This week, I traveled to Port Orchard, Washington, to the home of Patti and Ed Zollman, as part of the first Washington State Road Trip for the film (there will likely be more).
First, I interviewed Patti, who performed regularly at the Denver Organ Grinder (as Patti Simon), as well as in Portland and at a variety of Pizza & Pipe-format restaurants in Washington state.
Patti spoke on a variety of topics – the grueling schedule that performers could face, what kinds of music were encouraged and what was forbidden, and Denver’s notorious sound volume display which organists had to strictly observe, lest they blow the wigs off of members of the audience.
Patti met her husband Ed while he was working at another pizza/pipe establishment, and after the Organ Grinder they created a business together building and maintaining pipe organs in multiple states. (There will be a separate post soon about Ed’s interview.)
Especially notable to me was Patti’s sense of humor. She laughed at all my jokes, which is a rarity among other people!
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