Speaker 1: And it's so great to be with you, especially when
Speaker 1: not only do we get to hear a fantastic bumper
Speaker 1: like that, a great country tune, but we have the
Speaker 1: artist behind it here in studio to yeah, have a
Speaker 1: Jimmy jam session, and to talk about a new organization
Speaker 1: founded last year that's really catching steam, the Mountain West
Speaker 1: Country Music Association. To dive into this. The guy who
Speaker 1: you just heard playing guitar singing the tune there, Michael Sweat,
Speaker 1: joins me here in studio, a US Army veteran of
Speaker 1: the Special Forces turned country artist extraordin are welcome, brother,
Speaker 1: Good to have you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Jamine, thanks for having me. I appreciate it
Speaker 2: being on the air with you.
Speaker 1: Before we get into your association, we'll play a couple
Speaker 1: of tunes.
Speaker 3: We'll have a good time, of course, but.
Speaker 4: Let's talk a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1: How did you get to this point of performing country
Speaker 1: music and with the association that we're going to talk
Speaker 1: about founding that as well? Is the life journey in
Speaker 1: a nutshell of course of Michael Sweat?
Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, So.
Speaker 2: I've been playing music on and off for a couple
Speaker 2: of decades, but during a career in the military, it's
Speaker 2: pretty tough to sustain success. And I generally specialized in
Speaker 2: more of like the rock and metal genres when I
Speaker 2: was younger, but I always wanted to do a country project.
Speaker 3: And it reminds me of, you know, being a kid
Speaker 3: in my.
Speaker 2: Dad's shop, stealing cheer wines and listening to country music.
Speaker 2: And I grew up near the great Randy Travis, and
Speaker 2: so he was always very influential to me, and I
Speaker 2: just wanted to.
Speaker 3: Do a country project for myself.
Speaker 1: So talk to us a little bit about what music
Speaker 1: was like for you in your military service, because you
Speaker 1: spent over two decades in the US Army and doing
Speaker 1: Special Forces. Retired last September as of last year as
Speaker 1: a sergeant major. And to me, if you're in multiple
Speaker 1: combat tours and all the stressors that come with that,
Speaker 1: music almost has to be a therapeutic outlet for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it absolutely was, and I think it was kind
Speaker 2: of a constant throughout my career. A lot of my
Speaker 2: coworkers would be upset if they didn't see the guitar
Speaker 2: because they got so used to me dragging it around
Speaker 2: the world and a lot of campfires and a lot
Speaker 2: of countries we decompressed over over some you know, songs
Speaker 2: around the fire and just playing some music and trying to,
Speaker 2: you know, get some Catharsis out of it, if you will.
Speaker 1: Now, when it comes to country music, especially going back
Speaker 1: to some of those roots and you know the musical
Speaker 1: stylings that influenced you as a performer of country music,
Speaker 1: what is that like for you? What is it that
Speaker 1: you most enjoy about it as a genre?
Speaker 4: Man?
Speaker 2: I think country is probably the most fun genre to play,
Speaker 2: if I'm being honest. And my favorite part is just
Speaker 2: the experiences that you can facilitate from the stage. And
Speaker 2: it gives us such a thrill when we see the
Speaker 2: eighty something year old couples out there that they brave
Speaker 2: the elements until nine to thirty pm or so just
Speaker 2: to dance and spend some time together. And you can
Speaker 2: watch that happen and realize they've been doing that for
Speaker 2: fifty years and just being a to be a part
Speaker 2: of it's pretty special.
Speaker 1: Today in the Denver Gazette, in addition to my normal
Speaker 1: column that I have on Fridays, I also have a
Speaker 1: featured story in the Arts section about everything we're going
Speaker 1: to be discussing today army that builds Nashville alternative Mountain
Speaker 1: West Country artists. This is a story in the Denver
Speaker 1: Gazette today and the big reason why we've got Mike
Speaker 1: here in studio. Tell us a bit about the genesis
Speaker 1: of the Mountain West Country Music Association.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, so, I.
Speaker 2: Just, you know, as I was going on my own
Speaker 2: musical journey and you know, forming a band and trying
Speaker 2: to grow it and actually get somebody to let us
Speaker 2: play on their stage for dollars, I begin to realize
Speaker 2: how difficult that was, in fact, and how tough it
Speaker 2: was to build those relationships and to make reasonable pay
Speaker 2: and to advance in a career out here. And a
Speaker 2: lot of people feel like they have to leave the
Speaker 2: Mountain West to do that, and we see a lot
Speaker 2: of talent go to Nashville or Austin or places like that.
Speaker 2: And I just realized over a couple of years that
Speaker 2: my band, Red Mountain Highways, had a lot of success
Speaker 2: and we've come from those you know, three or four
Speaker 2: hundred dollars bar gigs and made our way into the
Speaker 2: multi thousand dollars shows. And I just felt like if
Speaker 2: I could do it as a hobby player, as a
Speaker 2: full time you know, military guy. Then then everyone else
Speaker 2: can probably do it too, and there's probably some lessons
Speaker 2: that we could share to to sort of help the
Speaker 2: entire scene improve.
Speaker 1: So, Michael sweat from those lessons, what is your association
Speaker 1: built around in terms of the ways that you're trying
Speaker 1: to empower and help other artists in this genre succeed?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Sure, So you know when we talk about our three
Speaker 2: main lines of effort, you know, it's to support and
Speaker 2: develop up and coming artists, to cultivate passion for country music,
Speaker 2: and then to bring regional and national talent to the
Speaker 2: towns and cities that we serve. Right So within that,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of things that we do. We try
Speaker 2: to improve marketing campaigns for our artists and venues help
Speaker 2: them do a better job of getting people to those rooms.
Speaker 2: We focus a lot on the professionalization of the actual
Speaker 2: artists in the scene, So education is a big piece
Speaker 2: of this, and then it's just really sharing those relationships
Speaker 2: and that professional credibility to where you know, we have
Speaker 2: a pro artist pipeline where people can start out as
Speaker 2: an artist and then they have to go through an
Speaker 2: application process through our board of directors and if approved,
Speaker 2: they get pro artist status, which gives us a lot
Speaker 2: of confidence to vouch for those folks. So if I
Speaker 2: have a great rep you know, relationship with a venue
Speaker 2: that maybe's paying more like three or four thousand dollars
Speaker 2: for gigs, I can recommend these guys without hesitation and
Speaker 2: connect them with the relationships that the rest of us
Speaker 2: have already built.
Speaker 1: And that aspect of the venues is really important too,
Speaker 1: because a lot of times they want the best acts
Speaker 1: that they can get and they would like to have
Speaker 1: a way to figure that out more easily. And so
Speaker 1: from what I take away from the Association that one
Speaker 1: of the big things is to sort of provide a
Speaker 1: little bit of vetting for some of these bands that
Speaker 1: then they can a venue can look at them and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: here's a ban I would like, let me reach out
Speaker 1: and maybe the Mount West Country Music Association can put
Speaker 1: me in touch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: And we view that as kind of one of the
Speaker 2: valuable services that we can provide to venue owners as
Speaker 2: industry members. You know, whether you're a small room that's
Speaker 2: looking for a four hundred dollars act or whether you're
Speaker 2: looking to fill up a giant ballroom and pay a
Speaker 2: few thousand. You know, if an artist is a member
Speaker 2: of the Mountain West Country Music Association, it at least
Speaker 2: shows you that they're invested in their professional career. They
Speaker 2: spent a little money, they're spending some time, they're working
Speaker 2: on networking, they're working on self improvement, and I think
Speaker 2: that's going to make most of them, you know, a
Speaker 2: notch above the other options that are out there.
Speaker 3: Michael Sweat here in studio.
Speaker 1: He has his own band, Red Mountain Highway, and as
Speaker 1: we're talking about, is the founder executive director of the
Speaker 1: Mountain West Country Music Association. In a moment, we'll pick
Speaker 1: up the converse and get to talking a little bit
Speaker 1: more about the association and some of the things that
Speaker 1: are happening. But first we got to have a little
Speaker 1: bit of music. You've got that guitar there, You've got
Speaker 1: that tremendous voice.
Speaker 3: I want to hear that hart.
Speaker 1: I've got my briefcase full of blues that always loves
Speaker 1: to play some country music.
Speaker 3: What are we going to do first?
Speaker 2: So this is a song that I wrote for Miss
Speaker 2: Christian Overstreet, A beautiful lady sitting.
Speaker 3: Over there in the corner. I wrote it for her
Speaker 3: for her birthday.
Speaker 2: So I've only played it a couple of times, so
Speaker 2: if I mess it up, it's probably your fault.
Speaker 3: Jimmy.
Speaker 1: I'm going to take full responsibility if something happens, but
Speaker 1: I don't think it will. Let's play some music. Mike
Speaker 1: sweat here in the studio.
Speaker 2: Wal along the room, weird heavy boots.
Speaker 5: I'm tracking my projects, kind us and Noitchius.
Speaker 4: You stand strong from your every load. We you wild
Speaker 4: like you read it.
Speaker 6: Soft is the gone, with eyes like the sky, the
Speaker 6: clouds roun gone.
Speaker 4: I broke in my shop, good things before built in
Speaker 4: my walls.
Speaker 3: You can be skiing with.
Speaker 7: The mood, the firing, my flalls, the cold night.
Speaker 4: You get stars in the sky. If I run a light,
Speaker 4: got noise easy and into more standing the rain.
Speaker 7: I'll er the storm because your card we're starting food.
Speaker 8: To talk of the time, sun, rain and might not
Speaker 8: be perfect, it's perfect.
Speaker 4: Westix, guys, river and cast.
Speaker 7: But when I look at and you risk loud and flown,
Speaker 7: that leads to the line swear a be.
Speaker 4: Taller side, fire in the fast, the cold night, falls
Speaker 4: in the sky, the run out of line, noise.
Speaker 7: Easy looks, boom and the too long standing away.
Speaker 4: The storm to fure the cad. We're fucking food.
Speaker 7: Fun of Bop Colne, you.
Speaker 4: Get stars in the sky line, easy.
Speaker 1: To stand in the.
Speaker 4: Leader. You're the cat fighting food. You the cab, We're
Speaker 4: fighting food. Beautiful.
Speaker 3: Nice job, dude, Nice job to you.
Speaker 1: It sounds like you've been playing that for a while.
Speaker 1: Good job once again. Michael Sweat joining us here in studio.
Speaker 1: Got a name for that tune, brother, Well, I'm waiting
Speaker 1: on Kristen to tell me what the name is right now.
Speaker 1: We're calling it Kristen Song until she comes up with
Speaker 1: something else. There you go. By the way, I should
Speaker 1: mention that Kristen over Street is also marketing director for
Speaker 1: the Mountain West Country Music Association.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: Now. Let me ask you about the name Mountain West
Speaker 1: because you're not just talking about Colorado. It implies something
Speaker 1: broader in scope. Tell us about the vision that you
Speaker 1: and the folks you're working with across the state of
Speaker 1: Colorado right now have for growth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2: So it's a five year, seven state plan and at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, we kind of just feel
Speaker 2: like the Mountain West has historically been a tough place
Speaker 2: to succeed in music, and there hasn't been much continuity
Speaker 2: between those states and those cities, so we anticipate Right
Speaker 2: now we're mostly focused in Colorado. We've got three chapters
Speaker 2: here in Colorado Springs, Denver, and Northern Colorado.
Speaker 3: We're looking to grow two more chapters.
Speaker 2: In Southern Colorado and Wyoming just after the New year
Speaker 2: in January. But we do anticipate that the entire organization
Speaker 2: will be comprised of members from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada,
Speaker 2: and New Mexico and maybe the Black Hills region of
Speaker 2: South Dakota. We've had a few of those guys reach
Speaker 2: out and say, hey, scoop us up too, so we'll
Speaker 2: see what happens then.
Speaker 1: The vision and I talk about this in my article
Speaker 1: for the Denver Gazette under Arts and Entertainment today, also
Speaker 1: in the Colorado Springs Gazette. And you're based in Colorado Springs,
Speaker 1: so I'm happy to see that. It seems like you
Speaker 1: really are trying to create a sort of alternative, especially
Speaker 1: for more localized artists, to the Nashville scene.
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: I mean it's no secret that you know Nashville has
Speaker 2: a type that's preferred, if you will.
Speaker 3: And you know, I grew up in the South.
Speaker 2: I've been in Colorado for twenty one years, so this
Speaker 2: is home and I consider myself a Western country artist now.
Speaker 2: And you know, historically we've struggled to break into that
Speaker 2: market and Austin. You could say the same for Austin
Speaker 2: in some ways. And there's just a really mature Texas
Speaker 2: scene and a mature red dirt scene through Oklahoma.
Speaker 3: And Texas and Nashville.
Speaker 2: But I think most of the artists in the Mountain
Speaker 2: West have kind of been on their own through the years,
Speaker 2: and when we look around, we go, well, why is
Speaker 2: that there's outstanding music? You got great cities between Colorado
Speaker 2: Springs and Denver and Cheyenne and Salt Lake City, there's
Speaker 2: plenty of opportunity. I just feel like no one really
Speaker 2: has made the effort to curate the scene and unite
Speaker 2: the clans the way that we're trying to do it.
Speaker 1: Talk to us a little bit about the expansion in
Speaker 1: terms of the chapter. So in my story, I talked
Speaker 1: with Brian Brooks of Brian Brooks Sundown Rising, which has
Speaker 1: just been that's just over a year in and they're
Speaker 1: crushing it. And he is the head of the brand
Speaker 1: new Northern Colorado Chapter. I also talked with Rachelle Patino Heineke,
Speaker 1: who's the president of the Denver chapter, her vice president
Speaker 1: being Ryan Chris of Ryan Chris rough Cuts, a tremendous
Speaker 1: advocate for Colorado's country music scene. So talk to us
Speaker 1: a little bit about some of the acts that are
Speaker 1: involved in things that are happening in Northern Colorado on Denver.
Speaker 3: And Colorado Springs. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, what you know, what it really comes down to
Speaker 2: is that we were really looking to connect with people
Speaker 2: that are serious about country music, that are respected in
Speaker 2: the community, and that buy in this vision that we're propagating,
Speaker 2: you know, saying, hey, all the ships rise on the
Speaker 2: swelling tide.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, if we work together,
Speaker 3: we are better. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you know, you talk about guys like Ryan Chris.
Speaker 2: He's been out here doing this a long time. Everybody
Speaker 2: loves him, super well respected, great band, and he knows
Speaker 2: a lot of people and has a lot of relationships.
Speaker 3: And connections and he can certainly serve as a mentor
Speaker 3: or to, you know, artists that are.
Speaker 2: Up and coming, developing, and Brian Brooks, my dear friend
Speaker 2: up with Sundown Rising. They're fantastic and Brian's the same way.
Speaker 2: He's been around the community a long time. He's got
Speaker 2: a lot of respect, and so we just feel real
Speaker 2: fortunate to just have such powerhouses on board with us.
Speaker 2: And you know, Rachelle, for what it's worth, we're thrilled
Speaker 2: to get her. She played a huge role in the
Speaker 2: Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame for another organization, fantastic organization,
Speaker 2: and the work that she did there was outstanding, and
Speaker 2: so you know when she ended up coming on board
Speaker 2: to head up our Denver chapter, we were just thrilled.
Speaker 3: We shouldn't be happier.
Speaker 1: Now, tell us real quick because we're just about out
Speaker 1: a time. We got to get another song in. Tell
Speaker 1: us real quick about the awards event that you have
Speaker 1: coming up on the twenty fifth the Antler's Hotel in
Speaker 1: Colorida Springs.
Speaker 3: We're super excited.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the first annual Mountain West Country Music Association Awards.
Speaker 2: We've got roughly thirty eight nominees and nine different categories
Speaker 2: and we are doing a full educational symposium, cocktail hour,
Speaker 2: and a three course plated meal at the Antlers that
Speaker 2: correlates with a three hour awards show, and the aforementioned
Speaker 2: Brian Brooks that you brought up is going to serve
Speaker 2: as the house band for that. So we'll do about
Speaker 2: a ninety minute program of events where we announce all
Speaker 2: the nominees and the winners, and there'll be a few
Speaker 2: performances throughout that from nominees and winners, and then at
Speaker 2: the end of the show, we're just gonna have some
Speaker 2: refreshments and do some dancing and listen to Brian Brooks
Speaker 2: Sundown Rising play for about ninety minutes.
Speaker 3: Beautiful.
Speaker 1: On the website for the mount West Country Music Association.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Mountain WESTCMA dot org, and you can grab your
Speaker 2: tickets to the awards show. There, you can learn more
Speaker 2: about the organization, you can become a member. It's all right.
Speaker 3: There, beautiful. Michael Sweat of the.
Speaker 1: Mount West Country Music Association and Red Mountain Highway, thanks
Speaker 1: so much for joining us here on Kawa today.
Speaker 3: What a blast, love it man, Thank you so much
Speaker 3: for having us haw.
Speaker 1: We got one more two we're gonna go out to
Speaker 1: and jam as we head into the weekend. Have a
Speaker 1: great West of rest of weekend and make God bless America.
Speaker 4: I am I ever gonna leave you.
Speaker 3: When the sound lose it treat it's wrong. If I
Speaker 3: can't even see, I won't to.
Speaker 6: Have a who do I move on? Even John Warning
Speaker 6: ain't got a sun set. He quickly got a song.
Speaker 6: If the stud buys all my god left, I ain't
Speaker 6: gonna dude wrong.
Speaker 4: For Haggin was a cattle.
Speaker 5: Let out of Tennessee.
Speaker 4: And ripped the lyrics. Move in the band and never
Speaker 4: found there finding next.
Speaker 5: You wish you happy?
Speaker 4: It always ride.
Speaker 3: For Hank.
Speaker 4: It lose a catalog.
Speaker 3: I'll bow out before I'm guilty.
Speaker 4: Living in the past, It's considered me a memory.
Speaker 5: That last.
Speaker 4: Every turn to see your you old sign eating on
Speaker 4: the group on side. You just like to leave him
Speaker 4: song you remember my good.
Speaker 7: Bye hag It was tattling out.
Speaker 4: Let out to sea.
Speaker 5: We it's over in the bad, but I finding it
Speaker 5: out next you wish you happy?
Speaker 4: Let his ride. It was a cattleg I sois you
Speaker 4: of the game? Mandk It was cattle. It was srank.
Speaker 6: It was a cattle