VAIL, Colorado — The Vail Valley duo met on Craigslist. It sounds like the start of a now-cliche story, but instead its the beginning of the Boxcar Daisies, a female acoustic duo based in Minturn. Not long after moving to town last May, singer/songwriter/guitarist Kt Homes posted an ad looking for someone to play music with.

“When I saw the ad, I said ‘wait a second, did I write this?' It looked so familiar — ‘29-year-old singer/songwriter looking for ...,'” said Elli Gauthier, trailing off. She's a banjo player and the other half of the duo.

The girls will play all-original, all-acoustic folk music with a touch of bluegrass during their shows. One is set for Thursday night at Samana Lounge in Vail and they'll also play at Loaded Joe's in Avon Friday night.

“I can't stress how hard it is to find people you're musically compatible with,” Gauthier said about finding Homes.

And though their relationship isn't romantic, that same sort of excitement is there.

“We're still in the honeymoon stage I guess,” said Homes, laughing.

The women met in July and have been working together since, writing new songs and playing at open mic nights. They've even recorded a four-song demo.

“This is just fun,” Homes said. “It's very synergistic. We're just collaborating and laughing and challenging each other with compositions and using better words, using more imagery in our lyrics.”

The women practice at least a few nights a week in Gauthier's crowded living room, which is also home to a washtub bass, a musical saw and a African harp that the Daisies might break out at upcoming shows.

Girl power

It's no secret there's very few female musicians who regularly perform in the valley, and really none under the age of 30.

“They're a welcome addition to the valley's music scene,” said Brian Morgan, a DJ on Radio Free Minturn who hosted the girls on his show, Jammin' in the Valley, in early November.

“The valley's music scene is struggling in general,” he continued. “We have lots of Jonny Mogambos, who serve the resort crowd and apres ski crowd, but to me that isn't conducive to authenticity or originality.”

Both women taught themselves how to play their respective instruments, but they have very different musical backgrounds. Gauthier studied classical music, performed in an African music ensemble for a while and even studied Brazilian music in Brazil. Homes played the piano as a child but didn't pick up the guitar until she was in college. While she loves music, she was always more of a songwriter, she said.

“I've been writing songs since I could speak,” she said. “I always got music in my head and I would come up with lyrics and I'd have no where to put it so I picked up the guitar in college and taught myself how to play so I could do something with it.”

Flowers and trains

A look at the band's lyrics, most of which the women have collaborated on, reveals the things they're passionate about — political and environmental issues, love and life spent on the road. Homes and Gauthier combined two songs they'd been writing independently to make the song “Tommy From Georgia,” which hints at a few of those themes.

Tommy grew up outside of Georgia,

his house was made entirely of gold.

Then he decided to move to Asia,

where he wanted to dig himself out of a hole ...



I would be lyin' to you, if I said he was never blue.

But he painted some red on the top of his forehead and

now he walks the truth.

Homes came up with the band's name, Boxcar Daisies, which fit them perfectly, Gauthier said.

“There's a lot of train imagery in our songs and in our histories — we've both been so nomadic and then landing in Minturn, which has such a train-centric history,” she said. “A lot of the music is centered around traveling and living this rough-around-the-edges sort of existence.”

Elli spent six months traveling in old VW van and Homes spent much of this past summer living in a teepee near Eagle with her boyfriend. It's clear both women thrive on the new experiences inherent in traveling.

“But then we bring a femininity to the music, hence the daisies,” Gauthier said. “I just think it's a nice juxtaposition.”

High Life Editor Caramie Schnell can be reached at 970-748-2984 or cschnell@vaildaily.com.