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Home > Archive > Aug 2, 2007

Washington's Music Men
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
Good tunes and good times are all in the family for the Nissons of Washington City.
With a heritage of musicality originating with family patriarch Quentin Nisson, owner of Nisson's V&S Variety in Washington and former mayor of Washington City, the Nisson boys have been making music for decades.
“It's been wonderful. It pulls us together,” Quentin Nisson said. “I look at this playing once a week as a get-together with the boys.”
Practicing together and performing regularly at community functions, weddings and other events, the men of the Nisson family love making music – anytime, anywhere! As long as they have drumsticks and guitar picks in hand, life is good.
“Its been real rewarding. Real fun,” Quentin Nisson's son Garth Nisson said. “As we've gotten older, we've gotten better!”
The leader of his own group known as The Nisson Band, Garth Nisson, who manages Nisson Foodtown just across the street from his dad's store, also plays drums in his dad's group, the Quentin Nisson Band.
Each takes the melodic lead in his own band, tickling the ivories while family members back them up on other instruments.
Decades ago, Quentin Nisson said, son Garth played exclusively with the Quentin Nisson Band as its drummer. Garth began to pick up on his dad's love of the piano, however, and he soon developed his own skills on that instrument. With room for only one piano man in the family band, Garth eventually formed his own musical group.
“You'd call that a branch-off,” Bob Nisson, another son of Quentin Nisson, said. “It's actually a family band, too.”
But the Nissons have proven well that there is room enough in Washington City for two Nisson family bands.
Garth Nisson is still part of the Quentin Nisson Band, in addition to leading his own group, and plays the drums to back up his dad. Brother Bob Nisson also plays in their dad's band, plucking away on bass guitar and providing lead vocals. He additionally plays lead guitar in brother Garth's The Nisson Band.
Kelvin Nisson, another brother and a dentist in the St. George area, also serves double duty, playing in both family bands. For the Quentin Nisson Band, Kelvin plays tenor saxophone; in The Nisson Band, he plays both tenor sax and the harmonica.
Cousin Kurtis Kendall plays drums in The Nisson Band and alternates as drummer for the Quentin Nisson Band. Garth Nisson's son Hans Nisson, cousins Gary Jackson and Bruce Nisson all alternate as bass guitarists for The Nisson Band.
The musical family bonding for the Nissons goes on and on, and they don't have any problem switching back and forth between the two groups. As long as they're playing together, the Nisson men are happy.
Garth Nisson's The Nisson Band, more contemporary in comparison to his dad's group, plays a variety of tunes, from '50s and '60s rock and roll to jazz and country. The Quentin Nisson Band sticks more to the standards and golden oldies, playing songs from such artists as Eddy Arnold, Glen Miller and Irving Berlin.
“He does play songs clear back from the Civil War era,” Bob Nisson said.
As much a fixture of Washington City as main thoroughfare Telegraph Street that runs between the two Nisson stores, Quentin Nisson and the other Nisson family musicians have played a part in the city's history for more than three-quarters of a century.
Quentin Nisson began playing piano for local dances at age 14, earning 50 cents each night for his services. Demand for his skills grew as he matured, and he played with many other local musicians over the years before the eventual forming of his band, the Quentin Nisson Band.
When he was released from Army service at the conclusion of World War II, Quentin Nisson took over one of Washington City's time-honored traditions, the serenade truck.
Every Fourth and 24th of July, beginning about 6 a.m., the Nissons and other musicians from Washington City would load up in what came to be known as the serenade truck. Led by Quentin Nisson, the musicians would wake the city's sleeping citizens with old traditional tunes like “In the Good Old Summertime.” And if the music wasn't enough to rouse residents, an old cannon rolling along with the serenade truck was!
“They used to have a cannon that went along with it and scared a lot of people,” Bob Nisson said. “The cannon would follow the truck around, and 'Boom!' You'd hear some music, and then 'Boom!' It was quite a sight and quite a lot of excitement.”
Quentin Nisson headed up the serenade truck from the ’40s until the mid-’90s, carrying on a tradition dating back to the pioneers.
“According to the history, they were doing it back in the past,” Bob Nisson said. “It was a serenade wagon back then!”
Some years, the serenade truck would travel through both Washington and St. George. As both communities grew, however, the old truck and leader Quentin Nisson could no longer keep up, and the tradition reached its end.
“The town's overgrown him, I think,” Bob Nisson said. “We used to go all around town and canvass the town, and then we'd come back up to the park.”
Nowadays, on Independence and Pioneer Days, the Quentin Nisson band stays in one spot, under the shade of the gazebo at the old Veterans Park, and Washington's residents travel there to hear them play.
Going strong as Washington City's piano man, Quentin Nisson, who will be 89 in August, intends to continue playing until the cows come home, and maybe even longer.
“As long as my fingers'll work, I guess. And my mind!” he said.
And his sons and other family members aren't calling it quits anytime soon, either; they intend to carry on the musical traditions Quentin Nisson has set for them for perhaps another 75 years!

The Quentin Nisson Band plays at Winter Haven RV Resort in Washington every Saturday and at the St. George Senior Center every Tuesday. To book the Quentin Nisson Band for an event, contact Quentin Nisson at 673-3395. To book The Nisson Band, contact Garth Nisson at Nissons Foodtown, 673-9546.

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