This Is a Bluegrass Show You Don’t Want to Miss

Deer Creek Sharp Shooters is putting an exclamation point on a big 2025 with its first-ever headlining show at Globe Hall this week.

The Colorado-based bluegrass five-piece knows the local venue well, as the band’s played there numerous times since relocating from Maryland in 2016, including holding down opening spots for Arkansauce, Magoo, Stillhouse Junkies and Jack Cloonan Band.

But the time has finally come to take center stage. “We’re the hosts of this party for the first time,” says vocalist and Dobro player Fritz Boniface.

Celebrate the milestone on Friday, December 19. Foggy Memory Boys and Mighty Holler are also on the bill. Erik Hill of Magoo will sit in as the artist-at-large, too.

Beginning the year in Steamboat Springs with a sold-out New Year’s Eve show at Old Town Pub, the goal is to end it the same way.

“Having the Globe Hall headliner to close out the year after starting with that, we’re going to make it a good time, that’s for sure,” says Boniface, who lives in Steamboat.

Initially coming together in 2012, Deer Creek Sharp Shooters spent the early years cutting its teeth back East, particularly in Charleston, South Carolina, before making for the Rockies nearly a decade ago. While members are currently split between Steamboat and Denver, the group steadily built its reputation as a live band during that time, plugging in and playing around the Colorado festival circuit. That late-night fest energy translates live and will be amped even more for the Globe Hall appearance.

“We tried to pull in that vibe for this show by having an artist-at-large, an artist sitting in, and a bunch of friends that we’ve played with at festivals,” says vocalist and banjo picker Harrison Gaeng.

The closing slot also allows them to roll out some more material, whether it’s previously unreleased songs, spur-of-the-moment jams or deep cuts from the long-awaited 2023 debut album, Crik.

“All the other sets we’ve played at the Globe have been an hour,” explains vocalist and mandolinist Luke Hinder. “Now we have the space to work the setlist into something a little more fluid and descriptive of our sound.”

That means getting “lost in the sauce,” as Gaeng describes it, more than anything. Rehearsals for the final 2025 gig have been going well, but scripting a jam isn’t necessarily an exact science. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a true jam, would it?

“We try to plan the jams out, and when we practice, we do a great job planning them out as a collective group, but once we hit the stage, we don’t do anything we practiced,” Hinder shares with a laugh.

“We’re making audibles on stage trying to capture the vibe of the crowd and keep it going,” adds bassist Daniel Putrino.

The same can be said for the foreseeable future. Looking ahead to 2026, Deer Creek Sharp Shooters already have some good gigs lined up, including an appearance at Steamboat’s WinterWonderGrass festival in late February. Boniface says he’d like to work on some new material next year, too. Similarly, Gaeng points to shoring up more harmonies, while Hinder wants to focus on writing some waltzes. Overall, it’s about maintaining the same level of persistence.

“I have this vibe going on in my head right now where I feel like the universe is telling us, ‘Yes, you guys are on the right track,’” Putrino says. “We got a bunch of great shows cooking for the upcoming year and a lot of them are really important and helping us achieve that goal of being a band that plays a lot of the bluegrass festivals and is deeper into the scene than we’ve been before.”

Vocalist-fiddler Kay McKenzie, who’s going on three years as a full-time member and is also out in Steamboat, agrees.

“Even in the last two years, I feel like we’ve come a really long way,” she says. “I’m really proud of this group. I think despite the challenges of not all being in the same place we do a pretty damn good job.”

Needless to say, if you’re not already, keep an eye and ear out for Deer Creek Sharp Shooters.

“This year we really felt that momentum, and looking into next year, we’re seeing it sustaining itself. It’s a long road,” Boniface adds. “It’s taken a lot of time, but we haven’t given up. We’ve kept our heads down and we love doing it. That’s why we’re doing it.

“It’s nice to be going in the right direction and really being able to get our stuff out there,” he concludes, “and show people a good time.”

Deer Creek Sharp Shooters, with Foggy Memory Boys, Mighty Holler and Erik Hill, 7 p.m. Friday, December 19, Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St. Tickets are $25.