Steamboat Pilot & Today

Gig list

Bar owners regularly call Four Points staff looking for last-minute recommendations for local bands to fill unexpectedly empty slots.

To be fair, Four Points is putting together a call list of local bands for just those calls. If you are a member of a local band and are interested in playing bar gigs, call Autumn Phillips at 871-4210 or e-mail aphillips@steamboatpilot.com with your band name, musical style and contact information.

A mom who can rock

According to an article in The Denver Post, Karen Exley, from the Denver garage rock band Hemi Cüda, has been hired by Nashville Pussy as their bass player. Nashville Pussy created a small Steamboat following when they opened for Reverend Horton Heat a couple of years ago.

On Saturday night, Hemi Cüda played one last show at the Bluebird Theater in Denver as a sendoff for Exley. Members of the Steamboat music scene and Four Points staff attended.

When Hemi Cüda took the stage, we realized the second reason why the band might be taking some time off. Guitar player and singer Anika Zappe walked on stage with a tattooed and very, very pregnant belly.

It was inspiring (wow, you can be married and a mom and still rock out) and disturbing (wow, should she really be rocking out right now?).

Company revamped

Stuart Handloff is reviving The Great American Laughing Stock Company. The Company was started in 1971 by a group of Colorado State University grads -- Charlie Taylor, Waldo Jones, John and Carol Samson and Michael Child -- who moved to town with the intent of starting a community theater group.

Handloff joined the group in 1972. Shows originally were held above what was then the Pine Grove Restaurant. The next year, they moved to the area upstairs of Old Town Pub.

The Great American Laughing Stock Company died out in about 1980, Handloff said.

Handloff decided to take the name for his new theater group because of his memories, the history and "I just love the name," he said. Handloff called Charlie Taylor to ask for permission to use the name.

The company will perform its first production "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" during Fourth of July weekend. The cast includes Chris Ruff, Ryan Mack, Lauren Tait, Jessi Houston, Camille Ruckriegel and Emily Stockdale.

-- Autumn Phillips