George Huber and Colleen Cox are familiar musical figures around Powell River and up and down the Okanagan Valley, where they travel to visit musical friends in the summer months. The couple is known for folksy guitar and distinctive harmonies. Huber has lived in Powell River since 1971 while Cox arrived in 1965.
How did you two get together?
Cox: George and I have known each other since 1971. After his wife, June, passed away, I was here at the market with friends. George was up on stage playing music. My girlfriend said to me, “Go and ask George Huber for coffee.” The other girl said, “Oh, no, he got married.” I said, “That’s too bad.” The following Saturday they said, “He’s not married,” so I asked him for coffee. That was it. We’ve been together since 2000.
How did you start playing music together?
Cox: George’s daughter said, “You should get an instrument,” so I got a tambourine. She said, “Get rid of that,” so I went home in tears. I called my daughter and she said, “Well mother, get a guitar.” I said, “I don’t know how to play the guitar.” George said to me, “If you’re going to hang around with me, you’re going to have to learn how to play guitar.” So he taught me how to play the guitar.
Is it bluegrass you play?
Huber: No, it is not bluegrass. We play a lot of different music. We are kind of known as bluegrass, but we’re not bluegrass. We play popular music, all kinds of music.
How long have you been playing?
Huber: I’ve been trying to learn to play that guitar since I was 15. I haven’t been able to teach it to play properly yet. That guitar has let me meet a lot of people I would have never met in other ways.
What do you do on these chilly fall nights in Lund?
Cox: We play music in the evening. Sometimes I sit and knit and George plays. If he’s learning a song, he has to learn it first and then I learn it because I do the harmony with him. We play almost every night. We don’t watch television.
