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Molly and the Boys swing into their golden years
By Steve Moyer
Nevada Daily Mail
Molly and the Boys have been around for a while -- in some cases for quite a while (although we're not naming names) -- and the small band of musicians enjoys playing for their contemporaries in senior centers from Fort Scott to El Dorado Springs.
The current group consists of Molly Denning, piano; Marion Shrimplin, guitar; Joe Willis, bass; Cecil Painter, Harmonica. The group is occasionally joined by Mark Oskee.
"We used to be known as the 3 M's," Shrimplin said. "Then it was Molly, Mark, and Marion."
Oskee is a former paint store manager who became a minister after retiring.
Denning used to be the activities director at Moore-Few.
Shrimplin was an account executive when he retired from Kraft Mercantile but spent considerable time as an outside sales representative.
The member of the band who arguably has the most musical credentials is Willis. He is the nephew of the founders of the Willis Brother's Trio, a group that performed on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry for many years. Willis himself performed with the group on the Opry and still has ties to Nashville. Willis is now a registered nurse who worked at the Tri-Valley Development Center, a change he attributes to the difficulty of touring with a band.
"Life on the road is hard," Willis said. "I went on a tour where we went up the west coast and Alaska. Three weeks into it we ran out of dates in Seattle and had to get back to Nashville on our own. After a few years of that it's no wonder I decided to become a nurse."
Other members of the band have a long history of public performances, even if they weren't national. Denning started playing at age 14 and used to play on WBBZ, "World's Best Broadcasting Zone," in Ponca City, Okla., and on a live radio show on KNEM when the station was in the second story of Cole's, where the present day May's Floral is located.
"I helped to carry a bull fiddle up those stairs many a time," Denning said. "I could tell you stories about those days."
Shrimplin estimates he's performed with 10 to 15 bands throughout the years, with various local talents.
He also had a local radio show on KNEM.
"I used to have a show three mornings a week from 7:45 to 8 -- it was the station manager, Bob McCune, and me. We'd talk a little and play music," Shrimplin said. "I was working at the Overland Grocery store then and they gave me permission to be late to work those three days."
Shrimplin does musical parodies during the bands performances, usually based on old swing or country songs like the Tennessee Waltz.
"Marion has a lot of good show material, comedy and parody stuff," Painter said. "I get a kick out of his songs."
The group has played at the senior center for many years and the recent move to the new building made them happy. The old center was cramped and lacked the space to spread out and dance.
The new center has enough room to dance and have plenty of tables set out at the same time. It even has a raised platform in one corner for the musicians.
Shrimplin said that the band plays at the senior center at lunch but the third Friday night of each month is set aside for a dance.
The band plays a mix of music, but swing is the main genre.
"We play a mix of old standards and old country music," Shrimplin said.
"We don't play any rock music or rap, nothing like that. Mostly its music you can dance to. We don't play many belly-rubbing dances, it's usually a lot of swing. It's swing you can dance to, that's for sure," he added.