The Acoustic Circus is Back! An Interview with Mark Sundermeier

Jenn Cohen | June 1, 2013 | 0 Comments

by the Staff

CMB: What exactly is the Acoustic Circus?

MS: The Acoustic Circus is a weekly series that brings together different styles of original music into an acoustic format.

CMB: Tell us about the vision for the acoustic circus series.

MS: Back in 2002, several friends and I wanted to find a way to bring together all walks of Denver musicians, into an all-acoustic setting. The idea was to get singer/songwriters, along with rock, metal, country, jazz, blues and world music acts to come together on any particular night and play acoustic sets. The purpose was to broaden everyone’s musical horizons and to make each other aware of what is going on in our musical community. The series lasted for one year, and was laid to rest after we released a 2-disc set of music with over 30 of Denver’s finest artists at the time, in 2003. It ultimately landed me my job running the Soiled Dove for several years to come though, and is why I have been a booking agent for 10 plus years now. In December of 2012, I decided to bring the series back for a trial run, and it has been going strong now for nearly 6 months; every Wednesday night, at The Toad Tavern. I am proud to say that we have recorded most of those shows, and have two new volumes of CDs ready to go, again featuring some of Denver’s finest!

CMB: What have been some of the challenges?

MS: Even though the series is very rewarding for all of us involved, the challenge is clearly to keep the series fresh from week to week. We do ask people back to play The Acoustic Circus quite often, but the idea is to always get new faces involved, from every facet of our large musical community in Denver. Convincing acts who are new to playing in an acoustic format to get on board with the series, is always a challenge as well, especially if it is asking them to get outside of the box a little bit.

CMB: Highlights?

MS: For the series, this time around, so many of them stand out. Honestly, though, I have to say that some of my favorite tunes on Volume II are by Andy Ard, Bad Candy, and No Fair Fights. On the soon-to-be released Vol. III disc, Matt Nasi Band, Dusty Radio and Landon Smith.

CMB: The last acoustic circus release was about 10 years ago. Why did it take so long to release the new compilation?

MS: I guess all good things come in time, ya know? This series is a lot of work to put together and especially to record. It’s also key to find the artists who really want to be involved in the project, as it has been paid for by themselves and The Toad Tavern together. When we recorded the series a decade ago, they were all 2-track recordings that had to be carefully mastered to make them sound like they were all in the same wheelhouse. This time around, we obviously took the time to do things the right way, which clearly made the recordings much easier to work with. The discs were engineered and mixed by Kyle Zender, the “A” sound person at The Toad Tavern. Along with the artists who have contributed songs to these discs, all of us here at The Toad Tavern are very pleased with how the discs have turned out! There are 35 artists between both discs, and there are some amazing tunes here for sure!

CMB: Where and when can fans get a copy?

MS: The CD Release shows for “The Acoustic Circus Vol. II” are on Fri. June 28 and Sat. June 29 at The Toad Tavern. The line-ups are fantastic as well! The A.C. discs are not really for sale, and are just going to be used as promotional tools by the artists, so the best place to get them is by coming to the CD Release shows; the first 125 people on each night will get a free copy with their paid admission. Tickets are available for each night at www.ticketswest.com or King Soopers stores.

CMB: Any last thoughts?

MS: A big shout out to each of the artists who have contributed their time, energy and money to this project. I really want to encourage the musicians of Denver to come out to the CD Release shows and pick up a copy of this disc, as the shows are sure to be as amazing as the new discs!