MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME : MARDI GRASS 2010 featuring ANDY THORN & TYLER GRANT (of EMMITT-NERSHI BAND )
Between the bitter wind and bright sunshine of Nederland, Colorado there is Mountain Standard Time. This band built from the ground up on spilt whiskey is ready to delve into a fresh decade. They will traverse the steep passes of Colorado’s gorgeous mountain towns as they begin to branch out to neighboring states and prepare for a busy summer festival run.
The boys took the time out of their blizzard winter to speak with Mountain Music about their plans including a Mardi Grass Celebration at the Fox Theatre on February 19th.
Guitarist Stanton Sutton explained, “This will be our first headlining slot at the Fox with our new lineup. We are really excited for the chance to put our good foot forward and show people what we are all about.” He continued, “We also want to have more than just a concert, sort of an overall performance. We want visual aesthetics there for people to be taken out of their every day life and brought into a new world. Hula Hoopers, live painters, magicians, lighting design, and costumes; we really want to let other people express their artwork through the moment of our music,” he concluded.
The visualization reminded the newest member, mandolin player Nicholas Dunbar, of a key to the band’s success. “We have established a strong community of friends and family that has been persistently growing. Our energy on stage has kept more and more people coming out which has been refreshing,” he said.
Saxophone slayer Kyle Stersic described, “We play a healthy fusion of many different genres. Sometimes we just play straight up funk.” Sutton continued, “And other times we play straight up bluegrass. It is really more song by song than an overall sound.” Dunbar recalled the diversity of song writing, “There’s four songwriters in the band so every song is completely different and we don’t try to coup anything together. We’ll take one song and work with it and that becomes its own entity within itself,” he described.
The band plays almost entirely original compositions, never relying on bluegrass standards or fiddle tunes. Sutton said, “We design our setlists to flow so that there are no real hiccups in the show.” Stersic noted, “And no two shows we play are ever the same. It varies because we are always thinking of new ideas and incorporating them impromptu into songs,” he explained. MST is ever expanding and exploratory but they remain focused on their place in time to avoid excessive repetitive jamming.
Drummer Zach Scott said, “We really enjoy and have fun playing together. We enjoy the music a lot and that shows when we play live. People can feel that energy coming from us.” Dunbar agreed, “We all push each other because we love each other and seeing one another succeed. I love hearing every one of these guys play and watching every single person shine. We are all working together at every moment,” he said, smirking at the recipe to success that has fallen into place.
Though they have a tattered past, MST sees nothing but a bright future. Dunbar explained their current course, “Expanding our fan base right now is huge. We feel good about around here and we want to just keep going and venturing out further and further until we’ve got everybody,” he said. “We are going out to Kansas, Nebraska, and Montana then further on from there,” he described their upcoming tour plans.
The band may venture on out of the Rockies but they will always carry with them the spirit of Nederland and the front-range music community. All smiles and psychedelic special grass: forget the time of day, it’s Mountain Standard Time!
DON’T MISS MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13TH! Tickets/info: http://foxtheatre.com/Store/ChooseTicket.aspx?sid=15633
