Local musician to hold "Greatest Generation" concert

Shakopee Valley News

Music has always been a part of Loren Wolfe's life.

He grew up under the tutelage of his musician father, whose stage name was Red Wolfe. In the 1980s, he had a rock-n-roll band called the Wolfe Brothers Band.

For a period of time, Wolfe stopped performing, but he continued to play his guitar and practice.

In the early 2000s, Wolfe returned to music after a counselor told him that if he wanted to feel good, he should do something for somebody else.

So he took his guitar into elderly care facilities.

"I got more involved with the music of their time, the music of the 30s and the 40s, which I actually grew up with," Wolfe said. "I didn't particularly care for it at the time, but my father saw to it that I was introduced to it righteously, quite frankly. Over the years, playing that music has just been a labor of love."

Wolfe will bring this love of music of the Greatest Generation — those who grew up during the Great Depression — to a benefit concert he's holding at First Presbyterian Church in Shakopee on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.

Wolfe said he's been a part of numerous situations where he will play a song and someone suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's will recognize the song and be in the moment.

"Music has an inner power that really can do extremely wonderful things, so remembering that old music is healthy," he said. "It's good for our memories to remember those old songs that were popular when we were young."

When he started, half or more of the people he played for were of the Greatest Generation.

"When I think about it now, I don't think 10 percent is that generation," he said of his audience now. "They're almost all gone. You almost have to be 90 to be classified."

Wolfe is taking the opportunity to hold a concert that celebrates the music of the Greatest Generation at the First Presbyterian Church because the congregation has about a dozen members of the generation.

"Anybody that's been through the Depression and World War II will certainly enjoy it and younger people will enjoy it," church member Jane Rockwell said.

Wolfe said he plans to play music mainly from the 30s and 40s, with historical context and narrative. The concert will last about an hour and a half, with a short break.

"If you're of the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation and Baby Boomer — which I am — then you would recognize almost every song I'm going to play," Wolfe said. "If you're Generation X and Millennial, chances are half the songs you won't recognize."

The music of this time period is where most modern music originates from, Wolfe said. 

"If you go to the roots of American music ... folk and blues, really, is where music became an entity," he said. "If you forget where it came from, I think we lose sight of who we might become."

The concert is open to the public. Donations are accepted on a free will basis.