Montana Logging and Ballet Co. Swan Dives into History

Montana Logging and Ballet Co... And this is on GOOD behavior!

This next week is the final concert that marks the end of our political satire, comedy and music group– bless its little heart– that has been together for 36 years. It's hard to describe just what it is that we have been doing for that long, which is why our name is so apt.

The group of 4 guys began at Rocky Mountain College in 1975 either as an excuse to play music, a way to meet girls, a recruiting tool for the school, or all of the above. We did meet some girls, 4 of whom– with a great deal of arm twisting– we convinced to sing with us. We also convinced the college to let us go and sing at high schools around the state on a one-week tour of high schools, by agreeing that it would not cost the school more than the price of sending two guys and a slide projector on the road!

We did it too, so when Rocky's enrollment went up 21% the next year they actually hired us to go on tour again, this time with sandwiches and everything. But we did have to find new crops of girls to go with us (I'm being totally serious here) to spread out their school absences. The fact that we had great fun with them does not negate the hard work we put in.

In any case, we loved playing and goofing around together (and no, we didn't get the girls) so when opportunities arose for us to sing for churches, women's groups, or fundraisers for the likes of the Whitehall Public Library, we always seized them.  We toured the nation and eventually became the "resident political satirists" on NPR during the Clinton years. (That came to a screeching halt the very day Bush took office, a significant indication).

But our greatest triumph by far was hooking up with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the figureheads of the South African freedom movement to bring democracy to the racist regime there. We met him in 1987 when one of my sculptures was gifted to him by an international office of the Methodist church. We raised nearly a million dollars for him when he came to our Montana concert in '91. Three years later Tutu had written the liner notes for one of our albums, South Africa was a free nation and the last of us had gotten married, so it was worth it after all.

Now that one of us is approaching 70 we decided it's time to bow out. It's been a great ride and for all our several fans: thanks! We couldn't have done it without you. That and the incredibly stupid things our leaders have done to continually inspire our material!