VAIL, Colorado — KT Homes and Elli Gauthier, the two women who make up the Vail Valley, Colorado acoustic folk duo Boxcar Daisies, are traveling pretty fast these days. The duo have only been playing together for eight months but they've already recorded an album, titled “Riversong,” and they're getting ready to hit the road for their first tour.

They'll celebrate the accomplishment tonight at Loaded Joe's in Avon during a release party. Then they'll pack up their truck and head north. They have a gig in Steamboat Springs on Saturday and from there will perform in Wyoming and Montana over the course of 10 days.

It's fitting for the women, who say they thrive on the new experiences inherent in traveling. In fact, their lyrics are centered “around traveling and living this rough-around-the-edges sort of existence,” Gauthier said.

1. Vail Daily: Tell me about your upcoming tour. Where are you guys going? And how long will it last?

KT: We are heading to Steamboat Saturday and up to Jackson, Wyo., Bozeman, Mont., back to Jackson, then Lander, Wyo., and we finish in Estes Park. It will be 10 days total. My feet are itching — I am eager to move. We are taking a truck, have a bed in the back, prayer flags hanging and guitars a'-playing. It should be fun.

2. VD: How did you decide where to go visit on this tour?

KT: We had a few routes in mind but this one just played itself out. It's been a pretty funny year so far — if we put our intentions out there things start happening. There was a promoter in Jackson, Wyo. that got word of us and wanted to help out, so the entire trip fell into place in less then a week. And I love Wyoming and we both have never seen Idaho or Montana.

 

3. VD: How long did it take to record the CD?

KT: Well, we both have decided that it has taken us 10 years and two days. We've been playing music for years and so in that case, it's been a long time in the making really. Then we sat down for a few days of recording time. It's really raw and we love it. We literally hand cut and glued these little guys. We used some artwork that I created, found this incredible place to buy recycled CD sleeves, and bam — homegrown music.

Elli: It was really a great process. We worked with Eric Loomis at the Electric Theater — he's the sound engineer for the band Oakhurst so it was a good time hanging out with those guys. I've got another project going on right now that's much more structured, so it was nice to go in, set up the mics, and essentially just hit record and capture this really honest, raw material.

 

4. VD: What was the hardest part of recording this CD? And the best part? 

KT: The hardest part is listening and replaying the same song over and over and over again. You kind of get compulsive about it — “is that note perfect, is my voice perfect?” And you want it to be perfect, you know? An artist is their own worst critic. At one point we had to sit back, play and enjoy.

The best part was the fact that after five months of playing together, we have this really incredible snap-shot of our work, of our lives and our hearts. We are totally in awe of it — to be able to have this free-flowing piece of artwork is really beautiful. As always, feeling this much gratitude is the best part.

5. VD: You recently opened for the Young Dubliners at Mango's in Red Cliff. Tell me about that experience.

Elli: The Young Dubliners were awesome — they came and listened to our whole sound-check and set and had some really positive feedback for us. And the crowd that night was just really pumped and warm and receptive, which makes such a difference as performers.

 

6. VD: You're relatively new to the music scene in the Vail Valley. What do you think of it so far?

Elli: This has been the most rewarding part of this for me. There are so many great musicians tucked away in the valley, and through Boxcar Daisies we've met a number of them. I'm sort of a music junkie — always looking for the next little jam session.

 

7. VD: Has moving from attending shows to actually performing the shows changed your perspective at all?

KT: Oh yeah. I used to go see a live performance and pretty much every time I would leave in tears. Crying partly because it was so beautiful and partly because I knew that that's what I should be doing and I wasn't yet. It's hard to explain, but when your deepest truth surfaces and you don't act on it, it's painful. I love seeing shows now, I get to enjoy it and then go do it as well! No more tears, or should of/ could of/ would of.

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