DJ Jules hosts Sound Lab on KGNU and welcomes singer-songwriter Nick Dunbar, a longtime Colorado musician now based on the East Coast, back to the Boulder studio. Dunbar discusses returning to play at the Gold Hill Inn, reflects on KGNU’s role in supporting local music, and shares memories of community connections through the station. He performs three songs—“Old Money,” “Please Mend This Broken Heart,” and “A Man Worth Burying,” the title track from his upcoming album. Throughout the interview, Dunbar and Jules emphasize the significance of community radio and its capacity to bridge the distance between artists and listeners. (Studio Session: 10/9/25)
DJ Jules: Alright, it’s still your girl DJ Jules vibin’ out on Sound Lab on a Thursday night. And guess what? I got someone to upgrade their solar membership — it’s our girl Carrie! We love our Care Bear here at KGNU. Carrie goes above and beyond in so many ways. And here is the wonderful comment that Carrie emailed me:
“Jules just introduced me to my new second favorite Prince song, plus she makes me smile with her infectious commentary. Looking at the syllabus she provided, it was time for me to upgrade my solar donation.”
Boom, Carrie! See what she did there? We were planning our syllabus, I said, “You gotta donate.” Carrie took it and went with it — and now it’s time for you to shine in that same fashion.
And you know what, folks? I’ve got a very special guest right here in the studio with me. I’ve got Nick [00:01:00] Dunbar hanging out at the Boulder studio. Hey, Nick!
Nick Dunbar: Hello.
DJ Jules: How are you today?
Nick Dunbar: Fresh off the jet and made it to KGNU just in time. Thanks for having me.
DJ Jules: Of course! So happy to have you here.
If you don’t know Nick Dunbar — Nick was, for many years, a staple around here. He decided to leave us accidentally. Silly boy.
Nick Dunbar: It was an accident. It was an incident.
DJ Jules: It was an incident and an accident. But he’s back! He’s here! It’s cool. It’s good. So what brings you to Colorado on this trip?
Nick Dunbar: I lived in the area for 17, 18 years, moved to the East Coast, and I am playing the Gold Hill Inn tomorrow night. You know, Gold Hill Inn is obviously an iconic place and such a wonderful spot. It just feels sacrilegious not to get out here at least once a year to come and play it.
So, I hit up my boy Brian up there and put it together. My last record I did out here had a bunch of Colorado musicians on it, so I’ll be having a bunch of them playing tomorrow. We’ll have a full band, and we’ll be doing the whole cowboy thing that we [00:02:00] do.
DJ Jules: Are you gonna have Sad Cowboys with you?
Nick Dunbar: Sad — because “pathetic” doesn’t fit on the T-shirt, unfortunately.
DJ Jules: No, baby! We don’t have Sad Cowboys with you in the studio — it’s just you, solo Nick Dunbar, right now.
Alright, so you’re gonna play some songs for the KGNU listeners. What a treat! And KGNU listeners, if you’re loving it, remember you can donate at kgnu.org.
Nick, my friend, my man — what’s your first song? What are we gonna play?
Nick Dunbar: So I just went in the studio and I’m close to finishing up my new record. I’m gonna play some tunes off of that.
DJ Jules: Awesome. Let’s hear that first one. What’s it called?
Nick Dunbar: Old Money.
DJ Jules: Old Money! Alright, honey.
(lyrics to “Old Money” performed)
DJ Jules: He just gets a straight job and that’s that?
Nick Dunbar: Hung up his hat.
DJ Jules: Oh man.
Nick Dunbar: I know.
DJ Jules: Is that one about you, babe? I don’t know — the jury’s still out.
Nick Dunbar: No comment.
DJ Jules: Alright, fair enough. You can do that here. I won’t force ya on air — I’ll just force you for all the deets!
That’s right — right here, right now for the KGNU listeners, we can’t take “no comment.” But I do wanna hear, since we are in the midst of our Fall Fund Drive, what KGNU and community radio mean to you as a former Colorado musician of 17, 18 years.
Nick Dunbar: KGNU has always been such a staple.
I’ve had five or six bands that have played in-studio here, supporting local music and making people aware of it. Especially in a time when people are just zombies out there, listening to whatever comes on their playlist through Apple Music or Spotify.
To still have a space that’s curating playlists and supporting local and new music — not the same stuff that’s out there — that’s something I’m really lacking where I live now. It was so nostalgic to turn the corner, see the Fabricator over there, come under the [00:06:00] bridge, and walk into the room.
This place has housed so many new songs that I’ve never played for anybody, and new groups. It’s always been like this big, welcoming hug. I’m super excited we were able to put this together and grateful you were able to do it.
The plane took off late, and I’m running into my buddy’s house, grabbing a guitar and tuner, and he’s got it all sitting there waiting for me. It just goes beyond this place — it’s like a spider web to all these different people and what Boulder represents, which is amazing music.
Community — whether it’s the player, the listener, the DJ — it’s so cohesive and collaborative and really unique. I encourage you guys to give it some love where you can, because this is a dying thing. But it feels so alive when you walk in here.
DJ Jules: Exactly! And that’s why we need you, our KGNU listeners, to make sure it’s not a dying thing — that we can stick around. We are very much alive.
And I’ll have all you KGNU listeners know — when I was first starting out DJing, and you gotta work that crazy nighttime shift from 3 to 5 AM — when Nick was in New Jersey, I’d be in here from 3 to 5, and he’d be streaming live, doing his morning routine and getting down to what I was doing here. I’d be getting messages!
Like he said, the KGNU community — it’s this network, this spider web. It’s far-reaching, and it’s important. It’s connecting all of us.
Nick Dunbar: I remember that so well. As soon as we’d get up, we’d kick on DJ Jules — she was closing it down, and we were starting it up.
DJ Jules: Exactly! That’s what we were doing. I loved it. Okay — what’s our next song for the KGNU community?
Nick Dunbar: So, what’s cool about this new record is it feels pretty authentic to the music that I play and the cowboy culture. I’m right outside of New York City, so I see line dancing and bro country wherever you go.
I’ve really dug the kind of western swing sound, and finding that way to make it sound old but still be new is such [00:08:00] an art. This one’s a little more on brand — it’s called Please Mend This Broken Heart.
(lyrics to “Please Mend This Broken Heart” performed)
DJ Jules: Oh, your poor little broken heart! What a sweetheart you are over there — that’s a good one.
Nick Dunbar: Thank you. And a reminder — there’ll be pedal steel and Telecaster, and I won’t be fresh off the airplane.
DJ Jules: That’s perfect. Hey, if there are any KGNU listeners just tuning in, it’s DJ Jules hosting Sound Lab, and I have Nick Dunbar here.
Nick, will you remind the listeners — or tell the brand-new ones — where you’re playing tomorrow night and what time?
Nick Dunbar: I’ll be at the Gold Hill Inn, 8 to 11.
DJ Jules: Perfect! We love the Gold Hill Inn around here at KGNU. We host events up there — we like to host events all over town, because we’re just a community coordinator and conduit, bringing people together.
Alright, let’s keep bringing the music to the people. Nick’s got one more song, and you’ve been talking about a new album. Is the album all done? Where are we?
Nick Dunbar: Yeah, so, the band’s done. We did it with a pretty live kind of feel in the studio. Then I’ve gotta go in and sing my vocals.
It’s pretty close — I was gonna get it done, and then a few things came up. I should be back in at the beginning of November, and I think realistically early next year with getting vinyl printed and all that. But I’m really happy with how it came out.
Cahalen Morrison is producing it with me — he’s an absolute monster musician and songwriter. I’m gonna play the title track off the record. My last record was very country all the way through, but I wanted this record to really represent me and my sound and how it’s evolved.
I couldn’t figure out the name — I wanted it to be like Me or something. My wife said, “That’s the worst name for a record.”
DJ Jules: Oh, we love your wife — she’s the honest one!
Nick Dunbar: Yeah! And she came up with A Man Worth Burying. It’s this thought that you’re not perfect — nobody is — and you should give yourself a little grace. Know that you’re good enough for someone to dig a big hole and kick you into it at the end of it!
And know there are people who think about you and love you — that your life was worth living. She came up with that title, and then I literally walked out and wrote this song.
The best songs for me have always been the ones that just come out — where you’re just the conduit for it. So I hope you like it. I haven’t really played it for anybody, so…
DJ Jules: What a special debut here for the KGNU listeners!
Nick Dunbar: You know, it’s gonna be kind of solo on the album as well. I’m always hiding behind great players and the bands I put together, but this one will just be me. So we’ll do it that way for KGNU — doing a little memory lane here.
DJ Jules: I love it. Let’s get into this one.
(lyrics to “A Man Worth Burying” performed)
