Boulder Jewish News Arts, Culture, Events, Lifestyles, Holidays, Synagogues, Education
DENVER, CO, January 15, 2020: Country singer Buckstein will headline a benefit show at the Mercury Café, Denver, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. Clay Kirkland, blues harmonica player, will open the evening. Proceeds will benefit Temple Aaron of Trinidad, CO, to raise funds for critically needed repairs.
Buckstein is a Denver icon, known as the voice and face of the Grizzly Rose. With the help of his band, “The Heard,” he has rocked crowds opening for Charlie Daniels, Dustin Lynch, Old Dominion, Eli Young, John Michael Montgomery, Mark Chesnutt, Vanilla Ice, and many, many others. He’s gained local fame as a regular guest star on Denver’s hottest country station 98.5 KYGO and also as the writer and performer of “The Grizzly Rose,” which is a popular song about the famous Denver nightclub, and he produced a music video for the track. Buckstein wrote the song about his personal experiences after his first week playing at the legendary venue.
Clay Kirkland has performed country with Willie Nelson, rock and roll with Chuck Berry, hip-hop with the Flobots, jazzy blues with Robben Ford, the real roots blues with Sleepy John Estes, East meets West with the Royal Musicians of Nepal, and Southern rock with the Derrick Trucks Band. He has toured the US with country/Broadway star Gary Morris and with world champion rodeo cowboy Larry Mahan and his Great American Cowboy Band. His orchestral blues composition, “Brahms in Blue,” morphs Brahms’ Third Symphony into a Muddy Waters song. Kirkland wrote the musical score for the entire orchestra.
Temple Aaron of Trinidad, CO is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Built in 1889, Temple Aaron is the oldest continually operating Jewish synagogue in the Mountain West. The beautiful sanctuary holds 250 people and features original stained glass windows and an expansive pipe organ. Today the temple is home to a resurgence of interest and open for a variety of cultural and religious events. Temple Aaron was placed on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places List by Colorado Preservation, Inc., in 2017, and is currently under consideration for National Landmark Status.
