Colorado Christmas w/ Jimmy Ibbotson and Bobby Mason at Aspen Public Radio

Aspen Public Radio jammed with 2 Aspen musical legends on the Check 1,2 program hosted by Daniel Shaw. Both long-time Aspenites, Jimmy Ibbotson and Bobby Mason had a great time sharing stories and playing a few tunes. Jimmy, most famous for his turn in Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Bobby for Starwood played with many great bands in Aspen in the 70's such as The Eagles and John Denver. Later in the show, they were joined by a few friends to belt out a couple holiday favorites including COLORADO CHRISTMAS (see the vid below). You can listen to the entire show by clicking ASPEN PUBLIC RADIO.

Thanks for Rob St. Mary for keeping AspenSpin in the loop.

Sound Check w/ Brother's Keeper, APR and John Popper.

John Popper let it all hang out in Aspen.Just another pre-season Wednesday in Aspen and my non-smart phone was blowing up.  AspenSpin's friends at Aspen Public Radio called to invite me to the Brother's Keeper sound check at Belly Up Aspen.   Aspen Public Radio an affiliate of NPR was debuting their new live broadcast radio program called Sound Check.  APR is planning a series of live radio Sound Check shows at local music venues featuring a wide variety of artists.

Click 4 pix.  Brother's Keeper w/ Popper

My first question was "who's Brother's Keeper"?  Brother's Keeper is new band featuring a bunch of local and semi-local professional musicians.  Their collective "Americana" or "Roots" sound has been honed by years on the road and in countless studio sessions. The  Brother's Keeper  line-up in Aspen includes special guest JOHN POPPER, the singer and harp player of Blue's Traveler fame, JONO MANSON on vocals & guitar, MICHAEL JUDE on vocals and bass, JOHN MICHEL on drums and vocals.  singer-guitarist SCOTT REDNOR and ripping guitarist ROB EATON, Jr.  Popper needs no introduction to Aspen or to music fans.  Manson is a veteran of the NYC music scene.  Jude and Michel have played with John Oates for several years and can boast about their long list of musical collaborators.  Rednor, a veteran player is well known in the Vail Valley and Rob Eaton, Jr. the youngest member of the band simply rips on the guitar.   Brother's Keeper is a collaborative effort and they have been playing regularly at Shakedown Bar in Vail...which Jude called the "mini Belly Up".

Brother's Keeper started as a side project for the guys...but has evolved into much more.  The band is influenced musically by classic rock, rhythm and blues and folk music. Manson described their sound as Americana.   Every man in the band loves to sing and they love to sing together and they revel in their own harmonies.

The Aspen Public Radio radio show and the sound check went very smoothly for this group of musical vets.  Host Daniel Shaw interacted with the band in between songs.   The whole thing was broadcast live on APR, 91.5 on your radio dial in Aspen and 90.9 in Snowmass and various other frequencies in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.

The show that followed at Belly Up was awesome. A full house of locals made it seem like home. Brother's Keeper played a vast selection of their original tunes, a couple of Blues Traveller numbers and some covers.  My favorites were Keep on Burning, Days Go By,  Love the One You're With and The Weight.  

Brother's Keeper has a new record in the can.  It's coming out in February but has not yet been officially named.  The songs were composed by 5 guys sitting in a room at Manson's studio in Sante Fe.  Then Brother's Keeper went South to record.  They camped out in a Civil War era plantation near Memphis and recorded at the famous Ardent Studios that has produced albums for Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and White Stripes.

Pre-season in Aspen was quiet...but inside The Belly Up the musical fire was burning bright.

Click 4 pix.  Brother's Keeper w/ Popper

John Popper and Brother's Keeper in Aspen.

Brother's Keeper doing the first ever Sound Check...a live radio show from Aspen Public Radio.

Brother's Keeper team photo at Belly Up Aspen.