Sometimes opportunities pop up, and it feels silly not to take them. I’m making my first solo album.

In between trips out of town as a sideman for a handful of really special artists, I get the opportunity to play my original music at recurring monthly gigs around the CO Foothills. It’s a warm feeling: having venues to call home and audiences that can sing along to your original songs. However, at every show I have a disappointing answer to all of the sweet people who come up to the bandstand to ask “Where can I listen to these songs?”

“Well… you can’t” [insert slanty smile emoji or yellow shrug emoji guy here]

Over the course of doing this for almost 25 years, even after appearing on over one thousand recordings and having a comparably numerous tally of my original songs and compositions performed or recorded by other artists, I never got around to making a real solo album. The opportunities I’ve had to share my writing and my love for music throughout my life and career have been special and totally unreal, but somehow this box has gone unchecked for two and a half decades.

THE MATERIAL

At the end of the summer of 2022, I spent a week camping in Montana and Wyoming hoping to quell a dry writing spell through mainlining the vast beauty of the Mountain West outside of my immediate surroundings in Colorado. Even with the saturated direct-injection of beauty that I experienced during that trip, I settled into an over-populated campsite in Douglas, WY on the final day of my excursion without having written any new material. Following an afternoon nap, I awoke to footsteps outside of my tent. I opened up the tent flap expecting to see some kids running through my pad or a fellow camper chasing after a rain fly in the heavy wind. Much to my surprise, a beautiful pronghorn antelope stood entirely still, almost like a statue the camp staff put there to honor wildlife in the area, in front of the tent. Like a symbol… for something. I still haven’t really figured that out, but I suddenly felt a rush of inspiration that I’d not felt in a long time. On the drive back to Denver, songs started flooding into my brain and I immediately gathered together my favorite local musicians to help demo the material.

That collection, referred to colloquially by the handful of awesome people who come to almost all of my shows as the “Wyoming Songs”, blossomed into the 25-30 songs that dominate my current original sets at places like The Well in Conifer. Even with thousands of songs in my catalog, this is the first time I’ve ever had a solid set of songs that makes sense for me to perform as a band leader and vocalist. Things just fit.

It’s really amazing to be at a place like the Well and start up some of my songs like “Whiskey Alice”, “The Jackalope”, “Cheyenne”, “Feels Like the Existential Antelope Blues”, or “Hungover Your Smile”, and have people in the audience know them well enough that they get excited the moment the first verse hits. The support, interest, and involvement means the world. That’s what it’s all about, really. However, there has never been an opportunity for these songs to exist in their proper form outside of the gates of a performance with the guys in my trio at our favorite spots around the mountains.

Last April, I started recording scratch tracks in a local studio so that these songs could finally exist in a form where I can get them out into the world. Despite a great start, summer gigs took over and trips out of town made it impossible to get traction on the project.

Since then, life has continued to be crazy busy, but…

THE OPPORTUNITY

In between playing on the road, producing and booking for other artists, finishing my accounting degree, coaching my kid’s rec league basketball and football teams, and delivering groceries in Lakewood, the opportunity to record this album with all of my favorite musicians presented itself magically. The studio time is booked and the players are ready to convene throughout the summer to make this thing happen.

Since the sessions have come together so magically and quickly, there are some financial loose ends we are trying to tie up prior to finishing the album this summer. While I’m not looking to crowd fund the entire cost of the album, I’m welcoming friends, collaborators, and family members to get involved with the process and help out with some of the funds that go towards transportation, hiring musicians, last minute equipment needs, and keeping everyone involved fed and comfy.

Anything raised over the goal of this campaign goes into a pool to be divided up equally as EXTRA pay for the skilled artists who are putting their valuable time and skills into this project. If you have the means to help out and contribute, we will make sure to send you a physical copy of the album when it comes out and you will see your name in the liner notes! Thanks for considering being part of this journey.