Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County.

Tim Keenan is the money guy.

Dan Perez is the music guy.

Mike Foster is the loose ends guy.

Put these three guys together and a new music festival is conceived. Last Saturday, June 17, the Mountain Madness Music Fest was delivered at the Hurricane Ranch off the Peak to Peak Highway, near the intersection of CO 72.

Not many people knew where the ranch was, who the guys were or what they could expect, but the list of bands was enough to bring over 100 people, many of them locals, to the meadow in the middle of the forest. The Sleeping Giant kept a large eye on them.

Mike Foster says the three of them began having house concerts up on Wedgewood Road off of South Beaver Creek. The house soon grew too small.

Dan Perez says, "We have a great music community, great local musicians and locals provided everything from the porto potties to the Peaceful Security team. We wanted to bring the community together. After the last party on Wedgewood, we knew we needed somewhere better equipped."

Jon Ridnell of Family Dog finished his set and was ecstatic. "This is freakin' awesome," he said. "It is good to see another home-grown festival going on. And it will be bigger and better for the right reason."

The partners say they didn't really know what they were doing, but combining what each of them knew was the key to making it work. Basically, they like to hang out and listen to music.

Tim Keenan was doing just that one night at the Pioneer Inn when he met Frank Greinke and his wife and bought them dinner. Greinke lives at his Hurricane Ranch property when he's not living in California.

"He was somewhat taken aback by the offer, he's used to buying the meals. I ended up getting a job with him and as we got to know each other better, I realized that all he wanted to do was become a part of the community. He also liked to give Solstice parties and about three months ago we began planning a music fest for the Saturday closest to the Solstice."

Booking the bands was easy, says Tim. "We support these groups every day and all we had to do was ask them to play in our festival. It all happened fast and we realized that we had a lot to do. Three days before the date, we still didn't have the stage."

With help from Heather Tayler, the group was able to set up the stage from NedFest. She was also the emcee between bands.

Well over 100 people danced to the bands until the last group, The Gasoline Lollipop, finished their set around 10 p.m. Although the skies were dark and threatening, the rain held off. There was beer and food and dancing and a sense of being local and having a good time together.

This just might be the start of something big.

(Originally published in the June 22, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)