KGNU’s Shawna Sprowls talks with Barrett Smith of the Steep Canyon Rangers. Barrett chats about the band’s upcoming performances in Colorado and reflects on the Steep Canyon Rangers’ long-standing connection to the state. He emphasizes the band’s passion for live music, which led them to create a live album showcasing their current sound, set for release in August. The Steep Canyon Rangers have a show at the Boulder Theatre on July 20 (Interview date: 7/18/24)
Shawna Sprowls: I am joined by Mr. Barrett Smith of the Steep Canyon Rangers as promised. Barrett, are you with us this morning?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): I’m with you, yeah.
Shawna Sprowls: Hey, thanks for calling in. I know you’re on the road, so throwing in these extra logistical challenges, we appreciate it.
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Oh man, my pleasure.
Shawna Sprowls: Where are you right now?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Right now, I’m technically not on the road. I’m at my house in Asheville, North Carolina, looking at a beautiful Appalachian landscape here that I’m about to leave. I’m gonna get on a plane any second now and fly to Denver.
Shawna Sprowls: Fantastic. May the travel gods be with you. You guys are playing tonight in Steamboat Springs. Is that correct?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Tomorrow night in Steamboat Springs.
Shawna Sprowls: Tomorrow night. Sorry, I don’t know why I’m rushing this week any faster than it’s going on its own, but Steamboat, such a beautiful place. I was thinking, wow, that’s going to be tight. Yeah, you got to get here and let the voices acclimate and the instruments acclimate, right?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Oh, yeah. It’s a real different atmosphere in so many ways between these two zones – Western North Carolina and Colorado, but at the same time, there’s so much common ground between these places. I feel like we’ve made a career out of burning up the road between here and there, either I-70 or I-40. We’re coming and going. We’ve been doing it for a long time.
Shawna Sprowls: And we thank you for it. We do. You and a lot of other bluegrass musicians. Man, a lot of great music out of North Carolina, and I’m sure happy so many of you either relocate here or come and visit us a couple times every year.
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Definitely. Yeah, it’s a special thing. When this band started, like in the late 90s, basically early 2000s, it was at a time where the whole country has rich musical heritage in every corner of it, but it was Colorado. Here we are, at the heart of it all. The roots of this music that we play are here, at where we live, and we treasure that and wallow in that. But we set our sights on Colorado right off the bat, because people on the Front Range, in particular, just really get it in a way that other people don’t and the lifestyle was so similar to the way we like to live. We could come out there and live the way we like to live and make the music we like to make and it made sense right off the bat. We never quit. We’re always coming and going from Colorado, which is strange for a bunch of guys from the Carolinas playing bluegrass music, but it works and we love it.
Shawna Sprowls: You think strange, we think, oh, that’s normal. So the Strings Music Festival, that should be really fun. Steamboat is so beautiful. Every time of the year, but summers – they used to say you come to Colorado for the skiing and the winters and you stay for the summers. I think that’s so true. And then you’ll be at the Boulder Theater on Saturday night. We’re really excited to have you. Have you played the Boulder Theater before?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Yeah. We have a long history. It’s been a while since we’ve done the Boulder Theater. We’ve fallen into different ways. I played out at Mishawaka and then we got into a habit of playing the Denver Botanic Garden. Which is such a beautiful place to play. And then once we started doing that, it crowded out all the places that we otherwise have played. But yeah, we’ve been all over Boulder over the years. I feel like early on it might have been the Mountain Sun Brewery.
Shawna Sprowls: You guys can’t fit there anymore.
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): No, we can’t fit there anymore.
Shawna Sprowls: You’d have fans lined up around the building for days waiting for those tickets.
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): It’d be fun. We’d have a good time. We’re no strangers to That. That’s in our DNA to be there at a place like that, playing bluegrass music for the kind of people who would come to that place. We love that. But the Boulder Theater is special. That’s just a great venue. And it’s been a long time since we’ve been there. We’re pretty excited about it.
Shawna Sprowls: It’s definitely my favorite in the area. As long as you’re not counting those outdoor shows, as you said, I do love an outdoor show in the summer. I got a chance to catch you guys, with Steve Martin of course, at RockyGrass, and that was fantastic. You guys keep in touch?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Yeah, we’re still working with Steve. That’s ongoing, it’s a long relationship now. We were just at Red Rocks with him, I don’t know, maybe a month or so ago.
Shawna Sprowls: That’s right. I was out of town and so it fell off my radar, but I thought I’d seen something about you guys. That’s why I wanted to ask. So you guys have a great time at Red Rocks? What a venue!
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Man. Yeah. For me personally, I think a lot of people in the band would agree, that’s the coolest venue anywhere really. Certainly in the country, but I think even internationally people see Red Rocks and there’s nothing like that that I’ve ever seen anywhere else. So yeah, it’s a thrill just spending the day there and the crew there is awesome.
Shawna Sprowls: Such appreciative fans too. Everyone’s so happy to be there, I think. You can rain on them. You can hail on them. They’re not leaving.
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): No, everybody’s so excited to be there and then just happy to be alive and that’s the spirit of us in Colorado in the summertime. The weather’s so beautiful. Everybody’s out and about and there’s just so much life happening and we love tapping into it and adding to it. You know any minute now, gonna be flying through the air heading that way.
Shawna Sprowls: I know, we’re gonna get you on the road. I see that you are heading to Breckenridge on Sunday for the Breckenridge Riverwalk. So that should also be fun. Have you played there?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): I don’t think so. I mean we’ve all, as a band and individually with other projects, played in Breckenridge. This is a different thing here. I guess it’s possible that at some point we’ve done it, but I don’t remember doing this specifically. But yeah, ski towns in the summer we love.
Shawna Sprowls: Yeah, so fun. That’s fantastic. And then off to California and Nevada, so you got a big tour ahead of you. You’re all packed and ready to go. We just heard “Fruits of Our Labors”, the live track off of the new CD, and that’s coming out in August, is that correct?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): That’s right, yeah.
Shawna Sprowls: What made you guys decide to put out a live album?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Man, live music. That’s really our thing these days. It’s always been what we do. And while we love doing studio projects, and we’re real proud of what we’ve done – one won a Grammy at one point, so they’ve done well. But it’s a different animal going into the studio and making an album. We’ve tended to do those things live, but the energy from the crowd and just, you know. You’re a live music lover. I’m a live music lover, right? It was suddenly crazy that we’ve never really captured that. And then at a moment where even though the band’s been together forever, it’s like, recently we keep looking around and saying man, it’s maybe as good as it’s ever been right now. We need to share with people what’s happening with the band, because it’s always changing and it’s pretty good right now. It’s really good. We feel good about it, anyway. We have a great time playing together and it goes well. So that was the whole idea – let’s do a live record and kind of show people what’s up right now. So they know.
Shawna Sprowls: The two tracks that are available out there sound fantastic. And you guys are on top of your game. Like I said, I’ve been seeing you since those 90s. I’ve been around and I’m a big fan. Love what you do. I know you’re going to have a big crowd on Saturday night. Have you ever played with Head for the Hills? You familiar with those guys?
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Familiar with them? Yeah. We’ll have a great hang. They seem like fun people.
Shawna Sprowls: Yeah, they are. I’ve met them, I’ve interviewed them and they’re really fun. I know that they’re stoked to be playing with you guys too. Let’s get you on the road. We’ll let people get their tickets. I think there’s still some left, but they’re going fast. I saw a low ticket alert folks. So get your tickets, and you travel safely. Thanks so much for chatting with us.
Steep Canyon Rangers (Barrett Smith): Yeah. Thanks for taking time. We love the station and our relationship with it. And it’s great to touch base. So thanks.
Shawna Sprowls: Yes. Always keep us in mind and have a great tour. We’ll see you on Saturday.
