West Windsor resident Karl Dentino on guitar, John Suda on bass and Ben Polanski on mandolin comprise The Relics, who play an eclectic blend of music from the early 20th century
By Keith Loria, Special Writer
If you happen by the 10th anniversary celebration of the West Windsor Community Farmers Market on June 1, you may find yourself clapping your hands and stamping your feet to the Tin Pan Alley-inspired music from the Ragtime Relics.
West Windsor resident Karl Dentino on guitar, John Suda on bass and Ben Polanski on mandolin comprise The Relics, who play an eclectic blend of music from the early 20th century.
”We are three guys in our late 50s, early 60s who come out of different musical traditions but wanted to put together a project that would draw from many different American musical traditions,” Mr. Dentino says. “The essence of our music is the dance music you would hear from back in the day, particularly that with Southern lineage. A little blues or bluegrass feeling.”
As with most music from the time period, Mr. Dentino plays acoustic guitar with a fingerpicking approach. Mr. Suda uses an electric bass and Mr. Polanski joins in with several instruments. The Relics also use violinist Ray Fyhr from time to time to add an even more unique flavor to its sound, harking back to early jazz from the ‘30s.
Picture the old blues players in the corner of a juke joint with a floor full of dancers or the ol’ time singers at the ice cream shop with kids bopping along. That’s what the Ragtime Relics aim to bring back.
”The audiences don’t really dance today, they just tap their feet and enjoy the music,” Mr. Dentino says. “We have a lot of fun playing and it seems like the audience has a lot of fun listening.”
For the past two years, the Ragtime Relics have entertained audiences of all ages. From their regular gig at West Windsor’s Grovers Mill Coffee House to special appearances at the Flemington Farmers Market, Hopewell Harvest Fair, Somerset County 4-H Fair, and the Hightstown Harvest Festival.
”We have no ego and no delusions of getting rich or famous from this; it’s all about the love of the music and having a good time performing,” Mr. Dentino says.
Growing up in the ‘60s, Mr. Dentino followed the top rock bands like most kids his age, but was turned on to the folk music revival happening in the country. He was mesmerized by the fingerpicking style of guitar and how one axman could play bass and melody at the same time.
”I was really intrigued by that, and, as I got older, learned the musical tradition it emerges from — the acoustic blues,” he says. “When you play guitar that way, it’s fun. It tickles your belly. Early on I just got interested in that. By 17, I put my electric guitar away and focused on the finger style of playing.”
Mr. Dentino wanted to share his music with lovers of ‘20s and ‘30s music and started the “Ragtime Blues & Tin Pan Alley Tunes” program, in which he would go to senior centers and other civic organizations to play.
”I started this about six years ago, volunteering to present songs and tell stories about music,” he says. “This is music that comes from their youth or their parents’ youth, and that really triggered the desire in me to form a more formal band to present this style of music.”
That’s when he came across Mr. Suda, who had been playing guitar and bass in several rock ‘n’ roll bands over the years, but always had his ear tuned closely to early blues and other roots music. The two were both asked to join a country-bluegrass band, and left to form the Ragtime Relics after sharing their passion for the music. The two met multi-instrumentalist Mr. Polanski, whose fluid single-string excursions and percussive rhythms complemented the interplay between the others to complete the band’s signature vintage sound.
”I’ve been learning to play mandolin for some 40 years, most of it spent wandering around in the desert, but recently, and happily at the oasis that is the Ragtime Relics,” Mr. Polanski says.
As the group gets ready for its West Windsor Community Farmers Market appearance, set for 10 a.m. to noon, June 1, Mr. Dentino says they are excited to be appearing there for the first time.
”It’s a transient crowd and the music we will perform is the kind of things that a general crowd would recognize. Not that they would stop and sing along to every tune, but some sing-along themes from the American songbook, like ‘You Are My Sunshine’ or ‘Show Me The Way to Go Home,’” he says. “Other songs that they maybe can’t put a finger on, but know they heard it before. Most of the songs we do tell a very nice good-feeling story and are humorous. It’s going to be fun.”