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There’s a new group in the Peak to Peak area that emphasizes their use of the organ, and they play in various lineups. Primarily, the group is called the MMB3 Organ Trio, and it consists of Ryan McCurry playing the Hammond organ, John Massone playing the guitar, Stephen “Steve” Balgooyen playing the drums, and all three of them providing vocals. Occasionally, when McCurry can’t make a gig, the trio bills themselves as MVB3, bringing in Todd VanSelus on electric bass and Massone playing organ as well as guitar. Sometimes, though, the stars align and all four can play together in a quartet!

In particular, Balgooyen has been interested in starting an organ trio for many years. He’s played in many other groups over the years, including the local group Trickster Carousel, and his desire to start an organ trio was shared by Massone, who independently posted a Craiglist ad hoping to start one. Balgooyen responded to the ad and told Massone he knew a few organ players who could join. VanSelus then called to ask Balgooyen to fill in for the usual drummer for his band, The Atom Collective, at St. Julien’s. There, Balgooyen met McCurry, a frequent keyboard sub for the band who subbed that night, and asked him if he was interested in playing organ in a trio. McCurry enthusiastically accepted, and MMB3 cemented its primary lineup.

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[As a group, Canyon Collective] doesn’t write structured songs for their performances, instead improvising their material together on stage. They’ll talk amongst themselves about what style of piece they’ll focus on in their next performance, then they’ll perform it on the spot, riffing off of each other in the process.

Recently, the group had the opportunity to perform in a mineshaft for a private party. The performance was recorded, and upon listening back to the recording, they realized they had something special. Because of this, the group has decided to release this recording as their first live album.

For [bandleader and drummer Zach] Hedstrom, the improvisational style that the group embraces means that the musicians can embrace the present moment fully during their shows. He loves being able to take everyone’s ideas at face value and encouraging the performance to be a spontaneous musical collaboration.

Hedstrom loves being part of a band where every show gives a different energy through its spontaneity, and he hopes that everyone who comes to see a Canyon Collective show has a great time and feels encouraged to see them live again. For the group and the audience, every show is a different experience, and these musicians love that every show has a new energy.

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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 our editor at [email protected] or our podcast host at [email protected]!

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Gary Hall and Linda Adam-Hall first met in a commune in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1975. Gary, visiting a friend, ended up eating and talking with Linda. Linda was instantly impressed by Gary’s kindness, and they connected quickly. They built that connection over time, committing after a year. As Gary puts it, they’ve been together unofficially for 48 years and officially for 44, as they married in 1980. The two have played music together for most of their relationship.

Linda has sung in various choral groups over her life, and she learned to play the guitar from a friend of hers in the '60s. This friend, who also happened to be a nun, introduced her to folk groups such as Peter, Paul, and Mary and The Chad Mitchell Trio. She has played guitar and sung on and off for most of her life, but Gary says she’s been playing longer than him. Even though Gary has loved music all of his life, he says his primary “ignition point,” especially into the rock and roll world, was in February 1964, when his dad got him and his sister out of bed to watch The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. He has dabbled in many styles of music, growing up around his parent’s eclectic collection, which ranged from bluegrass to Broadway show tunes. In junior high and high school, he started playing instruments more, and by the time he left home, he started playing gigs seriously and as frequently as he could.

Gary and Linda’s accomplishments throughout their lives, personally and together, are sprawling. Gary has released six CDs of original music, performed for and music-directed many theater orchestras (as well as acting in many productions), and held a long-standing career as an IT director for Experian before serving as the chief information officer of Estes Park Health for eighteen years. Linda is an artist in her own right, also acting in many theater productions over her lifetime and creating books of her photography.

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Kylie Brock has been singing for as long as she can remember. She first started singing with her mother in church, even though she jokes that they turned off her microphone until she got older. Along with her mother, her brothers were also musically inclined, so she had a family of musical influences to inspire her. She also cites many Motown and Soul influences throughout her life, including Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin. Brock currently performs mostly covers with a few of her original songs scattered throughout. She’s currently starting to test the waters when it comes to her original material, even though she’s been writing her own material since she was around eight years old when she started dabbling in piano for the first time.
The Gael, which is Gaelic for “Forest Dwellers,” originally started as part of a bluegrass jam in the early 2010s, and their original name was Live Music. The group evolved from playing old-timey music and bluegrass to focusing primarily on Celtic music, and they describe their music as Celtic/Eclectic. The four original members – Bill Ikler, Laura Fisher, Debbie Smiley, and Phylleri Ball – started performing together in 2016, with vocalist Arwen Ek joining shortly after. However, The Gael isn’t the only experience that the members have had with Celtic music. Ball played piano in a Celtic group in Pennsylvania for seventeen years before moving to Colorado. She now plays both keyboard and button accordions and the bodhran (Irish drum) which greatly enhances the Celtic tunes. Fisher brought a repertoire of music from hammered dulcimer players across Colorado to the group. Ikler previously played guitar in the band Tryptych with a similar Celtic/eclectic vibe, and Smiley played violin when she was younger before dropping it and picking it up again 25 years later. Fisher primarily played the piano and flute as a child and learned the hammered dulcimer much later on. Ek played in a Led Zeppelin cover band and had a stint as a singer-songwriter before joining The Gael.

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 our editor at [email protected] or our podcast host at [email protected]!

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