The Mountain-Ear Podcast

Vocalist Sonya Leigh Surrett played piano and drums as a kid. As an adult, she wondered one night how musicians joined bands. By chance, a band clocked her at a karaoke night singing “Dog and Butterfly” by the rock group Heart. She talked to the guitar player, mentioned she had bought a new electronic drum set, and received an offer to play drums for the group. They liked her enough to bring her i...

The tribute band Rolling Harvest is coming to the Gold Hill Inn for the third year in a row, once again celebrating the songbook of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. The band, named from a combination of the Dylan song “Like a Rolling Stone” and the Young song “Harvest,” focuses solely on performing these two artists, with both of their catalogs being so immense that even multiple shows wouldn’t allow the...

*This interview was conducted on August 17, 2024, not August 18, as stated in the episode. Scott Pepper and Kirk Marsh have been performing for the majority of their lives. Pepper has been into magic since he won a talent competition at ten years old, and Marsh attended the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College just before it closed in 1997. Both have performed in many venues, parti...

Salome (usually spelled without an accent above the “e”) is a Hebrew name, derived from the word “shalom,” meaning “peace.” It’s a Biblical name given to a disciple, as well as a princess, in the New Testament. With this context, the parents of Dr. Joy Adams considered naming their daughter Salome. However, her dad was afraid of other kids calling her “salami” instead. Ultimately, they changed her...

Andy Reiner plays the fiddle and sings. His wife, Joy Adams, plays the cello and banjo and sings. Together, along with a changing lineup of various friends they’ve made along the way, they form the group Half Pelican. The two have known each other for almost ten years, and near the beginning of this time, they were a part of the Pelican Quartet. At one point, Reiner visited Adams at graduate schoo...

With less than a month to go before summer turns into autumn, guest correspondent Maryann Rosen has some awesome ideas to make your fall exciting! Also, tune in to hear about this week's movie at the Backdoor Theater and for a celebration of The Mountain-Ear's award-winning success at the Colorado Press Convention! Sound Effect by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/sspsurvival-22...

The River Arkansas initially formed when frontman Mike Clark (guitar, banjo, and singer-songwriter) and Macon Terry (bass) met as members of other bands in 2014, and realized soon after that they both lived in Colorado Springs. Clark and Terry ended up performing in the studio together and releasing the band’s debut album, Golden Light. Terry then brought players from his own band Clouds and Mount...

Tober Schorr has been studying West African Mande music since 1999. He started playing drum sets when he was about 16, and later, he would try the djembe. He served in the Peace Corps in Mozambique before moving to Boulder a little over 20 years ago. One of the reasons he moved there was because of the African drum and dance scene that was so prevalent there. Once he moved there, he started studyi...

The complex rhythms of jazz and tastes of wine complement each other during this annual event set in the mountain town of Nederland. Committed to elevating diverse music styles and promoting Colorado wineries, distilleries, breweries, and non-alcoholic makers, “Ned Jazz Wine” is known for exciting both the ears and the palate. The day-long festival gathers jazz performers from Colorado to New York...

Boulder resident Jeremy Mohney has always had a passion for swing music. His grandfather often drove him around playing tapes of swing bands led by the likes of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Artie Shaw. He played in his school’s jazz band, and he wanted to keep playing that music style once he left school. He’s been gigging since his high school days in Boulder High, and he started The Jeremy Mo...

Troy Yanel has been playing guitar since he was eight or nine years old. He started listening to records with his brother at a young age, and when he and his parents went to Chicago one year, he ended up buying a used guitar. He’s been playing ever since, studying classical guitar at Georgia College & State University before moving into music therapy. He ended up getting his undergraduate and...

Let's welcome back history correspondent Maryann Rosen as she discusses various events you can attend across the Peak to Peak area before the summer ends! Ambiance Credit: Sound Effect from <a href="https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=72075">Pixabay</a> Our theme song is courtesy of...

Tim Merkel only performs under the name “Timothy” because when he initially set up his website, the domain timmerkel.com had already been taken (as of this writing, that URL now pulls up a 404 Not Found error). Outside of his performances, though, everyone who knows him personally calls him Tim. Merkel started playing guitar and writing songs around twelve or thirteen years old while living in Chi...

 David Lawrence has been a part of many bands, but for his band David Lawrence and the Spoonful, he primarily focuses on what he calls Roots Americana music with a little blues, honky tonk, and gypsy swing thrown in. The band started when upright bass player Gary Sloan recommended Lawrence to play with Coleman Smith, a touring violinist who was looking for a vocalist and guitarist. The two ended u...

In the longest episode of the podcast so far, we're going through the history of the Ned Writers Group, which is currently being hosted at the Nederland Community Library, and hearing perspectives from people who have joined the group! Our theme song is courtesy of singer-songwriter Brittney Wagner. Stream her record  Better off Dead  here. Support the show Thank you for listening to The Moun...

Everyone in the Denver-made bluegrass band Jake Leg (guitarist and vocalist Eric Wiggs, mandolin player and vocalist Dylan McCarthy, and brothers Justin and Aaron Hoffenberg respectively on fiddle and bass) knew each other before forming the group. They played together in jams and occasionally in pickup gigs and other informal performances. They started playing more structured performances as the...

Before the episode starts, the host takes a minute to address the various fires that have started in the Front Range, including his personal experience, and reminds everyone to stay safe and follow the fire restriction guidelines. Vanimal Kingdom started as a writing project by bass player Van Powell during his time at the University of Arkansas. Drummer Aaron Sandry, who has known Van for about t...

While the summer days have been rolling by, a committee of volunteers have been periodically gathering, toiling away, preparing for the first big weekend in August, when the Town of Nederland celebrates its 150th anniversary. Members of the Nederland Area Historical Society, Nederland Area Seniors, Nederland Lions Club, and the Nederland Community Presbyterian Church, along with representatives of...

The woman known in her performances as Shanna in a Dress (you can learn the story of her real name by seeing her live) started her musical journey at the University of Virginia, where she learned how to play guitar for the first time. She says teaching herself guitar was how she procrastinated studying while working towards a kinesiology major with a concentration in exercise physiology. An Ingrid...

 It’s February 2013. Sarah Banker had just graduated college in December of 2012 with a background in cultural anthropology and interpersonal communications. She had tried volunteering for many non-profit organizations, but she has always been interested in the performing arts, doing dance and theater at her performing arts high school and theater in college. She decides to take guitar lessons wit...

Circus Foundry: Carnival games and concessions will be set up around Chipeta Park for this second annual family-friendly fundraising event hosted by The Carousel of Happiness on Saturday, July 27, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  A family-friendly show begins at 1 p.m. and an afternoon show at 4 p.m. To purchase tickets, email info@carouselofhappiness.org , call 303-258-3457, or head to https://carou...

Eli Lev promotes the vibe of his music and shows as sounding like “if Johnny Cash and Fleetwood Mac were on a road trip in the redwood forest with Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson in the back.” He’s been writing “silly songs” for as long as he can remember, joining bands in middle school and high school and even joining a cover band while living in the European country of Andorra (he’s also lived in Is...

Kylie Brock has been singing for as long as she can remember. She first started singing with her mother in church, even though she jokes that they turned off her microphone until she got older. Along with her mother, her brothers were also musically inclined, so she had a family of musical influences to inspire her. She also cites many Motown and Soul influences throughout her life, including Stev...

From a Letter to the Editor by Stephen LeFavier, " Dear Nederland Residents, As you may know, TEENS, Inc. is proposing to build an early childhood education/care center (ECE) in Nederland on town-owned property (750 W. 5th St.). This vacant lot, located in the Dyer’s neighborhood 150 feet from the fire station, is known as the Old Town Shop Site because up until the mid-2000’s it served as th...

Vocalist Chris Fogler moved to Colorado when the COVID-19 pandemic started, and he had many friends in the area. One of these friend’s partners lived with guitarist Dan Thurnhoffer, and Thurnhoffer, Fogler, and their mutual friend made a point to get together and play music every week. Ultimately, they formed the group Sycamore Porch Pickers, with the mutual friend eventually dropping out and bein...