Virnala found passion in music as a young child

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Back before David “Dave” Virnala’s family ever bought a television set, his parents would take him to the Liberty Theatre in New York Mills where they would watch movies about twice a month and he got his first taste of Elvis’ rockabilly and rock and roll music among other films.

“Then mom put me in the fourth grade band and I played coronet and stuck with it and made it all the way until I was a senior,” said Virnala. “But then my dad was in the hospital and I was the only son at home to do chores. I couldn’t make the pep rallies and they kicked me out of band, I was bummed.”

Virnala had also played guitar beginning at age eight with a cheap guitar that didn’t last very long, but he didn’t get serious about playing until he was in 10th grade when the senior high boys would play at the city hall and there would be live music on about two Fridays a month in NY Mills in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“Ever since I suppose ’69 I played guitar, but I just did it for my personal hobby,” said Virnala. “My cousin James and I would jam together and play at parties. We never got hired out, it was just fun. Before I graduated, I used to play popular songs that I could relate to. I never got too fancy with anything.”

While living in Henning, Virnala met a man from Michigan who was a talented finger-stylist and he learned some guitar techniques from him while being in the Thursday Night Blues Club together in the mid-1980s. He played with some musicians from Battle Lake and started playing at garage parties. From 1984 until about 1994, he also played annually at a Memorial Day event north of Underwood.

“That was a good time, a lot of people would show up,” Virnala said. “This guy from Michigan, he had a bar in Vining back in ’88 and we opened up for “Spider” John Koerner at Mable Murphy’s. I think we opened up for him another time too.”

“I used to come home after work when I worked for the Locker Plant in Mills back in 1972,” he continued. “I’d come home from work and play. I just did it as a hobby, and played some of my own stuff, but nothing I was ever satisfied with. It was always a hobby, a way to express myself and to relieve stress.”

Virnala became aware of the Longest Night Festival around its inception in 2008 and decided that he wanted to participate.

“The guy that got me going on that was Jamie Robinson, I don’t know how he knew I played, I’m not sure how that started, but back then I was working at Bell Hill Recovery, and I think I missed a couple years in a row, work got in the way, and then I decided to look ahead on the work calendar and take that night off.

“That’s when I started playing, it was something to do,” he continued. “I think the first or second time I ever played, I got a standing ovation, it surprised me, that’s never happened. I can’t believe the attendance, it’s always been well-attended, this last time too. It’s nice to have the Cultural Center in town.”

Virnala has since retired and his partner, Beverly, has passed away and health matters have tied him up at times, but still he finds solace in his music and always looks forward to playing at the Longest Night Festival, something he still plans to participate in at the end of 2026.

“I hope people go away feeling good,” he said of the Festival. “It’s been a variety of music going through there and I always try to do something different. I guess that’s why I did the Longest Night, just trying to keep myself engaged. It’s a good time, it’s a lot of fun.”