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Osborne had just entered the music scene, while Voss was established as an "old time country vocalist." She was touring the country and recording records. With similar interests, this duo in 1976 became "partners in both life and music," Osborne said.
The partnership lasted throughout the years as the two collaborated on five albums and supported each other's solo endeavors.
"Me getting together with Hoyle had to do with me wanting to branch out and do more," Voss said.
They continually tour the country and present different concerts at music festivals and theaters.
"Ragtime, the Century" is a show they performed in the summer of 2007 in Winter Harbor, Maine. This Friday a "shorter version" will be performed at 7 p.m. on the patio at the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park.
The performance is a rare one for San Juan County, because these nationally known folk musicians that live in Aztec typically perform at venues outside the area. Osborne is known for his ragtime piano concerts and Voss for her timeless vocals.
Together in the ragtime show, they begin in with the release of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" from 1899. "That is when ragtime burst into the mainstream," Osborne said.
The musical couple continues with early highlights of ragtime, which died out as a "dominant popular style" by 1920, he
Despite a "dying out" of this grand musical style, Osborne said there are "echoes of ragtime" in all music, because it was through ragtime that "African American rhythm or syncopation became part of music."
"If it doesn't have syncopation, it doesn't sound right," Osborne said. "We explore all of those echoes of ragtime up until 1990 in the show."
While ragtime is the focus of the Friday performance, Voss and Osborne typically perform American Roots music. It is the music that told stories of this country throughout the ages.
"It was our good fortune to be growing up when folk music was popular," Osborne said. "When you pay attending to Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, they are telling what was going on, and we learn from history."
Osborne likes to approach all music as "historical artifacts" that allow him to look into the composer's mind and understand what the composer was feeling at the time he wrote the song. Those aspects of emotion then are interpreted by Voss and Osborne and presented to the audience through singing and instrumentation.
"Singing is so good for you. It's such a basic human thing," Voss said.
This is a message she is sharing during the summer with children in the Aztec School District.
"We're doing singing sessions focusing on songs that have to do with nature," Voss said.
"We call it singing green" Osborne added.
The duo encourages young children to lift their voices in song and not be scared or uncertain about music. That is because there are basic skills developed through singing, according to Osborne, who said those include being able to stand in front of people and get your voice and message out with ease.
Voss compared singing folk music to breathing.
"It's really hard to define what or who I am, but I will always be a folk singer. It's in me and part of my blood and guts as an American," she said.
Voss and Osborne's "Ragtime the Century" concert is free and open to the public at 7 p.m. Friday on that patio at the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park.
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