The Lost Penny Duo – Erin Dahlby and Nadine Sekerez – will start the music at the American Legion tomorrow from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., during the Legion’s annual Fourth of July day-long festival.
The evolution of these two long-time Estes Park residents, who ended up playing together, was marked by little moments that propelled them toward the local and regional fame they enjoy now.
“After three months of hiking, camping, and going on adventures with new friends, I decided to stay and make this mountain town my home,” said Dahlby, who moved to Estes Park for a summer job in 1997.
Dahlby discovered the bluegrass music scene when a friend took her to the Rockygrass Bluegrass Festival in Lyons in 2000. Dahlby remembers that first festival, the “positive vibes,” and the community that made her fall in love with the genre.
She bought her first mandolin in 2007 and began attending local bluegrass jams at Rock Cut Brewery, as well as the Oskar Blues bluegrass jams in Lyons and Longmont. Not intimidated by the local, sometimes very accomplished, musicians she was playing with, Dahlby continued to study the mandolin for several years. At that point, she wanted to focus on performing, so she formed the band Ran Off the Rooster.
“When Mary Banken retired from the Estes Valley Land Trust in 2016, she booked my band to play her party at the Legion, and it was a blast,” Dahlby remembered. That was the same year she began playing with Sekerez, first in a duo and later in the larger Lost Penny band.
Sekerez moved to Estes Park in 1996 and soon after joined a band called Oktober, which played every Friday night at the old Gaslight Pub. She became interested in bluegrass music in 2015, and when the women began playing together a year later, Lost Penny’s sound emerged.
“I used to go to the bluegrass jams at the Rock Inn every Thursday night,” Sekerez said. “This was a big influence on the music I write and play with Lost Penny.” It was also a significant influence when she decided to take over managing Estes Park’s festival, Snowygrass Bluegrass Festival.
Candice Mohr, the previous owner of Snowy Peaks Winery, created Snowygrass in 2016, and Sekerez wanted to continue it in honor of her Estes Park bluegrass family. Snowygrass is now in its ninth year and will be held at Stanley Park Aug. 21-24.
“Mary Banken and the American Legion crew have been very supportive of live music, and Lost Penny has performed there many times,” said Dahlby. “I’m looking forward to playing music for the big party on July 4th. We’re also bringing the full band to the Legion for a free show on August 30.”
“The legion has long been a place where I have gone to see music,” Sekerez said. “I remember seeing Bob’s Sister play there, and am honored to play that same venue. We have played on July Fourth in the past, and it’s always a great time with the locals.”