There is a lot that goes into running a big production like Rocky Mountain Rhythm at Colorado State University.

Just ask Dave Moody, senior Media and Entertainment student and co-producer. 

There are a lot of moving parts and sometimes the small things may get missed. As a result, there were some challenges that Moody faced leading up to the first weekend’s show that took place on Feb. 15 in the university’s Buell Communications Center.

“I had to make sure the lighting was situated and at times I found it a bit difficult to get the talent to respond back to me in a timely manner with things like set lists and input lists for their instruments/gear, so that I can then distribute that to other departments,” he said.

Despite those challenges, the first weekend’s show of Rocky Mountain Rhythm was a huge success. That success led into the second and final weekend of Rocky Mountain Rhythm, which took place on Feb. 22 and opened with the CSU Pueblo Guitar Ensemble.

The student ensemble is led by director Ben Johnson, who also is the head of the guitar department and a professor in the music department at CSU Pueblo.

Normally, the ensemble has nine members, but only seven were featured during their Rocky Mountain Rhythm performance, as two of their members were out sick. 

“I’m very excited to perform here tonight as we get the opportunity to be the opening act for a local band, which is super-cool to be able to experience something like that,” senior student Andrew Larimore said at the event.

Johnson added, “We are super excited to play here tonight because anytime that we get the chance to play here at the Buell Communications Center, we always snag that opportunity up. 

“Plus, the stage is awesome, the lights are amazing, and I think this venue best suits our instruments compared to the Hoag Hall, as the acoustic guitar is a really quiet instrument. It also allows our audience to hear and understand our music better because it is a smaller venue.”

The ensemble’s performance at Rocky Mountain Rhythm also featured two pieces from Jim Bosse, who is a well-established area composer from Canon City, who wrote both sets of pieces that the guitar ensemble performed that evening. Bosse performed with the ensemble as well. 

Bosse said the ensemble is a classical guitar ensemble that uses some rhythmic things that are not as common because they use classical guitar compositions, such as tapping on the guitar and clapping while they are playing.

“The first set of pieces are a set of six short pieces, each inspired by different hiking trails that my wife and I took somewhere in or around Canon City. The next set of pieces are inspired by hiking trails in an area called ‘The Bank,’ which is located just north of Canon City. They are titled ‘Dawn at Sand Belch’ and ‘Sundown on Cactus Cliff.’

“I was inspired to write these pieces because after I would return from the hike, I would go up to my music room and just write down whatever first came to mind based on the beautiful scenery I saw on the hike in order to make a memory of the day,” Bosse said.

This isn’t the first time that Johnson and Bosse have collaborated.

According to Bosse, every year he does a hike concert, where he goes to different locations to play these two pieces that he wrote on site at these various locations over the summer, where Ben Johnson joins him as well.

According to Jonson, the guitar ensemble has a few upcoming performances, including at the Cultural Extravaganza event on March 14 in the Occhiato Student Center from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. 

The group also will have a concert on May 6 at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) and another performance on May 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Buell Communications Center. These performances will be in collaboration with the guitar ensemble from UCCS. 

The performances will feature Bosse as well, whose piece titled ‘Merger,’ will have its world premier.