Local musicians came together as The Tapestry Band for a special KGNU studio session celebrating the music of Carole King and her landmark 1971 album Tapestry. The group — featuring members of the Colorado music community including Maddie Lee, Essie Horn, Christopher Klaus, and Ian Aras — performed selections from the album live in the Cabaret Studio and talked with Doug Gertner about how the project came together. Inspired by album-cover-to-cover tribute shows in Austin and a shared love for King’s songwriting, the band is preparing to perform Tapestry in full at eTown Hall in Boulder on March 7. Along the way, the musicians reflected on Carole King’s enduring influence as a songwriter, pianist, and performer, and shared their excitement about bringing these classic songs to life for new audiences. (Air Date 2/24/26)
Listen to the studio session here:
Transcript:
Doug Gertner: Thrilled now to welcome into the KGNU Cabaret Studio, the Tapestry Band. I’m going to call them a supergroup of dedicated local musicians who’ve come together to play and celebrate the music of the one and only Carole King. What you need to know is that they’ll debut this project at eTown Hall on Saturday, March 7th, and we’ll have a pair of tickets for that one at the end of the session today. Let me ask the Tapestry Band to kick us off with a tune, and then we’ll chat. Take it away.
Doug Gertner: Oh my goodness. That’s the Tapestry Band live at KGNU this morning, warming up for their coming-out party at eTown Hall on March 7th. That’s the song that opens Carole King’s absolutely classic Tapestry album, “I Feel the Earth Move.” I was in the other room with headphones on when that kicked in, and Ian, that piano was like, “Who’s spinning the original vinyl here?”
This is essentially an all-star band of local musicians. Let’s do a round of introductions and unpack how this thing came together. Maddie, why don’t you start us off?
The Tapestry Band: Yeah, my name is Maddie. I’m playing bass on this album, and today I’m singing, but we’ll have an amazing vocalist, Sophia, singing at the eTown show. She’s in a band with Essie, who’s playing drums today, called The Galantines. We’ve also got Chris, one of my neighbors up the canyon. This all started from talking with musician friends who live up there, and Chris was totally down to play this album. We’re stoked to have him on guitar. Then we’ve got Ian on piano, who jumped in a couple weeks ago and is playing these songs wonderfully.
Doug Gertner: Very tasty. Anybody else joining you on stage at eTown Hall that night?
The Tapestry Band: Yeah, there are a couple songs with violin, so we’ve got Trace, who also lives up the canyon and helps host the Salina Schoolhouse Concert Series. And on saxophone and flute, we have Alex.
Doug Gertner: Promises to be a great night. We’re in the studio with the Tapestry Band, playing March 7th. We’ll have tickets to give away at the end of the session, and everyone else can head to etown.org to be in the house.
The last time you were here, Maddie, it was with your Austin-based band Leyline, even though you’re a Coloradan up in Gold Hill. Then out of the blue I hear, “Hey, the Tapestry Band’s coming together.” Tell us the origin story.
The Tapestry Band: Part of it started with a band in Austin that plays a full album live about once a month. Now that I’m doing this, I can’t believe anyone pulls that off that often. I saw them play an album I only sort of knew at the time and now absolutely love, and I thought it was such an awesome way to open people up to music. Around the same time, I picked up a vinyl copy of Tapestry from a 99-cent bin. I was lying in bed listening to it and really enjoying the bass lines, thinking, “I wish I could play these songs.” Then I told my friend Sophia, and she said, “Let’s do it. I’d love to sing them.” I brought Chris in, and he was excited to learn all the guitar parts. Having people who are stoked to dive into music and teach themselves these songs is really special.
Doug Gertner: It’s a beautiful thing. Sophia and Essie were just here two weeks ago with their band The Galantines, and that session was amazing.
I’ve got a few more years on everybody in this room, and I remember where I was when I first heard Tapestry in 1971. Thank you for reviving it and giving it this kind of love. Anybody else have history with this music?
The Tapestry Band: I grew up in a family that loves music. My Aunt Lorraine especially loved to sing, and she’d play Carole King in the car when I was a kid. Working on this project, I realized how many songs she wrote that I didn’t even know were hers.
Doug Gertner: Absolutely. James Taylor was just saying the other day that “You’ve Got a Friend” might be the best song ever written.
Carole King was really a triple threat. Before this album she was already a legendary Brill Building songwriter with Gerry Goffin, and some of the songs on Tapestry are King-Goffin tunes. Maddie, you’re a songwriter yourself. How has it been stepping into this material?
The Tapestry Band: I’ve never done anything like this before. At first I was just trying to learn the bass lines, but today I’m singing too, and it’s made me notice all these moments in the songs I wouldn’t have picked up on otherwise. It’s also interesting thinking about how to lead a band with music that’s so piano-driven. Sophia is singing without playing piano, and that made me realize how essential those piano parts are. That’s why we needed someone like Ian who could really hold all those lines down.
Doug Gertner: They really are. We’ve got the Tapestry Band in KGNU’s Cabaret Studio today. They’ll perform Carole King’s Tapestry in its entirety on March 7th at eTown Hall. Tickets are available at etown.org, and we’ll have a pair to give away at the end of this session. But first, they’ve got more music for us.
Doug Gertner: The Tapestry Band at KGNU this morning. A group of local musicians playing the music of Carole King so faithfully. Live here this morning and again at eTown Hall on Saturday, March 7th.
Madeline Lee is handling bass and vocals today. Christopher Robert Klaus is on guitar. Essie Horn from The Galantines is on drums, and Ian Aras is on piano. Others will join them on March 7th.
We just heard “It’s Too Late” and “Home Again” from the 1971 Tapestry album. You’ll be playing the album in its entirety, in order?
The Tapestry Band: Yep. Top to bottom.
Doug Gertner: Nice. What else can folks expect?
The Tapestry Band: We’re hoping to keep this going with more shows — maybe one up in Nederland and hopefully something in Denver too. Now that we know these songs, we’re just excited to keep playing them.
Doug Gertner: I was at a Mardi Gras show recently and ran into drummer Michael Wooten, who played with the original Zephyr, Leftover Salmon, and later toured with Carole King. Maybe he’ll show up. But I love what Essie is doing with this music, and I love what all of you are doing with it.
Here are the details once more: Saturday, March 7th at eTown Hall in Boulder. The Tapestry Band will perform Carole King’s Tapestry in its entirety. Doors at 6:00, show at 7:00. Tickets and information are at etown.org.
We do have a pair of tickets available, so the third caller to 303-449-4885 will be the guest of the band at eTown Hall.
Big thanks to the Tapestry Band for stopping by KGNU today. Thanks as well to music director Indra Raj, Carrie, our ticket maven, and George behind the glass, who always brings out the best sound.
Thanks to everybody at KGNU, and thanks to the Tapestry Band. I’ll ask you to play us out. What are we going to hear?
The Tapestry Band: We’ve got one last one — “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”
Doug Gertner: Excellent. That’s one Carole King wrote with Gerry Goffin. Thanks, guys.
