Some point back in 1995, there were a few guys sitting
around in this small town of Colorado that were bored. Daydreams led to ideas,
which led to conversation, which led to someone saying, “Dude, garage band!
Cool!” Out of such humble beginnings came Mustard and the Works (M&TW), a
Christian rock band that has spent the last seven years building a fan base,
working up an extensive song list, and recording albums.
According to its members, M&TW is all about serving the
Lord Jesus Christ through their music and message. Since every concert provides
opportunities to spread the gospel, the band is committed to giving any and all
praise to God, they say. They believe that God is the only reason that the band
has stayed together and that God is the only one worth singing and playing for.
Though they admit to being “a little shaky musically” at first, the band
contends that as their abilities have grown over the years, now “more attention
is given to the lyrics and message being presented.”
M&TW began with founding members Landon Skiles (guitar),
Jared Hunt (drums/percussion), Chris Fleharty (bass), and Aaron Hunt (keyboards
and vocals). By the summer of 1996, they had a song list of between 10 and 12
original songs. They say that the challenges during that period was making time
to practice and finding a saxophone player for whom Aaron had already written
parts. They performed their first two concerts that summer in Montrose at the
First Presbyterian Church and the Trinity Reformed Presbyterian still dependent
on sheet music and chord charts laid out in front of them.
By the following summer, M&TW wrote and learned more
songs added a couple new members: Jeff Fisher (vocals) and Ryan McClelland
(bass and vocals), and new elements evolved for the band. That summer brought
more gigs while their attentions turned to recording.
In 1998, the word had begun to successfully spread as they
found themselves playing for small crowds at Western State College, their
second Demoret Park/Snowballs show and another at the Trinity Church.
Meanwhile, they finally got the saxophonist they had planned on so long ago,
Seth Warren. It was a trade off, they soon discovered, and later that year they
lost their other two recent additions, Fisher and McClelland. The vision
triumphed, though, and M&TW went on to record their first major project, Supernatural
Formula. As a self-produced album, they say
that the project led to many “hard knock lessons learned along the way.”
1999 brought focus for the group as they began promoting
their full-length album full speed and embarked on their first “small-time”
tour. With all their music memorized, they played their annual Trinity Church
gig, took on several shows at the Java Hut in Montrose, a youth appreciation
day at the Elks, a “Concert in the Park” in Delta, and a concert at Common
Grounds Coffee Shop in Grand Junction. They were playing at least once every
weekend and selling CDs and T-shirts along the way.
M&TW was growing in popularity, reputation, and
subsequently, in size with the addition of Josh Drown on trumpet, Chara Wade on
vocals, and Ryan McBride on lead guitar. As Aaron Hunt began to play the
trombone, the band developed a full-on horn section and charged ahead into the
realm of ska and rewrote several of their old tunes to accommodate their new
style.
The summer of 2000 marked a new chapter for the band as they
finally hit the Front Range. What they describe as “adverse circumstances” led
to their loss of Drown, Wade, and McBride, but as before, they maintained their
original core of musicians and expanded their songbook to 50 tunes. Aaron Hunt
began learning guitar to replace what had been lost in Ryan’s absence and the
group played a total of 14 gigs to support their new recording project, Blowing
Bubbles. By the end of the year, they would
begin work on their third record, smalltimesmalltown.
2001 was a quiet year for M&TW consisting of only three
concerts, two at Western State College and the other at a booth at the Olathe
Sweet Corn Festival. Another shuffle in personnel would greet them by the end
of the year as Warren and Fleharty both moved away. A test to their
determination was upon them.
With 2002 came Darius Pope playing bass and Mike Bauer on
vocals. After much practice, the group “rekindled the fire” and jumped back in full
steam.
“Charged with a variation of their old sound,” they say,
“(M&TW) is back to surprise its faithful local fans.”
M&TW currently infuses its audiences with three-part
harmonies and “better leads.” While they haven’t yet nailed down plans for their
next album, they have worked harder than ever, they say, to make this
combination the tightest yet, “consistently looking to God to help them through
the tough times. He is, after all, the only reason that any of this is worth
doing.”
—Excerpted from “A Tale of Trial and Triumph: Mustard and
the Works,” The Scene, Montrose Daily Press, July 2002.
