Jo Asker is a prolific performer in the Northern Colorado music scene. He fills the bass role in a diverse array of settings as a sideman or featured artist, and brings a unique voice to any ensemble he’s with. A large portion of his gigs are at Fort Collins’ infamous jazz venues, as well as with folk, country, rock, and funk bands like Dave and the Gin Mill Gypsies, the Jasper Grooves Collective, Catch and Release, Big Brooklyn, the Twirling Zucchinis, and more. He has performed with the Fort Collins Symphony, Wyoming Symphony, Washington-Idaho Symphony, and several other established orchestras and chamber groups. A wide variety of musical aptitudes has forged a unique artistic voice that shapes his playing and the sound of any group he’s a part of, as well as his compositions and work as a bandleader. Jo has taught bass and cello at Casper College, and bass/electric bass at Front Range Community College – Larimer Campus.. He holds a B.M. from the University of Idaho, and a M.M. from Colorado State University.

Here’s a link to Jo’s latest collaboration with Michael Kirkpatrick, captured in a Magnolia Sessions video!

Jo and Brianna Harris #movingthemusic in FoCO!

Tom Amend is an organist, pianist, composer, and arranger from Denver, Colorado. Tom performs throughout the Rocky Mountain Region in various settings as both a leader and a sideman. He has performed and or recorded with Colorado based artists: Gabriel Mervine, Taylor Scott, The Burroughs, Paul Romaine, Greg Gisbert, Steve Kovalcheck, among many others. Amend has also shared the stage with, Jeff Hamilton, Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Julia Dollison, Joey DeFrancesco, Groove For Thought, Deborah Brown, John Fedchock, Louis Hayes, Dave Liebman, Sheila Jordan and others.

Tom’s compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Downbeat award winning UNC Jazz Lab Band One, Vocal Lab, Chris Potter, John Fedchock, and Joey DeFrancesco. His writing is featured on the April 2019 release, “Frontier Justice” featuring Steve Kovalcheck and Jeff Hamilton as well as his March 2021 Octet release, “Heliotrope” that features a host of Colorado’s finest.

Amend received a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and a Masters of Music in Jazz Composition at the University of Northern Colorado. Through his association with UNC, Tom has performed with nationally recognized UNC Lab I, UNC Vanguard Combo, and Vocal Lab. Tom is currently an Adjunct Professor of Jazz Piano at the University of Northern Colorado and performs extensively as both a leader and a sideman.

The Tom Amend Octet debut release, “Heliotrope” is now available!

Tom and Patrick Atwater, #MovingTheMusic in June of 2015 on Rikki!

LA-based Americana artist Brad Colerick’s songs seep into your heart with a single listen. His finely wrought, plainspoken lyrics find the poetry in everyday language. Billboard Magazine called him “one of a baker’s dozen of acts to watch in the folk community around the world.” He moved from his native Nebraska to Los Angeles in 1986 and built a successful career making music for commercials where he wrote and produced ditties recorded by such musical icons as BB King, Shawn Colvin, Buddy Guy, Amy Grant, The Chi-Lites, and Johnny Cash. Colerick’s albums land firmly in the Americana wheelhouse with guest appearances by Suzy Bogguss, Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, April Verch, and Gabe Witcher.

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The song we discussed: Healer.  The Album: Nine Ten Thirty.

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Brad and Charlie White played on Rikki as her first guests in March 2015 as I pedalled them around a neighborhood in north Fort Collins.