Ruth E. Barnum: Ruth's love for the flute was actually born in a the rural area of Tennessee, not far from Memphis, where she and her 4 siblings were raised. A Sunday afternoon cookout, turned into a musical jam session. She watched a fellow walk to his truck and return to the group holding a flute. Listening to the notes flow from the flute, her attention was grabbed in such a way that she knew she wanted to play it herself. By the end of the week, Ruth had purchased a used flute from a Thrifty Nickel paper, and beginner flute books from a music store. Practicing became a favorite pasttime. That was in 1978. Since then she has played in several praise and worship bands at various churches, including cities of Erie, Pa., Buffalo, NY, and Ruidoso. Together with her husband Brad, she has played at many coffee houses in the Western N.Y. area as well as in Alamogordo, N.M.

Ruth is the mother of two grown daughters, but while they were younger and taking piano lessons, she took flute lessons from the same teacher. She has also studied under Sharlene Cady of Rochester, NY; here she developed her love for classical music.

Ruth plays in the Alto String Ensemble, delivers mail in Ruidoso for the US Postal Service, is an Avon Representative, and enjoys taking care of animals.

Fred Kinnan: Our electric guitarist is retired military ... and has traveled much of his life ... loves jazz and more jazz, especially bebop, blues and standards by Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and George Gershwin. His background is in '60s rock classics such as: Little Red Riding Hood, Runaway, and California Dreaming.

Fred Kinnan was an electrical engineer and automation manager in the Army. After retiring from the Army and moving to Alto, he made bicycling and music his main pursuits.

I began learning to play the violin at age 50, which was about 45 years too late. It was an enjoyable experience and culminated in playing in several orchestra concerts. At one point, I needed a break from the violin. Rondell Turner asked me to play guitar to accompany his singing. (Fred currently plays in the local-based band "Ron Turner and Friends") I had not played the guitar seriously for 35 years (since a high school rock band), but I soon found it to be a great experience in learning to accompany a singer. Mickey Cochran and I had jammed a few times each on violin, but later, on guitars we knew there was a musical chemistry. We were asked to play an anniversary party last December, so we put together a repertoire, marking the beginning of the Alto String Ensemble. We added Tim Rice on bass and Ruth Barnum on flute to make the full Ensemble.

Mickey Cochran: Our acoustic/electric guitarist has traveled most of his life ... loves all styles of music especially jazz, rock, new age, celtic, and ragtime.

Mickey traveled most of his life ... mainly, because his dad was in the military. Born in France, and living most of his younger years in Europe, Mickey was fortunate to have seen a lot of the world and feels the cultural exposure has enhanced his artistic sense. Accordingly, Mickey loves all styles of music and feels there is something to learn from every genre. Besides the many styles of music listed above, Mickey also enjoys playing and studying ethnic forms such as on mandolin exploring traditional Peruvian, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Russian and German styles ...

One of his main loves is Ragtime Guitar ... and American Primitive Guitar. This style of guitar has been well placed by artists such as Leo Kottke, Peter Lang and John Fahey.

Mickey also enjoys classic rock music ... brought up mostly as a 70s kid, he was greatly influenced by artists such as the Moody Blues and Led Zeppelin. Hence, Mickey also performs in another band with Richard Vidmer called "Acoustic Wheel". which has its main focus on classic rock and originals heavily influenced by the '70s.

"I feel very fortunate to have met up with Fred Kinnan ... we truly have an harmonic sense of spirit in our mutual love for jazz guitar. Jazz, to me, is an ethereal music that seems to always be escaping our grasp no matter how well we learn the form ... which makes the journey elusive and exciting"!

Mickey currently owns and works as a web developer for GoWest Marketing. He develops locally-based web sites such as GoRuidoso, Ruidoso Travel News, Ruidoso Visitor's Center .. along with many others. Be sure to visit Mystic West Productions for instructional materials ... and Mel Bay for published works.

E-Mail us at: jazz@altostringensemble.com

ALTO STRING ENSEMBLE (Beginnings)

Alto String Ensemble started out as a duet comprised of Mickey Cochran and Fred Kinnan.

Mickey Cochran, who also plays in the duo called Acoustic Wheel (with Richard Vidmer), is the author of several excellent books on acoustic string instrument techniques (Guitar Crosspicking Technique, Mandolin Crosspicking Techniques, et al) and was the original owner of the Folk of the Wood music store here in Ruidoso NM.

Fred Kinnan is the band's melodic guitarist - and plays a smooth jazz hollowbody guitar.

Mickey and Fred have played together for over 5 years, ...mainly for fun and their own amazement. But, when the duo landed a gig at Tinnie Silver Dollar, they were asked to bring in a full-size band. Mickey says, That's when we were fortunate to have found Tim Rice (bass), Ruth Barnum (flute) and Brad Barnum (sits in on occasion on guitar) ...

Alto String Ensemble is a strictly instrumental band, with a focus on a variety of styles, including jazz, rock, classical, country, ragtime and blues. They play private parties and special events, such as Ruidoso's Art Walk, and they are always ...pretty much in flux ... perhaps even merging with Acoustic Wheel when gigs arise for (other) full band requirements.