The podcast voice of the Estes Valley Voice has a soft, gentle cadence. It’s almost southern, if you listen for it. It’s there, but it’s subtle.
Brett Wilson, a musician who produces audiobooks for his company SkyDance Mountain Audiobooks is the host of the Rocky Mountain Channel podcast for Nick Mollé, and the host and producer of the Estes Valley Voice podcast.
Originally from Maryland, Wilson, toured with many bands over the years up and down the eastern seaboard and in Nashville, as both a musician and a sound engineer. In the Estes Valley, he plays guitar and provides vocals with the Blue Sky Mountain Band, a classic rock band that covers everything from A to Z, or rather from Allman to Zeppelin.
Each week, Wilson narrates news copy for the Estes Valley Voice, then uploads it to audio platforms including Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, and Spotify, among others.
If you prefer listening to your local news instead of reading it, Wilson’s calming vocals will keep you in the know. Sometimes, depending on the nature of the news copy, Wilson asks his wife Melissa to join him in the recording studio to provide a woman’s voice.
In addition to reading the news, Wilson is also producing his own original podcast interviews for the Estes Valley Voice. His first was with local audiologist Cory Workman who talked with Wilson about the relationship between hearing problems and dementia.
Another upcoming podcast interview that will drop soon is with nature photojournalist Dawn Wilson who has been busy leading photo tours to Alaska, Canada, South America, New Mexico.
He recently worked with Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall to record a recent Mayor’s Message.
Podcasts are an increasingly popular way for people to access news, with 47% of people in the U.S. listening to at least one podcast a month. Worldwide the number of podcast listeners worldwide reached 547 million in 2024, a 7.7% year-over-year increase. That number is expected to increase in 2025 and reach more than 600 million by 2026.
While the majority of podcast listeners—62%—are Millennials and Gen Z, 55% of Americans aged 35-54 had listened to a podcast in the past month and 27% of Americans aged over 55 are monthly podcast listeners.
For many people who live in Estes and drive “down valley” for work or on errands, or who travel to Estes to work, podcasts and audiobooks are an easy way to fill the hour and pass the drivetime between Estes and Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, or beyond.
Links to Wilson’s podcasts, which are sponsored by Aldrich Builders of Estes Park, can be found at the end of EVV articles, on the podcast page, or on your preferred podcast platform.
As a gift to readers of the Estes Valley Voice, Wilson has made several copies of one of his CDs of instrumental Christmas music available. The first five readers–or listeners–who email us a news@estesvalleyvoice.com can claim one of the copies in time for Christmas listening.
Check out the podcast on Buzzsprout here:
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