A Pantheon for the People: Harry Tuft and the Denver Folklore Centerphoto & story by Laura "Spunky" McGaughey
(Originally published in the August 2009 issue of Pow'r Pickin' magazine, the official publication of the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society.)
On March 13, 1962, the Denver Folklore Center opened for business and proprietor Harry Tuft began his legacy as not only a business man, but as a folksinger, teacher, promoter and friend. There are few who have contributed to and have given as freely as Tuft has for our Colorado music community.
I’ve tried to get him to admit how great he is but he’ll of course never boast about what he’s done or who he’s known. He’s not a name dropper or full of self-worth about his achievements. He’s the first to show gratitude and lend a friendly hand to anyone without any prejudgment. He’s so devoid of ego that I almost have to wonder if he’s even got an id to satisfy! Tuft is so personable and friendly that I should refer to him, simply (and probably preferably), as Harry.
All joking aside, Harry truly has a beautiful soul and many great stories to tell. His hard work and determination are inspirational, and his good works have had a ripple effect to the extent of which is immeasurable. Back when he first opened shop on 17th Avenue and Pearl Street, just several blocks east of downtown Denver, his rental fee was fifty-five dollars a month and his inventory consisted of items he’d bought from Izzy Young’s Folklore Center in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Harry’s stock grew to include instruments, records, books and other musical supplies, and he decided to open the store on Sundays for hootenanny song circles as a way to publicize and raise public awareness about the store. He also began to offer group guitar and banjo lessons on Saturday afternoons, modeling his approach after what he’d learned on a prior trip to Chicago’s renowned Old Town School of Folk Music.
As word about the Denver Folklore Center spread, it became a center point for both local and traveling musicians. The camaraderie and comfortable atmosphere led to open jams, friendships, and—as word continued to spread—his initiation as a promoter of concerts. The Denver Folklore Center hosted and promoted shows within its own space as well as in other venues. He had solidified his reputation, offering a much-welcomed performance stop to musicians traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast. One of the biggest shows Harry presented was Joan Baez’s first appearance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 1964. He also presented shows by legendary bluegrass artists like Doc Watson and Flatt and Scruggs.
Harry’s employee, David Ferretta, was vital to the success of the Denver Folklore Center’s growth in its early years. An accomplished bluegrass guitar and banjo player, he helped build the store by being a great salesman. Ferretta went on to open his own store and also helped establish the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society. “We were happy to see him do that. He was particularly attuned to the bluegrass community,” Harry says.
The bluegrass community owes a great deal to Harry. Colorado’s legendary band, Hot Rize, all met through their work in the DFC in numerous capacities: as teachers, repairers and countermen. "Hot Rize exists because the Denver Folklore Center exists. We were involved in music making and teaching, and the shows we did there and the community that surrounded the Center was a big help in launching us," Hot Rize banjoist Pete Wernick recalls.
Hot Rize officially began their touring career in 1978. The following year, the Music Association of Swallow Hill was established by Harry and others in an attempt to continue the traditions of folk and roots-based music on a larger scale than he and the Denver Folklore Center could. Thirty years after its establishment, Swallow Hill has grown to produce more than 200 concerts and serve more than 4,000 students each year, in addition to other outreach programming.
The creation of all this should be enough for anyone to feel as though they’ve given a great deal to life and its purpose. For someone like Harry, though, the giving doesn’t ever stop. He has made myriad donations to the community, including most recently giving a mandolin to the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society for a promotional drawing at RockyGrass. “I’m happy to support them. I love bluegrass,” he says.
Harry is a performer in his own right, having recorded several albums as a soloist as well as a part of his trio, Grubstake. In the opening notes of his album, Across the Blue Mountains, Sandy Paton writes that Harry is “one of the finest interpreters in the folksong revival.” It’s very fitting for him to be chosen as part of an all-star tribute at Red Rocks this summer honoring the fortieth anniversary of Woodstock called “Peace and Love on the Rocks.” The event is part of the Denver Film Society’s annual Film on the Rocks series and Harry will be among other esteemed Colorado acts (Something Underground, Runaway Express, Hazel Miller, Paper Bird and more) to perform prior to a screening of the “Woodstock” film on Monday, August 17 at 6:30 p.m.
And so, as I climb up and down along the myriad branches that have grown off the tree of Harry’s work and the birth of the Denver Folklore Center (now located on 1893 South Pearl Street), I ask him, point-blank: What is your legacy? And of course, Harry laughs. He won’t answer that question. He just simply tells me: “Music has been number one in my life and I make a living being immersed in that! I couldn’t be much happier.”
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