Made in Colorado

We love finding products we can feature at Capabilities that Coloradans have created. We have already told you about Hotflash! The Game, invented by local Kari Epstein, and Pain Wizard, by Johnstown resident, Mikel Kleess. We also featured our private labeled mobile art, designed by artist Amy Vicioso. And a Colorado Springs-based company founded by Jan Erickson is one of our most recent featured product lines. Janska offers unique and stylish, comfortable and cozy clothing that also easy to get into.

This week we highlight Dawn Wooderson, musician and entrepreneur. Dawn, formerly a college professor at Penn State, Southern Methodist, and Baylor in Texas, always worked with populations of all ages and abilities. It is a well-known fact that our voices drop as we age. Our ability to reach the high notes diminishes significantly and we all start to squeak. From her work with older folks during the past 20 years, she saw clearly that many loved and remembered fondly old spiritual hymns. The only problem is that they are all written in the key of impossibly high for most “mature” voices. Dawn had an idea. What if she transcribed a number of these songs and re-recorded them so that this population could enjoy signing along once more? And so was born Songs of Faith, a series of three companion large-print hymnbooks with a sing-along CD. You can choose the print size and the amount of large-font musical notation that suits you. Sing along with CD and you’ll feel like you’re a member of a wonderful choir with a superb accompanist. Need to strum a little? The chords for guitar, autoharp, or electronic keyboard are clearly written. Just want to sing? The small lyrics book has extra-large print text of the songs on the CD. Her work is incredible and we have heard many a happy person delight in the ability to sing like a bird again to these old favorites.

Dawn also appears here and there to play and lead groups in song. She appears at Capabilities in June. Dawn's pictured above at a recent event at Capabilities. We'll post details on our Events page as details are finalized.