Listening at the Legion will mark its fiftieth performance tonight with special guest stars Tom Paxton, a Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy winner, and the DonJuans, a Grammy winning singer songwriter duo.
Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter icon whose music career has spanned more than sixty years. His songs have been covered by some of music’s most famous voices. “The Last Thing on My Mind” was recorded by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner in October 1967. It was the duos first of 14 Top Ten country duets. His song “Bottle of Wine” was recorded by The Fireballs, Judy Collins, and The Kingston Trio.
Joan Biaz, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, the Weavers, Sandy Denny, Doc Watson, Harry Belafonte, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Seekers, the Chad Mitchell Trio, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Flatt and Scruggs are among the many artists who have recorded Paxton’s music.
In 1990, the DonJuans—American folk and country musicians Don Henry and Jon Vezner—swept all the major song of the year honors including the Grammy, Academy Of Country Music Awards, Country Music Association, and the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International awards for “Where’ve You Been.” Their songs have been covered by Janis Ian, Ray Charles, John Mellencamp, and Miranda Lambert
The concert is a fundraiser for the American Legion Post 119, which has been undergoing a major renovation with more updates planned this winter.
John Minier, commander of the post, is passionate about the transformations as a way to ensure the Legion continues to serve and honor veterans by becoming a community center for the Estes Valley.
According to Minier, Legion posts around the country are struggling due to the aging membership, financial problems, and difficulty in attracting younger veterans. Citing a Pew research study, Minier says two-thirds of veterans who have served in the Global War on Terror are not proud of their military service.
“They’re not the ones who say, ‘Wow, I’m a veteran.’ They’re like, ‘Okay, that’s behind me. I want to move on and forget that.’ How do we counter that?,” said Minier, who sees a revitalization of the Legion as one way the community can support its veterans.
And to transform the Legion, Minier saw transforming the hall into an intimate listening room that could feature world class singers, songwriters, and musicians who would provide the needed source of revenue.
In 2020, as COVID-19 swept the nation and the world, many music venues shuttered and many musicians lost both their incomes and also the opportunity to play before a live audience and test out new material. In 2021 and 2022, when it became safer to again hold public events, performers were eager to find venues for a booking.
Minier reached out to a friend, Jackson Emmer, a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer from Carbondale, Colo. Rather than to have Emmer perform as a backdrop while people chatted, the idea was to have the Legion hall serve as an intimate concert hall where people could enjoy a beverage or food, but the focus would be on the music.
After the Emmer event, Minier contacted other musicians and the Listening at the Legion series took off.
“It was almost like providence. Here’s all these artists who want to perform and do their music, yet so many venues have closed and they don’t have that opportunity,” Minier explained.
“It was a leap of faith in Estes Park. We have the audience that would appreciate hearing internationally acclaimed artists come in and perform. How many small-town venues have that opportunity, right? Not many,” said Minier.
It did not take long for word to spread among singers, songwriters, and musicians that the American Legion Hall in Estes Park was an emerging listening room. Minier’s phone started ringing with nationally acclaimed artists from Nashville to Austin who wanted to play the room.
Seventy years ago, the Legion moved into the former Bureau of Reclamation administration building at 850 N St Vrain Ave. By 2020, the facility and its grounds were showing their age. While people were coming to hear famous names in the country, western, folk, bluegrass, Nashville, Texas, and Colorado music industry, they were coming in spite of the tired, worn-out physical venue not because of it, said Minier.
Some of the many singer, songwriter, and musician names are Lacy Dalton, Robert Earl Keen, South Austin Moonlighters, The Outlaw Firm, Lady Psychiatrist’s Booth, Ordinary Elephant, Anya Hinkle, Billy Cardine, Leslie Mendelson, the Wallflowers, Mike Blakely, the Blue Canyon Boys, the Spinphony Electric String Quartet, Aaron LaCombe, Rupert Wates, Sam Robbins, Shanna in a Dress, Jon Chandler, Brad Fitch, Mark Rashad, Mark Powell, Geoff Clark, Steve Tice, the Blue Sky Mountain Band, and Buster and the Boomers.
The revenue stream from the concerts has allowed the building and grounds to undergo the first phases of updates. Over the past two years bathrooms have been thoroughly renovated, the parking lot has been expanded, a front patio and a back deck have been constructed, and the interior of the hall has been transformed from frumpy to fabulous with state-of-the-art stage and room lighting, new windows, and drapes. Thomas Beck, a local Estes Park architect, has served as the designer.
The Duncan Diner
The next steps will involve a $250,000 renovation of the bar and game room which will become the Duncan Diner, a community dining room named in honor of Joseph Jonathan Duncan, Jr., who was known locally as Junior Duncan.
Born and raised in Estes Park, Junior Duncan, the son of Joseph J. “Judge” Duncan, Sr. and Alice Duncan, graduated from Estes Park High School in 1931. He was an accomplished skier and a month after Pearl Harbor was attacked, Duncan, at the age of 30, entered the U.S. Army and volunteered for the newly formed 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion at Fort Lewis, Washington.
He moved with his unit to Camp Hale, Colo. where he recruited skiers and mountaineers for the Army’s 10th Mountain Division. In January 1945, he was sent to Italy, where he was killed in combat on April 17, 1945, while providing artillery support to his patrol. Duncan was the recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Next steps in the renovations
Minier envisions the transformation of the Legion to be much more than cosmetic. He wants to see the Legion become a community center that will serve not just the local veterans but the veterans’ families and the members of the Estes Park community for many years to come.
To date, the Legion has raised about a third of the needed funds to complete the project. It is hoped that tonight’s concert will help move the ball closer to the goal. Sponsors for the Listening at the Legion include Visit Estes Park, the Bank of Estes Park, the Bank of Colorado, Re/Max Mountain Brokers, Twin Owls Steakhouse, Taharra Mountain Lodge, Gentleman of the Rockies Whiskey Society, Quality Inn of Estes Park, Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary Club, TW Beck Architects, Gary and Linda Hall, Pam and Greg Leitner, Randy and Terry Brigham, Richardson Team Realty, Jan Alderman, Carol and Virgil Arnold, Mark Holt and Leslie Glover, Randy Maharry and Judy Bannon, Meredith Ray, John and Cindy Minier, John Micek and Nancy Fuller, Debby Hughes and Leo Fuller, in addition to some anonymous benefactors.
The Legion offers veterans benefit assistance, counseling, emergency funding, recognition for their service, connection to other veterans, and burial and memorial services. Additionally, the Legion serves the wider community by serving youth, promoting patriotism, and assisting the American Red Cross with disaster preparedness.
To learn about upcoming concerts or to become a subscription ticketholder, click here or email info@listenlegion.org.