{"id":2450399,"date":"2019-10-26T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local-vid-weatherwax-spins-from-motown-to-sunset-sounds-in-extensive-musical-career\/"},"modified":"2019-10-26T22:16:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T04:16:00","slug":"local-vid-weatherwax-spins-from-motown-to-sunset-sounds-in-extensive-musical-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/local-vid-weatherwax-spins-from-motown-to-sunset-sounds-in-extensive-musical-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Vid Weatherwax spins from Motown to Sunset Sounds in extensive musical career"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Vid Weatherwax in his personal music studio in south Glenwood.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The first time you hear whiskey-throated Vid Weatherwax sing is like your first time walking into a smoky, back-alley bar. With a timbre dipped in blues and dripping with soul, it\u2019s a voice that summons old time gravel-slinging singers like Louis Armstrong and Tom Waits while still dispersing its own unique quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely a croaker, and not a crooner,\u201d Weatherwax said. \u201cI record lots of my performances \u2014 over the years, thousands of songs. I just listen to myself and do my best to sing better \u2026 to sing as sincerely and authentically as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weatherwax (his real name), a local singer, songwriter, keyboardist, Vaudeville Revue piano player and booking agent, began his musical journey during the groovy \u201960s in Jackson, Michigan \u2014 just a short cruise down Interstate 94 from the vibe of Detroit and its bastion of soul and R&B Motown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI listened to CKLW \u2014 \u2018The Big 8,\u2019\u201d Weatherwax said. \u201cWhite and black music wasn\u2019t crossing over into radio play yet, but CKLW did, and we could get that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s what I like about this valley \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of people with a lot of skills enjoying the lifestyle here. You just want wherever you are to be purposeful, and there\u2019s a lot of purpose around here.\u201d\u2014 Vid Weatherwax<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

In high school, he played in a band that covered The Temptations, and whose lead singer could belt like Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson and Smokey Robinson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the artistic force of the band. So we did a lot of that stuff, but we also crossed over into the Stax repertoire of Sam and Dave and Booker T.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a time, Weatherwax said, when every high school had 12 to 15 good rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and soul \u201cgarage bands.\u201d His own band though, called the Westside Blues Revue, flittered around the edges of fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were performing with, and opening for Detroit rock \u2019n\u2019 rollers. We did battle of the bands with Bob Seger and Ted Nugent, and opened up on the same ticket as the Supremes and other Motown people before they were big time,\u201d Weatherwax said. \u201cWe also played in the church community world, and at roller skating rinks.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as it did for a lot of musicians, the drug culture of the \u201960s, and all the bad decisions it spawned, caught up with the Westside Blues Revue.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomehow,\u201d Weatherwax said, laughing at the memory, \u201cwe decided to change our name to Bird Millman, who was a trapeze artist from the early 1900s and wore one of those full-cover swimsuit type things. Somebody found her on a circus poster.\u201d<\/p>\n

But despite its name, the band continued building on its success, opening for Iggy Pop, The Zombies and Three Dog Night before attrition hit them after graduation, Weatherwax said, like it did for many high school buddy bands.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome go off to college, some get married, and some realize, \u2018We can\u2019t make any money doing this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But Weatherwax did continue making money with music, supplemented by \u201csimultaneous\u201d careers like spinning wax as a DJ for 15 years at radio stations that included broadcasting giant Clear Channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked up to a pretty good level, doing news, talk, politics, interviewing senators, congressman, governors, sports figures, and eventually drank my way right back to the bottom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An alcoholic, Weatherwax has been sober since February 2003.<\/p>\n

Ain\u2019t No Mountain High Enough<\/p>\n

His \u201ccoming to the Roaring Fork Valley\u201d story isn\u2019t far different from others \u2014 a drummer buddy from Michigan had moved to Aspen and told him \u201cyou\u2019ve got to come out here!\u201d \u2014 except for the part where he was a musician trying to get a toe into an established market.<\/p>\n

In June 2010, Weatherwax had four weeks without a booking, so he drove to Aspen and immediately started connecting with some of the local musical icons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met Chris Bank, I met Bobby Mason, I met Lester Price, Dave Harding,\u201d he said. \u201cBobby and I exchanged original music \u2014 talking, recording and hanging out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bank had a four-night-a-week house gig at the St. Regis, and asked Weatherwax to \u201csit in\u201d with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I was doing was listening to Chris and playing by ear,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we established a relationship, and pretty soon he started having me play with him regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weatherwax returned to Michigan in the fall, but came back to Aspen in the winter and summer of 2011. Then on Veteran\u2019s Day of that year, his father \u2014 his last tie to Michigan \u2014 passed away.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I cleaned up all his stuff that happens after someone dies, and I looked around and said \u2018I\u2019m moving.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Weatherwax found a cheap place to live in Glenwood Springs, and with help from his newfound connections, began scaring up gigs in the valley wherever he could find them.<\/p>\n

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I\u2019m Yours<\/p>\n

As Weatherwax\u2019s roots have grown deep into the Roaring Fork Valley, so have his contributions to some of Glenwood\u2019s most popular institutions.<\/p>\n

In spring 2016 he\u2019d heard a rumor about the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue\u2019s John Goss having club connections in Vail, so Weatherwax walked into the theater and asked Goss for a reference.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018I don\u2019t have any club connections in Vail, who told you that?\u2019\u201d Weatherwax said. \u201c\u2018But,\u2019 he said, \u2018I am looking for a piano player.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Weatherwax got the gig, but having never played theater or show tunes, struggled through his first season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat at the piano 12 hours a day at home, charting the stuff out, trying to get the right keys for everything,\u201d he said. \u201cThat first spring I was nervous every night \u2026 but that summer show I started getting the hang of it. Now it\u2019s like second nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goss has gradually given Weatherwax more acting roles in the show, having him play characters like Yogi Berra, a smelly dog and, of course, Louis Armstrong. He also has him filling up the space between skits with dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to stall for time between the end of a song, blackout, then a spotlight on me to talk for 10 to 20 seconds, and then boom, I start the next song,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shortly after arriving in Glenwood, Weatherwax began pitching to the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool\u2019s management about having live music poolside during summer tourist season. They agreed, and the result is Sunset Sounds, a Tuesday night music series in which Weatherwax plays both booking agent and occasional featured performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge because the phone starts ringing off the hook from musicians,\u201d he said. \u201cWord spreads like wildfire around here \u2014 \u2018There\u2019s a new gig!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hard part is that I want to make it quality, so I bring in some people from out of town that are very good, like The Deltas from L.A. who tour everywhere. So there are politics involved, and I don\u2019t enjoy that part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weatherwax also has been charged over the past two summers with choosing the music lineup for the Wednesday night Downtown Market and Music Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started getting compliments from a lot of people about the music,\u201d he said. \u201cLike we had National Slide Guitar Champion Kraig Kenning, and he blew everybody away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weatherwax still works on his repertoire, and plays occasional gigs at places like the St. Regis and Snowmass Club between seasons at the Vaudeville, and he writes and records songs, as he always has.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to be helpful, become a better listener, and connect with source,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I like about this valley \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of people with a lot of skills enjoying the lifestyle here. You just want wherever you are to be purposeful, and there\u2019s a lot of purpose around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vid Weatherwax in his personal music studio in south Glenwood.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent The first time you hear whiskey-throated Vid Weatherwax sing is like your first time walking into a smoky, back-alley bar. With a timbre dipped in blues and dripping with soul, it\u2019s a voice that summons old time gravel-slinging singers like Louis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2450399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 11:34:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450399\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}