NEDERLAND
The Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center and soon-to-open Crosscut Pizzeria and Taphouse present a Summer Concert Series “in the spirit of the old Acoustic Coffeehouse” that regularly played host to the country’s best acoustic players in an intimate, Nederland room.

The Eco-Arts Lounge is a community resource area and gallery featuring artists exhibiting their work, special workshops, concerts and more. The acoustic listening room holds just 70 people and is located next to the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center in Nederland. Revenue from all shows supports the center’s many activities.

The new music series kicks off, June 20 at 7 p.m. with Chuck Pyle (photo) featuring Gordon Burt on fiddle. Chuck Pyle’s charismatic voice and pumping guitar style combine seamlessly with Gordon Burt’s power-violin to make a “dazzling” kind of Southwestern acoustic rock. A nationally known songwriter and beloved performer, Pyle’s humorous Zen Cowboy character “illumines the mind and empowers the heart for one of life’s quintessential feel-good moments.”

The series continues with Eric Taylor, July 19. Taylor is a “sage musician, a lyrical genius and a master of the guitar.”

Three concerts on July 24-26, all at 8 p.m., are part of a “Camp Ned – A Songwriter Retreat in the Rocky Mountains Celebration.” Ellis Paul visits the venue, July 24. Though some may refer to Ellis as a folksinger, he is more, for lack of a better word, a singular storyteller, a musician whose words reach out from inside and yet also express the feelings, thoughts and sensibilities that most people can relate to in one way or another, regardless of age or upbringing.

Tracy Grammer performs, July 25. Tracy has become one of folk music’s most beloved artists. Renowned for her springwater-clear alto, perfectly intoned violin, and guitar playing that is by turns percussive and delicate, she is also a masterful storyteller with an ease and charisma on stage — not to mention a riotous sense of humor.

Camp Ned 2015 culminates, July 26, with a free concert celebrating the “camper’s” of Camp Ned. Campers and instructors Darryl Purpose, Paul Zollo, and Julie Beaver will be featured.

Colorado’s Monocle Band plays, Aug. 1. Formed in late 2010, the band combines the best of original song-craft and captivating performance.

In September, on a date to be announced, Mamajowali – featuring Joe Craven, Mamadou Sidibe, Walter Strauss – wraps-up the series with music incorporating West African beats, Americana roots and inspired improvisation. The blend of kamale ngoni (the hunter’s harp) with six string guitar, percussion, fiddle, mandolin and singing – is uncommon and familiar while traditional and innovative – all at the same time.

Wild Bear is located at 20 Lakeview Dr. Unit 107 in Nederland. Visit wildbear.org/eco-arts-lounge or call 303-258-0495 for details or to purchase tickets.