Alex Thoele, best known as a member of the Colorado band Chain Station, stopped by the KGNU studio to perform songs from his debut solo album, Pocket Knife, and chat with Katherine Peterson. Between live performances of “Pocket Knife,” “Thoele,” and “Free Yourself,” he shared stories behind the songs, reflected on growing up in small-town Illinois, and discussed his first solo release and album release show at Globe Hall. (Air Date 7/1/26).
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Transcript:
Katherine Peterson: And now I’m going to introduce my guest. We’re going to have some live music here in the studio. Do you want to introduce yourself?
Alex Thoele: Hey, it’s Alex Thoele here.
Katherine Peterson: Great. You’re in a band. Tell me the name of your band again.
Alex Thoele: I’m in the band Chain Station out of the Front Range near Denver. This summer I’m putting out a solo album under my own name, Alex Thoele.
Katherine Peterson: Cool. Your first solo album?
Alex Thoele: Yeah.
Katherine Peterson: Tell us a little bit about it.
Alex Thoele: I’ve been working on these songs for a long time on my own and finally decided it was time to get them out into the world. The album is called Pocket Knife. It’s mostly stories about my childhood, including the first time I got a pocket knife, along with a few stories about life in general. I recorded the entire album myself and played all the instruments. I’m really excited about it. It’s available on vinyl, CD, and online.
Katherine Peterson: Awesome. Everywhere people listen.
Alex Thoele: That’s right.
Katherine Peterson: And you have an album release show tomorrow.
Alex Thoele: Yes, tomorrow at Globe Hall.
Katherine Peterson: Are there other bands on the bill?
Alex Thoele: Yeah. Mighty Holler is opening, and Booty & the Beats will close out the night. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
Katherine Peterson: We’ll do a ticket giveaway in a little bit, but first, do you want to play some songs for us?
Alex Thoele: Absolutely. I’ll play the title track from the album.
“Pocket Knife”
Katherine Peterson: Cool. That was great.
Alex Thoele: Thanks. It’s a story about growing up. My dad took me to his workplace, and an older gentleman gave me my first pocket knife. He told me not to tell my mom. Later on, my parents, who live in a small town in Illinois, had neighbors who were nuns from the local church. They told me that when they traveled through airports, they’d hide their pocket knives on shelves so they wouldn’t have to surrender them at security. I thought, “I think that’s illegal,” but they insisted it wasn’t. So the song combines a few stories like that.
Katherine Peterson: I love that.
Alex Thoele: I’ll be playing all these songs at Globe Hall. Doors open at 7:00, and the show starts at 8:00. I hope everyone comes out.
Katherine Peterson: It’s an all-ages event. If you’re under 16, you’ll need to attend with a guardian who’s 21 or older. I always love an all-ages show.
Alex Thoele: Everyone’s welcome.
I also heard KGNU talking about an event up in Gold Hill. I’ve played there a bunch of times.
Katherine Peterson: The Mountain Fam Jam on Sunday, July 19. I still haven’t been up to Gold Hill for a show.
Alex Thoele: You should go. I’ve played the Fam Jam before. It’s usually right before RockyGrass. You can get a full dinner up there, and it’s always a lively, fun crowd.
Katherine Peterson: That sounds great.
Alex Thoele: Want to hear another song?
Katherine Peterson: I’d love to.
Alex Thoele: I’ll play one called “Thoele.” A lot of people have trouble pronouncing my last name. It’s spelled T-H-O-E-L-E. On the back of the album I wrote it the way my dad always wrote his name on everything he owned. I thought it’d be funny to write a song about it.
“Thoele”
Katherine Peterson: Now I’ll be ready if I ever meet another Thoele.
Alex Thoele: There are only about 200 of us in my hometown.
Katherine Peterson: Do you know where the name comes from?
Alex Thoele: It’s Dutch-German, from what I’ve been told. In my hometown, a lot of names with “H-O-E” are pronounced with a long “A” sound. My name is Thoele, and there are names like Hoenes that are pronounced the same way.
Katherine Peterson: And this was in Illinois?
Alex Thoele: Yep. I’m from a small town called Teutopolis, Illinois.
Katherine Peterson: That’s a fun name.
Alex Thoele: It’s the home of the Wooden Shoes.
Katherine Peterson: Like clogs?
Alex Thoele: That’s right. It’s actually the school mascot, which is pretty unique. Ever since I moved away at 17, people have mispronounced my last name, so I figured it was time to teach everyone how to say it.
Katherine Peterson: Makes sense.
Alex Thoele: You can also visit my website to get tickets for tomorrow night’s show at Globe Hall. There are still tickets available.
Katherine Peterson: And after this live set, KGNU will also be giving away a pair of tickets.
Alex Thoele: Free tickets? That’s exciting.
The other bands are fantastic. They’re mostly women-led bands from the Front Range. Booty & the Beats has a New Orleans vibe. Two of my friends’ sisters are in the band, and one of them plays clarinet, which is really fun to hear in that funky style.
Katherine Peterson: I love clarinet.
Alex Thoele: Mighty Holler is another group I’ve played with for a long time. They’re wonderful people. Get there early—you’ll want to catch everybody.
Katherine Peterson: You’re really selling this show.
Alex Thoele: I am. Get there early.
Katherine Peterson: Want to do one more?
Alex Thoele: Sure. This one is called “Free Yourself.” It’s the opening track on the album.
“Free Yourself”
Katherine Peterson: Another solid track.
Alex Thoele: “Free Yourself.” My wife and I came up with the idea together. We kept seeing yoga shirts that said things like “Breathe Deep,” and I thought we should make one that said “Free Yourself.” Then I wrote a song around that idea.
Katherine Peterson: While you were playing, I looked up Mighty Holler. I think they released an EP this year.
Alex Thoele: They may have.
Katherine Peterson: We have two tracks: “Fresh Tracks in the Snow” and “Love Me Till in the Grave I Lie.”
Alex Thoele: That sounds right. They’re probably listening and laughing that I can’t remember.
Katherine Peterson: Any final comments before we do the ticket giveaway?
Alex Thoele: A lot of people have been asking about the show. I’ll have a full band with me. We have a steel guitar player coming in from Illinois. Derek Dames Ohl is playing bass—he’s well known around KGNU—and Will Trask is on drums. It’ll be a great night.
Katherine Peterson: Awesome. We’re going to play Mighty Holler now. If you’d like tickets, call 303-825-0619. I’ll take the first caller after I start the track.
Music break.
Katherine Peterson: Just to recap: the show is tomorrow night at Globe Hall in Denver’s Globeville neighborhood. It’s all ages, starts at 8:00 p.m., and we still have a pair of tickets to give away.
Alex, you had one more show to mention.
Alex Thoele: This weekend is the South Park Bluegrass Festival in Alma. It’s a great lineup, and I believe we’re going to hear a song from Kyle Tuttle, who’s the artist at large for the festival.
Katherine Peterson: The festival is in Alma?
Alex Thoele: That’s right. It’s between Fairplay and Breckenridge at about 10,500 feet, so it’ll definitely be a high-elevation festival.
Katherine Peterson: Which Kyle Tuttle song should we play? We have “Hard to Say” and “Trailer in Boulder Canyon.”
Alex Thoele: Let’s hear “Trailer in Boulder Canyon.”
Katherine Peterson: Sounds good. We still have a pair of tickets for Alex Thoele’s album release show tomorrow night. Call 303-825-0619 if you’d like to win them.
