Mixing Musical Tastes at the Mishawaka

Fort Collins is full of diversity in musical tastes and this summer, Mishawaka owner Dani Grant catered to those tastes with a delicious opening lineup, and more surprises to come. “There are not a lot of places to play in Northern Colorado, so we’ve been reaching out to agents,” Dani said about acquiring this summer’s exciting lineup. “The Mish had the wrath of being known as just a jam band festival spot. So, over the past five years we’ve changed our reputation nationally and the bands are finally seeing it as a destination venue in Colorado. In long term history, we’re getting back to the diversity that we used to see here and with increasing production value, professionalism, and hospitality, our national acts know they are well taken care of. We’ve also been asking what people want to see. Our music taste in Northern Colorado is pretty broad, and avid music fans hadn’t been to the Mish since nothing fit their tastes.”
When asked what show she is the most excited for Dani replied, “tough question. Personally, I’m excited for Hayes Carll (June 10). He’s a very funny and talented musician, and so bright, and I’ve been watching him grow for years. It’ll be the third time he’s playing outside here and should be to a large crowd. EPMD (May 23) will be really fun for me since I was born in the ‘70s and  grew up in the ‘80s. Col Bruce & Aru (July 31), we’re really lucky to have this show at the Mish and we owe that to a long history of great music over the years. They have a limited number of shows that they are playing and they like the Mish and picked us! Other venues have been asking how we got them to play! Head for the Hills – it warms my heart that they are opening the venue (May 16). They’re our local boys that get better each time.”
The Mish is expecting to end up with about 28 shows this summer. While Dani didn’t want to do many weeknight shows, Xavier Rudd (June 4) is a really worthwhile show that is one of the few. The For Locals By Locals event featuring Cracker on June 6th should also be a good time.  Dani said, “It’s a first annual event to pull together musicians from across the state and have a rock show. It’s part of the plan to diversify so that everyone has shows that fit their style and taste. Last year we had Conor Oberst which felt like we were sticking our pinky toe in the hot water and we had a lot of brand new folks come out who’d never been to the Mish before. The Mish is inviting 300 musicians to come for free. We’re doing a lot of networking and hoping for studios and basements to come out that don’t have a huge store front, like Haus of Kraus, that don’t have opportunities to market, to get their name out there. We’ll have vendors and a five-band lineup, that will be a good mix of indie rock, before Cracker. ”
If you haven’t been to the Mish yet, there is no longer an excuse of not having an act there that you’d like to see. Check out their summer lineup where “There’s something for everyone,” at www.themishawaka.com.