Nick Hutchinson

Mar 4, 2025 | westword.com | Nick Hutchinson

A sizzling helping of roots-steeped music is usually what warms audiences up at the traditionally snowy WinterWonderGrass festival in Steamboat. But with this year's balmy, spring-like temperatures and clear blue sky, audiences were able to soak up a mother-lode of string-based artists without a bag of hand warmers.

Mar 3, 2025 | westword.com | Nick Hutchinson

As an aspiring songwriter and guitar picker, Max Mackey has paid his dues over the years. The fifty-year-old musician, who has contributed to a variety of rootsy acts in Colorado during the past three decades, has just released his first full-length album and is marking the occasion with performances by his self-named outfit, the Max Mackey Band. "My grandfather was a musician from Tennessee," shares Mackey, who moved to Gunnison from Alaska to attend Western Colorado University.

Feb 25, 2025 | westword.com | Nick Hutchinson

Lettuce has been bridging musical worlds since the group's original members met in 1992, when they attended a summer program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. "Let us play!" was their early pitch to club owners back East, and it gave rise to their produce-themed band moniker. More than three decades later, the skilled jammers, three of whom are now Mile High City residents, are as enthusiastic as ever about making music and taking an improvisational approach to their sound.

Jan 7, 2025 | westword.com | Nick Hutchinson

bassist Although Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995, and Phil Lesh joined him in the great gig in the sky last year, the music of the Grateful Dead has continued to proliferate, just as it has ever since the former jugband first began to inspire its audience in the '60s with a unique blend of roots, rock and jazz-like exploration.

Nov 26, 2024 | westword.com | Nick Hutchinson

Over the course of its more than a quarter-of-a-century lifespan, Yonder Mountain String Band has released eleven studio albums that capture its enduring appeal and creative songwriting abilities. Fans of the Nederland-spawned jamgrass outfit might hold up its debut platter, Elevation (1999), or Town by Town (2001)as standouts among these releases. The band's early efforts included the late mandolin player and songwriter Jeff Austin, of course.