Ann Zimmerman

Plain folk?

Robin Farrell Edmunds
Contributing Writer

One constant throughout Ann Zimmerman's life has been the music — from when she was a young girl growing up in Salina listening to her Mom play Peter, Paul and Mary tunes up to now. She's just released her second CD, "Canned Goods."

But until recently, it's something that had always been kind of on the sidelines—something that was done on vacations, on weekends, on days off from her regular work.

Zimmerman, 42, first came to Manhattan in the mid-70s to attend K-State in elementary education. "Always and forever I wanted to be a teacher." She received her degree in 1979 and for two years taught in an inner Kansas City school.

She rented a second-story unfurnished apartment that contained a refrigerator, a stove and— not the norm—an upright piano, which she practiced on when not at work. Ann Zimmerman about her years at Harvard Law School

"I was 22, but looked 14," explains the still-pixieish Zimmerman. The two years spent at the school were stressful—it was an eye-opening experience that forced her to reconsider her first career choice.

She returned to Saline and went to work in a bank and also edited a catalog. A while later she bought an electronic keyboard. Then she caught the first couple acts at a music festival in town and immediately realized, "I can do better than that."

Zimmerman had sung in the church choir and all through high school. She'd even taken a choir class her freshman year at K-State, but since she was so musically ahead of her classmates and instruction moved slow, she never attempted another one.

Zimmerman bought some sound equipment, called a bar in town that offered musical entertainment and asked if she might sing. "The owner said I could play from eight to midnight—four hours. I scraped together every song I knew."

She played there regularly. "It was just for fun, but it paid me a little bit. I had a great time."

She was interning at the Saginaw Land Institute and trying to figure out what career track to get back on to when—on a lark—she decided to apply to law school. Zimmerman was astounded to discover that because of her high test scores she'd been accepted at both Harvard and Stanford.

In the fall of 1985, Zimmerman began the first of her three years at Harvard Law School. For a smalltown girl from the Midwest, it was a bit of a culture shock and disconcerting. "I was a fish out of water."

To help combat the feeling of being in such a different environment, Zimmerman fell back on that one constant. "I sang a lot. That was natural."

When a Kansas friend visited and they were looking for cheap entertainment, they stumbled on to people singing folk music in the Nameless Coffee House, in the basement of a church. She and her friend substituted in when one of the acts canceled.

"I didn't realize it then, but it was considered my audition." She continued singing there and at other places around the Boston area all through law school.

"Before I went to Harvard, I had decided to come back to Kansas when I finished,'' said Zimmerman, whose area of expertise is public interest law. She began working for Legal Services in Wichita in 1988, and during off-hours, played at the Iron Horse Concert Hall in nearby El Dorado.

Two years later she was hired by Flint Hills Legal Services here, so for the past nine years, she has called Manhattan home.

In 1993 she put out her first musical collection — entitled "Love and Weather" — in response to longtime fans asking, "Don't you have a tape? When are you going to get something out?"

She sang in the chorus for the Manhattan Arts Center community theatre's 1992 presentation of "Kiss Me, Kate" and four years later auditioned for their "The Sound of Music."

"Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to play Maria. I was terribly nervous at the audition, even though I've played in front of lots of people." She got the part and had a wonderful time with it.

Zimmerman took four months off work in 1995 to tour and sing. She played in Texas, Michigan and out East. "One woman had called and wanted to know if I could play at this coffee house in Greenwich Village, so I did."

During down time during the tour, Zimmerman wrote three songs which are on her new CD. Her first writing attempt was "Kaleidoscope," which is on that first release, along with five other Zimmerman tunes.

Last year was an extra busy time for Zimmerman. She began the year by deciding to work half-time so she would have more time to devote to her music. From August to November she recorded "Canned Goods" with the help of her friend, Kelly Werts. Another friend — and current school board member, Larry Weaver— does vocals on a couple of tunes, as he did on "Love and Weather."

Through the Kansas Arts Commission, she's held songwriting workshops for kids.

In March, she married Dexter Eggers— their semi-autobiographical romance is touched on "Cowboy" one of seven songs she wrote for the new CD.

Other Zimmerman originals on the CD include the jaunty "Absolute Zero"; the wistful, marching "Kiss on the Mouth"; the longing sentiment of "Wish You Were Here"; the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm of "Go Away and Die"; and "Rise up and Ride," which came from a theme song she was asked to write for a Friends (Quaker) National Conference.

Busy with numerous appearances around the country, Zimmerman can be seen at the Memorial Day weekend at the Salina Land Institute at their annual Prairie Festival, and on July 4th at the Keats community celebrationn.

Likened to singers Sarah McGlaughlin and Linda Ronstadt, Zimmerman describes her music as "folk — just because I sing personally to people and I tell stories."