Survival instincts have no creative boundaries in Rangely, Colorado, where residents have created a unique Christmas album to raise funds for local schools. The album, titled
Rangely A-Caroling at The Tank
, includes 13 traditional Christmas carols sung by the people of Rangely inside a local landmark, the 65 foot tall steel cylinder known as The TANK. It was no secret among locals that the acoustics inside The TANK were nothing short of spectacular, with up to 40 seconds of reverberation, but when a Rangely businessman experienced The TANK for the first time last June, he had an idea….a crazy idea….a wonderful, crazy idea. What if the people of Rangely recorded a Christmas album with proceeds going to the Rangely School District and Colorado Northwestern Community College? Like many rural towns in the region, education funding was an ongoing struggle due to the major slump in the oil and gas industry. The businessman, Sam Tolley, said he’d “foot the bill for the whole thing” and in a matter of months, The TANK Center for Sonic Arts had produced their first album featuring the caroling voices of over 50 locals. Word is now spreading about this one-of-a-kind town and their one-of-a-kind fundraiser. The magic of this project is best put by the creative minds themselves: “When you listen to
Rangely A-Caroling at The TANK
, you will hear the big heart of a small town, high in the desert, singing out and ringing out within the walls of an old steel water tank that was recognized, saved, and is loved as an acoustical treasure.” Orders are being handled by the Rangely School District and through
www.tanksounds.org
.
