Behind the bar to front stage: Red Rocks bartender leads double life as DJ ceej

The crowd at FISHER’s recent Red Rocks show may have noticed something familiar about the opening act.

The house DJ performing for thousands of fans was the same man who usually pours their drinks at the vodka lemonade stand. CJ Dyer, 31, has worked as a bartender at Red Rocks since 2018. Meanwhile, under the stage name ceej, he has produced songs with millions of streams, headlined venues like Club Vinyl and Larimer Lounge, and played support everywhere from Mission Ballroom to the Ogden Theatre and Bluebird Theater.

Dyer’s double life came into the spotlight when he opened for FISHER on May 23. Standing on the iconic stage in front of unknowing customers he has served for years, Dyer declared himself the closest thing to a real-life Hannah Montana.

“I want to be around what keeps me passionate, keeps me fueled. Working at Red Rocks as a side hustle, it’s fucking sick,” Dyer says. “And because I’m so used to being there, I felt so at home that I was able to give my best performance.”

Dyer has been drawn to the legendary venue his entire life. His first concert was at Red Rocks when he was 8 years old, visiting family in Colorado from his home in Maryland. He saw Blues Traveler. As Dyer recalls, his over-the-top dance moves earned him multiple appearances on the jumbo screen and a harmonica gifted by frontman John Popper. “I felt like an absolute star,” he says.

After graduating from college, Dyer moved to the Mile High City in 2017 and began working a corporate job. He was quickly consumed by the local house music scene, spending every weekend seeking out new artists and venues. Eventually, Dyer and his friends decided to start their own underground, makeshift venue.

“We turned our house into what we called the Electric Factory,” he explains. “We just had a basement with club lights and no furniture. … All these artists were coming through and playing in my basement just because it was a fun place to hang out. Through that, it led to me having a couple hundred people that would come to my shows and made it so I could start playing in public. My whole style came about from playing those basement parties.”

As he became more dedicated to making music, Dyer quit his corporate job and landed a gig as a bartender at Red Rocks.

“Every time I pull in, you get a feeling in your stomach. This is the most beautiful place in the world,” Dyer says. “No matter how bad a mood I am in, it just snaps me back to how special it is.”

The flexible part-time schedule allows Dyer to work his shifts around his DJ sets. And, more importantly, the job provides invaluable insight into the nature of live music.

Dyer says he spends most of his shifts “yapping” to his coworkers about the shows — whether the artist has addressed the crowd enough, why the audience isn’t dancing, or how the performer’s vibe impacts whether their fans are assholes to the venue’s employees.

“The human connection to the art is something I get to see on a firsthand basis every single day when I work there,” Dyer says. “Seeing how crowds respond each night, it’s so different. As an opener, I took that experience.”

Dyer first played Red Rocks as an opener for Duke Dumont in 2023. But as the first of five DJs on a cold October evening, the crowd was sparse for his set. “It was a really humbling experience,” he recalls. “I could only see my family members: not dancing and looking at me like it was a high school talent show.”

The second time around, while opening for FISHER in May, was a different story. The audience was packed, the vibes were high, and Dyer’s smile beamed every moment of his 40-plus-minute performance.

“I thought I was going to be super nervous, but it just felt like it was right,” Dyer says of the show. “I was supposed to be there; it was always meant to be this way. It felt like the universe coming together in a moment after a lot of years dreaming of that feeling.”

Afterward, a video he posted about his Disney Channel-esque double life went viral on Instagram, accumulating nearly 100,000 views. Now, he says he can’t get through a bartending shift without someone asking him if he is “the Hannah Montana guy.”

Pretty soon, Dyer may no longer need his bartending job. This winter, he says he is booked for monthly shows at both Express Lift Bar in Vail Village and TBar at Breckenridge Ski Resort. Additional performances are planned in Chicago, Miami, San Diego, Cincinnati and more. Denver residents can catch him on Sept. 19 at the Courtyard by Marriott 6th Floor Skydeck.

But Dyer is in no rush to leave his post at the vodka lemonade stand.

“Red Rocks has been a huge part of my life and my journey,” he says. “It’s such a dream job as far as side hustles go.”

For now, he’ll keep living the best of both worlds.