Country-western favorites and folk ballads, a bit of bluegrass, some pop and a few nostalgia-evoking Beatles numbers were all part of a recent rehearsal by the Village String Band for a concert Nov. 15 at Clubhouse 5.

Guitars and ukuleles, bass, piano, fiddle, banjo, some keyboards and drums were in the mix, and singers added eclectic touches.

Judging by the lineup, the band plans to please an ever wider-ranging audience.

“Musically, we have a lot of variety, from the Lovin’ Spoonful’s ‘Do You Believe in Magic’ to the Beatles’ ‘In My Life’ to Harry Belafonte’s ‘Island in the Sun,’ and songs by Hank Williams,” said guitarist Debbie Byrne, who joined the String Band in 2016. “People walk by when we rehearse (in Clubhouse 1 Art Room) and stop and listen. It’s a lot of fun.”

The roughly 30-year-old band also has a wide age range, and the musicians have varying skill levels.

The band consists of more than 20 musicians, in their 50s to their 80s. They include professionals who play in other groups – the Woods Combo and RetroFits, Rock of Ages and Bluegrass Outlaws – alongside intermediate enthusiasts. There are also relative beginners – as long as they can keep up with the band, they’re in.

Enthusiasm is the glue that binds the musicians, and everyone gets to chime in and help each other over the rough spots. All are free to suggest new music or songs, which the group then votes on.

“It’s a democratic process,” said guitarist Debbie Smith-Shank.

The String Band usually performs once a year, in the spring, but this year there’s a second performance, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15, at noon in Clubhouse 5. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Admission is $10. Bring your own food and beverage.

The band isn’t just a Village club but part of the Saddleback Emeritus music program. Emeritus instructor Alan Levin, a bass and guitar player who plays in the Woods Combo, leads the String Band. His aim is to get his students/band members concert-ready.

“I enjoy everybody learn and grow,” he said. His own musical preferences lean toward 1960s music — Beatles, Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, Monkeys and others who defined that decade, he said.

String Band President Sharone Rosen plays guitar and banjo and sings, and that’s just the tip of her iceberg. She’s been a synagogue cantor for 30 years, and she also knows how to yodel.

“I have fun playing music with other people – it’s music that I don’t play anywhere else,” Rosen said.

“I’ve been classically trained and took voice in middle school. In college I majored in musical theater, and after college I became interested in liturgical music,” she said.

Rosen’s career also included a 30-year stint as a radio DJ playing country, rock and classical music as well as reporting on traffic. In her 40s, she earned a doctorate in chiropractic.

Along with her husband, pianist Mark Hochberg, Rosen also has a show on Village TV called “Home With the Hochbergs,” in which the couple showcase their love of different genres of music.

Rosen’s latest musical endeavor involves an all-female string band called Feisty Women, a quintet featuring a violinist, bass player and three guitars.

“I wanted something fun and interesting. We started rehearsing before COVID, and now are just getting started,” she said.

Add to all this, Rosen also acts in “Tales From the Woods,” a soap opera on Village TV that she co-writes.

With his wife already in the String Band, and he and Levin both in the Woods Combo, Mark Hochberg figured joining the string group was a given. He’s been playing piano since age 5, he said, but he plays largely by ear, rather than reading music.

“With the String Band, I have three or four chords and, when I hear a song, I can mostly play it,” he said.

Smith-Shank describes herself like Byrne as “an old guitar-playing hippie.”

“I have been playing guitar for 50 years but had other jobs, and life took over,” she said.

A former arts administrator and visual arts professor at Northern Illinois University and Ohio State University, Smith-Shank moved to the Village after she retired since her parents had lived here and her sister lived nearby in Aliso Viejo. These days, Smith-Shank teaches acrylic painting at Clubhouse 4.

“I joined the Village String Band to follow a path that I put aside to pursue my career,” she said. “The moment I walked into the door, that was my prize.”

She praised fellow band members for being willing to help her and rejoiced in playing familiar songs.

“It’s so good for health and our joy, and we get better all the time,” she said.

For information about the Village String Band, contact Debbie Byrne at dbyrnewest@ gmail.com or 949-610-9842.