Jeff Goodwin told the owner of Dirty Dogs Roadhouse in Golden that he had a band — before he actually had a band.

“I played a solo set, and the owner there asked me a question: ‘Do you have a band?’” Goodwin said. “And I made it up on the spot. I was listening to 103.1 FM. It’s called Front Range Country. So I said, ‘Yes, I have a band. We call it the Front Range Cowboys.’ Right then and there, the birth of the band started.”

Goodwin’s fib paid off. The Front Range Cowboys are now a fixture up-and-down the Front Range, channeling influences like George Strait.

“It’s all in my blood,” he said.

On Sunday, the Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame celebrated its annual Awards Festival at Wild Goose Saloon in Parker.

Goodwin was named Male Vocalist of the Year. Alyssa Ruffin won Female Vocalist of the Year.

“To be able to get recognized is a very special thing, it’s by the grace of God,” said Goodwin, whose band performs Saturday at Wild Goose.

More than 500 patrons and performers packed into the large venue over the course of the afternoon. The event spotlighted bands and musicians often overlooked outside Colorado’s local clubs.

“The Wild Goose was truly honored to be the host venue for this year’s Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame Awards,” venue owner Chris Dellinger told The Denver Gazette. He praised the “artists who have dedicated their lives to country music,” calling it “inspiring to see their contributions celebrated on stage.”

Those artists include Brian Brooks’ Sundown Rising, which won Newcomer of the Year. Brooks, the frontman, served over 20 years in the U.S. Army and once won Best Country Band in the Army’s 1999 Battle of the Bands.

“I’ve been in music my whole life, playing on stages for about 37 years,” Brooks said. “I’m very happy, not just for myself, but for the entire band. Everybody in the group brings something to the table that’s important to what we’ve developed.”

His band includes 72-year-old drummer Clark Harden, a 55-year veteran who’d played with the legendary Darn Thirsty Cowboys. They recently joined the new Mountain West Country Music Association, founded by last year’s Male Vocalist of the Year Michael Swett — achieving pro-artist status and a nomination for their People’s Choice Award.

“It seems like we’re coming together as an entire state with the country music community,” Brooks said, noting the Hall of Fame is casting a “wider net” that includes artists from Pueblo to the Western Slope.

In addition to award winners, a new group of musicians were inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 2025 class includes Michael Jocham, Glenn Taylor, Dave Hopping, Ron Forbis, Jerry and Sandy Brown, Randy Pietro, Steve Jennings, Scott Gray, Jim “Crusty” Stevens, Ken Wilson, Jon Chandler and Walker Williams — who performed his famous Tree Farm radio jingle on stage.

Duey Weibel earned an induction and was named Comeback Artist of the Year. He formed his band, Unbroken, nearly two years ago after an eight-year hiatus focusing on his kids.

“I’ve been playing music for 32 years around the Denver area and opened for over 100 national acts,” Duey said. “For somebody to finally see that and give me this opportunity, it’s a huge honor.”

Duey praised the comradery of the scene.

“All the awesome people I’ve met, the musicians, the fans, the people that just really love music — music is the best thing for the soul,” he said. “We are all brothers and sisters.”

A few winners sat in with Unbroken at the Grizzly Rose later that night.

“They’re part of the family, and a lot of them have never played there before,” Duey said. “It’s a good opportunity for them.”

One of those “family” members is 19-year-old Joe Wren, this year’s Best Single Country Artist, who joined Duey on stage at the Grizzly Rose and credits the support from Colorado’s country scene for making his early success possible.

“I’m still in awe that I won that award. There are so many good artists under that category — Jeff Goodwin, Duey, they’re all great musicians,” he said. “They got so much talent and background in country music, and I’m just surprised that I won for barely being in this music scene. It’s just a huge honor.”

It’s also a major confidence boost for Wren, who found solace in country music during many childhood hospital stays for kidney failure and transplants.

“That’s what that award tells me. You’re made to do country music and nothing else,” he said.

Wren recently released a new single, “Devil Blocked the Road,” and will headline a ticketed show at the Goose Town Tavern on September 12.

Tony Ortega has been playing around Denver since the 1960s.

“Country music was always there, but I’m a rock-and-roller, really. Turn me loose, give me a solo, dammit!” he said, chuckling. “I’m a big country music fan now.”

In the ‘70s, Ortega played with Red Sands and the Colorado Cowboys, who performed at Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid, and shared the stage with Rudy Grant, founder of the Hall of Fame. Now, he performs with the YoungHeart Band and the Jim Hyatt Band.

Ortega won the Instrumentalist of the Year for his decades-long career as a guitarist and pedal steel guitarist who also plays harmonica and sings.

“I am really happy to receive the award,” he said. “And I’m just proud to be in that class of musicians who have already received that award in the past.”

Todd Clayton, who’s played pedal steel guitar for more than 50 years, teamed up with singer-songwriter Meghan Clarisse. Together, they won Country Duo of the Year.

“We just have so much fun together. Todd is an amazing player, and he can play anything,” Clarisse said. “It’s so exciting. I’ve been coming to these events and the Hall of Fame jams for a long time, and it’s my first award.”

“Every year that I come, it seems like it gets larger and larger,” Clayton added. “It’s more and more of an honor to be recognized like this.”

“I’m all about community, collaboration. It’s so cool to have people in your corner and to work together and not to be competitive,” Clarisse said. “Working together is the key to success.”

Clarisse’s upcoming album, “Shadows of a Ghost Town,” features both Clayton and Chelsey Webb — this year’s Female Entertainer of the Year.

“It feels more like a family than anything, like we’re all running in the same direction, just locked arms,” Webb told The Denver Gazette. “There’s a lot of amazing talent here in Colorado — so many great, talented people within my category. I wasn’t expecting it.”

An Alabama native who previously performed contemporary Christian music in Nashville, Webb moved to Colorado three years ago. Her second single, “Blue Side of Lonesome,” debuts Friday and also features Clayton. She is a finalist at this weekend’s “The Boot” voice competition in Loveland after winning her round.

Before going solo, Webb joined The Country Music Project — a band founded in the late 2000s by Michael Rice, who was inspired by vocal-centric bands like Rascal Flatts and Sugarland. Looking for members, Rice posted on Craigslist as a “Country Music Project.” When players showed up, they assumed that was the name — and it stuck.

The Country Music Project was named Band of the Year.

“It’s awesome to have your peers say, congratulations, you deserve that,” Rice said. “It meant a lot to see the people in my band get the recognition from the peer groups.”

He stressed how central live music is to the country genre.

“Somebody said to me one day, going to a bar and two-stepping to a DJ is like taking a shower with a raincoat,” he joked.

Venues and fans are critical to keeping local country music thriving.

The Country Music Project now rotates at prominent venues like the Grizzly Rose in Denver and Whiskey Rose in Colorado Springs and will perform Thursday at Elitches’ Chicken Fight.

This year’s festival brought a rare tie for Male Entertainer of the Year: Don Carlton of RENEGADE 5280 and Matt Wheatly of the Hillbilly Demons.

“Honestly, my reaction is surprise and gratitude. I’m trying to be entertaining, and I guess somebody else noticed that,” Wheatly said.

The Hillbilly Demons — the 2024 Band of the Year — is a metal-infused, redneck country band that doesn’t fit the traditional country mold, complete with piercings, tattoos, eyeliner, and black shirts and cowboy hats.

“We jump around like a bunch of damn metalheads, we say the F-word, we smash crawdads on stage,” Wheatly told The Denver Gazette last year.

They’ve amassed a dedicated following and recently played four nights at One Eyed Jack’s at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

“Every time I step on the stage, I want to be the person that I would pay to see,” Wheatly said. “I’m not the best musician or the best singer. But I’m a damn good entertainer.”

That spirit of passion and authenticity carried throughout the festival, where musicians and fans alike celebrated the heart of local country music.

“Having Colorado’s top musicians, singers and entertainers together in one place was incredible,” said Deejay Johnson, co-emcee and the Hall of Fame’s program director. “Truly, an extraordinary moment in time!”

Jimmy Sengenberger is a weekly columnist for The Denver Gazette, host of the “Blues Business” podcast, and leader of the Jimmy Junior Blues Band, where he plays harmonica under the moniker Jimmy Junior.

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