The month of June features an annual event at the Coconino Center for the Arts that continues to be a local favorite.  The Flagstaff Folk Festival, organized by Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music (FFOTM) is in its 7th year. 

The weekend-long festival brings together musicians and bands of many different genres that all have one thing in common: they love to play live acoustic music.  Several stages are set up both inside and outside the facility.  Bands will also take up a spot under a tree on the grounds to jam and learn from each other's musical interests and talents.  One such group is Three-Legged Dog, a Phoenix-based old-time band that is a three year veteran of the Festival.


Three-Legged Dog includes three long-time musicians and fourteen different instruments.  Ant Bee and Odie Piker are married with many children, both biological and adopted nieces and nephews.  They have been playing together their entire married life, and three years ago, Odie met Jim Sallis at a summer jam event in Phoenix.  After playing together a few times, they hit it off as a band.  At that point, Odie had become solely interested in playing old-time music, whereas, he and his wife were involved in some rock and punk music during the 1980s.  After forming the group, the name Three-Legged Dog, just "popped into his head"; they all liked it, so it stuck.  

The group focuses on music that is considered old-time, not folk or rock.  Old-time music often draws on songs and rhythms that are hundreds of years old.  The band covers a lot of old tunes, and about one-third of their music is original.  This percentage is "slowly increasing", but Odie makes a point that they are more interested in "quality over quantity."

When writing their own songs, Odie describes a process where the music evokes a feel, which helps to develop the lyrics.  He says, "the songs almost write themselves."  He provides the example of a Civil War ballad, where the guitar hook grabbed him and had a Civil War feel, so the lyrics were created to match the music.  

Currently, the band members play fourteen instruments altogether, and they are continuing to learn more instruments.  Ant Bee says, "Odie is a natural.  Anything he picks up becomes a musical instrument.  He is innately musical."  She won't let him play her cello, fearing that he will be better than she is.  

The couple considers this band to be their "most serious musical endeavor."  Previous musical groups weren't very serious, nor very successful, according to Odie.  Jim previously played in country bands in Texas and in New Orleans.  Odie says the current group is "without a doubt the most fun and the most rewarding."  

The group usually plays locally in Phoenix and occasionally in other parts of Arizona, mainly in festivals.  There are public concerts, coffee houses, and a number of venues that they frequent in the Phoenix area, but with many children, it is hard to travel for gigs.  Having lived in Phoenix for over 30 years, Ant Bee and Odie love the desert and the openness of the Southwest.  

Three-Legged Dog is looking forward to the Flagstaff Folk Festival because they always have good crowds.  "It's a good feeling to pack the house", which happened last year when they were featured on the theatre stage.  They also like how groups will practice and play together in the woods on the Center's grounds.  Mainly they look forward to "the plethora of talent."  It gives them an opportunity to see what other people are doing in the local folk, bluegrass, and country scene.  All in all, they describe the Flagstaff Folk Festival as a "great atmosphere for both weather and music."


To see the Three-Legged Dog in action, check them out at the Flagstaff Folk Festival on June 28th and 29th, 2008, or visit their website.  If you are interested in booking their group, please call 602-200-9662.