by Ella Blu Vann
On Saturday, April 8, Bluecorn Cafe in Montrose was packed full of Ouray residents, including many Ouray School teachers and students, while the band You Knew Me When was playing.
The band is a husband and wife duo consisting of Karisa and Cie Hoover. Prior to the two of them moving to Ouray five years ago, the band toured regularly, and as they settled in Ouray, with Ms. Hoover becoming a teacher, touring became less frequent. That’s why the duo now plays local venues during the school year.
“In such a small town, having all of those different avenues to hear and experience live music is pretty special,” Ms. Hoover said. “Between what OCPAG offers, and the Music in the Park, what [Chris Vann] does with Live in Ouray, it’s really neat, the different types of genres you can get from all of those different experiences.”
As the school year comes to an end, the Mountain Air Music Series begins every Thursday of June. Those Thursday nights give people the opportunity to not only listen to music that is “pretty good,” according to freshman Brooke Edder, but also “gives [her] time to hang out with friends, just kind of talk and sit on a blanket.” But Brooke also enjoys “listening to new artists that she never would’ve heard before.”
“Music is the universal language,” Ms. Hoover said. “It's something that we can all come together with. I think right now, especially as a country, we’re very divided, and music is a way that we can all come together without that divisiveness.”