Music with a message
- Sr Perspective
- Apr 30
- 8 min read
Band plays feel-good music for feel-great causes
BY PATRICIA BUSCHETTE
It is said that music provides a means by which people can share emotions, intentions, and meanings. For a group of seven people from Stewart and Hutchinson, Minn., music is all that and more. Collectively, they form a group known as Brothers and Sisters in Christ Singers (BASICS), whose music has ministered in many ways.
Greg and Carol Maiers have a long history with the group as original members. Carol, now retired from 3M after 37 years in the Quality Department, plays the 12-string guitar and is a vocalist.
“I am the technical guy,” Greg said, a former mail carrier in Stewart, who retired after 36 years of service. He operates the soundboard used to blend and mix the various components of music. “Sometimes I tell these guys what they need to hear,” he said.
The group’s members have diverse talents, exampled by Molly O’Malley who lives in Hutchinson and is retired from employment at the Hutchinson Nursing Home. “I play banjo, six-string guitar, and do main vocals singing with Carol. Carol and I did the Christmas program at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church for many years. Music has always been my passion. I have sung since I was little,” she said.
Tim Sifferath operated the family’s farm for many years and now lives in Hutchinson. “I play the guitar and sing bass . . . and I am learning the mandolin.” Tim has worked at 3M for 14 years where he operates a machine that cuts tape and puts it on individual rolls, known as a slitter operator.
The group is closely knit, three of them cousins. Jonathan is a fourth generation farmer in the Stewart area, and newest member of the group, joining the band four years ago. “They approached me about joining, I came to a practice, and I have been coming ever since.” He admitted to nervousness when he was given a selection of 25 songs he didn’t know, and was told, “Here’s the music, just go along with it.”
Jonathan’s anxiety was attested to by Greg. “At the first concert, he was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs!” he said to the delight of the group.
“I do vocalization and play guitar and the harmonica,” Jonathan added. “It has been great!”
One of the Maiers cousins is Mark. “I grew up here and farm,” he said, adding, “I farmed under the wing of my father until he slowly let go.” A huge contribution to the group is the usage of the dairy barn he re-purposed as an impressive gathering place that serves as a home for the BASICS to practice. His role? “I play the bass guitar and sing.”
“My joys are two-fold,” Ruth Wagner said. “My work at the Glencoe Nursing Home as coordinator of activities, and I shut-work with these guys as well.” Ruth is a harmony singer, violinist, plays congas, fiddle, and washboard, and plays bells at Christmas concerts.
“Ruth does it all – she is our utility player,” Jonathan said.
The genesis of the group was in 1998 when members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Stewart, including BASICS members, planned a contemporary service that employed guitars rather than the traditional organ. This service was scheduled for the fifth Sunday of the month. “We called it the Fifth Sunday Worship,” Ruth said.
As Ruth explained, “I was on the Church and Evangelization committee, and we were looking to do something different. We thought of calling our group ‘Brothers and Sisters in Christ,’ as we entertained shut-ins and nursing homes. We then changed to ‘Brothers and Sisters in Christ Singers.’ It was meant to be an outreach, and it grew,” Ruth said.
The group has performed in a wide area including the counties of Renville, Sibley, Meeker, Kandiyohi . . . within a 30-mile radius. Some of the towns that they have performed includes Olivia, Glencoe, Winthrop, Fairfax, Grove City, Lake Lillian, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Redwood Falls, and Lake Jennie, north of Hutchinson.
“We will do fundraisers,” Jonathan said. “Churches will call us up and ask if we would do music for them,” he said. On occasion the group will lead a worship service. “On those occasions, I will present the message,” Ruth said. “The rest take turns doing prayers, and readings,” Ruth added.
One of the foundational performances of the group is their Christmas concerts. In 2005 the group did their first Christmas concert. “We also try to go to nursing homes around Christmas to do Christmas music. One year we did three in a day, Glencoe, Buffalo Lake and Hutchinson,” Mark said.
The group does mostly Christian music, but performs many genres – Bluegrass, Christian gospel, Country, Back to 50s, pop, and folk music. On this subject, all members of the group enthusiastically added examples of music in their repertoire. Their music makes use of acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, violin, piano and percussion.
“My father introduced me to Bluegrass,” said Molly. She went on to enthusiastically relate an event when Bill Monroe was a guest at her house in Hutchinson as he celebrated his 80th birthday. “It was during a concert series with Bill Monroe, Doyal Lawson & Quicksilvers,” she said. “That was pure Bluegrass.”
“It brings a lot of pleasure for me to see the audience enjoying our music,” Tim said. “It’s a feel-good event, wherever we go,” he added.
Molly related the experience in Litchfield at an evening performance celebrating the anniversary of a church when those in attendance danced in the back of the church.
Once we did a 50th anniversary party. They requested songs like “The Beer Barrel Polka,” Molly said, laughing as she remembered the joy of the occasion.
The BASICS have raised a great deal of money for those in need. “In 2010 we did a benefit for Haiti Earthquake victims at St. Anastasia’s Catholic church in Hutchinson,” Greg said. “We raised nearly $7,000.”
Ruth related the experience of a woman, a former organist at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church who had cancer. The proceeds of the Christmas concert in the amount of $8,000 were donated to her family.
The group has raised money for many causes, and in addition to providing music, they have sponsored silent auctions and served meals.
When local people who are sick, they will do a benefit for them,” Greg said. “All of the proceeds go to that family.”
The BASICS did a fundraiser for a family in Hutchinson who lost a child. A 13-year-old boy had gone to school, developed a headache, went home, and went to bed. He slept but didn’t wake up. The group performed at the funeral. “We sang Kumbaya, his favorite song,” Ruth remembered. The sadness of the occasion still resonates with the group.
“We did a fundraiser for a child in Stewart that was born weighing only one pound. She
survived, graduating from high school,” Carol said, adding with a smile, “she is now going to college.”
“We have had the opportunity to share grief and sorrow with a lot of people,” Ruth said.
The group has performed at the Butterfly Release at the Olivia Hospital for the last three years. “You see the people respond emotionally as Ruth plays the violin while the names and stories of those who died the last year are shared,” Greg said.
“I don’t know how many Relays for Life or Walk in the Park we have done – for 3 or 4 years. “Mark sang for a Renville County Walk in the Park. It was a very emotional experience,” Jonathan said.
One of the types of performances they enjoy is when there is audience participation. “We do a ‘Sip and Sing’ during which people sing along,” Carol said. “We chose about 30 songs, and created a booklet with them. We had about 75 booklets printed, and pass them out. They pick out a song and sing along.”
“They call out the name of a song,” Tim said, “We play it and they have the words in front of them so they can sing along,” he said.
“We have done that at Buffalo Lake Days when they had a fundraiser. They had a trailer set up with a bar with an outdoor patio. If you want an adult beverage, you could get one there,” Jonathan said. They have developed four different versions of the program, which include religious numbers mixed with popular. Using the booklets the audience can join in the singing.
“A couple of years ago we did a fundraiser in Glencoe for a woman who lost her arm in a car accident,” Carol said. She was younger and had a child she was trying to take care of. It was around Halloween, so we dressed up as Addams family,” Carol said. Greg added, “I played the theme song of The Addams Family from television. They got a kick out of that,” he said, and the group agreed enthusiastically.
The BASICS perform 12-14 times a year. “Sometimes people will ask us to sing for funerals. This usually involves just a part of the group,” Ruth said.
“For vacation Bible School we sang a capella at St. John’s church in Biscay. Those older kids were singing our songs. They were having so much fun,” Mark remembered.
National Night Out is observed the first Tuesday in August and one year the BASICS performed at Good Shepherd in Glencoe. “It was when COVID was a problem and there were no public gatherings,” Molly said. “We sang outside in the trailer, and everyone was in their car.”
“We are very adaptive,” Greg said, a thought with which the group enthusiastically agreed.
Tim pointed out that the group has sung at ice cream socials, including little Bernadotte, and they sang at Swedlanda southwest of Hector.
The operation of the ministry is not without expenses. Carol explained, “We don’t take money ourselves, but do use for equipment. There is a trailer used to transport equipment. There is about a 50-grand investment including trailer, board, speaker system and wireless mics,” Greg said, and added, “Mark donates the heating and air conditioning involved in maintaining the building.”
The BASICS ministry may look easy when one sees the group sharing their music with such camaraderie and pleasure. There is a lot more involved, as setting up at a location involves a lot of loading and unloading,” Greg said. “It takes about an hour to set up, a little less to tear down.”
The schedule of the BASICS takes into consideration the farming schedule since two of the group are farmers. “Spring and the middle of September to the end of October is off limits. We say, ‘We will call you when we are ready,’” Mark said.
The camaraderie of the group is evident as good humor and laughter is a favored form of expression as they communicate. Their caring for one another and those who need their help carries over in their connection to their audiences. “We are a musical family. We are all in this together!” Tim said.
The group’s goal was expressed by Ruth. “Our goal is to have music with a message,” she said.
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