Listen Up! Free Live Music

Don’t miss this very special performance of Colorado’s original jam band, Magic Music!
In 1970 George Cahill “Tode” and Lynn Poyer “Flatbush” were playing music on the lawn of The University of Colorado when they met fellow musician Will Luckey, from Martha’s Vineyard. The three came together as Magic Music and added Rob Galloway on bass. The sound was a cross between the English folk of Pentangle, the harmonies of CSN, the flute of Jethro Tull, and the traditional old-time music of Americana.

The Colorado string band began a series of brushes with recording/publishing contracts and national tours with the likes of Cat Stevens and companies like Tree Publishing in Nashville and Asylum Records in LA. In each case the gods conspired to keep them in Colorado, coming down to town in the school busses they lived in and playing all over the State and eventually the country.

In 1972 Chris Daniels, “Spoons” joined the band after Lynn left and Pam Nation took over on cello for a time – instead of bass. Solidifying the line up at the end of that year, Pam left and Magic Music added Kevin Milburn, “CW” on percussion and Bill Makepeace, “Das” on bass. MM spent the next 4 years recording music, touring around the country opening for acts like The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Doc Watson and playing the 2nd and 3rd Telluride Bluegrass Festivals. They played anything and everything (as seen in the iconic 1973 photo from the Alma Hotel) – from Native American flute to Indian tabla, banjo and mandolin to bass flute and pedal steel.

In a sort of successful hippie version of Camelot, they lived in the mountains of Colorado and eked out a living by supplementing their music income by haying, chopping wood and farming. As time took its toll and the taste in music changed from James Taylor to Donna Summer the band went their separate ways in 1976. But the songs remained. They wafted around the mountains where they were created, echoing up and down the canyons – as they had nowhere else to go.

Fast-forward 40 years and Greg Sparre, their ol’ pal road manager, began creating “reunion concerts” at his mountain valley home. Will invited childhood friend Tim Goodman to help them record a 2015 album with the help of some of LA’s best musicians like Jimmy Haslip, Tommy Major, Bill Payne, Scarlet Rivera and many others. And through that process, Lee Aronsohn (co-creator of the hit TV shows Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory) found Chris Daniels (Spoons) on the internet because of his band Chris Daniels & The Kings.

Lee had a dream: to capture the music and the story of a band he’d loved during his days as a student at CU in the 1970s. He’d sung songs like Will’s iconic “Bring the Morning Down” to his kids as they were growing up. Along with his partner and co-producer Fleur Seville, Lee brought the story, the music and the band – back together. You can hear and see it all when “40 Years in The Making: The Magic Music Movie” comes out some time in the near future. For now, you will have to be one of the lucky few that catches it at film festivals around the country. The Tim Goodman produced album is available on Spotify and the original recordings and the movie sound-track album will be out sometime in 2018. And for those who remember the days of Joni Mitchel and Richie Havens – CSN&Y and New Grass Revival – thank you for all the love.

www.magicmusicband.com