Some decades ago at summer music camp, Greg, a young teen bassoonist borrowed a screwdriver from Nancy, a young teen oboist. A few years later, when they happened to attend the same college in California to major in music, the writing was on the wall, and they fell in love and got married. You could say it was love at first tool. Years of blissful oboe/bassoon duets followed in various parts of the country, and they eventually settled in Colorado Springs. There, youngest son Zach formed an indie folk band called Smith House. And forty five years after that first borrowed screwdriver, during one magical afternoon on a rooftop video shoot, a fiddle player named Brittany Ware joined Smith House to record some tracks. You could say it was love at first take, with the same result – Zach and Brittany fell in love and got married.
Crystal Creek is the intertwining of 2 generations of musicians and 2 musical families. Greg and Nancy bring their years of professional performing in classical and folk genres, with Brittany bringing her family's Celtic music-making plus her classical violin training. Zach brings his amazing voice and intuitive rhythmic drive on the bouzouki and hand drums. Those musical gifts, influences, genres and abilities combine to give you the listener an immersion in a unique musical experience: Is Crystal Creek a Celtic chamber ensemble playing Renaissance music with a world beat, or is it an old-timey folk band playing fiddle tunes with a chamber music sensibility? Listeners regularly use words like “healing,” “joyful” and “uplifting” to describe our concerts. That makes us pretty happy, because that's what Crystal Creek is for us!