Audio By Carbonatix
The old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” definitely holds true at this Saturday’s Junk Jam — a concert that features musical instruments made out of “found objects” and played by local kids.
“I like the idea of taking things that are ugly, trash to everyone else, and looking at it differently,” says Sarah Fulton, a local music therapist who is spearheading the Junk Jam with help from the PlatteForum. “It’s so cool to make something useful and beautiful out of junk.”
Fulton has spent the past few months gathering discarded goods — old rakes, brooms, toasters, buckets, glass bottles. “There is great junk everywhere — salvage yards, garage sales, construction sites,” she explains.
With the help of local artist Bruce Kennedy, kids from Cole Middle School and Higher Ground Youth Challenge have spent the past week converting Fulton’s debris into percussion instruments. “We’re hoping to show the kids the importance of creating something on a daily basis,” says Fulton.
You can hear this rubbish rock and roll this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the base of the Millennium Bridge in downtown Denver, where the kids will play their homemade instruments with a little help from local percussionists. “It’s going to be very informal, just a big jam circle that the public is more than welcome to join in on,” says Fulton. “A lot of these kids are going to discover talents that they never knew that they had, from the ability to improvise to taking leadership roles.”
And while the concert is free, Fulton is raising funds for her upcoming residency in Nairobi, Kenya, through Music Therapy International, where she’ll work as a music therapist at an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS. Fulton will be sharing information on the program at a reception inside PlatteForum following the concert, at which time donations will be accepted.
“So many kids come from so much adversity and opposition, we want to teach them to look at their circumstances in a positive way” says Fulton. “There is beauty in everything, but especially music — it can take all that emotion and anger built up inside and move it out.”
