Nestled in between factories and other miscellaneous industrial buildings in Boulder’s warehouse district is a well-hidden gem known as Roots Music Project. The spot is a little bit of everything: a concert venue, community building, event rental space, music school, rehearsal room, and whatever else it needs to be to serve Boulder County’s music community. Says Matt Cottle, Roots Music Project’s Director of Operations (and their first full-time hire), “The way it’s been described, and what attracted me to it, was that it was like a ‘music incubator.’ The whole concept has always been to give people a place to rehearse, get together, and also a place for emerging bands to play. It started with four or five bands here, and a lot of the members of those bands were also teachers using this as a lesson space.” What began as a nonprofit with a general goal of supporting local and regional musicians has morphed into a much larger venture, and their growth shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Dave Kennedy, the founder, Executive Director and Board Chair of Roots Music Project, started the nonprofit in 2019 mainly to provide accessible rehearsal space for Colorado’s musicians. “It was originally more rehearsal-based, with a couple of shows a year. Then right at the beginning of COVID, they took over the space here. They were putting on probably twenty to thirty shows a year, but it was still partitioned into three rehearsal spaces and the stage kind of moved around,” recalls Cottle. Located in another warehouse close to their current location, it was still very much a DIY space, with a small handful of house bands using the building to practice and occasionally put on house shows. But right around New Year’s Eve two years ago, Roots Music Project received their liquor license and hired their first full-time employee (Cottle), two big steps forward in their expansion. “We built out the bar, built the stage and sound system, and the last two years were a big overhaul of this main room. They did thirty-five to forty shows in 2022, and then in 2023, we did over 250 shows.”
In July 2023, Roots Music Project also acquired the other side of their current warehouse, which is now alternately used as a second performance space or a (very) spacious green room. The main side on the left has a 16’ x 12’ stage platform with a full backline, a canopy of twinkling lights, a beautiful wooden bar that looks like a giant chest of drawers, a roomy dance floor, a massive metal fish sculpture suspended from the ceiling, and stunning black and white portraits of famous musicians framed on the walls (taken by Lisa Siciliano of Dog Daze Photos). The new addition is slightly smaller, with a more laid-back feel courtesy of cozy chairs and couches–although those are frequently reconfigured to create more room for a crowd.
Roots Music Project has gotten creative with their unique setup, utilizing the two rooms connected by a short hallway for dual-sided events like Rootstock Festival, their annual fundraiser. Over twenty bands participated in Rootstock in 2023 and 2024, and by shuffling the crowd back and forth between the venue’s two rooms, the artists were able to play back to back with no down time between sets. As one performer took the stage, the next performer would set up on the opposite side, so that the audience members were constantly engaged. On the Monday I drove up to Roots Music Project, they were recovering from hosting Circus, a full-scale festival produced by Boulder-based collectives Electric Honey and Coat Check. Taking advantage of the split layout, the producers christened one room “The Zoo,” where they had DJs spinning EDM all night, while “The Cage” on the opposite side housed a lineup of punk rock bands (Vendors, art installations, and other performers were also present throughout).
Circus was part of a push to draw in more local students, since Roots Music Project is just a hop, skip and a jump from CU Boulder’s campus. (If I went to college here instead of in Bumblefuck, Ohio this totally would have been a regular spot for me.) When Roots Music Project first opened, their roster of musicians didn’t have much variety, but they’ve since made major strides to change that. “In Boulder, I don’t think that there’s always a wide range of genres played. But I think we’ve done a pretty good job of bringing in a diverse audience, and diverse musicians,” says Claire Rosenberg, RMP’s Director of Operations and Development (She also oversees their booking process). Adds Cottle, “I think originally it was like, a blues-rock meets Americana listening room, because that was what was accessible. So in booking and bringing in all these new acts and now doing hundreds of shows, there’s been a serious effort to diversify, not just person-wise but music-wise.”
Just look at Roots Music Project’s impact report for 2024 to see how this idea translates to concrete numbers. While I do understand that RMP operates a little bit differently because of their nonprofit status, the detailed statistics they’ve published should be the standard for venue transparency. (Radical concept, I know.) Not only does RMP keep track of how many events include queer artists or artists of color (pretty standard in this day and age), but they also consider often-neglected demographics like youth, disabled performers, low-income performers, and performers from rural areas. The numbers don’t lie; RMP is practicing what they preach. Honing in on a single genre and catering specifically to that one crowd works for some places, but Boulder isn’t really one of them, according to Cottle: “It would almost be easier. If you really tap a market and there’s enough people to feed that, that’s one thing. But here it’s more of a melting pot. You don’t want the same thing every weekend.”
The one common denominator across most of the acts that play Roots Music Project is that they’re based in Colorado. Otherwise, they prefer to mix things up. “Really our bread and butter is diverse, local or regional acts,” Cottle says. Even within their show lineups, it’s rare to see a single-genre bill. “Just because we have a bluegrass headliner doesn’t mean we have to have three bluegrass bands. Last time we did a hip-hop show, we paired them with a jazz-funk trio. That’s how I like to book.” While music is the main attraction at RMP, they do also host community events like open mics, music-related workshops, art shows, and even a Burning Man “decompression” (which is where their larger-than-life hanging fish sculpture came from).
As a mid-size venue, Roots Music Project occupies a Goldilocks sweet spot, combining the charm of a small-scale venue with the capabilities of a large one. “It’s a more intimate environment than most of the other music venues in Boulder and Denver. Having a smaller space with a legitimate sound system and real stage is pretty cool. You can be more involved in the music itself, and have more interaction [with the artists],” Rosenberg shares. Because it’s first and foremost a music "incubator," RMP is also usually able to avoid some classic venue pitfalls. Says Cottle, “There’s a lot of intention when people come to play here, and with the guests that come here. It’s not a bar, it’s not next to four other bars where people just stumble in.” Rosenberg agrees that their reputation precedes them at this point: “We kind of set the stage that we are a community space in a community building. People come here to be here, and see the music.”
That attitude extends to RMP’s staff as well. “I’m especially proud of our staff. We are a nonprofit, so we always have volunteers, so there’s a certain amount of excitement and care,” explains Cottle. “Musicians get treated badly, and they carry that to the next thing, and then they treat a sound person badly, and that person carries that to the next gig. It’s cyclical, so we try to work it in reverse. We battle against that crusty venue vibe.” Creating a kinder music culture overall starts at a grassroots level, so it’s important for Roots Music Project’s employees and volunteers to share their vision. “Everyone I know who works here is stoked to be here, stoked to be working in the music industry, and stoked to be involved,” Rosenberg confirms. “All the staff here are also musicians, gigging or not, so I feel like on a personal level, it’s pretty easy to relate to the musicians.”
It’s critical that the people who operate venues (especially those who volunteer, and especially in the near-extinct mid-size venue category) are strong supporters of local music. But they can’t do their job unless the general public does, too. Rosenberg’s advice for those who want to uplift Colorado’s musicians is simple: “Show up. Go to shows. If you see a post or flier and have nothing going on, go support a local musician. Just to be a body in the room is huge. That’s big for musicians, because a lot of times with smaller shows, it’s a lot of people you know, and that’s awesome, but it’s also cool to see someone you don’t know show up to hear your music.” Even if you can’t make it to a show, there are still ways to show local and regional artists love. “If you can’t show up, share a post. Buy merch. Follow people online. Check on your musician friends. They’re like stray dogs, make sure they aren’t out in the cold,” says Cottle (referring to the iconic now-memed “If you’re cold, they’re cold” PETA poster). “Also, be open minded. Try something new. If you love bluegrass, go check out a punk band. It doesn’t have to be your thing to be good and be something worth doing. It’s your community, you know?” (One of Cotter’s unexpected favorite performances at RMP was MahlerFest, a night of string quartets paying homage to the German composer Mahler.) Continues Rosenberg, “That’s been one of my favorite parts of working here. I have the music I listen to, but being here, even if it’s not something I would play in the car driving to work, it’s still a genre I enjoy, and I’m glad that I saw it. I feel like I’ve never been to a show where I felt like, ‘I wish I didn’t come.’”
In 2024, Roots Music Project hosted over 200 performances, launched a workshop program, and started an outdoor festivals series in collaboration with the City of Boulder. So what’s next for them? “We’re on a pretty good trajectory right now in terms of growth, and putting on more shows and community events. Our workshop program is really starting to take off, so really just continuing down that path,” Rosenberg says. To that end, Roots Music Project is also introducing TEMPO (Training Emerging Musicians for Professional Opportunities), a new semester-long (paid!) internship program for teens who are interested in working in the music industry. “We’re going to be doing a bunch of city concerts, some more music festival vibes. Looking at some parks in the area, a few different counties, reaching into partnerships with a couple other small venues, and restaurants and hotels, trying to expand our booking because we can only put on so many shows here,” Cottle adds. “But even if we put on 1,000 artists, there are still more that need shows.” And so the work continues.
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