“Red Mountain Open Space (Larimer County, Colorado)”
Gardens on Spring Creek, Fort Collins
Snowy Range, Wyoming
Benson Sculpture Garden, Loveland
Summertime in Northern Colorado!!
“Chapungu Sculpture Park (Loveland)”
“In Memoriam: Swetsville Zoo (Fort Collins)”
Choice City Trio at Rist Canyon Mountain Festival September 7, 2024.
Hotel Wi-Fi opened the show for Dada at the Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins, August 2, 2024.
Johnny’s SongJam, Avogadro’s Number, July 11, 2024
Photos and Review by Tim Van Schmidt
I don’t know what I enjoyed most- the flavorful, soulful music being blasted from the stage at Avogadro’s Number by a shifting supergroup of NoCo musicians or the fun of being a part of a warm, friendly community brought together by a love for music. Live music, that is- some of the very best in the region.
The event was “Johnny’s SongJam,” a new monthly gathering at Avo’s being organized by keyboardist John Magnie. Magnie is known internationally as a member of the Subdudes, a group that got their act together in Fort Collins in the late 1980s, then took it out far and wide. But regionally, Magnie is also known as a longtime spark plug for excellent events and top notch bands as well as soulful songwriting and adventurous recording projects.
On stage at Avo’s on July 11, the first event in the SongJam series, Magnie was also a powerful performer- on keys and vocals- besides being the MC and band leader for the ever-shifting group combinations that took the stage. By the end of the show, even audience members were getting in the act.
Things got kicked off with another debut- by the Russ Hopkins Band. Hopkins, a longtime NoCo figure as a musician and a recording ace, is now recording with Andy Blanton on bass and Jess Amedee on drums and the Avo’s show was among their first on stage.
Amedee then stayed, ably doing the drumming chores for the entire evening. Then came Magnie, bassist Tim Cook (headlining a show at Avo’s on July 20), guitarists Timmy Zann and Jay Clear, and vocalist Peaches Embry. Also add singer-songwriter Liz Barnez and bassist Marty Rein. Other guests included vocalist Rhonda Merrick and harp player Thomas McCardle- and that bunch of vocalists from the crowd who filled the stage during the evening’s climax. Amedee and Clear in particular seemed to be having a great night.
You don’t know all of those names? Well there’s that many and more great musicians in our town and if anyone will find them, it’s John Magnie. Magnie announced that the next SongJam date would be on August 8 at Avo’s. I’d have to recommend it- they’re just getting started.
Al Chesis and Robert Wilson jammed during a Delta Sonics gig for the High Plains Blues Society at Avogadro’s Number, Fort Collins, June 15, 2024.
Izcalli at Global Sounds festival in Old Town Fort Collins, May 18, 2024.
Neoma at Global Sounds festival in Old Town Fort Collins, May 18, 2024.
Beyond Blues: When R & B Met Pop Music
Tim Van Schmidt
It all started in 1959, when producer Berry Gordy Jr. formed Tamala Records – the first major African American owned record label. In short order, it became Motown Record Corporation and so began a tsunami of irresistible hits that dominated the record charts for years afterwards.
Flash forward to March 6, 2024 and the power of Motown would turn the Fort Collins Senior Center into a happy dance hall thanks to a super group of Colorado musicians calling themselves the FoCo Motown Revue.
The event was a musical celebration as part of the extensive five-day Founded in FoCo conference focusing on local entrepreneurship.
Honestly, I hadn’t even heard of Founded in FoCo, but I saw a poster for the FoCo Motown Revue’s show in a local coffee shop and I knew that this would be fun. Not just fun, VERY fun.
“Shotgun,” “Dancing in the Streets,” “Tears of a Clown,” “Superstition” and so many other great tunes just kept blasting from the stage at the Senior Center, with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure. And, well, I just couldn’t keep my seat. Neither could the rest of the crowd, who were easily coerced into forming a “Soul Train line” and otherwise absorbed the upbeat vibes from the stage.
I recently saw an online article that wondered if the music of rock artists like Joni Mitchell and The Eagles would ever hold a place in the “American Songbook” like the standard tunes of previous generations. I don’t know about those artists in particular, but the Motown hits the FoCo Motown Revue cranked out have and will stand the test of time.
All you had to do is look around the room. If attendees weren’t dancing, they were singing along as though the music was just a part of their DNA. That’s proof positive that Motown music is not just a case of nostalgia, it remains a creative engine that makes the heart pump and the feet move. Thanks to the FoCo Motown Revue for that!
Out of the Box: Unique NOCO Musicians
Tim Van Schmidt
This will not be a reggae review.
I recently made the trek up to The Lincoln Cheyenne to see the venerable pop reggae band UB40 and was not only treated to a decent show but was also introduced to a hidden gem of a venue.
The Lincoln is “hidden” because it’s north of Fort Collins, not south like so many of the venues I like to go to in Boulder and Denver. I live over by the old Hughes Stadium and it took 50 minutes from our door to downtown Cheyenne- and while I25 was busy going in that direction, it was nothing like the Mad Max-style crush of traffic going south.
The Lincoln itself reminded me of the Boulder Theater- an old school, even stylish theater converted to a music venue. But maybe The Lincoln is a little more stylish, really, and it is bigger by nearly 250 seats.
For this first visit to The Lincoln, my wife and I took some seats in the balcony where there are rows of hard seats, then rows of comfortable theater chairs. The Lincoln is a general admission music hall so we settled into theater seats, weren’t crowded and could see plenty.
There’s a full bar downstairs and a satellite bar with a limited list upstairs. The merch table in the lobby was not mobbed and made it easy to see what’s being offered.
The Lincoln is well-used, there’s no doubt about that, but I felt comfortable there right away. Even waiting outside was kind of fun as other music fans seemed to be friendly and talkative. A nearby restaurant even walked by offering free pizza slices.
All of this added up to a nice hometown feel, missing from the bigger city venues down the road.
And the good news for blues fans is that The Lincoln is bringing in some good stuff. Originally we had tickets to see guitarist Jimmie Vaughan last Spring, postponed until September 28, but UB40 became our first experience there instead. And before the Vaughan show, blues fans can see Danielle Nicole on August 10.
Music fans, the message here is that The Lincoln is a venue to watch- and it’s comfortable. We had dinner over at the venerable Cheyenne mainstay restaurant, The Albany, walked around the downtown a bit and then enjoyed a great show. Then we were home again in under an hour. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Like the sign says outside the venue: Support Indie Venues. Check out The Lincoln at www.thelincolncheyenne.com.
Opposite of Blink “Mystery Monolith, Summer 2024 (Bellvue, Colorado)”
Jack Martin read poetry from his recently published collection “Throwing Hunger” at the Wolverine Publick House, Fort Collins, June 13, 2024.
Greeley Blues Jam Revisited 2013-2015 Photos by Tim Van Schmidt
Greeley Blues Jam Revisited 2016-2017, 2019 Photos by Tim Van Schmidt
The Great Colorado Air Show 2021 Photos by Tim Van Schmidt
Black Lives Matter March and Racial Unity March June 2, 2020 Fort Collins.
Best of Tour de Fat Fort Collins Photos by Tim Van Schmidt
Gregory Allicar Museum of Art
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Charley Friedman’s Soundtracks for the Present Future 2024
More Charley Friedman’s Soundtracks for the Present Future
Masks at Museum of Art Fort Collins
“A Mighty Mask Minute (Masks Fundraiser & Exhibition, Museum of Art Fort Collins)”
MoAFC Mask 2024 “Seeking Bliss” by Mark J. Rosoff
The Exhibition 2023
The Making of a Mask
Tim Van Schmidt
When I first met NOCO musician and recording ace Russ Hopkins, he had an alter ego.
I was picking up some material for an article at the old Sports Page bar in downtown Fort Collins and Henk, the manager at the time, gave me a cassette tape for a NOCO artist he was heartily recommending — “Blind Lemon Hopkins”.
I listened and I wrote about “Blind Lemon” and so began a longtime musical relationship — and friendship. That was way back in 1989.
Flash forward to 2023 and Hopkins is still making music. He released a new album at the end of 2022, “Songs of Love and Death”, and in 2023, he has released a video on YouTube that is well worth checking out.
The “Songs of Love and Death” CD makes use of traditional folk material that fits with the general ambiance of Hopkins’ music. They are gritty and dark, telling the stories of gamblers and murderers. Three of the songs on the record are originals and that’s part of the point here — Hopkins’ originals stand right alongside the other stuff in tone and effect.
My favorite on the album is “Old Blue”, perhaps the breeziest of the bunch. Guest artists on the record include Beth Mosko and Vi Wickam, both on fiddle.
The video, currently on YouTube, is simply titled “Russ Hopkins LIVE”. It’s a forty minute set of new stuff from Hopkins, supported by two more legendary NOCO musicians, Jerry Palmer and Steve Amedee.
Make no mistake — this video is about all three of these musicians making music together. It’s Hopkins at the guitar and vocals, but both Amedee, on drums and percussion, and Palmer, on bass, flute, guitar and lap steel, add touches that help make this a special program indeed.
My favorite tune in “Russ Hopkins LIVE” is “Straight Rope”, a performance as dramatic and intense as “Old Blue” is mellow.
It also helps that the video is a pro job, creatively mixing various images in with the performance footage. Filmed live at Colorado Sound Studio W in Denver, there are also brief interview bits with Hopkins as he explains some of his songs. Even the setting is cool — a lava lap and a vintage four track unit are continuously churning in the background.
Both Amedee and Palmer are also featured throughout the “Songs of Love and Death” CD and the video is an excellent opportunity to see these guys play together.
That’s not all, either. Hopkins’ archives are rich in other materials that he is re-posting, helping to create an avalanche of fresh stuff. That includes some of Hopkins’ documentary work involving Jungian psychoanalyst and author Dr. Robert A Johnson.
“Robert’s India” is a collection of sounds and images from India collected by Johnson, Hopkins, and Steve Wong. “In Search of the Holy Grail” is a re-release of the entire 1991 video filmed at Johnson’s home on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Subjects include the power of myth in modern times, visions of God and the power of dreams.
There are also some other vintage video releases on Hopkins’ YouTube channel. Those include “The Light in Your Eyes”, a love song for his wife, and “Creation”, a live track from a 2008 show at Avogadro’s Number featuring Hopkins, a super band of NOCO musicians, and Hopkins’ three-year-old son.
It’s easy to say — in 2023, Hopkins has achieved a new creative peak.
Check out www.russhopkins.com for more details.
Tune in to “Time Capsules by Tim Van Schmidt” on YouTube.
Tim Van Schmidt
I guess I’m just part of the flock.
This summer, I was walking along a road in the “Great Northwoods” of Wisconsin when a woman walking in the other direction stopped and said, “You’re one of us”!
I was stunned for a moment but then realized she was referring to my Rowe Sanctuary hat — one I purchased on my recent adventure witnessing the Sandhill Crane migration at the famed Audubon facility in Nebraska.
Wouldn’t you know, just a few minutes later, I spied a large red-headed woodpecker — a “Pileated Woodpecker” — flitting between the trees, perhaps a little perturbed that I was walking by. Later, I was delighted to see a mama duck and eight ducklings gliding past me as I stood on the shore of a beautiful lake.
I guess it’s true — I’m now a “birder”.
I’ve seen some interesting birds in my time, like Toucans in the jungles of Guatemala and just all manner of strange looking birds in the Florida Everglades.
But it was while I was making an extended visit to Israel a couple of years ago that I really got interested in watching birds.
You see, a particular park where we often took our grandson to play was apparently the home of a Hoopoe. The Hoopoe is a richly colored bird with a striking crest and whenever we went to that park, it would perch in the trees above us.
It got so that our grandson could spot the Hoopoe — the national bird of Israel — every time. And at some point, that Hoopoe let me get very close to snap some photos.
Back at home, my Hoopoe experience lead to watching the birds in the NOCO region much more closely — hawks, eagles, finches, jays, herons, and more.
But I guess I became a real birder on that March trip to Kearney, Nebraska. I found myself creeping along in the pre-dawn darkness with a red flashlight to observe the cranes before they took off for the day.
The same friends who got me to go to Kearney are also local birdwatchers. They live very close to both the Running Deer and Riverbend Ponds Natural Areas. Running Deer in particular seems to be an excellent birding area due to regulations barring dogs and bikes.
Running Deer has also been designated as an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society and is on the list of “Best Birding in the Greater Fort Collins Area” by the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.
One cool bird experience I had at Running Deer involved a whole mess of Red Winged Blackbirds. They were making such a racket in the wetlands as we walked along that at one point I just said out loud, “Aww, cut it out”. Every single one of them suddenly went silent — it was a little shocking.
On a recent early morning walk through Riverbend Ponds, though, I felt like I hit the jackpot. We saw American White Pelicans, quietly passed within only about 20 feet of a Great Blue Heron perched on a log, a beautiful Snowy Egret, and a Cormorant with a face only a mother could love.
Real birders — the ones who carry binoculars and big lens cameras — would probably find me to be not much more than a neophyte. That’s OK, I’m still learning, but I feel like I’m like that one lone Canadian Goose who has been separated from its flock — I’m going to catch up.
Visit “Time Capsules by Tim Van Schmidt” on YouTube.
Tim Van Schmidt
On September 17, 2006, His Holiness the Dalai Lama personally blessed the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya at the Shambhala Mountain Center, now the Drala Mountain Center, in Red Feather Lakes. He not only blessed the Buddhist shrine — the largest in the United States — but also accepted the first Living Peace Award.
Both gestures by the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1989, were rare honors for the meditation and retreat center located in the mountains of northern Colorado and an auspicious moment in NOCO history.
Added to this was the presence of other dignitaries for peace, including Queen Noor of Jordan and Rabbi Irwin Kula of the National Jewish Center for Leadership and Learning, who joined the Dalai Lama on a stage set against the colorful grandeur of the Stupa and the Colorado landscape.
The Dalai Lama was also in Colorado to participate in a youth peace conference being held in Denver called PeaceJam, which featured the Dalai Lama along with nine other Nobel laureates, including Desmond Tutu.
On that cold and blustery morning in the Colorado mountains, the Dalai Lama and guests flew by helicopter to the Shambhala Mountain Center, then proceeded by motorcade to the Stupa. After participating in the event, the Dalai Lama flew back to Denver to speak to a sold-out audience at the Pepsi Center in the afternoon.
Clad in down coats and wrapped in blankets, an estimated 2500 people gathered in the early morning that day not only to see the Dalai Lama, but also to receive his blessing.
At the end of the Dalai Lama’s stay, he touched the end of a length of cloth that fanned out far into the audience, who in turn had tied their own “khatas” to it, creating a fabric link among those assembled and the Dalai Lama.
But more than ceremony, the gathering at the Stupa featured comments from the dignitaries about the subject of peace and compassion. Noor called for “respect for freedom, justice and compassion”. Kula called the gathering “a profoundly hopeful moment” as well as chanted the messages of love retrieved from cell phone messages from 9/11 victims.
The Dalai Lama, speaking in purposeful English and in Tibetan through an interpreter, told the assembly that “peace of mind comes from compassion” and that “everyone has the seed of compassion in them”.
He spoke about the “gaps between appearance and reality” and that “our own action is most important”. He encouraged the audience to make every day meaningful and positive. As for the monument — the Stupa that towered above the stage — the Dalai Lama said, “The real stupa is in our own heart; the external stupa is just a reminder of our inner stupa”.
But more than formal teaching, the Dalai Lama also revealed some personal human qualities, like having the humility to admit a “big mistake” when he called Kula a “Muslim rabbi”. He laughed when the interpreter informed him of what he had done and the crowd laughed with him.
The Dalai Lama hunkered down into a huge, stately arm chair, raising a part of his robe over his head against the brisk weather, and he joked about rising early for the event and the force of the morning wind.
After his remarks, the Dalai Lama was then presented with the Living Peace Award, established by Shambhala International to acknowledge “those who not only wish for peace, but who are an embodiment of peace in themselves, living it daily”. His Holiness, Tendzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, was cited as “an indelible reminder to the entire world of what it truly means to live peace” through his “tireless efforts to bring humanity into harmony with itself and with our precious planet Earth”.
The Dalai Lama accepted the award by bowing deeply. He then left the stage and entered the Stupa for a period of time before returning to touch the extended khata with a ritual scepter.
After the Dalai Lama and company had left, their helicopter curving back down and over the crowd that waved cheerfully, events were capped off with a presentation by Chief Looking Horse, of the Lakota Sioux, who told the crowd we need to “unite spiritually, globally”, and with some traditional Tibetan dance.
Being in the presence of the Dalai Lama was memorable indeed.
I’ll say that while photographing the event, more than once I felt like the Dalai Lama was looking directly at me. Even while he was talking, at times, I felt like he was speaking right to me. His gaze and his words made me feel very self-conscious — and maybe that was the point.
Did I need the message of peace with compassion that was being discussed on stage? Yes. Does the world need it today? Absolutely.
For one bracing morning, the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya had truly been a symbol of peace, thanks to an unprecedented gathering of dignitaries. On its steps, the message of peace through compassion could hardly have been spoken with any more authority.
After the event, many of the words I had heard echoed in my mind as I made it to the parking lot, but I had to laugh when I saw a bumper sticker on a neighboring car that seemed to sum up everything in two words: “Question reality”.
That is, question reality about war and peace, question reality about the appearances of things, but most of all, question reality about yourself — it is the most important work you can do.
Tim Van Schmidt is a writer and photographer based in Fort Collins. Check out his channel on YouTube at “Time Capsules by Tim Van Schmidt”.