Send us Fan Mail

For many years, Andrew McConathy worked as a children’s ski instructor at Vail’s Golden Peak, and after enough time had passed, he felt he wanted to find a different way to make a living. He started playing music on the side with two friends of his from the slopes, skiing by day and playing bluegrass together at night.

He and Derek Shields had grown up ski-racing together in Vail, attending Middlebury College in Vermont to ski race before McConathy ultimately dropped out. Once both had moved to Vail on their own time, they started skiing again and playing together. The other friend, Ted Welles, ended up joining the two, and McConathy (acoustic guitarist and vocalist), Shields (upright bassist), and Welles (drummer) ultimately formed the first line-up of Drunken Hearts, playing in Welles’s basement and at open mics in Vail.

McConathy remembers that the band name came from opening up a book and being inspired by the song title “Drunken Hearted Boy” from the Allman Brothers, a similar process to how The Grateful Dead got their name. It also emulated the song title “Drunken Hearted Man” by Robert Johnson, and McConathy remembers that the band originally went back and forth between Andrew McConathy and the Drunken Hearts and The Drunken Hearts before finally truncating it to its current name, Drunken Hearts.

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In today's Weekly Wednesday episode, we're centering the spotlight on two local Halloween celebrations coming up very soon! The third and likely final Haunted Stage Stop event opens on October 18th, and Andy Reiner talks to us about that grand finale before Brent Warren promotes his own Halloween magic show as Doc Murdock at Teens Inc. Be sure to tune in for more details!

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Exciting events will happen in the Peak to Peak area very soon! In this episode, we focus on two of them as we bring Maryann Yustas onto the podcast to talk about the First Annual Halloween Spooktacular on Central City's Main Street and bring Cari Minor and Ray Smith back for the third time to talk about their upcoming songwriter's showcase at the Very Nice Brewing Company location in Nederland. Stay tuned to learn more about both events (including the host's involvement in the showcase)!

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Christina “Redd” Daugherty focused on open mics for a large part of her performing history but stopped performing as frequently during her approximately decade-long position as a high school English teacher at L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. After the COVID-19 pandemic, however, she started performing at open mics again. 

At these open mics, she met and became friends with Katie Adams and Colleen d’Alelio, who had moved to Knoxville together after the pandemic and after performing in a group called Quality Code Names. A mutual friend, bassist Will Ross, introduced Daugherty to Gavin Gregg. Ross ultimately performed with both in a trio formation called Redd the Band, but Ross and Daugherty have stopped performing together due to creative differences. 

Soon after this new group of four met, though, they collectively realized they had similar musical goals and started playing together almost instantly.

Daugherty had already started focusing on music full-time. After taking a music marketing class taught by Adam Ivy, she worked more closely with him and took much of his advice. Her students submitted on her behalf a video of her performing to the team of American Idol, and Daughterty ultimately received a confidence boost after placing in the Top 40 of Season 19.

She also released various singles under her nickname Redd that she later compiled into the physical release Monsters & Mothers, and by the time of the release of that album, she had quit teaching entirely to pursue music. Now, with a group of people that gelled together quickly, Daugherty (lead singer and rhythm guitarist), Gregg (mandolin player and lead/backup vocalist), Adams (bassist, upright bassist, and backup vocalist), and d’Alelio (cellist and lead/backup vocalist) decided to form the group now known as Redd and the Paper Flowers.

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

With October finally here and spooky season just around the corner, The Mountain-Ear Podcast's Maryann Rosen brings you tales of the cemetaries around the Peak to Peak area and the stories that surround the locations and the people that have been laid to rest there.

Here's the link to the Eldora event for easier access: https://www.eldora.com/activities-amenities/events/all-events/fall-fun-run-10-13-24/

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Brandy Ray vividly remembers the date on which her current primary project, Brandywine and the Mighty Fines, performed live for the first time: March 6, 2020. This is because, a week later, COVID-19 caused the world to shut down. The band could finally kick themselves into gear once regulations were lifted, starting with a handful of gigs and booking more and more as they cemented the lineup.

The core lineup of the band consists of Brandy on mandolin and vocals, her husband Joshua Ray on guitar and vocals, and Matthew Schexnyder on guitar and vocals, with all three serving as the primary songwriters as well. Early in the band’s run, Emerson Lamm contributed banjo and Lena Dow contributed bass and vocals. Currently, Maya Fabrikant will often contribute vocals and fiddle, Joe Gibb will often contribute bass, and Neil Mitchell will often contribute drums. However, the Rays and Schexnyder are the consistent core members.

The name started as an in-joke from Brandy, or “Brandywine” herself. Due to her extroverted personality and excitement for interacting with others, as well as her consistent role in behind-the-scenes management, the band has crafted themselves around her being a central role. She jokingly called the other members the “Mighty Fines” because they have ultimately had longer experiences performing music. Gibb studied bass, and Joshua and Schexnyder have played guitar for most of their lives.

However, Brandy had only started playing the mandolin a year before the band formed, having dabbled in music only occasionally throughout her life before then. Joshua knew Brandy loved to sing, so he bought her a mandolin and encouraged her to explore a new avenue of her musicality. She hasn’t looked back since.

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore first met in 1981 and had both been in several bands in the bar scene before then. They had sometimes performed together but hadn’t fully leaned into being a duo. After getting married and having children, they realized it was much harder to perform in the bar scene than it was before. They decided to lean more into performances as a duo in 2006, when their daughters had graduated high school. They primarily perform American Roots music.

O’Brien grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where she frequently attended local performances of famous artists. At a young age, she learned to play piano and sing along with it. In high school, she and her brother Tim performed various songs (especially from Peter, Paul, and Mary) at churches and coffeehouses.

Meanwhile, Moore grew up in Philadelphia, where, at the age of 12, he saw The Beatles performing on the Ed Sullivan Show and became completely absorbed in the idea of music. His mother had already been a pianist and his dad a classical choral singer, and that Christmas, he got his first guitar and (coincidentally) started learning songs from Peter, Paul, and Mary.

The two love being able to share music with an audience, and they love being able to perform music together in the studio. O’Brien loves the process of getting the song just right in the studio, and Moore loves the technical aspects of recording in the studio. The two have various solo and duo albums, including their duo albums 900 Baseline and Saints and Sinners, and even though they sometimes have a hard time getting categorized, they are always passionate about the music they create.

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

As we transition into October, it's time to give a spotlight to an advertising campaign we've been promoting in the podcast for the last couple of months, so here to talk about the Forward Together Campaign is Alisa Witt from Gilpin County Public Health!

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Nat Lefkoff has been playing music and writing songs since he was around the age of nine – songs which he now considers terrible. For him, music started as a hobby and developed into a passion, and he performed in several bands throughout junior high and high school. He found himself getting more comfortable performing in local bars and other venues, and eventually, he moved to Washington to attend college, where he became involved in more projects.

Around his college years, he started DIY touring of his own projects, and in 2017, he released his debut self-titled album. Just before the COVID pandemic hit, he was gearing up to play music full-time after his career as a teacher in the Santa Cruz area. Once the pandemic came, he had to put his full-time music career on hold for a while, eventually getting a job in disaster relief at quarantine centers and homeless shelters.

After some time, he worried he was compromising his dreams for a stable life. However, one day a song came to him in a dream. He recorded the chorus to this song, which ultimately developed into the title track of his sophomore album, Heavy Lifting, and took this as a sign to finally play music full-time.

Over the last three years, he has found an immense amount of support among the musicians he has befriended and performed with, and he still plans on focusing on music full-time for the rest of his life. He cites Neil Young as an early influence, remembering that his dad would play Young’s songs in the car and pause to emphasize great lyrics.

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

For this week's Wednesday episode of The Mountain-Ear Podcast, we hear from artist Marc McClish (a photographer of what he calls "chromascapes") and curator Annie Thayer (who has also focused on painting, particularly landscapes, since 2001) to hear about the upcoming opening ceremony for the Arts at the center event at the Nederland Community Center! 

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 involved in the podcast or paper, contact:

Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected]

Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected]

Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected]

General inquiries: [email protected]

Head to our website for all of the latest news.

Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online.

Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website.

Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear

Listen and watch on YouTube today.

Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout.

Thank you for listening!