Tropical Montana Marimba Ensemble

Our music has its roots in the polyrhythmic mbira traditions of the Shona tribe of Zimbabwe, which made its way to the Pacific Northwest through Dumi Maraire. In 1985, members of the Grin and Bear It String Clan encountered the marimba version of this music at the Northwest Folklife Festival, caught the spark, and Tropical Montana Marimba Ensemble was born.

Here you can see our 2011 schedule. Now, meet the Tribe!

• Sarah Burdick is a professional musician with skills on multiple instruments honed over years of teaching music and playing in various symphonies.
• Helen Pilling creates canvas musical cases when she’s not knitting, playing swing guitar, or telemark skiing. She' spent time last year in Antartica.
• Dan’l Moore is our strongest bass player because he spends his days pounding hot iron as an ornamental blacksmith. His other passion is snow, having skied each of the last 150 plus months.
• Barbara Calm is our local veterinarian and animal acupuncturist, a hammered dulcimer player plus a world traveler and adventerous mom.
• Dave Streeter, our elder statesman, is a naturalist, ski guide and teacher. His other instruments of choice are banjo, golf clubs and hiking boots.
• Bill Boggs is the most easy going, talented marimba player on the planet. He and brother Ed paint houses with cool faux effects.

• Ed Boggs is an original member of Tropical Montana, and wrote many of the songs on our CDs.  He’s a fiddler and guitarist as well as a gifted painter of houses inside and out.
• Alan Roy is a middle school math teacher and an enthusiastic and tenacious learner.  He’s Sarah’s lucky husband.
• Cissy Booth is a veteran musician but new to the marimba ensemble.  She’s a mom, an expert skier, educator, traveler, singer and avid hiker.
• Gary Morris was an original member of TMME and has recently rejoined the band. He plays a smooth trumpet that graces our first two cds, and teaches music from kindergarteners to college students.

• Neil Hilton started playing in the marimba ensemble as a wee 7th grader, and went off to college at Lewis and Clark in Portland just after we recorded our latest CD. He is Barbara's son and we are glad he comes home to play with us when he can.
• Gaelyn Moore took naps under the bass marimba as a toddler and now speaks marimba fluently. Gaelyn has gone off to study at the University of Puget Sound, but comes home to play with us on breaks. She is Helen and Dan’l’s daughter.