It’s that time of the year again, as Colorado favorites Mountain Standard Time return to Colorado’s Front Range to throw their annual Mardi Grass celebration. MST created Mardi Grass four years ago to bring a New Orleans Mardi Gras party to the beautiful landscape of Colorado. Past years have included special guests Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band, Todd Sheaffer and John Skehan of Railroad Earth, Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon and Benny Galloway of songwriting acclaim. This year the tradition with very special guest Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth joining the band for all three nights. After MST returns from their Winter Tour in the Colorado mountains, the celebration kicks off in Boulder on Friday, February 28th, followed by Denver, March 1st, and Fort Collins, March 2nd.Tour Dates2.06 The State Room | Salt Lake City, UT2.07 Whiskey Jacques | Ketchum, ID2.08 Knotty Pine | Victor, ID2.09 Big Sky Big Grass at Whiskey Jack’s | Big Sky, MT2.14 three20south | Breckenridge, CO2.15 Agave | Avon, CO2.28 Fox Theatre | Boulder, CO -featuring Tim Carbone*3.01 Bluebird Theater | Denver, CO -featuring Time Carbone*3.02 Hodi’s Half Note | Fort Collins, CO -featuring Tim Carbone**Mardi Grass 2014
Mountain Standard Time have launched their Kickstarter campaign to fund their next project, but this isn’t your typical Kickstarter...
Instead of raising the money to record a new album, Mountain Standard Time decided on building something more sustainable - MST Studios. This mobile studio will allow the band to consistently create new music for their fans, as well as capture high-quality recordings of their live “freegrass” shows. Mountain Standard Time have included a number of incentives for donating, including:
- Digital download of an MST exclusive album only available to Kickstarter backers
- Two VIP tickets to any single 2014 MST headlining show
- Private acoustic MST show
- Studio sessions to record your very own album with MST
and many, many more...
Mountain Standard Time’s goal is to reach $15,000 by Friday, May 16. To donate, CLICK HERE.
Catch Mountain Standard Time on the road:
4.19: Daze On The Green | Denver, CO
5.23-25: Summer Camp Music Festival | Chillicothe, IL
6.4-8: Wakarusa Music Festival | Ozark, AR
7.18: Groove Music and Arts Festival | Georgetown, CO
About Mountain Standard Time:
For Mountain Standard Time, there is one focus: making good, honest music. The organic process of expression—from heart to hands to ears—preserves the integrity of the finished product. While the band spends an exhaustive amount of time crafting and perfecting their material, they don’t pay any mind to the rules and confines of genre. With elements of Bluegrass, Prog Rock, Latin and Americana, attempting to categorize the band can be challenging. MST coined the term “free grass” so that they could stop focusing on labeling their music and stick to what they do best: playing it.
MST brands its own style of "Rocky Mountain FreeGrass," blending acoustic guitar and mandolin with keyboards, electric bass, and drums. The members of MST migrated to Colorado from different regions of the country, bringing wildly diverse musical backgrounds and influences along with them. Their paths eventually crossed in Nederland - a small, Colorado mountain town steeped in bluegrass music. Musical relationships were forged through the camaraderie of late-night jam sessions that characterize the music scene of the Front Range. Shortly after meeting, MST grew quickly and performed all over Colorado and across the country, with appearances at Wakarusa Music Festival, 10,000 Lakes Festival, Summer Camp Music Festival, and NedFest, among many others.
After some time away from the road, MST returned back to the live music scene in 2012. The band’s sound adds new dimension as Zack Scott (drums), Nick Dunbar (mandolin, guitar) and Stanton Sutton (guitar, mandolin) are joined by Otis Lande on bass and Ryan Ebarb on keyboards. Solid vocal harmonies and genuine lyrics interplay with well-crafted melodies over a soundscape that varies from lush and delicate to lively and complex—often within the same song. Plenty of room for improvisation keeps everything exciting, while unique transitions stitch it all together. They released their first EP, Sunny, in early 2013, which captures the spirit of the band’s live energy.
Following an already action-packed summer that has included both Summer Camp Music Festival and Wakarusa Music Festival, Mountain Standard Time begins their July residency at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Other Side as part of the venue’s weekly bluegrass concert series, “Grass For That Ass.” The band will perform four consecutive Thursdays at Cervantes’ Other Side featuring a towering list of supporting artists including Yarn, The Drunken Hearts, Caribou Mountain Collective and many more, plus additional artists join the action in the Ballroom. Between MST’s residency shows, the band will be performing a handful of club shows and festivals including a two-night run at the Old Town Pub in Steamboat Springs, CO on July 11th and 12th, as well as adding to Leftover Salmon’s Rendezvous Rock N' Ride Bike Tour and Music Festival in Winter Park on July 12th. The fall has already begun to come together too, as MST will return to Texas to perform at Art Outside festival at Apache Pass in Rockdale, TX, October 24th – 27th alongside artists such as Emancipator, Conspirator, Papadosio, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, The Motet, and Nahko and Medicine For The People.SUMMER 2014 TOUR DATES7/3 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Other Side – Denver, CO *7/9 Barkley Ballroom – Frisco, CO7/10 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Other Side – Denver, CO **7/11-12 Old Town Pub – Steamboat Springs, CO #7/12 Winter Park Pub – Winter Park, CO +7/17 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Other Side – Denver, CO ^7/18 Groove Music & Arts Festival – Georgetown, CO7/24 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Other Side – Denver, CO ^^7/26 Sanitas Brewing Co. – Boulder, CO@10/24/2014: Art Outside – Apache Pass – Rockdale, TX*w/ Yarn**w/ McLovins and Thunder and Rain# With Tallgrass+ Part of Leftover Salmon's Rendezvous Rock N' Ride Bike Tour and Music Festival^Groove Festival Pre-Party w/ Tea Leaf Green, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Alan Evans, The Drunken Hearts and Stuttering Ducks^^w/ Caribou Mountain Collective and Rumpke Mountain Boys@w/West Water Outlaws, The Drunken Hearts and Mikey Thunder
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign to build a recording studio, Mountain Standard Time is set to put out their second studio release, Highway Lines, on Tuesday, October 7th. Behind a summer in the newly-built MST Studios, the band seamlessly crafted a collection of MST fan-favorites and entirely new material.
For the first time ever, the band members of Mountain Standard Time took the full role in the producer and engineer seats, as they constructed each track entirely themselves. From set-up in the studio, to recording, to engineering and mixing, the band has prepared a new album that is truly personal and organic.
“We wanted to create a group of songs that would resonate well with a wide audience and also leave space for interpretation in live performance,” says Nick Dunbar (MST mandolin, vocals). “These are some of the tunes we hope people will be singing with us and sharing with family and friends - the first set of many to come.”
After a summer that included Summer Camp Music Festival, Wakarusa Music Festival, Leftover Salmon’s Rock & Ride Rendezvous and a Cervantes’ Other Side July residency in Denver, Mountain Standard Time hits the road this fall in anticipation of the band’s new album.
Fall tour takes MST’s Rocky Mountain FreeGrass through Southwest Colorado and the front range of Colorado, including The Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins with Fruition, the band’s first appearance at Denver’s The 1up Colfax, and the return to The Fox Theatre in Boulder. The band travels to the Midwest through Iowa, Chicago, Michigan and Minnesota’s Harmony Park - Oaktoberfest.
Finally, tour rolls to the West Coast as MST covers Northern and Southern California through Halloween weekend, including Railroad Earth’s Hangtown Halloween Ball and stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles, among others. Plus Mountain Standard Time will jump to Texas for Art Outside Festival.
For tickets, more information and all tour dates, visit www.mstband.com
09.26 Aggie Theatre | Fort Collins, CO -w/Fruition
09.27 Animas City Theatre | Durango, CO
09.28 Durango Oktoberfest | Durango, CO
10.01 Wooly’s | Des Moines, IA
10.02 Iowa City Yacht Club | Iowa City, IA
10.03 Abbey Pub | Chicago, IL
10.04 Oaktoberfest at Harmony Park | Geneva, MN
10.10 The 1up Colfax | Denver, CO
10.18 Oktoberfest at The Filling Station Microbrewery | Traverse City, MI
10.22 Bar Deluxe | Salt Lake City, UT
10.23 Duncan Little Creek Gallery | Elko, NV
10.24 Rail Road Earth’s Hangtown Halloween Ball | Placerville, CA
10.25 Art Outside | Rockdale, TX
10.26 The Milk Bar | San Francisco, CA
10.28 Sweetwater Music Hall | Mill Valley, CA
10.29 The Merrow | San Diego, CA
10.30 The Mint | Los Angeles, CA
10.31 TBA
11.01 Crystal Bay Club Casino – Crown Room | Crystal Bay, NV –w/Henhouse Prowlers
11.15 The Fox Theatre | Boulder, CO
