While Boulder-based Bluegrass band Bowregard formed just two years ago, the group has already managed to build a significant fanbase — one that, in the midst of a pandemic, was willing to shell out cash in order to see the band’s debut album, “Arrows,” get made.
Brilliantly fusing old-time music with acoustic music that leans toward the more progressive side, this skilled quintet continues to receive much-warranted praise from fellow musicians — and those who can’t get enough of the string band’s crisp sound that’s richly rooted in Appalachia tradition.
From winning the 2019 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest to performing in February at Steamboat’s WinterWonderGrass — alongside Greensky Bluegrass, Margo Price and Billy Strings — Bowregard members, pre pandemic, kept busy taking home accolades and sharing noteworthy bills.
On March 1, prior to multiple venue shutdowns, Bowregard even shared the Boulder Theater stage with legendary mandolinist Sam Bush — giving folks a night of freewheeling, foot-stomping tunes right before the signage on marquees were replaced with messages of “Stay Safe.”
We caught up with Bowregard’s fiddle player and vocalist Colleen Heine — who relocated to Colorado from Savannah, Georgia, in 2016 — to discuss her reaction to the overwhelming support generated by the band’s Kickstarter campaign, some of her favorite tracks on the album, her journey into pickin’ and who she hopes to share a stage with once the public can gather again without restrictions.
Daily Camera: Congrats on the release of the debut album. I really love it. Were you surprised by the monetary support you received from the Kickstarter Campaign? What did it feel like to witness so many chip in to see this album get made?
Colleen Heine: The decision to do a Kickstarter campaign was one the band wrestled with at multiple stages along the way. Once we decided to do a full-length album rather than an EP, we agreed on Kickstarter as the means to help fund it. In early 2020, we hired a consultant, commissioned videos and spent a lot of time and effort getting ready to launch the campaign. But about two weeks before launch date, the pandemic hit, and it just felt like the wrong time to ask people for monetary support. So we decided to put the Kickstarter and the album project on hold for a couple months.
It became clear that life as we knew it wasn’t likely to return any time soon, but we still needed to get this album out into the world. So, with cautious optimism, we decided to pick back up and launch the campaign, even though we really didn’t know what to expect in the midst of a global pandemic and a drastically different music landscape. We were amazed when we actually blew past our $25,000 fundraising goal in the first five days, and by the end of the 30-day campaign, we had raised almost $42,000 from over 425 individuals.
We feel incredibly lucky to have this kind of support from so many people from so many different areas of each of our lives. It feels like we have a massive crowd of friends and family cheering us on and invested in our success. It’s enabled us to pay those who helped us make and promote the record, keep some money moving through the local music economy and look ahead to the band’s future with confidence even amidst the really uncertain times right now.
DC: Are there any favorites for you on the album?
CH: “Formaldehyde”— written by Max Kabat — is one of my personal favorites because it’s probably the track with the most traditional bluegrass feel, which is my jam. James (Armington) wrote an iconic banjo part for the song, and I worked to write a fiddle solo that really leaned into that ‘trad’ barn-burner fiddle style. When the guys heard me working on putting some of those licks together, they got fired up about it. James (Armington) and Zach (Smith), in particular, helped me woodshed my solo in the studio. So I love hearing that song every time. It reminds me of the team we had cheering each other on in the studio.
“Cousin Sally Brown” is also really close to my heart. It’s a traditional old-time fiddle tune that we put our flavor on. Old-time fiddling was my first foray into playing with bands. In my early 20s, my first band was an all-women old-time string band, and we played square dances and little festivals in Missouri. “Cousin Sally Brown” gave James (Armington) and me a chance to play some old-time fiddle and clawhammer banjo stuff, which we both love. The first part is just fiddle and banjo, and we wanted it to feel like we’re sitting on a lonesome rickety porch in some misty Appalachian holler off in the distance. Then when it kicks into high gear, it’s such an energy explosion — I love that. Justin (Konrad) on dobro and Max (Kabat) on guitar played masterful solos that — combined with an alternate chord progression that gradually moves away from the original — transported this tune from the old-time realm into the progressive dimension. And somehow it works. That’s actually an accurate microcosm of Bowregard’s approach as a band.
DC: What can we expect from Bowregard as far as concerts this summer? Are you planning any livestreams or any smaller-scale socially distant shows?
CH: We’re doing a few local shows, where they are being conscientious about distancing and mask requirements to keep everyone safe, such as an outdoor concert as part of a series at Upslope Brewery on Aug. 15 and a socially distanced drive-in performance pop-up show with Boulder Arts Outdoors on Aug. 16. We will be doing a livestream with BandsInTown on (Wednesday), and another livestream for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) as part of their virtual IBMA Bluegrass Live Street Fest on Oct. 2-3.
DC: Do you remember a time when you knew that music would be your career path? What drew you to the fiddle?
CH: Even though I don’t come from a particularly musical family, I grew up playing a little bit of piano and guitar and singing in school musicals and such. But, it wasn’t until I was in college in Lawrence, Kansas, that the bug really bit me. I had a group of friends in college that spent their free time picking bluegrass tunes on the front porch and I was enthralled. I decided I no longer wanted to sit on the sidelines and went out and bought a fiddle at age 20.
Around that same time, I went to my first bluegrass festival — Walnut Valley in Winfield, Kansas — and had a revelatory experience: “These are my people. This is where I belong.” And that launched a lifelong obsession. Two years later, I was playing in an old-time string band and a bluegrass band in St. Louis, Missouri, and received an offer to take over as executive director of a new school of folk music in St. Louis. I quit my full-time, secure job with benefits at a graphic design agency and spent the next seven years building the Folk School of St. Louis and cultivating a local community of bluegrass and old-time veteran players, aspiring players and enthusiasts of all ages and from all walks of life. When I left after seven years and moved to Savannah, Georgia, for grad school, having decided to shift gears and return to a career in design, it wasn’t but a few months later and I had joined another band and started getting really involved in the music scene there. It’s like music just keeps a hold on me. Even when I tried to go the other way, it just kept tapping me on the shoulder and pulling me back home.
DC: Since touring and playing live shows has significantly slowed down, how are you spending your days? Seems during this pandemic many have picked up new hobbies…from bread baking to various crafts.
CH: To be honest, between the band, the Kickstarter campaign, my graphic design business and a spirited 3 year old suddenly home without daycare during the week, pandemic life has been a little too crazy in my world to think about taking up bread baking or gardening. I have managed to get a little bit of time in working on learning the mandolin.
DC: Lastly, I know you’ve shared the stage with legendary mandolinist Sam Bush. Given the opportunity, who are some artists you’d like to perform with once we can all gather again?
CH: There’s a picture of me with Sam Bush from backstage at our show earlier this year, and he’s wearing a shirt that says “Bluegrass: It Ain’t Just for Boys Anymore.” There are so many incredible women in the bluegrass scene these days, from long-time legends like my fellow Missouri girl Rhonda Vincent and Colorado’s own Sally Van Meter, to women like Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull and Rhiannon Giddens who are pushing the music forward. And Colorado locals like Bonnie Sims (Bonnie & the Clydes, Everybody Loves an Outlaw), Natalie Padilla (Masontown) and Alissa Wolf (Stillhouse Junkies) who are out there absolutely crushing it. Once we can all gather again, I’d love to get the opportunity to perform with a crew of hard-driving bluegrass-shredding ladies.
