Communities

Legends of Country & Folk at the MMHF

NEW ULM -- Music lovers gathered at the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame (MMHF) last week for “Legends of Country & Folk,” the museum’s third installment of the “Legacy Series,” featuring special guest speaker Bobby Drengler.

The event featured video screenings highlighting the careers of four iconic artists with deep Minnesota ties: John Denver, Marilyn Sellars, Michael Johnson, and Jack Volinkaty.

Board member Neal Bond produced the documentary series.

Hall of Fame volunteer John Kass said the legacy series is the museum’s new initiative to create a dedicated section for deceased inductees.

The initiative separates deceased honorees from living members to give museum visitors a clearer historical perspective.

The film series aims to preserve the stories of deceased Minnesota musicians and ensure their contributions are remembered.

"The film series serves as a way to keep their music and stories alive," Kass said.

This event was the final installment in a series of featured retrospectives presented by the museum.

Local music enthusiasts and historians gathered for the event to hear Drengler, a veteran local musician and former studio owner who traveled to New Ulm to share his personal background working with John Denver and Michael Johnson, alongside his deep knowledge of regional music history.

Drengler was accompanied by William Shackleton of Mankato and spoke with volunteer John Kass about early music promotion.

Drengler shared firsthand accounts from a time when the music business relied on physical media, promo glossies, brochures, and the grit of the college touring circuit. He recalled working with his Media House business partner, Mark Ahlstrom, a St. Peter native, author, and son of a local minister.

Ahlstrom booked John Denver at Gustavus Adolphus College and helped create early promotional materials for up-and-coming performers.

“We did all their visuals back then, eight-by-ten glossies, promotional pictures, and brochures,” Drengler said. “Because back then, everything was brochures and eight-by-ten glossies. You didn’t have the internet. You had the music, the radio, and the live show. That was everything. Mark Ahlstrom put this whole promotional program together for John Denver and Michael Johnson.”

Drengler said Denver and Johnson performed together in the Chad Mitchell Trio before embarking on their respective solo careers.

After founder Chad Mitchell left the group, the ensemble became known simply as the Mitchell Trio, with Denver taking the lead singing role.

“They were on the road together in the Chad Mitchell Trio, traveling for a year and doing college concerts,” Drengler said. “They were young, probably in their early 20s, and it was a full-time job.”

Drengler said Denver repeatedly returned to Minnesota primarily because he fell in love with Annie Martell, a St. Peter native he met while performing in the area, rather than for commercial industry opportunities.

Denver often performed at the Holiday House, a private supper club on the edge of St. Peter owned by Martell’s parents. Drengler recalled performing there himself, noting it was a popular dinner and bottle club during that era.

“That was really a pretty fancy dinner club back then, and it was a bottle club,” Drengler said.

According to Drengler, it was on his way into St. Peter during one of those visits that Denver wrote his signature hit, “Annie’s Song.”

The documentary film shown of Oct. 29 highlighted the four featured artists in detail.

John Denver, born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., joined the Chad Mitchell Trio in the mid-1960s before starting his solo career. He met Annie Martell while she was a student at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. The couple married in 1967 and lived in Edina during the early stages of his rise to international stardom. His deep affection for Martell inspired his timeless 1974 chart-topping ballad, “Annie’s Song.”

Marilyn Sellars was born in Northfield and raised in nearby Dundas. She began singing in church as a child before rising to national prominence. She recorded “One Day at a Time” in 1974, written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson. Released on Mega Records, the song reached the Top 20 on the Billboard country charts, received a Grammy nomination, and sold as a country-gospel 45 single across the Upper Midwest.

Michael Johnson studied classical guitar under Graciano Tarragó in Barcelona and performed in the Twin Cities folk scene after his time with the Chad Mitchell Trio. His 1978 single “Bluer Than Blue” achieved major crossover success, reaching the adult contemporary and pop charts. He followed that success with additional hits, including “This Night Won’t Last Forever” and country chart-toppers like “Give Me Wings.”

John “Jack” Volinkaty was a songwriter born in New Orleans who moved to Minnesota. He played in garage bands including The Shags before writing country songs. He wrote “Satin Sheets,” which became a No. 1 country hit for Jeanne Pruett in 1973 and spent weeks atop the national music charts.

Bond’s film traced Minnesota music history from the 1903 founding of the Minneapolis Symphony by conductor Emil Oberhoffer to the KSTP Sunset Valley Barn Dance radio broadcast that began in 1940.

The presentation exemplified how early country, fiddle, and folk traditions directly influenced the electric guitar sounds of the rock-and-roll era.

Board member Joel King worked alongside Bond to organize the archival video collection and historical materials.

The museum’s commitment to preserving regional music history extends beyond screenings and exhibits; it also includes digitizing archives and making online content available to members.

As stated in Bond’s film, “A musician never truly leaves as long as someone plays their record or sings their words.”

That philosophy remains at the heart of the museum’s mission, ensuring that Minnesota’s stories and music, from the barn dance to the 1970s folk scene, endure for generations to come.

The museum will pause special programming for the winter season until April as it prepares additional in-person presentations for its 2027 reopening and the annual induction festivities.