Chris Coady - Singer Songwriters in the Round, Gunnison Arts Center, Gunnison, Colorado - June 27, 2014

Typically, singer/songwriters make me want to prick myself with a pin just to feel alive again. But, as times go, I need girl friends so I volunteer around town now (volunteer selfishly obviously). My little volunteering gig tonight fortuitously took a turn toward music-watching, and with the plethora of bluegrass options in Gunnison, s/ss didn’t look so bad. Plus the arrangement was just right for a Dara: four s/ss on stage, talking to the crowd, talking to each other, and (this is key) limited to two songs each in a turn. Four songs from a band I really like can set me to yawning – I like to switch up, in nearly all aspects of life. Not to mention, the switching up enabled me to discern actual differences in s/ss for the first time in my life maybe. None of them, except maybe Kevin Walter, had great voices – but I imagined they were Kristoffersons. And if you’ve ever wondered what Gunnison is like, the personalities of these four s/ss pretty much encapsulates it.

[Gunnison, CO] A slight man, worker man jeans, a dress shirt covered in guitars. He plays with a pretty well known local band 18 Mile Radius. Gentle loner mountain man. His sound varied from Tom Petty to Townes (that’s a stretch – some of his songs had a lonesome sound at least). Simple spare guitar. Genuine heartfelt lyrics – hearing his song on youtube right now is actually kind of giving me a cringing toothache, but there’s no denying he’s a sweet and good man.