Grand Junction music scene transforming city’s night life

A strong music scene has the power to transform a city’s identity and become a major force in that city’s lifestyle and economy. There are a handful of such American cities and towns that are known for their music and all have benefited greatly for it.

New Orleans, Kansas City and Chicago are home to some of the best blues and jazz in the world. Memphis is a rock and blues town. Nashville, of course, is the home of country music. San Francisco gave birth to a whole genre of ’60s West Coast psychedelic rock that still reverberates up and down the storied hills of that great city. Little Athens, Ga., spawned a generation of Southern rockers. Greenville and Clarksdale, Miss., are meccas for blues fans. Austin has been the center of Texas music for a generation. Anyone who has ever visited these places knows what an important role music plays in the life of these great communities.

So, is Grand Junction in the process of becoming just such a musical city? It certainly would seem so. Almost every night of the week, in clubs and restaurants all over town, there are live music performances going on. From blues and roots, to jam bands, rock, alt-rock, jazz, Americana/folk, Celtic and Bluegrass — Grand Junction is a very musical city. On one such evening recently, Paul Harshman, cofounder of the roots/blues band Flat Top Reed, commented on how much was going on up and down Main Street.

“It almost feels like I could be on Sixth Street in Austin!” he said. Indeed. The amount of great music drifting out of the downtown venues is something to behold.

The cultural and economic ramifications of such a movement should not be underestimated. On any given weekend night, hundreds of fans fill up to a dozen downtown venues featuring live music. Such downtown hotspots as Boomers, The Rockslide, The Spotlight Lounge, The Mesa Theatre, Moulin Rouge, Cavett House and CoffeeMuggers feature music several nights a week.

Others like Quincy’s, The Avalon, The Blue Moon, Dolce Vita, Colorado Java and Weavers present music on a semi-regular basis. Other clubs throughout the city also feature live music.

Venues such as The Amphitheatre at the Botanic Gardens and numerous outdoor festivals throughout the Grand Valley focus on the best local and touring acts that draw tens of thousands every summer.

The Radio Room at KAFM community radio is establishing a reputation as one of the best small concert rooms in the state for both the best of local acts as well as regionally and internationally known touring acts. Since KAFM 88.1 broadcasts these shows live on-air and on its Web site, music fans all over the world are able to listen to these performances. Not bad for a little city way out in the high desert of western Colorado.

How did a music scene like this take hold in such a relatively short period of time? Like most successful trends, it takes a number of factors coming together at just the right time: An influx of new residents from places that had good live music scenes joined with local music lovers and helped to create a demand for live music; a few dedicated musicians seeking and helping to develop new venues; a growing realization by business owners and event planners that live music draws a crowd and builds traffic like few other things; a supportive local media and finally, and perhaps most importantly, a reservoir of really great local musical talent to fill the need and answer the demand for a wide variety of musical tastes.

In addition to having a terrific positive economic impact on our local culture and economy, a live music scene makes the valley a more interesting and exciting place to live. An added and little known secret: Musicians are also incredibly civic minded. Every musician I know regularly plays pro bono events for charitable fundraisers of every description. That helps keep the nonprofit sector strong and vital as well as the for-profit sector of our economy.

So next time you have a chance to go out and catch a local music act, or are strolling down Main Street, just know that the beat you hear is the sound of a vital, energetic community. It’s the heartbeat of a city that’s alive with art, music, creativity and fun. A strong music scene is the foundation of a great city’s nightlife and just one of the many reasons that Grand Junction is gaining a reputation around the state and around the country as a great place to live and visit.



A longtime musician who has performed all over the world, John Anglim is a cofounder of the roots and blues band Flat Top Reed (www.flattopreed.com), manager of the Radio Room at KAFM (www.kafmradio.org) and runs a graphic design and marketing company, ReSource Design.