A Musical Life

Charisse Kahler is a native of Michigan who has lived in a variety of cities and states. For more than a decade she and her husband Steve have performed as The Kahlers.

My concept of songwriting is that the best ones are handed to you, as John Lennon once said, on a flaming pie.

“I play bass in the roots-rock band North Platte. I’ve played bass nearly my whole life. I started in fourth grade in elementary school when they first introduced the option and just followed it all the way through school. I laid low for a few years after school but have been playing regularly for the last five or six years again.

Michael Evancho is a solo musician who has more than a decade of experience writing and recording music. He was one part of the band Darlin’ Maudie with his brother Nick. He lives in Wichita with his wife, Danielle.

Tyler Grubb plays mandolin and trombone in Carrie Nation and The Speakeasy. He lives in Wichita when he’s not touring the United States (or elsewhere) with the band. Here, he discusses his relationship with the mandolin.

Jordan Bollig plays electric and upright bass in a variety of musical settings including Cherokee Maidens. He plays electric guitar in The Banned and teaches at both Wichita State University and School of Rock.

Mike Coykendall’s latest recording is Half Past Present Pending. A native of Norwich, Kansas he has been recording music since the 1980s with acts such as Klyde Konnor, The Old Joe Clarks and as a member of M. Ward’s band. He has recorded with or engineered albums for acts such as Blitzen Trapper, She and Him, Richmond Fontaine and others. He lives in Portland, Oregon. This segment features elements from an interview recorded in 2013.

Chris Mackie is a lifelong musician who performs as a member of Deathblack Flowers, as a solo artist under the names Christopher Flores and Gilded Heart. He is a former member of the band This Great October and also recorded with the band Sonna. A rarities collection from that group is expected in the near future.

Bob Walkenhorst is vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter for The Rainmakers. The band is based in Kansas City, Missouri and was inducted in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2011 and accumulated numerous fans since the early 1980s, including author Stephen King. The band’s most recent recording is Cover Band.

Here, in a 2014 interview with KMUW, Walkenhorst discusses his longtime fascination with religion in his lyrics.

Ryan Stoldt is the main songwriter and co-founder of the band Twin Cities. He is also a member of Coriander and Team Tremolo.

Kyle Dick is promoter with Naymlis Entertainment which books and promotes a variety of events in the Wichita area.