Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990                   TAG: 9004200504
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CHRISTINA MOTLEY NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

NEW-WAVE OLD-TIMEY MUSIC NEVER HAD IT BETTER THAN THIS

After tuning their instruments - Marcia holds a $500 clawhammmer banjo made from a sliver-plated brass pot found in a West Virginia log cabin and Woody rests his chin on his hand-carved fiddle - the McKenzie singers begin playing an old fiddle tune, "Arkansas Traveler," clogging, flat-footing, tap-dancing, singing and spinning around their kitchen.

Creating their own musical arrangements, the McKenzies do a little bit of everything - from folk to country to bluegrass to Irish to the Beatles to Appalachian music to new-wave old-timey.

New-wave old-timey?

"We play what we want to play," Woody, 37, said. "We play all different kinds of music and incorporate them into modern folk songs; we call it new-wave old-timey."

"We definitely do it with a twist," said Marcia, 33.

"We are people that play music and have a good time, that's all," Woody said.

The couple has written about 20 songs of their own and together play five instruments - banjo, fiddle, a mandolin, Marcia's right-handed acoustic guitar - which cost $500 in 1982 and is the most expensive of their instruments - Woody's left-handed acoustic guitar and the bass guitar. They also own a 1981 sound system and microphones, Woody said.

Their songs, lyrics and music, are written together, or one writes the words and the other puts music to it or vice versa, Woody McKenzie said. "It's good to have two people and collaborate."

Song topics vary. Some are specialized, sentimental memory songs, love or reflective songs; others have a statement or message of some kind, Marcia McKenzie said. She begins to sing a "Song for Dad," written for her father's 65th birthday.

I watched you growing older; I almost lost touch with you; I can't begin to give you all that you've given me. . . . I look for strength within me, I think of you. . . . my children's children you'll live on.

Another song the couple wrote is called "The anti-smoking song." "We obviously don't play that much," Woody McKenzie said.

Marcia McKenzie played the oboe in high school but neither has had formal music lessons. Both are self-taught.

Woody's mom, 71, plays the mandolin and taught him songs as he was growing up in Windmill Gap, W.Va., 20 miles outside Bluefield.

Marcia grew up in upstate New York and became interested in learning the guitar and mandolin from a friend in Tucson, Ariz., where the McKenzie singers met, she said.

"I taught her all the good licks," Woody McKenzie laughed.

He doesn't play the banjo and Marcia doesn't play the fiddle. They mix and match the other instruments.

"My true love is singing," Marcia McKenzie said.

Woody said he finds the fiddle most challenging because it is hard to dance, sing and play at the same time, but "I really like it all."

The McKenzies moved from urban areas to their Ellett Valley country house 4 1/2 years ago because of the lifestyle they wanted for their children, Keenan, 3 1/2, and Kara, 2.

Woody McKenzie, who has a master's degree in biology teaching, works at Virginia Tech's chemistry laboratory. For fun, he teaches the fiddle to adults through Tech's YMCA. Marcia McKenzie, who has a bachelor's in Spanish, enjoys staying home with the children, she said.

Keenan and Kara dance and sing with their parents and occasionally accompany them to performances.

The couple's long-term goal is to "become known as music and song writers but we will not sell our souls," Woody McKenzie said.

They are in no hurry, though. "Right now we are busy raising a family," he said.

The McKenzie singers have played at a variety of places - Maxwell's, Mountain Lake, Girl Scout camp, benefits, The Homeplace, preschools and coffee houses. Their fees vary.

They recently performed their first live radio show on Pulaski's AM 1580 and played at the annual Brush Mountain Craft Fair.

"We are folkies, just the two of us," Woody McKenzie said. They have the choice of playing as a couple or inviting friends to play bass, rhythm or backup fiddle.

"We have the best of two worlds," Woody McKenzie said. "We live together, can get our act together, can play together, but if we need other people, they'll play with us."

He said they play about half the time together and half with others.

The McKenzie singers will perform today at Brookmeade Retirement Home in Shawsville. They'll open for bluegrass musician Tony Rice May 25 in Blacksburg and will play May 27 at Roanoke's Festival in the Park.