the rice is tender.

Fluff with a fork and add the lemon zest and juice to taste.

Add the quinoa to the rice and toss with a fork. Cover and reheat over low heat. Just before serving, mix in the cilantro and feta.

Serve hot or warm.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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missoula.com magazine

Syrian Wheat Salad This is a Syrian Jewish version of Tabbouleh, and like Tabbouleh it contains bulgar. This salad gets its special flavor from a dressing containing pomegranate molasses, made by boiling pomegranate juice until it turns into a syrup. It is shelf-stable and keeps for months in a cool cupboard. You can find it at the Good Food Store in Missoula. This salad is best made a day ahead. It keeps well, refrigerated, for three or four days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Pomegranate Dressing 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt Salad 2 cups fine or coarse bulgar 1 teaspoon salt 6 cups tepid water 3 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice Pinch of cayenne 3 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds To make the dressing, whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Dressing will be thick.

For the salad, put the bulgar into a large bowl, sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon salt, and add the water. Swish around to dissolve the salt and let the bulgar soak for 30 minutes, or until tender. Drain well.

Dry the soaking bowl and add the bulgar back to it.

Whisk into the pomegranate dressing the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, cumin, coriander, allspice, cayenne, tomato paste, and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more lemon or oil.

Add the dressing to the bulgar and toss to combine well. Fold in the walnuts and parsley. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds before serving.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

missoula.com magazine

15

know your vino

california: meet montana by kate murphy photos by kurt wilson

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missoula.com magazine

DARBY – Just a few miles south of Darby deep in the heart of the Bitterroot Valley, I was welcomed by Keith Smith into a shed on his 27-acre ranch. The “shed” turned out to be his winery and wine cellar.

With tall ceilings, the shed has all the great characteristics of a Montana winery. It was filled with boxes of wine and racks of antlers, along with a pot

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Keith Smith is a rare breed who enjoys the best of two worlds: He is both a Northern California grape grower and a Montana winemaker. belly stove in the corner, which provided welcome warmth on a cold winter day. We sat down at a tasting table with his wines lined up and I learned very quickly that Keith Smith is a rare breed who enjoys the best of two worlds: He is both a Northern California grape grower and a Montana winemaker.

A fourth-generation farmer, Keith joined his father in 1988 on the family vineyard at Mount St. Helena in California to grow, cultivate and farm wine grapes.

Although having no formal viticulture training, Keith’s long family history coupled with his own farming experience helped him to produce 159 acres of world-class grapes from California – to which they sold and still sell to many renowned wineries in Napa, including Stags Leap and Beringer

Vineyards.

However, Keith had a special place in his heart for Montana as he spent time here as a child, vacationing and visiting family.

He knew he always wanted to come back and in 1999, that love brought him back to Big Sky Country. He settled alongside the Continental Divide; just beyond the ranch, rising to an elevation of 10,157 feet, is Trapper Peak, the highest point in the Bitterroot Mountains and the inspiration for Keith’s wine.

Sharing his time between the vineyard in California and living the Montana dream, Keith merged the two worlds in 2002 by bringing grapes from St. Helena to the rural Bitterroot Valley to make his Trapper Peak wines, releasing the first vintages in 2005. Keith’s winemaking philosophy is

simple and reflective of his straightforward nature: “Wines are made in the vineyard and the winemaker is just the babysitter ... a winemaker can’t make good wine out of a bad grape.”

Producing 3,000 cases of wine this year (almost 2,400 more cases than the prior year), Keith’s collection includes Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Merlot. All of these wines exceeded my expectations for quality and price – a great local bargain at $17 and under. I will also note that the labels are just a bonus. You’ll have to see for yourself!

Buckin’ Blanco Sauvignon Blanc Stainless-steel fermentation gives this wine fresh fruit flavors and expands the varietal character. Aromas of grapefruit, citrus, green apple and Asian pear are backed by fresh hints of grass, mineral and herb. The palate is citrusy and crisp with good minerality. This is a delightful Sauvignon Blanc, quintessential for summer and pairing with seafood. So shuck the oysters, steam the clams and put another shrimp on the barbie!

Tasting notes continued on page 52

the 2010 glk350 starting at Your Authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealer

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$

36,600

plus freight, options, title & license

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and your beer

A fresh pour of India Pale Ale is shown in the taproom of the Blackfoot Brewing Co. in Helena.

capital brew HELENA – When you first taste the single-malt India Pale Ale at Blackfoot River Brewing Co., you might miss something.

Like the flavors from multiple hop styles infused in several stages or the five or six specialty grains typically used for instance.

The story of this beer is simplicity.

From the heirloom soft winter Maris otter barley that is malted on stone floors in the British Isles to produce the highestquality malt in the world to the simcoe and cascade hops used for their floral, piney citrus flavor, the Single Malt IPA at Blackfoot River Brewing Co. is one of the most unique beers I’ve ever encountered.

In a world of single-hop varieties, Blackfoot River co-owner Brian Smith wanted to do something just a bit different.

“Initially, I thought a lot of people ignored the malt when they made an IPA.

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IPAs were so over-the-top, all about the hops and really dry,” Smith said. “I really wanted a more balanced beer with some more hop character.”

Single Malt IPA was born out of the idea that if you took the world’s best barley variety and brewed a beer just from that, you’d end up focusing on the unique properties that malt brings to beer – rather than lose those qualities in a mishmash of different grains.

In the case of the Maris otter, it’s a breadiness that provides a very solid mouthfeel with a perfect balance to showcase the attributes of the cascade and simcoe hops without being overpowered by them.

“Typically, in a lot of our beers, we’re looking at five, six or seven specialty malts,” Smith said. “You lose the characteristics of your base malt much of the time.”

by timothy akimoff photos by linda thompson

H

ops are like the popular kids in school. Sometimes you tend to think you’re supposed to like them because other kids tell you you should like them.

But like a fine single-malt Scotch whiskey, the attributes that make it perfect often are in the balance rather than the extremes.

Whether it’s a snowboarder hoisting it in the fading light of a great powder day at the Last Run Inn at Montana Snowbowl, or a server with a tray of them at the new Blackfoot River Brewing Co. taproom in Helena, I can recognize that slightly hazy, ochre beer almost anywhere.

And it has become one of the state’s classier favorites for the qualities it exudes fresh, which is the only way you can get it, as Blackfoot River Brewing Co. does not bottle or can their beers.

While many of the state’s brewers

are using grains grown here in Montana, Blackfoot River Brewing Co. also uses specialty organic grains and hops from places like Canada, England and New Zealand in order to maintain the standards it has built up for the brews it uses those ingredients in.

Smith says that organic hops from New Zealand are more expensive, but it’s worth it to produce a completely organic beer such as his Organic Pale Ale.

B

ut Smith does hope to be able to start brewing a single-malt beer with Montana-grown grain to compare side by side with the Maris otter. “A Montana single-malt source will be kind of hard to find,� Smith said. “Much of what the industry here focuses on is agronomic. Is it more disease resistant? Or cold hardy? Farmers are always changing styles to find what performs best.�

But Smith does hope to find some local malt to use as a comparison to the British stuff, which they’ll sell side by side in the taproom.

And just so you don’t think the Single Malt IPA is the only game at Blackfoot River Brewing Co., the brewers recently released 500 bottle-conditioned, barrelaged bottles of barley wine that sold out in 28 hours, according to Smith.

One of three owners of Helena’s Blackfoot Brewery, Brian Smith sits in the upper area of the newly renovated taproom.

Though a trip to the brewery’s new taproom in the heart of Helena is a must, the beers are available at fine establishments around western Montana.

On draught, of course.

Tim Akimoff is the digital manager of Missoulian.com and blogs about craft beer

Hilarious comedy, classic musicals, action & adventure.

Don’t miss the last 2 shows of the season!

Summer Day Camps

Camp 1

camp 2

Register by June 18

Register by July 2

Register by July 16

Performances

Performances

Performances

June 26 or 27 3:00 & 5:00 p.m.

March 19–21, 24–28

April 30–May 2, 5–9, 12–16 ' " ! !

TICKETS (406) 728-PLAY

[7529]

• www.mctinc.org

Linda Thompson is a photographer at the Missoulian. She can be reached at (406) 523-5270 or by e-mail at lthompson@ missoulian.com.

Where y ou belong!

June 21–25

' " ! !

at GrizzlyGrowler.com. He can be reached at (406) 523-5202 or by e-mail at tim.akimoff@lee.net.

camp 3

July 5–9

July 10 or 11 3:00 & 5:00 p.m.

July 19–23

July 24 or 25 3:00 & 5:00 p.m.

% $

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$ ! ! " ! & ! ! $ " % " % !" % " % $ % " !

REGISTRATION INFO (406) 728-1911 • www.mctinc.org missoula.com magazine

21

on the fly

big-fish fix by daryl gadbow photos by kate gadbow

L

ast April, I traveled to Oregon in pursuit of smallmouth bass with a fly rod.

In the past few years, I’ve had increasing enthusiasm about fly-fishing for “bronzebacks” close to home in the Flathead River. I like them because of their tendency – just like trout – to attack flies, as well as their unparalleled – in my estimation – fighting ability. Plus, they’re really good to eat.

My destinations in Oregon were the Columbia River and its nearby tributary, the John Day River, both

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renowned smallmouth hotspots in the Northwest.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, those fish were unwilling to participate with me in my quest.

However, on that trip I did manage to catch my largest-ever fly-caught fish. And, without question, the ugliest – a carp.

Now, I don’t personally know any fly-fishers who would admit to intentionally casting for the lowly carp, considered a trash fish by most self-respecting Montana anglers.

Opposite page: Grady Gadbow, left, helps his dad beach the behemoth after a lengthy – if unspectacular – battle. The heavy fish puts a serious strain on the author’s fly rod.

Fly-fishing for carp, sometimes touted as the “poor man’s bonefish,” has become the latest craze in the sport.

Left: A closeup view of a mug so ugly not even an angler could love it.

But evidently there are plenty of folks who have embraced this bizarre practice.

In recent years, articles on fly-fishing for carp have proliferated in national and regional angling publications, including some rather snooty journals favored by fly-casting purists.

The articles often tout the carp as “the poor man’s bonefish,” guaranteed to take you “deep into your backing with their powerful runs.” And fishing for carp in the shallows of various inland waters, those stories suggest, will give you an experience similar to casting for wary bonefish, permit and redfish in the sparkling saltwater flats of some tropical paradise.

If you doubt that fly-fishing for carp may be the sport’s latest craze, check it out on Google. You’ll find a myriad of Web sites, blogs, books, videos and advertisements for fishing lodges devoted to this peculiar angling activity. Many sites contain detailed information about techniques, strategies, flies to use and top locations for carp.

A

ll sorts of fly shops, in their catalogs both in print and online, now offer specialized carp tackle and fly patterns.

One carp fly-fishing Web site I found – Michigan angler Tom Conner’s home page – is fairly representative of many others.

Conner writes: “An analogy is often drawn to fishing for bonefish and the analogy is quite accurate. Like bonefish, carp can often be seen tailing in the shallows. Like bonefish, carp

are eating whatever organisms they find on or scare up from the bottom.

And like bonefish, when they take your fly expect a long hard run that may take you ‘into your backing.’ ” And he continues: “Your best chance of catching a carp on a fly comes from choosing a fly that imitates a food that the carp recognizes.”

Which seems to be just about anything.

Potential carp food, Conner says, includes larval and pupal stages of aquatic insects; small aquatic organisms, such as leeches and baitfish; plant material, such as seeds and berries; and finally, introduced food, or “food that humans toss into the water that carp learn to eat.

This includes corn, dog food and bread.”

There are flies, Conner attests, that “imitate all of these items and in the right circumstances you can expect most of them to be successful.”

Conner’s site even provides tying instructions for most of those weird patterns.

H

is favorite carp pattern, however, is the late Montana fly-fishing author Gary LaFontaine’s “bristle leech,” a fly that rides hook up and when rested on the bottom creates a puff of silt when retrieved.

I recall LaFontaine once telling me in confidence that he and his friends occasionally fished dry flies for carp – successfully – to get their “big-fish fix.”

One Montana trout fishing lodge’s Web site advertises that it also offers

fly-fishing for carp on the Missouri River – one of the state’s acknowledged hot spots.

I must confess that on the two occasions when I’ve hooked carp on a fly, it wasn’t exactly by accident.

The first time I was float-fishing the Missouri near Townsend.

Looking downriver, I spotted what looked like a bunch of oranges bobbing on the surface. When I got closer, I saw that the “oranges” were the gaping, sucker-like mouths of carp, apparently feeding on flies, or bread or whatever. Or just being disgusting for all I know.

But I cast my woolly bugger in front of the herd and one of the carp inhaled it. I might as well have hooked a road grader. The brute plowed straight upriver and never stopped until it reached the end of at least 100 yards of backing on my reel and broke off.

T

he next time was last April over on the Columbia. My daughter, my son and his girlfriend, and I were flyfishing from shore in a backwater pond connected to the river by a culvert under the highway.

We noticed a pod of enormous fish cruising too far out to identify. Some of the torpedo-shaped monsters appeared to be three feet long.

We speculated that the fish could be salmon or steelhead taking a rest in the pond during their spawning migration runs.

Occasionally, one of the lunkers would jump completely out of the water.

Once, I happened to be looking directly at the spot when one leaped. Its goldenbrown color made me suspicious that it

continued on page 56 missoula.com magazine

23

The many faces of

manliness

Written by Timothy Akimoff - Illustrated by Ken Barnedt

Chin strap

Vandyck

Honest Abe

Goat

‘Chops Hemingway

- the middle years -

Scruffy Chic 24

missoula.com magazine

Road Warrior

General

uke Kowalski showed up to his first Missoula job interview with a broken nose, two black eyes and a thick, brown beard.

“And somehow I still got hired,” Kowalski said, smiling at the memory – and refusing to elaborate.

Kowalksi came to Missoula from Pennsylvania in 1998, drawn by the same thing that brings so many young people here – the forestry program at the University of Montana.

After graduation, he returned to Pennsylvania to work as an assistant forester at a large nursery.

“It wasn’t really cultural to have a beard there,” Kowalski said, stroking his magnificently thick facial hair.

His coworkers constantly asked if he was Amish, a religious group whose members don’t use electricity or motorized vehicles. They wear distinctive clothing and married men wear long beards.

Kowalski doesn’t get those kinds of questions in Missoula; in fact, he never gets hassled about his beard in Montana.

“There are definitely more beards out here than anywhere else I’ve ever lived,” Kowalski said.

Beard growth among Missoulians often starts in the late summer as the nights begin to chill in anticipation of autumn.

Scraggly, 5-o’clock shadows darken and fill in the face over the first few awkward days. After a week, you can’t recognize folks anymore by the cut of their chins or the shape of their mouths.

Only the eyes and ears separate the facial hair from the head hair.

old temperatures, rugged individualism, Western living, hunting, whatever reason a man gives for growing a beard, either once a year or yearround, Missoula, Montana, certainly has a beard culture.

“I got married a week before I moved up here,” Adam Richards said. “I was clean-shaven for that, and I haven’t shaved since.”

And there’s another reason.

“A lot of it is laziness,” Kowalski said. “I despise

shaving.”

Richards echoes those sentiments and attributes the desire to have a beard to a rule his parents had about facial hair.

“They said as long as you are clean-shaven, you’ll be welcomed in this house,” Richards said.

So he went to study abroad.

“I grew my first beard when I went to Scotland for five months when I was 20,” Richards said. “I grew this beard that was just wisps on the face really, but I remember sitting in class and not being able to understand the professors, because they all spoke in this thick Scottish accent. I raised my hand to get the professor’s attention and he said, ‘You, with the beard.’

I was really proud of that moment.”

Richards and Kowalski are young and, most recently, students. But take a look around the city and you’ll start to see the beard wherever you go.

Look at city councilors Jason Weiner and Roy Houseman, or our venerable mayor, John Engen, for that matter. OK, so he wears a goatee, but on the mayor it’s significantly more facial

hair than most men can call a beard.

“My dad always had facial hair,” Engen said. “I think in a bigger metropolitan area it would be difficult to have facial hair like this and be a politician.”

But Engen points to the similar Westerness that pervades all levels of society in Montana. “Just look at the Legislature,” Engen said. “You’ll see a lot of guys wearing mustaches, goatees and full beards ... and bolo ties.”

The mayor has worn a full beard as recently as a few years ago, but for his money’s worth, the goatee is a signature look he’s comfortable with in Missoula.

“There are a lot of beards now,” Kowalski said of Missoula. “When I go back East now, I really notice. People just don’t wear beards these days.

It’s that whole metrosexual thing. I think Montana is the antithesis of that.”

he pogonology (that would be the study of

continued on page 55

missoula.com magazine

25

It’s going to make for

happy hearts.

It’s going to

uplift your people.

written by Gwen Florio all it Powwow 101.

Every year, Native students at the University of Montana organize a powwow.

They’ve done it for more than four decades now, making their Kyi-Yo (Blackfeet for “grizzly.” Get it?) Pow Wow the oldest college powwow in the country.

The students learn organization, finance and management. The rest of the community learns more about the students’ various cultures. It’s a win-win – or maybe a win-win-win, since nobody has to take a test when it’s over.

It’s the way learning ought to be – fun and fascinating, challenging and absolutely, utterly absorbing.

Never been to Kyi-Yo? This year, go. But go prepared. Think of this story as a sort of Cliff’s Notes for Kyi-Yo. And if you’ve been before, well, a little review never hurt anybody’s grade.

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missoula.com magazine

photo by Tom Bauer

The powwow story dates back to the 1300s and starts with the grieving for the death of a child. “The Creator told the man,” explains Kenneth Ryan from the Fort Peck Reservation, “ ‘When the people are really having a hard time, you have this dance. You start dancing at sundown and you only dance until midnight. It’s going to make for happy hearts. It’s going to uplift your people.’ ” missoula.com magazine

27

photo by Tom Bauer

photo by Tom Bauer

photo by Tom Bauer

28

It’s the way learning ought to be -

fun and fascinating, challenging and absolutely, utterly absorbing. ll lessons begin with a good foundation.

For powwow, that dates back nearly a millennium, to about the 1300s, says Kenneth Ryan, who is Asssinboine from the Fort Peck Reservation in northeastern Montana, and recently retired from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. “There was a couple who had only one child,” Ryan begins.

That child was, as you might expect, much loved.

And when the child died, the couple was devastated.

Their grief seemed insurmountable.

So the Creator made a gift to them, a gift of a dance.

And he asked them to share that gift.

“The Creator told the man, ‘When the people are really having a hard time, you have this dance. You start dancing at sundown and you only dance until midnight. “ ‘It’s going to make for happy hearts. It’s going to uplift your people.’ ” That dance was what we know today as the powwow. f anyone knows about being lifted up, it’s Ryan.

More than four decades ago, he did something he could barely imagine – he left the Fort Peck Reservation and traveled nearly 500 miles to Missoula to attend the University of Montana.

There were only about 50 or 60 Native American students at UM then, a number that has grown tenfold in the ensuing four decades. It was a restless time in America. Some 50,000 people flooded Washington as part of the Poor People’s March organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Long-muted voices were being raised.

Ryan wanted to be part of that. He and his friends put up signs around campus, seeking to start what they loosely termed an “Indian Club.” Only seven people showed up.

Still, they had their club. And, due to a serendipitous offer from a university administration, they also had $30,000 for … well, administrators asked, just what would the club use the money for, anyhow? Thinking on the spot, Ryan outlined a comprehensive Native youth conference.

“We wanted to bring Native students here because the University of Montana is the greatest place in the world,” Ryan recalls. “It was at UM that I learned what I could do.”

He wanted other young Native people to share that experience.

With money in hand and pressure to justify its expenditure, Ryan and the others learned a lot in a hurry. They learned that a handful of students could

pull off a regional conference on weighty topics such as sovereignty, treaty obligations and tribal education.

They learned that they could stage a Saturday afternoon parade following the conference, and that non-tribal groups would rush to be included, and that businesses around town would give generously of time and money and lend shiny new cars to carry the Indian dignitaries through town in appropriate style.

And they learned that when they announced the three days’ worth of events would end on Saturday night with a powwow, those same university administrators and businesspeople would turn to them with blank faces and ask: “What’s a powwow?” he question seems almost laughable these days, when Powwows.com lists more than 1,000 powwows annually, “and we know we’re missing quite a few,” says site founder Paul Gowder, an enrolled member of the Georgia Cherokee tribe.

His site is one of a myriad places on the Web to find information about powwows, a tradition that, like so many things sacred to the Indian nations within the U.S. borders, very nearly disappeared under the pressures of assimilation.

Today, powwows on federal holidays such as President’s Day harken back to times when powwows were outlawed. Tribes simply continued their traditions under the guise of honoring the majority government’s significant dates, said Dustin Whitford, who headed last year’s Kyi-Yo Pow Wow. Whitford, who now works for the Healing to Wellness tribal court program on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, has danced in powwows since he was 2, and has watched them evolve from small, local celebrations into, in some cases, events that attract thousands of people and pay out tens of thousands of dollars in prize money.

Last year’s Denver March Powwow featured more than 1,600 dancers from some 100 tribes from 38 states and three Canadian provinces. The Gathering of Nations, held in April in Albuquerque, attracts upward of 100,000 people.

But, says Whitford, who’s also a Chippewa-Cree language instructor at Stone Child College: “It’s not all about contesting. That’s just on top of everything you get. You make relatives while you’re dancing, you make friends. You have this good feeling while you’re dancing. People come up to you and say, ‘I really enjoy your dancing.’ That’s a reward, too.”

That’s a good thing, because the rewards for Whitford’s Kyi-Yo experience were – at first anyway – slow in coming. missoula.com magazine

29

Attending a Going to a powwow if you didn’t grow up in the culture can be equal parts compelling and confusing.

For starters, it’s a visual feast, one that practically demands a constant click of the camera. But is that cool? Well, yes – and no.

Same with pointing to a particular dancer. As for the amazing clothing you might be pointing out – it’s beautiful, isn’t it? But it’s not a costume.

How are you supposed to know all of this? Part of Kyi-Yo’s mission is to familiarize people with Native traditions. Just going – and talking to people and asking questions – will help.

Shy? Hey, it’s the Internet age.

The Kyi-Yo Web site has a handy section on etiquette: http://www. umt.edu/ncur2010/imx/one-colpage.aspx. There you’ll find that it’s fine to photograph general group activities, such as the Grand Entry, at powwows, but that if you want a close-up of a particular dancer, please ask. Most powwow Web sites have sections on etiquette, which can vary among tribes.

Pointing? With lips or eyes is best, or even your thumb or your pinky, but please not with your forefinger. In Native cultures, it’s a no-no.

Dancers wear regalia. Take a moment to appreciate the hours and hours of painstaking work that goes into creating such beauty.

Also, please stand when the eagle staff arrives during the Grand Entry, during the Indian National Anthem, and during honor songs.

Most important: Go. Learn.

And enjoy!

Gwen Florio

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missoula.com magazine

hitford was in his senior year when he was elected to head the Kyi-Yo Pow Wow – and not just any Kyi-Yo but the 40th anniversary one.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Whitford. The Native American studies and anthropology double major only took two other classes his Kyi-Yo semester, so as to be able to concentrate as fully as possible on the task at hand.

That meant coordinating the efforts of a committee with – as from those very first days of Kyi-Yo – many different tribal traditions.

“I made it a point in my first meeting to mention that there were to be no arguments about anything,” Whitford said, “that we needed to approach our work with professionalism and that any personal feelings were to be left out of meetings.”

The group’s members had to coordinate prizes in dozens of categories, from Tiny Tots to Golden Age. They had to meticulously account for expenditures of tens of thousands of dollars, for everything from prize money to security to rental of the Adams Center.

One thing Whitford learned as the weeks passed, dragging at first, then speeding up, the powwow fast approaching with far too many things left to be done: “You can’t please everybody. You really need to advocate and cooperate. …

You need to have an open mind. … And you need communication skills.”

Coming up on two years after the fact, Whitford still sounds exhausted when talking about those days. ut as with the students’ regular classes, the grind pays off for years – decades, in the case of Ryan and those early organizers.

For the students involved, Kyi-Yo is a life lesson nonpareil.

Whitford recalls the aftermath of Kyi-Yo when he was summoned, alone, to UM President George Dennison’s office. Every year, it seemed, Kyi-Yo ended up in the hole and every year, the group’s leader had to ask for a bit of a bailout.

Dennison, said Whitford, “was sitting in his office and he kind of leaned back and said, ‘How much do you guys need help with?’ He kind of had a smile on his face. I said, ‘Nothing.’

“The smile dropped and he said, ‘Nothing?’ I said, ‘Actually, yes.’ He was really pleased with that. I let him know that it wasn’t all because of me, that we had a really good team and worked really well together,” Whitford said.

Whitford credits his Kyi-Yo experience with his success in his tribal courts job and work as a part-time Cree language instructor at Stone Child College, with giving him the drive and ambition to go back to graduate school (he plans to start this fall) with the aim of teaching full time at Stone Child.

Forty years later, Ryan recalls the early days of the Indian Club, when members drank coffee and Cokes late into the night, talking excitedly about what Native people might accomplish.

Among other things, they wanted to see Indians in the Legislature, working for change from within the system. These says, Montana has the largest proportion of Native lawmakers in the Lower 48 states – something Ryan attributes to the great educational system within Montana.

“Since the time we were there, there have been dozens and dozens of Native American graduates – we have attorneys, M.D.s, Ph.D.s, Ed.D.s, and they’re going to dedicate the (new) Native American Center this year,” says Ryan, himself a Ph.D. “I’ve had a very, very illustrious, pristine, proud career and I owe it all to M-O-N-T-A-N-A,” he said.

In Powwow 101, Ryan gets an A, and Whitford, too, and all the others over the years who’ve worked to make Kyi-Yo such a proud tradition.

And what about you? Go to Kyi-Yo. Watch the dancers. See their capes lift like wings, note how, in some dances, their feet barely touch the ground. Pay attention to the way the very best dancers seem to float above the earth.

Do you, too, feel lifted up? Is your heart happy?

In any curriculum, in any culture, that’s worth an A. Missoulian city editor Gwen Florio can be reached at (406) 523-5268, or by e-mail at gwen.florio@missoulian.com.

The Kyi-Yo Powwow is scheduled for April 16-17 this year and will attract dancers of all ages and drum groups from across Montana.

Spectators are encouraged to attend.

photo by Michael Gallacher

photo by Linda Thompson

photo by Tom Bauer missoula.com magazine

31

the

cup

Individual bags of tea are counted and packaged for sale as they emerge from the teabagging machine in the back room of the Montana Tea & Spice Trading Co. in Missoula.

The tea company has been a Missoula mainstay for 38 years.

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missoula.com magazine

C

innamon.

Wafts of lemon and clove.

Orange peel, chamomile, allspice, ginger, cardamom.

These are just some of the delightful scents that greet you when you walk into the Montana Tea & Spice Trading Co. on West Broadway in Missoula.

Here in this exotic potpourri Sherri Lee carries on the tradition her late husband, Bruce, began in 1972, concocting teas that are as complex as good wines, but as simple as a summer’s day.

His goal: To brew teas that mingle people’s perceptions of the familiar with the delightfully strange; to pair the exciting with the promise of romance.

From this Missoula company, Bruce’s skill in harmonic blends launched many international best-selling teas, in particular “Evening in Missoula” and “Montana Gold.”

So sought after are the flavors that several places around the country have purchased the company’s tea to put their own label on it, Sherri Lee said.

“In Texas, it’s called Texas Gold and in Oregon it’s called Cascade Gold,” she said. “But it’s really Montana Gold.”

T

his tea company, a Missoula mainstay for 38 years, has grown steadily through the decades, one cup at a time.

For many years, its homebase was the iconic

downtown Butterfly Herbs, which Bruce Lee founded and where he began selling his unique tea blends.

Bruce eventually sold the store to his employees so he could spend more time on his tea-blending passion, which he did successfully until he died in 2004.

Though it may just be a humble beverage of hot water to the uninitiated, a cup of tea is so much more, said Dan McGuire, master tea blender for Montana Tea & Spice.

To hold a cup of tea is to hold the world in one’s hands.

McGuire proves the point as he gives a quick international tour of the enormous barrels into which he dips every day.

Among the warehouse’s vast inventory, there are rooibos plants from South Africa, lavender from France, green tea from Japan, hibiscus from Egypt, ginseng from China, allspice from Mexico, cinnamon from Indonesia, cardamom from Guatemala, clove from Madagascar.

Many of the teas come from Africa, but the spices that account for Montana Tea & Spice’s blending magic come from all over the world – literally, Sherri Lee said.

The diversity of tea and learning about its nuances never gets old.

“Before I did this, I hadn’t a clue about tea,” McGuire said. “I just knew about Lipton, but where it comes from and how to blend it is a lifelong study.”

continued on page 58

Master tea blender Dan McGuire uses tea and spices from all over the world to create the company’s unique blends, ranging from traditional flavors to the more exotic. “The most important part about a perfect cup of tea, though,” McGuire says, “is to keep it fresh.” missoula.com magazine

33

ABOVE: “I love music. All my friends are musicians. But I have zero talent that way,� said Petty Creek Canyon guitar maker John Walker as he strums one of his creations at his workshop near Alberton. RIGHT: For Walker, nothing smells better than a guitar.

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missoula.com magazine

of the

Instrument

Written by ROB CHANEY  Photographed by MICHAEL GALLACHER

I

t’s an irony of the musical world that unless you listen to a live performer, you’ll never hear the qualities players pay thousands of dollars to acquire.

For years, musicians like Neil Young have complained that compact discs fail to capture the sound that vinyl records produced. Reduce that CD to an MP3 file on your iPod, and you’ve removed even more of the sonic detail. Play it through cheap speakers, and you might assume an instrument that costs more than a kitchen remodel is a fool’s purchase.

The subject makes master guitar maker John Walker laugh – he’s so far out of radio coverage in Petty Creek Canyon that his workshop only gets music streamed off his computer.

And he doesn’t play guitar.

But the guitars he makes in his workshop northwest of Missoula sell for around $6,000.

“I love music,” Walker explained. “All my friends are musicians. But I have zero talent that way.”

What he has is dedication to fine woodworking. When he worked in a Plum Creek sawmill in Belgrade, other workers kept yelling at him “it’s not a piano” when he was excessively considerate of a piece of good wood. His mother sensed his employment frustration, and suggested maybe he should be making pianos.

Instead, he started pestering workers at the Flatiron mandolin shop for a job. After six months, they let him in.

At the time, Flatiron specialized in banjos and mandolins. All the experienced luthiers concentrated on those instruments, with little interest in guitar-making. When Gibson Guitars bought Flatiron in 1987, that changed.

“I was low man on the totem pole, and then I stepped right into being high man on the guitar line,” Walker said.

When the ad says “spruce top” on a guitar, Walker wonders what kind. He stocks Engelmann, Sitka, Adirondack red and German spruce, each with its own tonal characteristics.

“I’ve built the same model with the same wood, and they’ll have different voices,” Walker said. “It’s like snowflakes.” missoula.com magazine

35

“I’ve built the same model with the same wood, and they’ll have different voices. It’s like snowflakes.”

John Walker

T ABOVE: John Walker buys some of the ornate trim material he uses in his guitars from artisans around the country.

OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP LEFT: Bennett specializes in bluegrassstyle five-string banjos, where the fifth string is attached midway on the neck.

Top Right: Mike Bennett was 14 years old when he decided he wanted to play the banjo. It was years later that the Missoula music teacher decided he could make the instruments.

Middle right: “I make about four or five banjos a year,” Michael Bennett says. “I like to tell people it takes three to four months to make one, but I don’t keep track of the hours. I’m kind of afraid to.”

Bottom right: Bennett strums a mandolin he made at his Missoula shop. Banjos are Bennett’s mainstay, but he has tried his hand at guitar and mandolin making.

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missoula.com magazine

he difference may seem meaningless, especially on the printed page. But a visit to Greg Boyd’s House of Fine Instruments in Missoula provides a compelling lesson.

It’s literally a house, where the cheapest guitar in the showroom costs $700 used and prices quickly hit five figures.

Boyd picked up a guitar with a nationally famous brand and strummed a rich chord. It was about seven years old, and wooden instruments gain tonal quality the longer they’re played. He plucked some harmonic notes – a curious sound made by lightly touching an already vibrating string. The guitar then plays a combination of the whole string’s note, plus the ringing sound of the partial string on either side of his finger. On the famous-name guitar, he easily got harmonic pings from three different frets on the neck.

Then he picked up a custom-made guitar that arrived from the luthier’s shop just the day before. And he plucked a harmonic ping from every fret, everywhere he touched.

“That’s part of the reason old blues and folk music is so exciting – they were playing on such good instruments,” Boyd said. “Listen to a song like (Simon and Garfunkel’s) ‘Mrs. Robinson.’ That was a good old ’30s guitar. Or the stuff of Crosby, Stills and Nash – they used really good guitars. The Beatles, they didn’t care so much. Paul McCartney’s bass? It wasn’t because it sounded good. He’d broken his and that Hofner he got was the cheapest bass in Hamburg that was left-handed.”

Boyd sells most of his instruments via the Internet, but he considers himself as centrally located to the heart of fine instrument making as he can get.

“This whole region’s always been a hotbed,” he said. “North Idaho, the Bitterroot, Missoula, Bozeman – there’s great luthiers and there’s great players, and it sort of feeds on itself. You can find better craftsmen here than you can find in towns of 600,000.”

M

ike Bennett was 14 when he heard a Kingston Trio album at a friend’s house and realized he wanted to play the banjo.

“I couldn’t find a good one, and I had no woodworking skills,” the Missoula music teacher said. Nevertheless, the passion was strong enough, he began to teach himself the trade.

“I had two music stores, one in Downey, Calif., and one in Redmond, Wash.,” he recalled. “To promote selling instruments, I’d have banjo-makers come in and lecture. So my tuition was free.”

He also learned to make guitars, but the banjo remained his first love. Its heyday was in the 1920s, when there were dozens of manufacturers. A copy of the 1923 Sears, Roebuck catalogue offers 14 models, costing between $3.45 and $19.95.

 “They had all these different ideas about what the best way was to make a banjo,” Bennett said. “And since then, we’ve been trying to copy exactly what someone did 100 years ago.”

Bennett specializes in bluegrass-style five-string banjos, where the fifth string is attached midway on the neck. It allows a finger-picker to pluck melodies while thumbing a descant line. A four-string banjo works better for ragtime and Dixieland musicians strumming chords.

He favors a style of wooden rim with a curved inside, which boosts the lower frequencies and gives it a more mellow sound (“not that banjos are real mellow,” he observes). He also likes the richness he gets by adding a second, larger back to the instrument called a resonator.

Stringed instruments also have a bracing structure that most owners never see. Bennett learned a technique called “tap tuning” where he could adjust the tone by shaving away bits of the struts until the top gives the desired pitch when tapped. Having the ideal piece of wood makes such adjustments possible.

To figure out a customer’s interests, Bennett will requisition three or four of his previous creations from their owners for the new person to sample. His starting price is $900, climbing to an average of $1,500 depending on features.

“I make about four or five banjos a year,” Bennett said. “This is No. 45. I like to tell people it takes three to four months to make one, but I don’t keep track of the hours. I’m kind of afraid to. They don’t leave until they’re the very best I can do, and that sometimes takes a bit of time.”

As word of his instruments spread, Bennett found himself in contact with more and more instrument makers. At one point, he considered forming some sort of club, but concluded that Montana luthiers “are kind of like me – stuck in the back of the house.”

“In the last 30 years, it (luthier work) has just mushroomed,” Bennett said. “There was nobody like this in the 1960s. I’d drive halfway across Los Angeles to find anyone who knew what they were doing, and then they’d never tell you how they did it.”

continued on page 61 missoula.com magazine

37

Megan Van Cleave waits for a hair coloring to take under heat lamps at BoomSwagger after an at-home hair coloring. “It was a Halloween stunt gone horribly wrong,� says Van Cleave.

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Beauty

parlors

Have yourself an up-do in the downturn.

W

written by Keila Szpaller photographed by Linda Thompson

hen the person who cuts and colors your hair offers to wax your lip, you’d be one hairy ninny to decline.

So proposed Katie Lawyer as she prettied my eyebrows at Boom Swagger, a hair salon in the Hip Strip district.

Lawyer: Lip, too?

Me: “Should I?” This was new.

Lawyer: Vigorous nodding.

Good enough. I’m not in the chair often, so I was happy to let her beautify. In fact, one of the reasons for the rare trip to the salon was to snoop in the shops where artists trim and color to transform the hoi polloi. Our vanity holds their businesses stalwart against recessions. Right?

That’s the legend, anyway. But is it true?

A jaunt through three Missoula salons peeled open the myth. No one is doing tons of pampering these days, and even the busiest stylists aren’t completely hardened against the sputtering economy. Still, priorities are priorities, and clients don’t stay away for good.

“They’ll eat Ramen – but still get their hair done,” Lawyer said.

L

ate one Friday morning, everything in the Mane Gallery seemed to twinkle. The stainless steel scissors flashed, the chatter whizzed along, and laughter mixed with disco tunes. These women – and yes, the stylists here are women – worked and talked at breakneck speed.

“The hair costs. The counseling’s free,” laughed Carol Baker Worden, who opened the salon in 1985.

Worden was only half joking. Anyone who’s been on the receiving end of a scalp massage knows it loosens the talking muscles, and it isn’t just vanity that sends people to the quiet spot under the heat lamps.

It’s endorphins of sorts. The women quoted a fellow stylist, “When my clients come to me and they’re depressed, I am like liquid Prozac.”

Here at the studio near Tremper’s Shopping Center, the coffee was on, the friendly dial seemed permanently turned up high, and the stylists were quick to name a handful of missoula.com magazine

39

BoomSwagger owner Carly Jenkins cuts Rachel Hansen’s hair.

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Especially during the holidays, University of Montana students who haven’t planned ahead fill the open slots. Sometimes, curiosity seekers do, too.

“I needed to come and find out what this is,” Petersen said some customers tell him.

Even here, though, there are slow times. On one Friday morning, three stylists sat in the lobby waiting for their next appointments. Just a day earlier, Tangles had to turn away customers, but it’s not a free ride for the business.

“It would be arrogant to say that we’re recession-proof,” Petersen said.

It also would be modest to say customer loyalty doesn’t help keep some stylists on the job. Petersen said clients are nomadic, heading to other salons and then returning, and while that’s probably the case with most, it most certainly wasn’t with Martin Albrecht.

Albrecht sounds less like a client than a Petersen acolyte. The wellknown Tangles customer talked and gesticulated through most of his haircut, a moving target for the man holding clippers.

He used to live in New York, and found stylists there more professional than many he tested in Missoula.

He’s been nicked in the ear and on the neck by others wielding sharp instruments, and he isn’t convinced all Missoulians really care what their hair looks like when they seek out a stylist.

“Here you’re just a country-guyredneck. Who cares what’s going on here?”

“I’m not a redneck, Martin.”

“No. Look at you, Rambo.”

Petersen’s long, wavy hair hangs across his shoulders. Here, Albrecht doesn’t get cut, and he doesn’t have to repeatedly explain how he likes his hair trimmed. His stylist massages his scalp, washes his hair, and does quite a bit of listening.

“He doesn’t say nothing bad about you,” Albrecht said, and he ealtors like to say Top: Michael Parker waits for a trim at Boomswagger. further considered the relationship. their business is about Middle: Amber Baptist of St. Ignatius has her hair styled by “This is like a punishment for him, location, location, actually. I release my stress from .... location, and that might be a factor Wendell Petersen at Tangles Hairstyling.

What did I want to tell you about?” for Tangles Hairstyling as well. This Bottom: Debbie Peters finishes a style for client Pati When owner and stylist Kim salon, voted a Missoula favorite, sits Cornelison at the Mane Gallery.

DeAnda walks by, Albrecht joked downtown at the place Main Street with her, too. He’s so glad to hear of and Front Street run into Orange the fat Christmas bonus she’s giving Street.

Petersen. Later, he suggested the salon put up a big-screen television “To go anywhere in Missoula it seems you have to drive past so he can watch football. here at least once,” said stylist Wendell Petersen.

It’s clear Petersen has a faithful following, but even his Their customers also are holding back on cuts and color for a customers have ventured out on their own to try to save money. In couple more weeks than normal, but the shop’s high-profile location and Web site help bring in new people to fill the gaps in the schedule. some episodes, it costs them. Clients and their friends drink and

reasons their scissors will keep slicing through the stunted economy.

“We won’t go under,” said Denise Talarico, who has owned the Mane Gallery for eight years. “We’ll survive it. But we’re still going to feel the effects.”

Worden and Talarico have known each other since beauty school, and they and Debbie Peters have worked together much of their careers.

These days, they see regular customers who used to book appointments once a month getting their hair done every six or eight weeks instead.

That’s happening at salons everywhere, but at Mane, the phone has been ringing with new customers, too. These people tell Worden they can’t afford the $100 cut and color they used to pay elsewhere. Here, it’s $50 to $75. So even as faithful clientele hold off on trims, new clients fill in the gaps. That doesn’t mean the stylists here are getting rich, though.

“If I up my prices right now, guess what? I’d be out the door,” Peters said.

In fact, Peters made more money 20 years ago. Doctors and dentists raise their prices, but for the last eight years, she’s charged $25 for women’s haircuts. Talarico charged $14 for men’s cuts 20 years ago. Now? She bills $15.

“When I do raise my prices, I just inch it up a little,” Talarico said.

Volume keeps this salon’s doors open. Walk-in customers help, and men are famous here for dropping by instead of booking ahead. Phone call appointments? That depends.

“In any business, there are days when you have nothing going on,” Talarico said. “There are days when I pick up the phone to see if it’s even working.”

Naturally, on days the women are booked solid, the phone rings off the hook.

R

continued on page 60 missoula.com magazine

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photo9raphic Missoulian photographers choose their favorite photos of 2009

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Mixed martial arts specialists Jason Zentgraf, Tom Goots and Jay Broaden, from left, were preparing to compete in a July “brawl� at Ogren-Allegiance Park in Missoula.

Michael Gallacher

missoula.com magazine

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Linda Thompson Emily, 10 months old, and mother Paula Home Gun, 22, share time in the living room at Mountain Home. “I‘m smart enough to get us to a better place, where it’s safe,” says Home Gun, who also has a 2-year-old daughter.

Sharon Silberman watches President Barack Obama’s inaugural address next to a wall of portraits of past tribal chiefs at the headquarters of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes in Pablo in January 2009.

Silberman is an office manager at the headquarters.

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Tom Bauer

9raphic

Kurt Wilson Tawny Haynes, widow of Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Haynes, pauses while describing the death of her husband, killed by a drunken driver while on duty near Kalispell in March.

Margaret AmbroseBarton holds one of her newly decorated cakes outside of the Pearl Cafe & Bakery.

Linda Thompson

missoula.com magazine

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Linda Thompson A wildland firefighter works the line of the Kootenai Creek fire last summer. The lightning-caused fire began in July and burned about 6,700 acres.

A hawk rides the wind as a low bank of clouds rolls down over Evaro Hill in January 2009.

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9raphic The long and the short of it is that Jack Jack, a 5-pound Chihuahua cross, has no fear of Miss Bianca, left, a 118-pound Great Dane, or her father Batman, right, who weighs in at 180 pounds. Raised by the Maughan family of Seeley Lake, these gentle giants love playing with their pint-sized cousin.

Michael Gallacher

Bob Ricketts, a former opera singer, croons with one of his Oberlander horses on his ranch near Big Arm. Ricketts became the first person in the United States to own an Oberlander in 1998 when a friend bought four of them for him.

Kurt Wilson

Tom Bauer missoula.com magazine

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Louis Zielinski, a kindergarten student at St. Joseph Elementary School, receives ashes from Father Gregory D. Vance, SJ, during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Anthony Church in Missoula. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of the Lenten season.

Zielinski joined students from both St. Joseph and Loyola High School for the service.

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Kurt Wilson

9raphic

Morning breaks over Glacier National Park and the North Fork of the Flathead River looking southeast from the Cyclone Peak fire lookout in August of 2009.

Michael Gallacher

Lala Caye, her sister Ellen Caye and Alexis Billedeaux, from left, walk on the bleachers inside the dance arena at the Arlee powwow grounds prior to the start of the annual Arlee Celebration in July.

Tom Bauer missoula.com magazine

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california: meet montana ...continued from page 18 Rodeo Red Imagine yourself at a campfire in the great outdoors with friends and barbecue permeating the air. This would be the wine to pair with it. Made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine is lighter in style, allowing you to drink it all night long.

Aromas of cherry, plum, rose and chocolate are captured in the glass. On the palate, it’s ripe and fruity, with strong cherry and plum notes and good acidity to stand up to all your barbecue fare.

Sittin’ Bull Petite Sirah This wine will be known for its personality: a dense and muscular red that stands out with chewy tannins and bold flavors. Aromas of ripe summer blackberries and plums flood the nose.

Jammy black fruit, raspberry and spice barrage the palate, with notes of leather and oak that envelop the fruit. This is a very pleasant, soft and medium-bodied wine that can be enjoyed with pizza, lamb, pork or game and their hearty sauces. Surprisingly, it also pairs very nicely with chocolatecovered toffee as Keith demonstrated – perfect for those evenings you don’t feel like cooking. My suggestion? A warm blanket, a good book, a few chocolate toffee bars and a glass (or bottle) of Sittin’ Bull!

Mule Shoe Merlot This was my favorite in the lineup.

Mule Shoe Merlot is new to the collection this year and the labels are just coming

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off the press. The aromatics are rich with nutmeg and cinnamon on top of red berry fruit, plum, cherry and mocha. The concentrated aromas continue on the palate, along with hints of chocolate and blueberry that meld into a plush, velvety finish. Toasty oak from the barrel aging adds warmth to the red fruit, allowing it to linger on the palate. I enjoyed this wine with a gouda, fontina and pancetta mac and cheese and it was absolutely perfect.

However, this wine is very versatile and will pair with anything from chicken Marsala to barbecued duck.

K

eith is also in the process of creating Bar Oil Cabernet Franc, which he expects to release in early spring.

I am looking forward to trying it, being that this is a favorite varietal of mine. He also has dreams of opening up a facility and tasting room somewhere at the base of the mountains, in a cave resembling the great wineries and chateaus of the Loire Valley in France. Just imagine a haven to experience the charm of Europe with the essence of California, all right here in our own backyard of the Bitterroot Valley under the majestic Trapper Peak.

Kate Murphy is the wine writer for the Missoulian and Missoula.com magazine.

Keep up on the latest in local wines on her blog, KnowYourVino.com.

Kurt Wilson is photography editor of the Missoulian and Missoula.com again reach him at 523-5244 or at kwilson@missoulian.com. missoula.com magazine

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the many faces of manliness ...continued from page 25 beards) of Missoula’s beardwearing males reveals a mixture of Western idealism, perhaps a little leftover Lewis and Clark DNA, mountain culture and isolation.

Travel to more metropolitan areas like Denver or Seattle, and you’ll see beards, but not to the degree you see them in Missoula.

“It’s partly a cultural thing,” Richards said. “It’s acceptable to grow a big, bushy beard, but if you try to shave flames in it, you’re pushing the boundaries, even for Missoula.”

Just about every male has used the excuse about it being cold and wanting to grow a beard for the hunting season. The fact that so many faces full of bushy beards prowl the streets of Missoula at night and the surrounding countryside during the day in October, November and December is testimony to the outdoorsy nature of the beard.

But you’ll see plenty of beards on the vegetarians that congregate around drum circles and on the faces of university professors, young professionals and even high school students.

Big Sky High School held a mustache-growing competition for staff and students this year. A student reportedly won.

Facial hair is popular in general in the Pacific Northwest, with any number of mustache, goatee- and beard-growing competitions every fall.

Some are for the sheer sign of virility and manliness that beards and other forms of facial hair represent. Other competitions raise money to support various charities. Big Sky Brewing Co. held a beard-growing competition last year with several dozen participants and weekly updates in the taproom.

or people new to Missoula, the beards walking around town are a sort of litmus test of manly freedom.

“For me, being able to grow a beard really was a test of

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manhood,” Richards said. “Can you do this, are you a man? I would say I might be 7/8s man, waiting for my mustache to fill in.”

Popular men’s sites like www.artofmanliness.com feature beard-growing etiquette and style, including the names of various cuts, some that have not seen the light of day in the last century.

Take the neckbeard for instance, most recently worn as fashion by Henry Thoreau. Or take mayor Engen’s Van Dyke as a classic yet modernized form of facial hair. The Donegal, Garibaldi or the Junco represent a few of the hundreds of named styles of beards out there.

But in Missoula, the unmistakable free beard, just a wild mass of facial hair growth, often gives way to a stylish trim in the late winter or early spring. Some men shave after getting their elk or deer, but all that unapologetic growth is usually tamed before summer.

Places like Roosters, in downtown Missoula, do brisk business on beards year round, and manager Sharon Conley says spring brings a torrent of men for beard trimmings and haircuts.

“I always shave it in stages, Kowalski said. “I usually kind of go for the handlebars and chops to begin with.”

For some, summer is a short respite from the beard.

“It’s kind of nice to feel the breeze on your face in the summertime,” Kowalski said.

But for many, the days of the razor are short-lived, and the stubble begins to take shape and form in early fall, covering up and growing into the ubiquitous Missoula beard.

Tim Akimoff is the Missoulian’s digital manager and blogger at GrizzlyGrowler.com.

Reach him at (406) 523-5202 or at tim.akimoff@lee.net.

Ken Barnedt is graphics editor of the Missoulian. Reach him at (406) 523-5256 or at kbarnedt@missoulian.com

If you can’t change the

UXOHV

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w o m e n ’s

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This year’s keynote speaker is Julie Powell, author, blogger and inspiration behind the recently released “Julie & Julia”.

Register online at www.discovermbn.com or for information call (406) 396-5561 missoula.com magazine

55

Daryl Gadbow holds the lunker carp he caught on a fly rod in a Columbia River backwater pond in Oregon last spring. The Zulu fly the fish took is still impaled in its lip.

big-fish fix ...continued from page 23 wasn’t a salmon or steelhead.

We tried casting various flies into the cruising pod for an hour or so, to no avail.

Finally, I tied on a Zulu, an ancient British reservoir fly that’s kind of a cross between a woolly worm, a prince nymph and an egg-sucking leech. I cast it into the midst of the cruisers and let it slowly sink.

When one of the fish turned toward the fly, I gave it a short, quick twitch.

At first, it seemed like I was snagged.

Then the fish began to swim away, lazily in the beginning, then picking up steam.

Alarmingly, the fish rapidly stripped nearly all of the 150 yards of backing from my reel, despite the constant pressure of my stout 7-weight rod.

Grudgingly, the monster yielded to the pressure and I gained back line, only to have it peel off another run. Several times that happened, as the muscles in my arm began to burn.

Ultimately, the fish surrendered, and my son Grady waded in to help me beach it.

We all laughed when we saw that the prize catch was, indeed, a big fat carp.

I don’t know how much it weighed. I’m guessing 15 to 20 pounds, easily topping the 13-pound steelhead that was my fly-caught record.

I’m susceptible to these “poor-man” fishing scenarios. I guess because, well, I’m a poor man. I remember when I first tried fly-fishing for gargantuan retired broodstock rainbows in local Montana lakes, because it was supposed to be the “poorman’s steelhead fishing.”

But as for my future aspirations for carp fly-fishing, I can now say, without regret (or pride), “Been there, done that.”

Daryl Gadbow is a retired Missoulian sports and outdoors writer, now a free-lance writer and avid fly-fisherman in Missoula. He writes regularly for Missoula.com magazine.

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McGuire blends tea from recipes created by the late Bruce Lee in the 1970s, as well as those he has developed from his own experiments.

the perfect cup ...continued from page 33

T

here are many things to love about Montana.

To help guide his journey, McGuire works from Bruce Lee’s recipe book, and experiments to develop new blends.

As the tea-bagging machine hums in the background, pumping out 3,000 individual bags an hour, McGuire says what he knows for sure is that each type of tea is different – for instance, black tea demands really hot water, green tea is a little more sensitive and requires less heat, and herbal tea can handle the whole temperature spectrum.

As for brewing the perfect cup? “It is a very personal thing,” McGuire said.

“The most important part about a perfect cup of tea, though,” he explained, “is to keep it fresh. Store it out of the sunlight and be sure it doesn’t get too warm wherever you store it.”

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lthough its founder is gone, Butterfly Herbs continues to sell Montana Tea & Spice products, and the wholesale tea company, which sells to individual customers, has over the years become the largest bulk tea and spice source in the Northwest.

“So much of our business has been word of mouth, and through the years, more and more people have found us,” Lee said. “It’s really been cool to be involved with a business with something people really like.”

For whatever reasons, the Missoula tea seems to inspire stories, and a cup that is shared generates a unique connectedness, Lee said.

Take for instance, when Montana Tea & Spice had its own hand in the Iraq war in 2007.

For unknown reasons, large wholesale orders were coming in to ship tea to American troops stationed in the war zone.

“We don’t know how they got on to it,” Lee said. “I guess some soldier began sharing it with friends and it caught on, and happily those soldiers came home and we started getting orders to ship to their homes in this country.”

Then there was a time, several years ago, when the Missoula company was in the peculiar, if ironic, position of selling big orders of tea to Japan.

The buyer, a friendly Japanese woman, called Lee and said she was coming to Montana to vacation with her family.

She arrived with an interpreter, and the first thing she requested was a tour of the Missoula company’s tea plantation.

“All we had to show her was our flower garden and big bins of imported herbs and spices,” Lee said, laughing in the retelling of the tale.

“We had a good time, though – and drank a lot of tea.”

Betsy Cohen covers business for the Missoulian and can be reached at (406) 523-5253 or at bcohen@missoulian.com.

Kurt Wilson is photography editor of the Missoulian and Missoula.com again reach him at (406) 523-5244 or at kwilson@missoulian.com. missoula.com magazine

59

beauty parlor ...continued from page 41 color each other’s hair, and with predictable results.

The party ends with desperate calls to the salon. In those cases, the clients don’t save money, although not every stylist minds.

“It creates a challenge. That’s the fun part. They’re just creating more work for us,” Petersen said.

B

oom Swagger might be the best evidence that tested stylists will endure. Owner Carly Jenkins opened the shop nine months ago, when she and her colleagues learned they would be laid off from Sorella’s because it was restructuring in response to the economy.

“All of a sudden, it was like, well, shoot.

It’s a team that works really well together, is incredibly talented,” Jenkins said.

“So although it was scary, I felt entirely confident there needed to be a place for this team, and we had to make it.”

Boom Swagger’s customers evidently agreed. The business opened with a buzz and a strong clientele base, and “we sort of flew out of the gates.” A slow period? It’s happened here, too.

“I remember one week this fall I felt

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like everyone had the flu,” Jenkins said. “It was the week of 10,000 cancellations.”

Not that she wanted a bunch of ill clients wandering through the salon.

Some customers can’t afford to come in as often, and the business is helping to ease the pain. The salon offers complimentary bang and neck trims between cuts, and the freebie has been a hit.

“Clients love it. That’s one thing that can make your style feel fresh and fun for another four weeks,” Jenkins said.

And speaking of fun, clients who enter the salon on Saturdays may notice an ice bucket in the back. They may see a carton of orange juice and bottle of bubbly chilling inside. Here, a perceptive stylist will pass along the goblets of refreshment to her clients, a pampering before and maybe after the Ramen noodles at home.

“What’s better when you’re getting your hair done than getting a mimosa?”

Lawyer said.

Keila Szpaller is a reporter at the Missoulian and can be reached at 523-5262, keila.szpaller@missoulian.com or on MissoulaRedTape.com.

Linda Thompson is a Missoulian photographer; reach her at 523-5270 or by e-mail at lthompson@missoulian.com.

D

art of the Instrument ...continued from page 37

rive across Missoula, and you’ll find Ryan Beck in a woodshop about the size of one of John Walker’s table saws. On the younger end of the luthier spectrum, Beck has been making custom electric bass guitars since 2006. A steady line of clients are paying an average of $3,000 for one of his instruments.

“I was born to do this,” Beck said. “My father was a shop teacher and my mother taught music.”

Beck had been playing bass about 18 years when he started giving music lessons. He also learned to make his own instruments, but didn’t give the trade much thought until one student’s mom heard about his hobby.

“She showed up at the lesson with a blank check that said ‘build a bass’ on it,” Beck said. “That ended up being a $3,000 instrument.”

Several of his customers have brought their own wishes to the project. One really liked juniper wood, and brought in a 1,000-yearold hunk he’d dragged out of an Idaho forest for Beck to form into a guitar. The fact that juniper is not particularly good for instrumentmaking was a worthy challenge. Beck ended up making decorative strips from the treasured wood without compromising the guitar’s strength or tone.

That kind of consideration is common in the instrument-making world. Beck learned on one of his first basses to feel out the buyer’s often unconscious needs, like the guy who decided he wanted the control knobs in a different configuration than the traditional placements.

“I want 130 percent satisfaction,” Beck said. “I took it back and put in 10 extra hours to place a palm-leaf inlay that covered up the old holes. I had to learn how to do that on the spot.”

At the House of Fine Instruments, Greg Boyd believes that dedication is worth every penny.

“It’s really a cool thing to have a guitar that’s made by one other human being,” he said. “You can call him up and have him customize it. Is Mr. Chevy making your truck? No.”

“I want 130 percent satisfaction.”

Ryan Beck

ABOVE: Beck works on one of his bass guitar orders in his small Missoula shop.

Musicians pay an average of $3,000 for a Ryan Beck creation.

Rob Chaney is a Missoulian reporter; reach him at (406) 523-5382 or by e-mail at rchaney@missoulian.com.

Michael Gallacher is a Missoulian photographer; reach him at (406) 523-5270 or at mgallacher@missoulian.com. missoula.com magazine

61

parting shot

p.s. photo by kurt wilson

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Even as grass starts to peek up around it, a snow angel holds tight to the last months of winter before taking flight and disappearing.

TMRR

Trout Meadows River Ranch Missoula, Montana

missoula.com magazine

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