Sometimes, a person comes into your life unexpectedly, and you can just see their passion worn on their sleeve. I feel like meeting one of these people - a person that you can connect with immediately over shared interests and devotions - is such a gift from the universe, or whatever higher power it is that you may believe in. For me, meeting another human that’s incredibly passionate about the music industry makes me feel so lucky - to have someone who “gets it,” to buld our community just a little, and to be able to lift Colorado music up together. I felt all of this when I first met Allyce Carlson (virtually of course) in the middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Through a series of social media events, Allyce asked me to be a guest on her podcast, Women, Wine, and Song, where she encourages her guests to be 100% their authentic selves. We had an awesome conversation about all things music industry, the impact of the pandemic, and life in general in this crazy time we live in. I was so happy to get to know her better. Fast forward to Summer of 2021. An event that we were both looking forward to for 2 years was coming up fast - Summer Camp Music Festival. Allyce, because she’s the bees knees, became a Summer Camp Camp Counselor. She truly embraces the spirit of what it means to be a Camp Counselor in so many ways. Make sure you check out her SCamp journey and all of the beautiful moments she captured at the festival this year. One of the most important parts of Summer Camp is building community - and Allyce took that mission to heart, even once she’d come back home. Her first independent event as a Summer Camp Camp Counselor came to fruition last Thursday: The NoCo Open Jam benfitting Groovesafe at 830 North. The event was presented by Allyce and by Mishawaka.

“Though 2020 has been a horrific year in so many ways, it has had its silver linings. For me, one of those silver linings is that the absolute lack of live music and oppressive headlines of the day-to-day news cycle kicked my drive to make a difference into high gear. I am doing this. I am managing incredible artists. I am expanding Sonder Music Management. And I’m doing it with a little help from my friends. I’m so excited to announce a few additions to the Sonder team, and I’m starting with Alyssa Montaño, my Co-Founder on Rocky Mountain Virtual. Alyssa is coming on as a contributor to the Sonder Blog, and seeks to focus her attention on topics that involve education and representing those populations that are sorely under-represented in the public eye of the Colorado Music Scene. I’m so excited to have her on board, and I can’t wait to see what she writes in the future. Please meet Alyssa Montaño, the newest contributor on the Sonder Music Management Blog.” - Sarah Shuel, Owner of Sonder Music Management

The upcoming new year means a lot more than usual this time around, at least to me. With 2021 on the horizon, a Covid vaccine in the works, and the promise of warm weather and the possibility of gathering with friends in the future, I’m cautiously seeing a light at the end of the tunnel - and it makes my heart swell with hope. The new year is also a tried-and-true time for reflection - and we have much to reflect on this year. In 2020, we faced countless obstacles as a human species. We came up against a foe not as nation against nation, religion vs. religion, or any other man-made construct of confrontation, but as humans with the need to band together to get through a year so rough that it sometimes seemed as though we were living in the matrix. What will we learn from this? How will we grow from it, as individuals and as a group? Will we take the lessons learned to heart, or throw them out as soon as things return to normal? While we walk this line between hope and reflection, Graham Good and The Painters will give us the perfect soundtrack for both. The feel-good kings of NoCo are set to release their debut full-length self-titled album early next year. They haven’t set an exact release date yet, but you can look for the album in the first few months of 2021. I got the chance to hear the new record ahead of time, and I’m so excited to give you a preview of the good things that are coming.