Meet the backing-band.
Jonny Branch - bass guitar, VOL 3
Jonny Branch’s love of music began early in life. At age twelve, his father gave him a bass guitar as a gift for Christmas and the hook was set. Since that day, he’s spent tens of thousands of hours practicing, listening to, and performing music. On stages of all sizes, from bars to churches and about everywhere in between, his musical experiences have been the some of the most rewarding parts of his life.
Ben Waligoske - steel guitar, VOL 3 & 4
After growing up in the Midwest (Iowa and South Dakota), Ben Waligoske moved to Boulder in 2005 to attend the University of Colorado Boulder and has been heavily involved in the Front Range music scene ever since. As a guitarist, pedal steel guitarist, producer/engineer, and writer, he has played and toured with a large number of regional, national, and international projects in primarily the Rock/Country/Indie/Americana worlds. In addition to remote session work, he maintains a project studio in North Denver focused on working with some of the best up and coming talent the Denver area has to offer. An avid "gear head," he enjoys creating using vintage instruments and studio pieces, classic recording approaches, and searching for ways to help each track or project he works on to sound its best.
Jason Legler - BASS GUITAR, VOL 1 & 2
Jason Legler is a bass player living in Denver, CO. He is pretty ok at computers and great at friendship. When he isn't playing music he enjoys hanging out with his family and yelling at computers.
Mike lang - keys, VOL 1, 2 &4
Mike Lang is a Denver-based studio and live musician who is honored and grateful to be entrenched in Denver’s thriving music scene. Mostly known as a pianist, keys player, and singer, Mike is proud to be a founding member of Heavy Diamond Ring and Neon Moon. Mike has also been fortunate to be a recording/contributing artist local projects such as The Still Tide, Hunter Burnette, Holly Lovell, Blake Brown, Paul Dehaven, Cole Scheifele, Joel Ansette, and many more. These /O Sessions were some of the most beautiful and artistic performances Mike has done as a session player and he couldn’t be more thankful to have been a part of the project. Feel free to reach out for any remote recording, touring or live playing inquiries.
josh skelton - steel guitar, VOL 1
Originally hailing from Indiana, Colorado-based artist Josh Skelton has played guitar and toured with local bands and artists like Tracksuit Wedding, The Moderators, and Neyla Pekarek (formerly of The Lumineers). He also teaches music, at one point creating a music lessons company that matched teachers and students. He is currently completing a solo album.
Ben gallagher - keys, VOL 3
Ben Gallagher has been playing piano since he was a wee lad growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. Since arriving in Colorado in 2004, he has explored rock, jazz, country, blues, folk and performed with an eclectic variety of bands, ensembles, performance artists and dancers. He’s pursued songwriting and recording with various music projects, and also works as a solo artist. Ben is currently working on his second solo album, in addition to making records with The River Arkansas, The Widow's Bane, and Mike Clark and the Sugar Sounds. Ben produced two records with the Radical Knitting Circle between 2009-2012 and his last solo record in 2013 can be found at BenGallagher.bandcamp.com
drew mazurek - trumpet, LIve SOUND engineer, vol 4
Drew Mazurek is a professional trumpet player originally from New Haven, Connecticut. Drew has performed in nine countries spanning four continents. In 1999, during undergrad at Yale, Drew founded Brass, a quintet of professional musicians.
Rhianna Fairchild - violin, vol 2
Rhianna holds a degree in violin performance from the University of Denver.
Daniel Stephenson - bass guitar, vol 4
A Colorado native and veteran of the Denver music scene, Daniel has played in bands such as A Mouthful of Thunder, A Boy & His Kite, and Navy, as well as alongside solo artists including Josh Dillard, Anthony Ruptak, and Holly Lovell.
Meet the producers.
Ben (L), Eric (R), photo by Kate Petrik
BEN WYSOCKI
Having spent the past thirteen years touring internationally as the drummer in the four-time Grammy-nominated band, The Fray, Ben has built a rare and extensive community of industry professionals, and musicians. He lives in Denver where he has worked with an array of artists, as an engineer, producer, and arranger. When he’s not making music, he’s either on motorcycle, organizing his record collection or hanging out with his daughter.
Eric dawson Tate
Eric Dawson Tate is the owner of /O and works as a producer, mixer, recording engineer, teacher, and musician. Born on a Colorado ranch, Eric didn’t seem destined for forging musical works. But the extensive world travel of his youth, paired with the summers spent visiting his grandfather's ranch, fed his love of building from scratch—whether a hand-hewn log cabin or an album. With a love for making music both in the studio and on the stage, Eric feels lucky to have worked in studios from Colorado to Australia and everywhere in between, making everything from albums to film scores (see: "Looper," "The Day I Saw Your Heart," and "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby"). In Denver, Eric has worked with artists including Hunter Burnette, Alright Alright, Holly Lovell, J.D. Wells, King Cardinal, Robby Peoples, and Heavy Diamond Ring.
When not in a pandemic, Eric can be found around Denver and beyond on stage with Hunter Burnette and all the amazing people in his band.
Kelly Magelky
Kelly Magelky is a filmmaker based in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Originally from North Dakota, Kelly produces, directs and edits short- and long-form nonfiction films. He’s directed three seasons of the National Geographic television series “Music Voyager,” several ad campaigns for international outdoor industry brands, and documentaries for major label recording artists. In 2012, he and his co-producer won the Cinequest Thrive award for their feature-length documentary “Dave.” In 2013, he was nominated for an EMMY for his camera work on the NBC Ironman World Championships. He is currently in production on three documentary series and races as a professional cyclist.
Kelly, photo by Nikki A. Rae
And a huge thank you to the behind-the-scenes creatives.
Kelly Magelky & crew - videography & production
Seth Reese - live sound engineer
Drew Mazurek - live sound engineer
Kate Petrik - website, graphic design & photography (Volumes I & II)
Nikki A. Rae - photography (Volume III)
Glenn Ross - photography (Volume IV)
Colin & Kristen Meyer - graphic design (Volume III)
Adam Blake - graphic design (Volume IV)
Cari Tate - event management & administration