COLORADO'S 'FINEST QUALITY' LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
P.O. BOX 830; NEDERLAND, COLORADO 80466
mike@michiganmike.com
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COLORADO'S 'FINEST QUALITY' LIVE ENTERTAINMENT P.O. BOX 830; NEDERLAND, COLORADO 80466 mike@michiganmike.com
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Boulder Weekly - Spring 2004 2004 Summer Scene - Your Guide to Everything Fun Under The Sun The Nederland Music and Arts Festival–affectionately known as NedFest–has become one of Colorado’s premier summer festivals. Visit www.nedfest.com for the full line-up and ticket information. Some confirmed acts for this year’s installment include the Tony Trischka Band, the Motet and Garaj Mahal featuring Kai Eckhardt, Fareed Haque, Alan Hertz and Eric Levy. Daily Camera - August 6, 2004 Sebastian: Back in Boulder - by Matt Sebastian - Boulder, CO One of the area's biggest summer bashes returns this weekend as the Nederland Music & Arts Festival — better known as NedFest 2004 — sets up on the shores of Barker Reservoir on Saturday and Sunday. Leftover Salmon's Vince Herman, Garaj Mahal, The Motet and Shanti Groove are among the acts slated to play from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. both days. Boulder Weekly - Thursday, August 1, 2001 Grooving at altitude: Nedfest rocks the Rockies all weekend long - by Dave Kirby - Boulder, CO Michigan Mike Torpie sounds exhausted. Dog tired. We caught up to the local promoter as he was wrapping up the week before his two-day Nedfest extravaganza at Jeff Guercio Memorial Baseball Park in Nederland. He had already pulled a few straight days of little or no sleep and had recently survived a spectacularly ill-timed bout of automotive dysfunction a day or two before, and he was half past frazzled. But through the fog of struggling to remember what day it was, Torpie was quietly confident of pulling it all off. "It feels good, so far," Torpie said. "Seems like every year it gets a little better organized. This year we may actually be ahead of the game. We've got an extra day to set up, and we're going to fix up the grounds, really go all out." Nedfest, formally known as the Nederland Music and Arts Festival, rolls into Nederland for its fifth year this coming weekend. The festival features two days of main- and side-stage music, as well as local artists and vendor booths. But far from the paradigm of Boulder culture leaking uphill to Nederland, it's every bit a Ned experience, built around the music which has been built around Torpie, and the burgeoning groove scene that has quietly made the Boulder-Nederland nexus one of the most fertile spots on the national jamband map. It's a good sign when the distinction between your local headlining acts and your national headlining acts is hard to find. Torpie has the luxury of working with an embarrassment of riches. Bands like Motet and Jive, and players like Furtado and Dave Watts, are mainstays on the groove circuit, while younger bands like Yonder Mountain String Band are cracking new markets. Along with established acts like Leftover Salmon and String Cheese (who have contributed members to the Theory of Everything (TOE) lineups and other impromptu NedFest throw together bands over the years), they represent the groove scene's increasingly successful bluegrass and acoustic influenced faction-an irony for a music scene that spent some years trying to distance itself from the hayseed stereotype of country rock/pop acts that "the Colorado sound" once represented-and just a slide down the hill from the venerable Caribou Studio. Acoustic is back. And alongside the more jazz-inclined vibes, Torpie has neatly bracketed the groove scene's two most vital disciplines. "It's grown really well over the years," Torpie says. "Used to be, we'd sit around and say, 'Gee, can we get so-and-so, or you think so-and-so will play?' It's getting to the point now, we get calls from the bands' agents asking us if they can play it. That feels really good." Ticket sales for NedFest have risen gradually over the years (they drew about 1,200 last year) alongside the profile of the talent. The two go naturally together, but what seems like a straight line to everyone else has been a labor of love for Torpie himself, who has parlayed a series of gambles and clever positioning, opportunity and unshakable belief in the music itself into a full-time operation (his production company is called Michigan Mike Presents). A non-player, Torpie is probably the local groove scene's biggest fan, as well as its most successful promoter. The former is easy; the latter took some time. "I've been around it pretty much since I got here in 1995. Booking shows four nights a week, almost every week since then, it's given me the chance to really learn the ropes, get to know the musicians. It's been a lot of work, but it's also been great watching the scene grow up over the years. "A couple of years ago, we decided we'd really try to upgrade the acts, get some big names from out of town. But that meant raising ticket prices one and half times what they were the year before, and I was really, really nervous about doing that. We kind of had to, but still you worry about what it does to your ticket sales. And they actually went up from the year before. That was kind of a turning point for me." This year, the two-day festival includes headlining appearances by Charlie Hunter Quintet (with Ron Miles), Vinyl, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, The Motet, Jive, The Theory of Everything, Cabaret Diosa, Tony Furtado and the American Gypsies (with Paul McCandless), Matt Flinner Quartet, Melvin Seals' Melting Pot, Shanti Groove, Jive and Blackdog. Between-set acts include Single Malt Band, Junis Ponds, High on the Hog, Liz Clark and more. And while Nedfest is the kind of event that gets the attention of net-surfing summer vacation festival chasers, it's the two-day-a-year payoff for Torpie's more or less full-time gig booking the Nederland Acid Jazz series. The NAJ shows, held at small Ned venues like the Pioneer Inn, the Wolf Tongue and Top of the Square for the past six years, have combined the relaxed vibe of groove with the ages-old open stage model. The result may be the single most important element to a successful local scene: players from different bands and different vibes getting onstage, sharing licks, playing each other's songs, mixing it up, and working a small, intimate crowd. It keeps the players loose and the ideas flowing. And thanks to the word-of-mouth effect in the relatively close-knit groove community, the NAJ has started to draw attention from outside the area as well. "We get bands sometimes driving through the area," Torpie says, "on the way to their next gig, and they'll just come up to Ned and stop in, looking for a jam." One of NedFest's busiest players this year, and a guy who's been on Michigan Mike's NAJ marquees since the very beginning, is drummer Dave Watts. Watts brings his Motet to Nedfest as a headliner act, as well as participating in this year's TOE lineup. After the Saturday show, Watts retires back to the NedMex Restaurant and Cantina for a Bluegracid All Star gig with Leftover's Tye North and guitarist Ross Martin. Torpie has called Watts "a major instigator" in the scene that's grown up around NAJ, and Watts bears a reputation as a guy who'll jam pretty much anywhere, anytime. "I love doing NedFest," says Watts. "We're touring a lot of the year, and it's like coming back home. I see all my friends who work around Ned, the vendors, the musicians." Asked if he thought there was something real going on here, Watts said, "Absolutely. I'm consistently impressed with how much music is coming out of here, and how many great players are attracted to the area and are coming here to play. "We go out to other festivals, like the High Sierra Festival in California, and people are always asking us what's going on out here. There's so many great bands coming from here now. It's like this incredible musical vortex. "Mike's been at the center of the whole thing. He's capitalized on it, but he's also a big reason, I think, why it's going so well now. You don't develop a great scene like this with venues alone. It takes promoters who are willing to do the hard work and really work with the bands. Mike's been there every step of the way." Asked what exactly the key to the scene's success has been, Torpie had to recall his favorite quote on the subject. "It's... it's the... I have to get this right, since it's my quote... ." It's been a long day. "It's the longitude, latitude, altitude, and attitude." Sounds about right. Colorado Daily - Friday, August 03, 2001 They call him Michigan Mike - by Wendy Kale - Boulder, CO He's the man that inaugurated acid jazz in the sleepy mountain town of Nederland, and the founder of the annual NedFest parties. Mike is getting ready to host NedFest 2001 this weekend featuring a line-up of national and local all-star acts. Mike has had his pulse on the local music scene, since he moved from Michigan in 1992. He knew when to parlay acid jazz into a top commodity in Boulder, he has supported local world-beat and fusion acts, and he has booked bluegrass bands like Runaway Truck Ramp since their inception. He has accomplished those feats despite the fierce promoter wars that wage in the Boulder market. "I moved out to Colorado when the economy went flat in Michigan," explained Mike. Everybody was getting laid-off from their jobs, and you couldn't find a job in Detroit. I didn't know that I would end up in Nederland. I was just traveling and trying to find a place to live. "I had heard about Boulder and the cool music scene, and I liked the town. But I was surprised to find that there was no music when I got here. All the clubs were putting in pool tables and the music scene had turned stagnant. One day I heard that Leftover Salmon was playing at the Chalet Suisse in Nederland, and I drove up to check them out. Right then and there I could tell that people in Nederland had a creative music energy -- there was a lot of jamming and experimenting with the music." Mike had found a job teaching at Whittier Elementary School in Boulder, but he was drawn to the Nederland music scene. He discovered that Nederland was interested in the avant-garde acid jazz sound, and he began booking backyard parties in the mountain town. Mike landed a plum gig booking bands at the Top of the Square club. He was broke, so the offer of dinner, drinks and $20 gave him the incentive to book bands for the venue. The one-night a week gig eventually turned full-time, and Mike began his acid jazz club sessions in Nederland. The concept was so popular that he eventually brought the music scene down to Boulder in the mid-'90s. "We still have the original Monday night acid jazz nights going," said Mike. "It's an amazing social scene in Nederland. The crowd is listening and respecting some high-quality music." After his Top of the Square gig, Mike went on to book shows at the Stagestop in Rollinsvile, shows at the Boulder Theater, and concerts at Lake Eldora ski resort. In 1996 Mike came up with the idea to host the first annual NedFest. But he had to fight for his right to party as the town fathers of Nederland weren't thrilled at the idea of hipsters invading their city. "We started off on a much smaller scale, and we were a lot less professional." admitted Mike. "We had a low to no budget, but we made a valiant attempt to make this fest happen. The town hated it, and they wouldn't let me do the fest for a couple of years." Mike decided to take a shot at it again in '97. "We were certainly the underdog in town," said Mike. "But by this time I was booking bands at the Assay Office - (which became the Wolf Tongue Brewery), and they could see that I was contributing to the local market." In fact, Mike turned the Wolf Tongue from a wild bar into the most popular venue in Nederland. He brought in top-name local and national acts, and the club was one of the last bars to survive the Nederland music scene. In the last year, several bars closed down with the slumping economy. The Wolf Tongue just closed this month, despite a valiant rally by the owners to keep the club open. However, the closing of the club gave Mike a bigger incentive to make money on this year's NedFest. Hoping that the NedFest will turn a tidy profit, Mike plans to use his extra funds to open his own club and keep the Nederland music scene flowing. "I love doing the NedFest," said Mike. "I always promoted these backyard parties, and I like the idea of hanging out and having live bands play outside. And living up in Nederland, I wanted to make a festival that would be family-oriented. It took some up-hill work to make this fest happen since '99. We were the big controversy in Nederland, and I had to do my research and get all the background stuff, to make this work right." The NedFest of '99 drew over 600 people, last year 1,100 fans came up to Nederland, and this year the festival is expecting over 2,000 people to show. This year the fest will offer arts and crafts booths, food and merchandise vendors, and beer and wine. And this year's line-up proves that Michigan Mike has done his homework. The festival will feature the Charlie Hunter Quartet, Merl Saunders and his Funky Friends, Yonder Mountain String band, the Nederland BluegrAcid Jazz All-Stars, Runaway Truck Ramp, The Slip, The Motet, Being Lara Maykovich, Jaka and Jamie Janover's Loop Realm. "We've definitely expanded the line-up, and with acts like Charlie Hunter, we're bringing in higher-quality stuff," said Mike. "We want to make this a great annual local event to celebrate the unique sounds we have going for this area. And this festival will be great for Nederland. Last year we broke records for the sales tax revenue for the day - we made more money for the town than the Fourth of July!" So what does Mike plan to do with his share of the festival proceeds? "I want to open my own club up in Nederland," he said. "The NedFest has been successful, and this would be the natural next step. If a good opportunity comes along for a venue, I'm going to grab it. Meanwhile everyone in town is asking me when I'm going to open the club. I figure if I can spend eight months putting together a festival, that I can pull a club together." So, if you want a great way to celebrate the "Nine Day Week," Mike says that NedFest is the party to attend. Just in case you wondering about those nine days, according to Grateful Dead lore, Jerry Garcia was born on the first of August and died on the 9th of the month. That's the equivalent of a national holiday in Grateful Dead land. And Jerry would be proud of the bands playing NedFest 2001. The Daily Camera - Sunday, July 30, 2000 At NedFest, bluegrass, jazz enliven mountain town - by Greg Glasgow - Boulder, CO (excerpt) For musicians, there's always been something magical about Nederland. It could be the spectacular views and rarefied mountain air, which have provided inspiration to everyone from Steven Stills to the String Cheese Incident. It could be that the musical energy that was once concentrated in the nearby Caribou Ranch recording studio - which hosted artists such as Elton John, Billy Joel and Michael Jackson - has spread over the town like a magical fog. Whatever the cause, there's no denying that the past two decades have seen the growth of a tremendous music scene in Nederland. Inspired by forefathers Hot Rize and Leftover Salmon, the town has birthed a new genre: a fresh fusion of traditional bluegrass, jazz and post-Grateful Dead jam music. Groups like Yonder Mountain String Band, Runaway Truck Ramp and the Tony Furtado Band all live near the area, and Nederland promoter "Michigan Mike" Torpie has turned the Wolf Tongue Brewery into one of Colorado's best jam spots with his weekly Nederland Acid Jazz Series. All of the town's creativity and musical talent reach a pinacle on Saturday and Aug. 6, with the Nederland Music and Arts Festival (aka NedFest), a two-day event featuring 10 musical acts and two all-star jam sessions, as well as food vendors, beer stands and a variety of artists selling everything from pottery to jewlrey to batik and tye-dye. Most of the groups are bluegrass or bluegrass-inspired, though there are jazz and world-beat artists on the bill as well. The idea, Torpie says, is to show how much the scene has grown. "When I moved to Nederland in 1995, there wasn't too much of a music scene. You had Double Stop, which evolved into Runaway Truck Ramp, you had a few other things, but the scene wasn't really cranking," Torpie says. "The scene was dormant. According to people who have been there a long time, in the 70s there was good energy, good music, people having fun. When I showed up, it had been gone. It's good to see it on the rise again. There's something about the longitude, latitude, altitude and attitude that make it work." Torpie staged the first NedFest in 1996; the second in 1999. Around 600 music fans showed up each day. This year Torpie expects that number to double. For last year's event, he brought in jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan, but this year's event is largely a local affair. Jordan will return to NedFest, but not as a headliner. He's sitting in with the Nederland Acid Jazz jam on Saturday night. Of the festival's 12 acts, only three - the New Country Kitchen, Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband and ThaMuseMeant - are from outside Colorado. "People say, 'Who's the headliner?'" Torpie says. "You know what? Everybody at NedFest is a headliner. All these people headline the Fox or the Boulder Theater and bring in big crowds." Among those headliners is the Yonder Mountain String Band, a 2-year-old quartet specializing in a modern, danceable bluegrass sound fueled by mandolin, banjo, string bass and acoustic guitar. It's a sound the group calls "drive without the drums," and it's taken them from playing for dozens of people in free shows at the Mountain Sun to selling out headlining gigs at the Fox. "I moved to Nederland because of the music scene," says mandolin player Jeff Austin. "I lived in Illinois, and I couldn't find guys who would commit to playing full time. I helped a friend move to the Boulder area, checked out Nederland and I just freaked. I visited three more times and moved." Austin, who played NedFest last year with Yonder Mountain, says he can't believe it took this long for Nederland to get an event of this size. "It sounds weird to say, 'It's about time,' because I've only lived here 2½ years," he says. "But this is a way for all the musicians to get together and celebrate what we do, to celebrate the community of Nederland and Boulder and get everybody psyched about the whole music scene going on. This is local folks showing what it's all about — that we love the scene very much and don't want it to end." Nor does anyone want NedFest to end. Soon to have two consecutive years as organizer under his belt, Torpie says the future of NedFest is looking good. If things go well, he says, Colorado may have another summer bluegrass festival to look forward to. Jambase.com - Wednesday, August 20, 2003 Music Just Sounds Better in the Mountains - by Reanna Feinberg Michigan Mike knows how to put together a festival. Beyond a great jazz, world music line-up (Black Frames, The Motet, Garaj Mahal, Vinyl, Single Malt Band, The Big Wu, Tony Furtado & The American Gypsies, Noam Pikelny and Robert Walter's 20th Congress, to name a few), Nedfest is in a beautiful place nestled by the water in the mountains, 'tweener sets play all weekend on the front corner of the stage between main acts, the port-a-potties smell like fresh roasted coffee (smart vendor placement), the stage is powered partly by bio-diesel, folks from Indian Peaks Natural Spring Water supply everyone with free water all weekend, and local breweries, meaderies, music publications, and food vendors line the periphery of the field. This is a music festival though and all these fine amenities don't distract from some bad sound problems during a good chunk of Saturday. Sound problems aside, the weekend is an orgy of good music in a beautiful setting. Saturday High energy, reggae infused funk raps, accelerate on a wave of Wookiefoot's momentum to start Nedfest on Saturday August 2nd. A circus of dancers compete for attention with a stage full of colorful, over-sized, felt pants--not taking themselves too seriously, they share good energy. Powerful energy continues, though I don't think I can call it good (and thank goodness, I imagine that would be among the greatest insults to Skerik and Black Frames I could offer). Psychotic, eerie, creative, maniacal energy may be more appropriate. I'd like to clarify that excavating the word "good" from my description in no way reflects quality--it implies my previous desire to twirl around on the grass in glitter and sunshine with Wookiefoot is squashed by awe watching these guys play something outside any lines where music presently exists. Calling it music is perhaps limiting; how about we call it their interpretation of dungeon torture cells creating music after a few beers? Skerik splits his time fairly evenly between saxes and pounding tunes on the marimba with Mike Dillon on vibes, marimba, tabla and percussion, and the drummer, Earl Harvin, grabbing some mallets and joining Skerik on the marimba and vibes at times. I've never seen musicians build this sort of powerful percussion explosion with mallets on xylophone-type instruments. It's like elementary school kids playing Christmas songs with bells and chimes while hooked to electric shock cables. "Where are we? What just happened? I don't know. What's he building in there?" Skerik asks in a coarse monotone smoky ghoulish narrator-of-horror-theatre tone, describing the music perfectly. A cymbal flies in slow motion circles before clamoring on the stage while Mike Dillon's already playing a new toy: rubbing the inside of a metal drum with his hand wrapped in his t-shirt like cleaning windows. "Nedfest is all about The Motet," announces Michigan Mike as Dave Watts, on drums, and the rest play some eclectic South American, West African funk. A few of them dive into the audience with pieces of their dismantled drum sets to join Samba Dende in a roaming drum circle gathering dancers like the Pied Pipers of percussion. The Motet does this every year, but adds an additional mid-set samba while the sound problems are fixed; it cuts their time on stage considerably--an unfortunate thing for a band with their talent for creating and molding momentum. Their intoxicating rhythms lure festive dancers around the field and my legs join this moving amoeba as if it were pants they had lost. They'll surely continue out the gates and into the Rocky Mountains like a gypsy caravan pulling in unsuspecting passerby's with their infectious rhythms to step on the world as if it were made of marshmallows. I don't have warm enough clothes for that sort of exploration so I dive to the ground, dig my fingers into the soil and hold on as my feet kick and lurch toward the drums--they put up a good fight and eventually accept a promise of no shoes for a week in exchange for their cooperation. Having persuaded all of my limbs to remain at the festival I relax and enjoy the funny funk talent of Garaj Mahal. "You come up with some fucked up shit when you spend as much time in a van as we do," claims Fareed Haque, and they've got the songs to prove it. I've seen a lot of shows this summer and have become a little desensitized with the rivers of good music; Garaj Mahal is the first band in a while that's just wowed me. Fareed Haque on the guitar, Kai Ekhardt on the bass, Alan Hertz on the drums, Eric Levy on the keys--these guys are masters, and together they are phenomenal. I find myself looking for the source of sounds that have no business coming from a stage with those instruments; I scan each musician, usually finding the source at the last place I look. Time to fill my belly with a little food. It's nice sitting and listening to Victor Wooten, but I can't see him. Is that one man? It must be at least two. I know he's a bass player, but I swear I hear a guitar also. There must be at least one other person. My body sufficiently nourished, I stand up to find one man playing one bass. He loops beats, plays frets all along the bass' arm, thwomps, strums with precision, and sings cute conscientious songs. This is one valuable man; I'm glad he didn't get drawn into the hills on the Motet's percussion caravan. The guys from Garaj Mahal, the Motet's guitarist, and another percussion player join Victor on stage for Saturday's culminating act: Nederland Acid Jazz, an improvisational jazz performance that happens with a new roster of musicians week to week. They take turns juggling the music and passing it on. Fareed Haque seems to conduct things toward the end, playing some Garaj Mahal songs with a new intensity. Kai Eckhardt ends the night by sharing something Victor Wooten said to him when they first met, "If you want something, start by giving it away." It's a great philosophy and clearly these guys want some damn fine funky music and good energy. Sunday Lighting strikes hills in the distance and the Matt Flinner/Ross Martin band conducts the coming storm with bluegrass. Raindrops creep in playfully on the mandolin like water bugs skipping across a pond. The guitar rises and crumbles mountains in muted echoes. The music speaks the eerie conversations of dark grey clouds, sending messages to a sunny day with Kimock-like tunes, before plunging into heavy metal bluegrass. Wind swirls the music into the mountains, where the high sound of the mandolin belongs--telling a story of longing, sadness and great beauty from the mountaintop. "No more background music," rumbles the storm and I make a mad dash for my truck as the downpour releases. At least these storms pass quickly, and as Shanti Groove points out: it's not bluegrass if there ain't mud to dance in. Well this is certainly bluegrass then, or is it? There are a lot of the right instruments, playing very fast, but they move into non-bluegrass jams where these instruments mutate and change before my ears. Ross Martin and Chris Castino both join the band at different times, adding to their spry dance tunes. Jason Scroggins, on guitar with Shanti Groove, then takes his turn bringing energetic enthusiasm to another band by joining The Big Wu to play "House of Wu." It makes me want to be as ridiculous as possible. I want to throw my limbs at goofy angles, out of time. I want to hunch over while my feet run in place kicking up dirt like an old hermit with a knobby cane rejoicing and yodeling when he thinks everyone's gone. I want to twirl and jump and run across the field like Fred Flintstone bowling on his tiptoes. I wish I had a bright blue wheelbarrow. I don't know why exactly, but I imagine I'd run around scooping people up until they pile up above the trees flailing and laughing and wiggling in their fleshy totem pole until I stop short and they sprinkle the grassy field softly and bouncing. Big Wu fans listen closely, Andy Miller has just revealed one of his greatest kept secrets: he loves beer. Well, perhaps it's not that well kept. He continues to purge these pent up feelings in a long-winded cheers. "I would like to do something that I look forward to every day because this is the time of the day that I look forward to most when I get up. It is the time of the day that makes me say yes, I have arrived and I am here. This is the time of day I grab an icy cold frosty Twisted Pine lager and I raise my glass to you and I say Chee-eeers!" Following this revelation comes a song about committing innocent, almost victimless, crimes, while drinking beer, on a pontoon where Andy sneaks in a customized line about being "with my friends on a beautiful afternoon in August in Nederland, Colorado at Nedfest sitting by the lake under God's... mixed skies," all in a single breath until the last two words. Mixed skies continue into Tony Furtado and the American Gypsies's set and I dance with my arms umbrella'ed at my sides like a Pooh Bear splashing back and forth. Tony's pinky finger glides over the arm of his slide guitar wrapped in the neck of a wine bottle. He streams enigmatic sounds that leap from his slide guitar, guitar and banjo while the rest of the band weaves in their talent. The bass player has some amazing solos and the electric guitarist reaches sounds I had thought impossible; then, not satisfied with the reach alone, he plays tunes at these knew levels. They build and ride their momentum then shift, not bursting or stopping; they just play a completely different thing at a different pace, but still the same song. Robert Walter's 20th Congress closes the festival while night falls. While night falls? It's only 7PM. I don't see a moon. Come to think of it, I don't see a sky; I see a churning grey mass digesting rich cheese. No rain though, we must be fine. Robert Walter's arms stretch wide, rising and falling on the organ as if he's Dracula throwing off a cape. Cheme, on the sax, switches to a tweetie bird flute tease--playing around the microphone so the bird's muffled song travels around us in circles. All of Will Bernard's fingers pluck the strings of his guitar at once, in different times, and he dives into an amazing fast solo, his face wincing with the extremity of his sounds. Everyone in front of the stage bursts into joyful jelly-bodied dancing, without knowing it. 8:30 nears (the curfew for Sunday night) and the forgotten storm approaches. They're not playing a soundtrack to this one, like the Matt Flinner/Ross Martin Band earlier, this is the scene in the Hollywood movie where the happy oblivious hippies get blown right off the ground yelling stereotyped phrases into the wind like, "Wow, that must have been good shit!" and "I can't feel my legs, man!" One person would be left in the middle of the field at the end, having slept through it all, only to wake up, look around at the empty festival grounds, and say, "Where’d everybody go?" I’ve seen too many horror movies to stick around for that scripted ending. Boulder Weekly - Thursday, June 12, 2003 2003 Summer Scene: Blue Colorado Skies Bluegrass and folk festivals in the Rocky Mountain region this summer The Nederland Music and Arts Festival–affectionately known as NedFest–has become one of Colorado’s premier summer festivals. With good reason. Promoter Michigan Mike is always able to bring in top-notch bands from all over the world. The fifth installment is no different, featuring performers like Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Stanley Jordan, Garaj Mahal and Tony Furtado and the American Gypsies, as well as numerous others. Boulder Weekly - Thursday, May 2002 Best Music Festival - Runner-up: NedFest - by Editorial Staff - Boulder, CO He might have recently lost a seat on the Town of Nederland Board of Trustees by one vote, but local promoter "Michigan Mike" Torpie’s NedFest easily won the runner-up slot for Boulder County’s Best Music Festival. "There are lots of other festivals," says a psyched Torpie, who already has Tony Furtado, Charlie Hunter, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Blackdog and The Motet scheduled for August’s NedFest 2002. "And it’s great to be up there." The Mountain-Ear - Thursday, August 10, 2000 Hometown Fest Is The Best - by Jeffrey V. Smith - Nederland, CO In only it's second consecutive year, the Nederland Music and Arts Festival has grown up. There was no denying the festival status of this year's event thanks to good crowds and amazing music. Months of hard work paid off for "Michigan" Mike Torpie with the success of the event and thanks to his perseverance, we were all treated to a fantastic weekend of entertainment right here in our backyard. Best of all, the thousand plus attendees each day treated Nederland with respect and had little impact on the town. This helps ensure that the fun will continue next year. The festival's main focus is on Colorado-based bands with a few world-class performers thrown in for good measure. Thanks to the fact that we have so many talented musicians here at home, the festival's line-up would have been a hit anywhere in the country. Performances by guitar wizard Keller Williams and Nederland Acid Jazz featuring Stanley Jordan were the highlights of Saturday's events which also saw strong sets from both the Tony Furtado Band and The Motet. Italian bluegrass from New Country Kitchen kicked things off Sunday morning, but it was ThaMuseMeant that got the crowd to the dance-floor en mass. High energy sets from Runaway Truck Ramp and Yonder Mountain String Band continued to keep the dance area packed and the dust clouds rising. An all-star set featuring Pete Wernick, Vince Herman, Jean Ballhorn and friends closed the fest in grand fashion. The Onion - Thursday, August 5, 1999 by Jeff Stratton - Denver, CO Only time will tell if the Nederland Music & Arts Festival will be a success in terms of actual attendees, but from an organizational standpoint, it seems to have all its ducks in a row. Promoter Michigan Mike has put together an impressive weekend package for those inclined to escape the heat by gaining a few thousand feet in elevation. Saturday kicks off with Pete Wernick & Live Five, followed by The Tony Furtado Band and The Dave Watts Motet. Starting at 4:30, jazz-guitar wizard Stanley Jordan holds court for the rest of the afternoon. At 8, Laughing Hands plays an intimate set at Acoustic Coffeehouse, while late-night performances include Butterhead at the Wolf Tongue and The Bluegrassholes at the Pioneer Inn. Sunday begins with Ty Burhoe & Friends before moving on to The Floodplain Gang, Runaway Truck Ramp, and The Younder Mountain String Band. The afternoon concludes with a band of heavy-hitters called the Nederland Bluegracid Jazz All-Stars. The Mountain-Ear - Thursday, August 12, 1999 Town treated to best at the Fest - by Jeffrey V. Smith - Nederland, CO Everybody let out a big "ye haw" for "Michigan" Mike Torpie and his 1999 Nederland Music and Arts Festival. Then give him a huge pat on the back and a great big "thank you." His countless hours of preparation and coordination brought several of the region's most talented artists to town for a weekend of fun and music. It also helped make the festival a success with limited burdon on the town. Here's to next year, Mike! While the event may not have been the biggest financial success, it was a huge boost to Nederland's music and cultural scene. The Festival brought hundreds of folks to Nederland Saturday and Sunday to enjoy our beautiful setting, local establishments and ultimately our first-rate music scene. Town stipulations couldn't stop it, finances couldn't stop it, the weather couldn't stop it, but Stanley Jordan brought it to a stand still singlehandedly. Jordan's solo set followed by one with Nederland Acid Jazz players stood out above all else. The phenomenal guitar player, master of the 'touch/tap" technique, caused the entire festival grounds to stop, stare and listen. It seemed as if nobody could believe their ears. It was hard to believe that such a wonderful talent was playing outside in Nederland. It was his music, however, that brought the place to a stand still. Jordan's set with acid jazz players produced quite the opposite effect. It had the place jumping. Sunday's all-star "bluegracid jazz" set was also a highlight. After Runaway Truck Ramp and Yonder Mountain String Band stirred the place up, Leftover Salmon's Vince Herman, dobro queen Sally VanMeter and Hot Rize bassist Nick Forester joined in for a fantastic finale. Although these sets stood out, every single performer both Saturday and Sunday, from headliners to 'tweener' acts, was wonderful. The festival was one of the best showcases of local talent in some time. Thanks to the limited impact on the town and the cooperation of all attendees, the town has no reason to prevent these types of events in the future. Once again Mike, the Nederland music community thanks you. The Daily Camera - August 1999 Nederland's Music and Arts Festival starts Saturday - by Greg Glasgow - Boulder, CO Michigan Mike is the Nederland music promoter who brings us Nederland Acid Jazz and live music at the Wolf Tongue Brewery. Mike says he's taking his "one big shot at doing something good" Saturday and Sunday with the Nederland Music and Arts Festival. It's the first of its kind, and if it goes over well, he hopes to make it an annual event. The festival draws almost exclusively from local acoustic and bluegrass talent, save for Saturday's headliner, jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan, who performs a solo set at 4:30 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. Jordan will team with the revolving cast of area players known as Nederland Acid Jazz. Other acts on Saturday's bill include Open Road at 11 a.m., Pete Wernick and Live Five at noon, Tony Furtado Band at 1:30 p.m. and the Dave Watts Motet at 3 p.m. In an attempt to provide nonstop entertainment, Michigan Mike also has scheduled a series of solo "'Tweener Acts" to perform during stage breakdown and setup. They include Jamie Janover and Patrick Latella. Sunday's lineup begins at 11 a.m. with Ty Burhoe and Friends, followed by the Floodplain Gang at noon, Runaway Truck Ramp at 1:30 p.m. and Yonder Mountain String Band at 3 p.m. The festival wraps up at 4:30 p.m. Sunday with the Nederland Bluegr-acid Jazz All-Stars, a potentially fabulous all-star lineup jamming into the evening. Confirmed for the finale so far are "E-Town" host Nick Forster, Leftover Salmon's Vince Herman and Dobro whiz Sally VanMeter. All of Nederland is getting in the spirit: Besides the acts on the main stage, there also will be workshops all weekend at the Acoustic Coffeehouse and the Wolf Tongue Brewery, late night jam sessions and a solar-powered second stage. Denver Post - Friday, August 4th 2000 Jammin' at NedFest: Ross Martin, Tony Furtado to meld chops - by Candace Horgan - Denver, CO Ross Martin keeps quite busy in the Denver music scene - and this weekend, he'll join several of his musical cohorts at the two-day Nederland Music & Arts Festival. The 30-year-old Martin is a regular at the Acid Jazz sessions staged by local promoter "Michigan" Mike Torpie in Nederland and Boulder, and also plays quite frequently for Tony Furtado, though he is no longer a full-time member of Furtado's band. Martin can also be heard on the debut CD from the Motet, a project of his friend Dave Watts. Indeed, one thing that separates Martin from a lot of other musicians is his ability to play in so many diverse musical settings. "I approach the playing a little differently in each setting, but I think I draw from all the things I listen to when I play," Martin says. "With Tony, for instance, he and that band are open to all those elements, so I can draw from country, as well as the jazz and all the different music I listen to, and it works." At the second annual "NedFest," Martin will be playing with Furtado, and probably will sit in with the Motet. Martin will also be playing in the closing set Saturday night with legendary jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan and others under the label Nederland Acid Jazz #239. "I imagine we will just get up and jam," he says. "I didn't do the jam with him last year, but the first time Michigan Mike brought him in, which was this impromptu thing with some local players in Nederland, I played with him. That was really fun." Martin hails from Dallas. He picked up the guitar when he was 12, though he was exposed to the instrument earlier, as his parents played. During college, he received his most intensive musical instruction. "There is a music program at University of North Texas, near where I went to high school, and there were a lot of good players there. They had a real good program in jazz, and were one of the first universities to offer a jazz degree. I have a bachelor's in jazz studies from them. After that, I have played in as many different situations as I could find." A brief stint playing on a cruise ship led Martin to Boulder. While on the ship, Martin met several other musicians who were planning to move to Colorado. In 1996, he made the move to Boulder. Martin quickly established himself as a regular at Michigan Mike's Nederland Acid Jazz sessions. Michigan Mike also promotes the Nederland Music and Arts Festival. At one of those sessions, Martin played with Furtado. He began sitting in with Furtado at some of his weekly shows, and that led to the invitation to join Furtado's band. "I was in the band for a couple years, but wanted to stay home a little more. I still play with him quite a bit." Martin is excited about a Sept. 7 date at the Boulder Theater, where Martin will play with Watts, Leftover Salmon's Tye North and the String Cheese Incident's Michael Kang and Kyle Hollingsworth. Boulder Weekly - Thursday, August 5, 1999 "Generation Ned: Son Of Bluegrass" - by Owen Perkins - Boulder, CO  
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To Be Considered For A Gig Please Send A Sample Of Your Music And Some Promotional Material To: P.O. BOX 830; NEDERLAND, COLORADO 80466 E-Mail Michigan Mike:  mike@michiganmike.com CLICK HERE FOR MORE BOOKING INFORMATION!
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