P.O. BOX 830; NEDERLAND, COLORADO 80466
mike@michiganmike.com
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P.O. BOX 830; NEDERLAND, COLORADO 80466 mike@michiganmike.com
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MICHIGAN MIKE NEDERLAND ACID JAZZ NEDERLAND MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL MICHIGAN MIKE Colorado Daily - Friday, August 03, 2001 Wendy Kale - Boulder, CO They call him Michigan Mike He's the man that inaugurated acid jazz in the sleepy mountain town of Nederland, and the founder of the annual NedFest parties. Mike is getting ready to host NedFest 2001 this weekend featuring a line-up of national and local all-star acts. Mike has had his pulse on the local music scene, since he moved from Michigan in 1992. He knew when to parlay acid jazz into a top commodity in Boulder, he has supported local world-beat and fusion acts, and he has booked bluegrass bands like Runaway Truck Ramp since their inception. He has accomplished those feats despite the fierce promoter wars that wage in the Boulder market. "I moved out to Colorado when the economy went flat in Michigan," explained Mike. Everybody was getting laid-off from their jobs, and you couldn't find a job in Detroit. I didn't know that I would end up in Nederland. I was just traveling and trying to find a place to live. "I had heard about Boulder and the cool music scene, and I liked the town. But I was surprised to find that there was no music when I got here. All the clubs were putting in pool tables and the music scene had turned stagnant. One day I heard that Leftover Salmon was playing at the Chalet Suisse in Nederland, and I drove up to check them out. Right then and there I could tell that people in Nederland had a creative music energy -- there was a lot of jamming and experimenting with the music." Mike had found a job teaching at Whittier Elementary School in Boulder, but he was drawn to the Nederland music scene. He discovered that Nederland was interested in the avant-garde acid jazz sound, and he began booking backyard parties in the mountain town. Mike landed a plum gig booking bands at the Top of the Square club. He was broke, so the offer of dinner, drinks and $20 gave him the incentive to book bands for the venue. The one-night a week gig eventually turned full-time, and Mike began his acid jazz club sessions in Nederland. The concept was so popular that he eventually brought the music scene down to Boulder in the mid-'90s. "We still have the original Monday night acid jazz nights going," said Mike. "It's an amazing social scene in Nederland. The crowd is listening and respecting some high-quality music." After his Top of the Square gig, Mike went on to book shows at the Stagestop in Rollinsvile, shows at the Boulder Theater, and concerts at Lake Eldora ski resort. In 1996 Mike came up with the idea to host the first annual NedFest. But he had to fight for his right to party as the Town Fathers of Nederland weren't thrilled at the idea of hipsters invading their city. "We started off on a much smaller scale, and we were a lot less professional." admitted Mike. "We had a low-to-no budget, but we made a valiant attempt to make this fest happen. The Town hated it, and they wouldn't let me do the fest for a couple of years." Mike decided to take a shot at it again in '99. "We were certainly the underdog in town," said Mike. "But by this time I was booking bands at the Assay Office - (which became the Wolf Tongue Brewery), and they could see that I was contributing to the local market." In fact, Mike turned the Wolf Tongue from a wild bar into the most popular venue in Nederland. He brought in top-name local and national acts, and the club was one of the last bars to survive the Nederland music scene. In the last year, several bars closed down with the slumping economy. The Wolf Tongue just closed this month, despite a valiant rally by the owners to keep the club open. However, the closing of the club gave Mike a bigger incentive to make money on this year's NedFest. Hoping that the NedFest will turn a tidy profit, Mike plans to use his extra funds to open his own club and keep the Nederland music scene flowing. "I love doing the NedFest," said Mike. "I always promoted these backyard parties, and I like the idea of hanging out and having live bands play outside. And living up in Nederland, I wanted to make a festival that would be family-oriented. It took some up-hill work to make this fest happen since '99. We were the big controversy in Nederland, and I had to do my research and get all the background stuff, to make this work right." The NedFest of '99 drew over 600 people, last year 1,100 fans came up to Nederland, and this year the festival is expecting over 2,000 people to show. This year the fest will offer arts and crafts booths, food and merchandise vendors, and beer and wine. And this year's line-up proves that Michigan Mike has done his homework. The festival will feature the Charlie Hunter Quartet, Merl Saunders and his Funky Friends, Yonder Mountain String band, the Nederland BluegrAcid Jazz All-Stars, Runaway Truck Ramp, The Slip, The Motet, Being Lara Maykovich, Jaka and Jamie Janover's Loop Realm. "We've definitely expanded the line-up, and with acts like Charlie Hunter, we're bringing in higher-quality stuff," said Mike. "We want to make this a great annual local event to celebrate the unique sounds we have going for this area. And this festival will be great for Nederland. Last year we broke records for the sales tax revenue for the day - we made more money for the town than the Fourth of July!" So what does Mike plan to do with his share of the festival proceeds? "I want to open my own club up in Nederland," he said. "The NedFest has been successful, and this would be the natural next step. If a good opportunity comes along for a venue, I'm going to grab it. Meanwhile everyone in town is asking me when I'm going to open the club. I figure if I can spend eight months putting together a festival, that I can pull a club together." So, if you want a great way to celebrate the "Nine Day Week," Mike says that NedFest is the party to attend. Just in case you wondering about those nine days, according to Grateful Dead lore, Jerry Garcia was born on the first of August and died on the 9th of the month. That's the equivalent of a national holiday in Grateful Dead land. And Jerry would be proud of the bands playing NedFest 2001. GoGo Magazine - Thursday, March 2nd 2000 Garret Kolb - Denver, CO Quaff This! (excerpt) In a mountain community where 22 town businesses have gone belly up in the last two years, the 1,500 locals of Nederland, "Ned" as it’s called, and 10,000 others that live scattered through this winding landscape are making sure at least one indigenous spot thrives: the Wolf Tongue Brewery. Through the creation of several tasty craft brews and a schedule of musical acts second to no one, the Wolf Tongue has gained a reputation that will have this young establishment going nowhere but up any time soon. The building that now houses this brewery formerly served as the town’s assay office, where miners once brought their gold to be weighed. And they keep this Old West atmosphere intact by doing little modern renovation. One patron told me it’s probably the only pub where both a horse and a motorcycle have been ridden through the front door. Bullet holes can still be found behind the bar as well. And Ned the bartender (yeah, it’s true, Ned from "Ned") says he has seen soda guns fly from their holsters, phones jump off the walls and doors open on their own, all the work of restless apparitions who haunt the saloon. Only Wolf Tongue beer is served on draft and the head brewer, Cory O’Neel, tries to keep five taps running at all times. But the Coffee Porter, a gold medal winner at the 1998 Great American Beer Festival, goes fast. Unfortunately, this signature brew was missing from the line on my recent visit. This is something you have to put up with in the smaller breweries, but I was able to soon shrug it off after the barkeep slid me a Ned Red on the house. One of four choices which also included Bucking Trout Brown, O’Neels Irish Stout and Old Prospector, probably the last of the winter ale for the season. In a brewpub, though the beer could be great, if the atmosphere sucks, you ’ll never stick around long enough to find out. Therefore, the layout, ambiance and entertainment have to make the grade as well. This is where the Wolf Tongue enjoys equal success. Mike Torpie, AKA Michigan Mike, schedules the most astute assemblage of jazz, bluegrass and folk musicians I have ever seen around the Front Range. Since 95, Torpie has grown into quite an auspicious booker of live music and through his hard work and dedication it won’t be long before he rises to the stature of Boulder County’s own Billy Graham. Music is featured on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Acid jazz, the locals' biggest night out, occurs on Mondays and they now have Open Mike Wednesdays. Check out michiganmike.com for more details. You can also catch a game or play trivia on one of three corner televisions. But don’t expect to hear the obnoxious drone of the play-by-play as they are close-captioned, giving way to the jukebox or anything the bartender might want to hear. It may be a little far for the Denverite to travel, but if you’re coming back from a mountain trip on I-70 and get the fever for the flavor of a smooth porter, or if you feel the need to drown your sorrows after failing to beat the absolutely crappy blackjack odds in Blackhawk/Central City, the Wolf Tongue is pound-for-pound one of the best pubs around. For the beer and music lovers of Boulder, you simply have no excuse. Get your ass up that canyon! Colorado Arts Net - April 1997 Event Promoters, Tickets, Dance Parties & Event Lines inception: 95 Summer Promoter Mike E. Torpie has booked regional and some national reknown names (eg Stanley Jordan). He promotes jazz, bluegrass, rock, reggae & popular forms of music. Mike started putting together festivals in Nederland - Caribou-Ward area west of Boulder around the Summer of 1995. He has booked the Nederland Music and Arts Festival and the Colorado Freedom Festival in Boulder, an event which has hosted 50 bands in three days. Now he is also booking shows in Lyons, Rollinsville and other parts of Boulder county and nearby counties. Venues booked by Mike in Boulder county include Top of the Square and New Potatoe, both in Nederland. He related a certain big budget promoter or two from Boulder has made for tough competition by grabbing some of Mike's best turf. But, by all appearances Mike remains one of the most active event promoters in Boulder county's outlymg towns. Mike came to Colorado from Michigan in 1992 November. Colorado Daily - February 01, 2002 Wendy Kale - Boulder, CO Fly up to Neder-Nederland Boulderites are making the great escape. These days locals are flying up the canyon to Nederland, Colorado - the new home of the fastest-growing music and entertainment scene this side of the Rockies. Located up Boulder Canyon on Route 119, the town of Nederland looks like a scene from days of western yore. Locals live in ancient cabins, people still dress circa 1970, and you feel a million miles away from hectic society. The sleepy mountain town's music scene was floundering until late last year, when a couple of young entrepreneurs revived the local club and bar scene. And while many businesses have been hurting post-Sept. 11, Nederland has reinvented itself, and become the ultimate Boulder get-away. Add that to the fact that Boulder is rapidly changing its local club scene menu. Acid jazz and bluegrass jams are few and far between, and clubs that book national acts are steering away from jam and groove acts and heading towards more mainstream music. That makes Nederland the new local capitol for roots music acts. And it doesn't hurt that local ski area Eldora draws hundreds of Boulderites up to the slopes and into the new club scene. The Ned venues are even claiming that locals are packing town for mini party vacations, instead of traveling out-of-state. Whatever the cause, Nederland has become the hottest new entertainment ticket in town, and the club business has been booming since last fall. "We've been getting a lot of people from Boulder coming up here. For some reason they say they all want to escape from Boulder and they're coming up here for music and dining," said I&I owner Tony Bullings. The I &I is a Caribbean-flavored music venue and dining room, and four years ago they made the move up to Nederland. Every weekend the club is packed with Boulderites who head up into the hills to get their fill of reggae and Caribbean style music. This weekend they'll be hosting a reggae show with KGNU's Postman Roger and Preacherman, and the weekend of February 8-9 they'll be hosting a special Bob Marley birthday party celebration. "A lot of people from Boulder are telling me that they decided not to travel to New Mexico and other states, so they're coming up to Nederland to make a short vacation. People are also telling me that they don't feel like traveling to Vail or Winter Park, and they're coming up to Nederland to ski and hear good music," said Bullings. Local promoter Michigan Mike has no complaints about Boulderites filling the new venue he's booking - the Ned-Mex. The new club occupies the old home of the Moontime and its now a Mexican-style cantina and music club. The new club featured The Motet in concert for New Year's Eve, and acts like United Dope Front, Tony Furtado, and The Flow have played the club. The Ned-Mex now boasts the only area acid jazz jam session every Monday night, and a new bluegrass circle that debuted with Leftover Salmon frontman Vince Herman. "We've been really busy up here, bringing in local and national acts. We're definitely not mainstream. We bring in bluegrass, acid jazz, world beat, reggae, flamenco and Latin - some of this music isn't being heard in Boulder. But Nederland is the place for this stuff. We're up in our own little world here," said Michigan Mike. The Ned-Mex was so thrilled with the influx of patrons, that after six weeks in business they invested in a brand new powerhouse sound system for the club. The club hung new speakers and made the music and dining room listener friendly. "Everyone wants to play and come up and listen to music in this room. Every time I go to my mailbox, I get over 20 press-packs from bands wanting to play Nederland," said Mike. "I think the scene is reviving again to support it, and the timing is now perfect for the smaller scale of clubs we now have. Besides, Nederland is a beautiful town. Everybody is friendly, it's laid-back and they're all into dancing and listening to good music. That's why everyone in Boulder is driving up here." Locals are also driving up to the newly revived Acoustic Coffeehouse in Nederland. The original cafŽ was owned by Colorado representative Tom Plant, who built the club into one of the top acoustic venues in the state. Last year local musician and entrepreneur Chris O'Brien re-opened the coffeehouse with his brother. The O'Briens bought the cafŽ, kept the name, and decided to maintain the acoustic music format. "The coffeehouse became too much for Tom Plant and his wife, so my brother JP and I liked the idea of starting a project together. We wanted something small and we wanted to be part of a community, so we opened September 1 with a homey live music club," explained O'Brien. The brothers painted the cafŽ, added a wine list and a new menu of sandwiches and chili. They wanted to make the room appealing to skiers and people who came up to Nederland for an early evening beer. "We wanted to make this a better place to see music and a place to expose local artists, and we'll mostly bring in folk, bluegrass, and blues acts. We wanted to set this room apart from something you'd go to in Boulder, and make it a place where you can become part of the room and get involved," said O'Brien. And you can't talk about the Nederland music scene without mentioning the infamous Pioneer Inn. Ned's oldest music establishment, the Pioneer was the bar where Stephen Stills used to hang out (and get beat up as legend has it), and where artists recording at the legendary Caribou Ranch used to party it up. This year the Pioneer Inn is celebrating its 30th anniversary and they plan to host a huge party of former bar workers and patrons this summer. The bar now hosts a weekly bluegrass jam on Wednesdays and rock bands on the weekends in its rustic cabin-like room. "This is the place where everyone in the world eventually comes to have a drink. It's like family up here. We don't even have to advertise - everyone knows about the Pioneer Inn," said long-time bartender Steve Romper. That's the word on the street - Nederland is the place to go for music you can't hear in Boulder and a homey atmosphere you can don't get in local clubs. As the Ned club owners boast - they also host one hell of a great party up in them thare hills. What The Media Says About NEDERLAND ACID JAZZ Denver Post - Monday, April 17th 2000 Candace Horgan - Denver, CO Acid jazz plays well in Nederland Among musicians, the spontaneous jam offers an opportunity to grow and challenge themselves, playing material for the moment. Some bands, such as the Grateful Dead, built a career pursuing the perfect jam. Yet before rock 'n' roll, there was jazz, and jazz has a long history of experimental jamming, dating back to such legends as John Coltrane and Les Paul. And in the quiet mountain town of Nederland, "Michigan" Mike Torpie has built up a tradition of a weekly jazz jam, the Acid Jazz shows. Torpie put together the first Nederland Acid Jazz show in July 1996. "There was an acid jazz thing in Boulder at the time, but it was more stereotypical acid jazz, with turntables and scratchers and stuff. I booked shows around Nederland and knew some of the players. I liked the acid jazz music, but didn't like the DJs. I thought it would be nice to get something going in Nederland but with music only. I coined the name Nederland Acid Jazz, and a lot of the people originally balked at the name since they didn't think it was acid jazz, but now it seems to be an accepted definition." That first show, featuring Dave Watts on drums, Ross Martin on guitar, Edwin Hurwitz on bass, Ian Duncan on sax and Aaron Holstein on guitar, proved successful with music fans in the area. A year later, the show moved to its current home at the Wolf Tongue. For a while in 1997, Torpie put together shows in the Boulder area. In January of this year, he added another weekly Acid Jazz show in Boulder at the Mellow Mushroom. The Nederland shows are on Monday and the Boulder shows on Tuesday. The concerts always are free. Torpie has considered expanding to Denver as well. "I've thought about a venue in Denver, and would like to do something, but I figured until I get things running smoothly in Boulder I won't pursue it." The lineups for Acid Jazz change every week. Torpie has a roster of more than 200 musicians willing to participate. Past shows have included Vince Herman and Tye North from Leftover Salmon, Michael Kang, Michael Travis and Kyle Hollingsworth from String Cheese Incident, Tony Furtado, Christian Teele and many others. Occasionally a vocalist, such as Sonya Vallet, will sit in, but for the most part the shows are instrumental. Some giants of jazz have also played, including a legendary show with renowned jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan. "I was doing booking for a club in Nederland that was fairly big. I tried to get Bela Fleck and couldn't, but I was able to get Stanley. He had a great time, then came back in June '97. The first time he was out he really enjoyed Nederland and he postponed his flight and hung out in Boulder and saw a friend play. When he came out again, he had some extra time, and he said he'd be happy to play a party." Torpie has recorded many of the shows, and plans to start releasing them as CDs soon. "I actually have a rough cut of the CD done. I just have to smooth it out a little. The first two or three discs will be compilations from the best lineups, then we will release full shows." While the shows do focus on jazz, given the talents of the players, other music does creep in now and then. "The shows are jazz standards and improvisations. There's one tune on the upcoming CD that goes into 'Low Rider,' then 'Cumberland Blues,' then into a Thelonious Monk tune. One time, they started on a jazz tune and then broke into 'Dark Star.' It was like Nederland Acid Jazz is Dead." The Acid Jazz shows are fun for the players and the audience, giving musicians a chance to stretch out and the crowd a chance to hear completely spontaneous music, says Torpie. "It's a chance for them to step out of the realm they are in and do something different. They can do new things, experiment, and it's a fun crowd that's there to listen. They really enjoy these shows." Westword - Thursday, June 29th 2000 Denver, CO - BEST OF DENVER 2000 ISSUE Voted: "Best place to get high and jam": **Editor's note: This was a 'Staff Pick' (not a 'voted on' thing)... and... they're talking about the altitude, of course.** Since he began hosting his weekly Acid Jams in the northerly mountain town of Nederland in 1996, promoter "Michigan Mike" Torpie has seen some mighty fine players wander up on stage and play improvisational music for eager, dancing crowds: Stanley Jordan did it once, and Tony Furtado's done it often, as have members of the String Cheese Incident and Leftover Salmon. In February Torpie celebrated the 200th installment of the series, a victory he marked by briefly extending its reach into Boulder's Mellow Mushroom on Tuesday nights. Jazzheads who can't get enough jam in their diet can access archives of past events and stream live broadcasts through Torpie's Web site, http://www.michiganmike.com/. With Torpie around, there's plenty of fire on the mountain. Westword - Thursday, March 2nd 2000 Laura Bond - Denver, CO Let's Jam! The Front Range offers its share of impov work. "The great Seattle explosion of the early '90s did much to reinforce the belief that geography can be an important factor in furthering a music scene. In the Emerald City, it seemed that the concentrated mix of rainy days, heroin and disgruntled people (many of them on heroin) was conducive to an angst- and anger-filled sound, a sonic anecdote to the frustration of the environment. So many hours forced indoors apparently gave birth to grunge -- a genre with varying degrees of worth that many Seattleites have tried like wet dogs to shake off ever since. The same principle might account for the plethora of jammy, roving, instrumental-groove acts populating the Front Range. Maybe the origin of the meandering musical tendency has roots in a particularly bad winter, when every mandolin strummer or electric guitarist in the state was forced inside for weeks at a time. Today, whatever the atmospheric conditions, many local musicians are content to spend long nights poking at the embers of creative inspiration. Leftover Salmon is one of the genre's best-known local practitioners. A typical Salmon concert runs well over three hours, while fans, weaned on unapologetically listless Phil Leshian space jams, simply ride the sonic wave -- whether it breaks on the beach or carries them out to sea without a life preserver. And though Boulder is the unofficial state capitol of Jamland, "Michigan Mike" Torpie has aligned Nederland, the slightly more northerly town, with the style. Last month Torpie celebrated the 200th installment of his weekly Nederland Acid Jazz series with a set that paired celebrated local players, including guitarist Ross Martin, drummer Dave Watts and sax blower Ian Duncan, for a wholly improvisational instrumental vibefest. Since their inception at the Wolf Tongue Brewery in July 1996, the Nederland Acid Jams have operated as anything-goes affairs in which players from different bands -- who often have never met or played with each other -- perform unrehearsed music for roughly two hours. And though the term "acid jazz" is usually associated with DJ/trip-hop culture, Torpie's variety has more to do with slightly psychedelic, spontaneous extensions of organic, traditional jazz. There aren't any turntables at his events, but there are large bands with lots of instruments, as many as nine players flailing away on everything from harmonica to congas. And though Nederland is more of a sleepy mountain town than a nightlife mecca -- known for its traditional bluegrass and the quiet offerings of the Acoustic Coffeehouse -- Torpie contends the town comes alive like Brigadoon for the Monday-night jams, which consistently pack the Wolf Tongue. "A lot of it's my fault," Torpie says of Nederland's relatively newfound affinity for the hard-to-define jazz experiments. "I've worked really hard for five years or so, and I have to say that there is definitely a scene here that maybe people wouldn't expect. There is a lot of diversity in this town, but the Acid Jams are a big, big part of what's going on here." Torpie is qualified to provide an assessment of the musical goings-on in Nederland: His company, Michigan Mike Presents, is responsible for booking and promoting shows for the brewery, and he organizes the annual Nederland Music and Arts Festival, which is tentatively slated for August 5 and 6. So while he's involved with bringing a variety of sounds to the town -- African bands, rockabilly and blues acts, among others -- the Acid Jams are the project he's clearly most excited about. His Web site (www.michiganmike.presents) includes a detailed archive listing of each and every player who's participated over the years and on what nights. (The list, incidentally, includes players from the String Cheese Incident, HairyApesBMX, Leftover Salmon and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, as well as Tony Furtado and even Stanley Jordan, who sat in for "an incredible evening that no one wanted to end" in June 1997 during an night off in his touring schedule.) Audio archives of many of the jams can also be streamed or downloaded into the computer of anyone who's interested. They're clean, careful recordings that capture the ebb and flow of jamhood. You can't hear the audience members dancing, but it's a good bet that had there been a video capture, all sorts of twirls and tantricism would be present. "Oh, yeah," Torpie says. "Usually by the second set, everyone's getting down. And I think it's because everyone just has such a good time at these things. They're great social as well as musical events. I think it's exciting to a lot of people, because we're getting these incredible players from all sorts of bands, and they're just coming up with stuff off the top of their heads, which is incredible to watch." Yet the Acid Jams are a little too successful to simply be considered a labor of love. Torpie's a musichead, yes, but he's also a businessman. And he recently recognized an opportunity to expand the scope of the Acid Jams when he began hosting Tuesday-night events at the Mellow Mushroom in Boulder. The response so far, he says, has been promising. Perhaps if Torpie continues his musical imperialism, it won't be long before Colorado is forever stamped as the center of the Jam Band universe. The punks and purists should consider organizing their own rebel armies." Boulder Weekly - Thursday, January 8th 2004 David Kirby - Boulder, CO (excerpt) Stanley Jordan, past and present He has also been a semi-regular at Michigan Mike’s annual NedFest, and the various jazzgrass club jams surrounding that scene. "I love creative musicians, that’s it. When I was coming up in the late-’70s and early-’80s, people would always ask me what kind of music I wanted to play, and I’d say ‘I want to play all kinds of music’, and they’d always be like, ‘Well, you have to choose one,’" Jordan says. "And that’s why I like playing with those guys up there. Because, they’re into it for the playing, not because it’s a particular genre. In that way, yeah, they remind me a little bit of what I was like way back when. Digital Interviews - January 2001 Digital Interviews: Tye North (excerpt) DI: Tell us about the musical environment of Boulder. TN: When I got there in ’93, the Boulder scene, there were a lot of local bands, sort of a funk-oriented danceable sort of thing. There’s a lot of really good jazz musicians in Boulder, some world-class musicians, and there’s classical musicians. There’s guys into Indian music, and things like that. Boulder’s a pretty creative place, sort of like Eugene in a certain kind of way. I left Boulder to come to Portland, where I live now, where I’m from. But in Boulder, it kind of started with a guy named Dave Watts, who came to Boulder from Boston. He was in the band Chakra. Chakra broke up, and Dave moved out and started calling everybody he knew. He’s a guy, almost started this sort of acid-jazz thing in Boulder. There was a guy named Michigan Mike who started booking his gigs. He has one every Monday, for years, and that brought a bunch of guys together. Then, you know, some of the better musicians start floating to the top and getting in bands. Like, Tony Furtado hears them, and Leftover hears them, and [String] Cheese [Incident]. One of the first gigs like that, Kyle and Mike Kang met. That was about a year before Kyle joined String Cheese. That was something that brought them together. And Ross Martin is the greatest guitar player in the world. He plays with Tony Furtado a lot now. He’s, you know, furthering his goodness. So, it was a great scene in Boulder. It was nice. Boulder has good music. Boulder’s like a funnel, mostly from the East to West. A lot of great groups will go to the Boulder Theater or to the Fox. You know, you can see Parliament and Pat Metheny in the same week. Everybody who tours will go through Colorado, so you can see any act that’s touring in the country. Dark Star Orchestra: Road Rash Papers - March 2000 Coming Home from Colorado; Get Back On The Bus! (excerpt) It snowed for over a day SOLID... stopping only once on Monday afternoon, and for about a half-hour if that... by Monday evening Canyon Road from Ned to Boulder was looking like an invitation to Donner Party 2000 so instead of jumpin' with the sold-out crowd at the Fox Nej, Colleen, and I went to Acid Jazz night at the Wolf's Tongue Brewery in the heart of Nederland's "business district"... Gary, as I suspected earlier in the day, had had enough and stayed home to quietly slip into a coma... an idea which we all had but some of us were just too stupid to listen to... People... I love Nederland. Ever seen that TV show 'Northern Exposure'? That's about what life is like in Nederland, Colorado... there's a few bars, one gas station, a grocery store-and-a-half... and not much else... there are two cops for this little blot on the mountain maps and most of the time they're dealing with such serious legal infractions as not having one's dog on a leash or the local drunk needing a ride home... ... "Laid Back" is not the term, y'know? Anyway... the last time I was out at the Wolf's Tongue for Acid Jazz Night it was two of the guys from String Cheese Incident and two from Tony Furtado's band, and they tore it UP... the bar was packed that night with a rockin' crowd and MAN was the music hot... we were having a great time but had to leave a bit early as I had a flight out of Denver at some ungodly hour, so it was nice to be able to sit this time for an entire evening not having to worry about a timetable... On this particular night it was only three musicians (keys, guitar, and sax) because all the other regulars were snowed into Denver... but really, it was perfect for the mood of the night... kicked-back mellow jazz while the snow came down in steady, tiny, beautiful flakes... covering everything with a soft white blanket... inside, folks huddled around candlelit tables and drank in quiet conversation... ... quiet all except for this one guy in a fake beard, mustache, and wig who kept bellowing "MAY I???" at the top of his lungs, approximately every forty-five seconds or so for about a half-hour, tapering off to the occasional outburst followed by drunken giggling all around his table... but even his cohorts began to find it tedious to put up with him and started telling him to shut up... Life seems to have this nice self-governor up there and stuff just seems to naturally take care of itself... I can't really put into words how balanced that part of Colorado feels... I attribute it to something in the rock... The Onion - Jeff Stratton - Denver, CO "When (the sessions) began upstairs at the tiny Top of The Square in Nederland every Monday night, it was clear that Torpie had orchestrated something important." "Since Torpie began the sessions, Monday nights and the music scene in Nederland have improved enormously. Boulder Weekly - Dave Flomburg - Boulder, CO "Michigan Mike's been busy building a dynasty here, creating an institution built on open improvisational jams flavored with a lot of top local musicians called Nederland Acid Jazz. Although getting in to play may be difficult, Mike's a pretty easygoing guy, so if you're a halfway decent player and a nice person, I'm sure he can work something out for you." "Michigan Mike may be the only promoter around who's booking suffered not even the slightest speed bump this month (Jan. 2000), as he keeps his train moving with Nederland Acid Jazz at the Wolf Tongue Brewery every Monday night and now Tuesdays at Mellow Mushroom." "Yes, Michigan Mike Torpie is bringing Nederland Acid Jazz to Boulder. It's landing on Tuesday nights at the Mellow Mushroom. And, you never know who's going to show up. Seeing as how Stanley Jordan has a gig coming up at the Fox, if he's still in town come Tuesday, he might drop by, as he has done in the past. Even if he doesn't, there's enough local talent to keep things fun, with members of String Cheese Incident or Leftover Salmon routinely making appearances as well as other Boulder names." The Daily Camera - Greg Glasgow - Boulder, CO "Nederland Promoter extraordinaire Michigan Mike is now bringing Nederland Acid Jazz down the hill to Boulder." The Mountain-Ear - Jeffrey V. Smith - Nederland, CO "The hottest night of live music in Nederland is every Monday night." "What started out as Nederland’s hottest night of music has single-handedly kept the town’s music scene fresh and exciting over the past year and a half." (Dec. 97) "The caliber of music is unparalleled in the area on any night." "Some of the most talented musicians from the best of Colorado's music scene gather in various concoctions each week to jam… and jam they do!" Nederland Acid Jazz "will definitely not disappoint anyone who enjoys the raw energy of jamming jazz musicians." “When looking back at the past year of music in the mountains, despite all the big names and many nights of music at several locations, nights at Nederland Acid Jazz stick out the most.” The String Cheese Incident Setlist Archive - November 1999 Boulder, CO SIDE PROJECTS: On Monday, November 29 Mike Travis and Kyle Hollingsworth entered the Nederland Acid Jazz mix at the Wolf Tongue Brewery in Nederland, Colorado. Also playing was Jamie Janover (percussion), Bill Kopper (guitar), John 'Blackdog' Ridnell (guitar) and Dirk Dickson (bass). This communion is part of a Monday night tradition in the little town of Nederland. It is an impromptu band/jam session with a rotation of jazz and funk musicians playing true mainstream jazz. You can check out the web cast of the show at www.michiganmike.com, along with the past 180+ weeks of shows. Check out some of the other nights when members of String Cheese have been part of the groove, especially the early ones from '96 with Kyle before he became part of the Cheese. The String Cheese Incident Setlist Archive - January 2000 Boulder, CO SIDE PROJECTS: On the 17th, the Nederland Acid Jazz show held at The Wolf Tongue Brewery in Nederland, Colorado also included the input of Kyle and Kang. Along with them was Ross Martin on guitar, Erik Thorin on bass, Christian Teele on drums and Jamie Janover on percussion. According to FOC who were there, the jazz-jamming was great and it served as a fun departure from the guys' standard material. Jambands.com - Tuesday, January 18, 2000 "Nederland Acid Jazz in Colorado" "Anyone in Colorado tonight may want to check out Nederland Acid Jazz at the Mellow Mushroom in Boulder. The line up features Mike Travis and Kyle Hollingsworth of String Cheese Incident, Ross Martin of the Tony Furtado Band, Erik Throrin, Jamie Janover, Mitchell Long and John Ridnell. Nederland Acid Jazz is a weekly jam session with a rotation of local musicians started by "Michigan Mike" Torpie in 1996. "It's become a real scene, especially for the musicians," says Torpie. "The idea was to create an entirely new sound each week." Last night's line up included Martin, Hollingsworth, Thorin, and Janover, as well as Michael Kang of SCI and Christian Teele on drums. For webcast information or other details, visit www.michiganmike.com" Denver Post - Friday, August 4th 2000 Candace Horgan - Denver, CO Jammin' at NedFest: Ross Martin, Tony Furtado to meld chops Ross Martin keeps quite busy in the Denver music scene - and this weekend, he'll join several of his musical cohorts at the two-day Nederland Music & Arts Festival. The 30-year-old Martin is a regular at the Acid Jazz sessions staged by local promoter "Michigan" Mike Torpie in Nederland and Boulder, and also plays quite frequently for Tony Furtado, though he is no longer a full-time member of Furtado's band. Martin can also be heard on the debut CD from the Motet, a project of his friend Dave Watts. Indeed, one thing that separates Martin from a lot of other musicians is his ability to play in so many diverse musical settings. "I approach the playing a little differently in each setting, but I think I draw from all the things I listen to when I play," Martin says. "With Tony, for instance, he and that band are open to all those elements, so I can draw from country, as well as the jazz and all the different music I listen to, and it works." At the second annual "NedFest," Martin will be playing with Furtado, and probably will sit in with the Motet. Martin will also be playing in the closing set Saturday night with legendary jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan and others under the label Nederland Acid Jazz #239. "I imagine we will just get up and jam," he says. "I didn't do the jam with him last year, but the first time Michigan Mike brought him in, which was this impromptu thing with some local players in Nederland, I played with him. That was really fun." Martin hails from Dallas. He picked up the guitar when he was 12, though he was exposed to the instrument earlier, as his parents played. During college, he received his most intensive musical instruction. "There is a music program at University of North Texas, near where I went to high school, and there were a lot of good players there. They had a real good program in jazz, and were one of the first universities to offer a jazz degree. I have a bachelor's in jazz studies from them. After that, I have played in as many different situations as I could find." A brief stint playing on a cruise ship led Martin to Boulder. While on the ship, Martin met several other musicians who were planning to move to Colorado. In 1996, he made the move to Boulder. Martin quickly established himself as a regular at Michigan Mike's Nederland Acid Jazz sessions. Michigan Mike also promotes the Nederland Music and Arts Festival. At one of those sessions, Martin played with Furtado. He began sitting in with Furtado at some of his weekly shows, and that led to the invitation to join Furtado's band. "I was in the band for a couple years, but wanted to stay home a little more. I still play with him quite a bit."
NedHead is designed to be an open forum for people in and around Nederland to discuss topics relevant to our community. It is also for people from afar who want to be more involved in "The Nederland Scene" and/or to keep in contact with other NedHeads. Once you become a member you can post messages to everyone in the group by sending one e-mail to a single address! Topics of discussion might include, but are certainly not limited to: the town's music scene, musicians seeking bands, bands seeking musicians, music swapping, pre- and post-concert parties, current events, cultural gatherings, outdoor activities, garage sales, rooms for rent, frisbee-golf tournaments, neighborhood get-togethers, chili cook-offs, potluck dinners, travel plans, child care and much more. Upcoming Nederland Acid Jazz ensembles are posted weekly here also.  TO SUBSCRIBE!
I can not give you a gig unless I know what you sound like. Therefore,
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