The Mountain-Ear Podcast

[As a group, Canyon Collective] doesn’t write structured songs for their performances, instead improvising their material together on stage. They’ll talk amongst themselves about what style of piece they’ll focus on in their next performance, then they’ll perform it on the spot, riffing off of each other in the process. Recently, the group had the opportunity to perform in a mineshaft for a privat...

Zach Hedstrom moved to Fourmile Canyon around five years ago. Around that time, he and other musicians in the area started hosting gatherings to jam and enjoy each other’s company. Eventually, this gathering of people started playing local venues as a group, and thus, Canyon Collective was born. The name Canyon Collective comes from the rotating lineup of the group. While there are core members wh...

Regular correspondent Maryann Rosen comes back with another spotlight episode on a town in the Peak to Peak area in Colorado, this time focusing on Rollinsville! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak! Additional page...

In this very special episode of Audio Library, Celia Wilson reads six articles from the April 10, 2025, edition of The Mountain-Ear! You can find all of the digital articles read and links referenced in this episode below! Peak Perspectives: Speaking from the heart by Barbara Hardt Music of the Mountains: Canyon Collective by Jamie Lammers Lady Eagles Soccer undefeated by Dave Gibson Umoja Women&a...

In this episode of The Mountain-Ear Podcast, our regular correspondent Maryann Rosen shares stories about National Poetry Month! Total Access by Ballistic Kisses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxpiCNlvtQ 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news a...

In this very special episode of The Mountain-Ear Podcast, Jamie Lammers, Maryann Rosen, and Dango Rose join forces once again to cover the history and legacy of the Colorado band Elephant Revival! Note: Due to re-editing of this episode, the order of the previous episode and this one have been switched. Our theme song is courtesy of singer-songwriter Brittney Wagner. Stream her record  Better off...

This is a special broadcast brought to you by The Mountain-Ear Podcast featuring an unedited recording of a meet-and-greet meeting centering around the Cross and Caribou Mines. Note: Due to re-editing in the next episode, the order of this episode and the next episode have been switched. Our theme song is courtesy of singer-songwriter Brittney Wagner. Stream her record  Better off Dead  here. Supp...

Andrew Sturtz has written songs for over twenty years, releasing projects but never focusing on touring those projects. He’s lived in Boulder for nearly a decade, and through playing open mics and other events in the town, he met people who have since become close musical and personal companions. Now, Sturtz has christened a group with his last name, a quartet that includes himself on guitar, Cour...

Samson “Sam” Grisman has been surrounded by music his entire life. From a young age, he fell in love with the music played around him by family, friends, and especially his father, David. David, a multi-instrumentalist, has performed for decades with and/or alongside Peter Rowan, Red Allen, Maria Muldaur, Darol Anger, Doc Watson, Mike Marshall, Tony Rice, and Andy Statman. David has called his par...

On today's special segment brought to you by correspondent Maryann Rosen, we're spotlighting the incredible town of Nederland! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak! Additional pages are linked below. If yo...

Daniel C. Jones has always been drawn to pedal steel guitar. In the early 1970s, he fell in love with the country rock scene at the time. What stuck out to him, though, wasn’t the Nashville country scene – it was the alternative country scene. Jones loved the sound of performers such as Jerry Garcia, his project New Riders of the Purple Sage, and Peter E. Kleinow (or “Sneaky Pete”). In 1971, Jones...

This audio library segment from Rachel Kobi focuses on important safety guidelines involving school buses in the area! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak! Additional pages are linked below. If you want to be invol...

Some of Bryan Bielanski’s earliest memories occurred in his crib, where he listened to the rock and roll records his parents and sister played. He’s always been in love with music because of this, and he fell in love with it completely by his teenage years. Two albums in particular inspired Bielanski’s journey into music: The Beatles' self-titled album (commonly known as The White Album ) and...

This segment contains the entirety of the keynote address given in Central City by U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert on February 21, 2025, during the Fourth Annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Elks Lodge, hosted by the Gilpin County Republican Committee. This segment also contains the reading of an article about the dinner written by Mindy Leary for the February 27, 2025 edition of The Mountain-Ear....

Together, Sky Kelsey and Marty Smith serve as founding members of the traditional Irish band The Safehouse. Kelsey and Smith have been the consistent leading members of the group and have played together for many years. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, they honed their sound as a duo for the first time. Kelsey and his then-girlfriend (now-wife) stayed with Smith for a few months,...

Chef Oscar Padilla has been working in and running restaurants for over twenty-five years. Born in Los Angeles, he grew up in Mexico City with his grandmother, observing and admiring her culinary techniques, particularly her preparation of traditional Mexican dishes. Inspired to pursue a culinary career, he studied and worked in Mexico City, establishing his reputation when he joined the culinary...

In this transition from February into March, correspondent Maryann Rosen tells stories of notable women of Colorado to usher in Women's History Month! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak! Additional pages are...

Michael Lenssen (also known as Mickey Lenny) is a multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Denver. He plays trumpet, cornet, and multiple synthesizer-based instruments (including the Electric Wind Instrument), but he didn’t start out on those instruments. His brother, two years older than him, started playing the violin when he was about five, and Lenny quickly followed suit. Lenny pl...

 In the previous segment of The Mountain-Ear Podcast, we brought you Black History Month articles from the paper. Now, correspondent Maryann Rosen shares more stories for Black History Month connected to Colorado! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring...

As the first of two dedicated segments of The Mountain-Ear Podcast for Black History Month 2025, writer Sara Sandstrom reads two articles about Black history in the Peak to Peak area from The Mountain-Ear! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news an...

Will Hansen has been performing pedal steel guitar for various bands in his home base of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the majority of his musical career. Over the last couple of years, he’s leaned more into performing for his solo project, Old Pup. When Hansen first started performing as Old Pup near the end of the 2010s, he scheduled the odd show here and there outside of his band performances. Howev...

As this podcast's schedule gets back on track, here is another Audio Library segment for the Discover Colorado column in the February 20th, 2025 issue of The Mountain Ear! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak!...

Before getting this podcast's regular schedule back on track, we're reading an article from the Valentine's Day 2025 issue of The Mountain Ear! 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 Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak! Additional pages a...

Brendan Forrest considers the folk tradition as his primary music pursuit. He focuses on bluegrass and Americana-adjacent styles, including singer-songwriter and flatpicking as a solo artist and roots with a full backing band. Forrest has been playing traditional music from a young age. He started playing the highland bagpipes at ten years old, falling in love with Celtic music through his Irish-A...

Music has been an important part of Laurie Dameron’s life since childhood. Her mom started teaching her how to sing as a toddler, even teaching her and her sister three-part harmonies to sing on car trips. She started piano lessons around the age of four, but as a child, she didn’t like being told what to do. Her mother encouraged her to try various endeavors, including ballet, tap dancing, acting...