NEDERLAND -- The lineup of the project known as Colorado Junction has changed lineups a couple of times over the years, with musicians leaving to focus on their personal lives or pursue other career opportunities. In 2025, the band will be performing more frequently in a new lineup, which longtime member Troy Yanel refers to as “Colorado Junction 3.0.” That lineup consists of Yanel on guitar, Chris Spurlock on mandolin, David Weisbart on bass, Bobby Krech on fiddle, and all four providing vocals.
All of the members of the band have always loved music. Weisbart’s parents owned a jazz club in New York City, so he grew up with music all around him. By his high school years, he knew he wanted to be a musician, and his parents supported his career goals under the condition that he graduated college. Since graduating with a philosophy degree and ultimately settling in Colorado, he’s performed with many bands in the area, including Band Du Jour, Americana Highway, and Groovealicious.
Spurlock first picked up the ukulele when he was two years old. Using that instrument, he would often mimic his father and his dad’s brother (his uncle) playing on the guitar, and he learned piano, trombone, and guitar along the way. In college, picking up his friend’s mandolin for the first time, he immediately clicked with the instrument. While he still plays the other instruments he’s learned, he has since primarily focused on the mandolin, playing in his first professional group when he joined the Schwillbillies in 2009.
At around four months old, Krech’s sister accidentally knocked a fiddle off of a bookshelf while rocking Krech back and forth in a chair. This fiddle, a family heirloom, knocked the young Krech in the head, resulting in a cut that required stitches and left a scar. Inspired by this story, watching symphony performances from a young age, and knowing about his father’s own musical history (Krech’s father played in a Navy jazz band stationed in Guam in the 1950s, but ultimately prioritized teaching over music to support his family), Krech started truly learning violin for the first time. He took private lessons, played at school, focused more on jazz and swing as time went on, and ultimately fell in love with bluegrass groups such as Old & In The Way and Yonder Mountain String Band.
Finally, just like the other three, Yanel has always been surrounded by music. His mom loved jazz and symphony music, his brother played guitar, and when he started playing music on his own, he completely embraced the jam scene. Living in Georgia for most of his adolescent and college years, he and many other musicians around him were primarily influenced by groups such as Widespread Panic, Phish, The Allman Brothers, and The Grateful Dead. Eventually, he moved to California, playing in a few groups near Lake Tahoe as an acoustic guitar player or a bass player. He met his wife there, and they moved to Nashville together for a couple of years, where Yanel answered a Craigslist ad from Patrick Keenan, frontman of local indie rock back The Winter Sounds, and started touring with him. Once Yanel and his wife started a family, they all moved to Colorado, where Yanel completely fell in love with the bluegrass scene as well.
All four of these musicians love playing together, and in fact, they’ve been playing together for years before “Colorado Junction 3.0.” Much like Yanel answered a Craigslist ad in Nashville, Spurlock answered a Craigslist ad that resulted in him meeting Yanel and Krech for the first time. They played in a group called Mighty Pleasin, with a fourth member, Quinn McKay, on bass, and Krech ended up bringing Spurlock into another group of his, Strung High String Band. Spurlock and Krech still play in that group today, and in fact, the two are now not only close friends and musical partners but also direct neighbors, living in houses right next to each other. After the COVID-19 quarantine period, Weisbart answered another Craiglist ad from Yanel, so now, the four will revitalize Colorado Junction in this current lineup. Ultimately, the group hopes that audiences will continue supporting live, local music, that their shows will encourage them to do so, and that they’re able to spread joy to the people who come to see their performances.
Troy Yanel, Chris Spurlock, David Weisbart, and Bobby Krech will be bringing Colorado Junction back in full force once Krech returns from Arizona later in 2025, so be sure to keep up with Colorado Junction on Facebook and Instagram to see when they will be performing. Before then, though, you can see Yanel performing with Aaron Pomerantz, who played mandolin in a previous lineup of the group, as the Colorado Junction Duo! The duo will be performing at Busey Brews, located at 70 E. 1st Street in Nederland, on Sunday, January 26, 2025, starting at 2 p.m.