Switchman Sleepin'

Accessible Seating is available: Contact kaitlin@z2ent.com or 970.482.8300 for further assistance.

Switchman Sleepin' began to emerge in 2010 - 2011 and sprouted from a number of jam sessions at the home of Dana Harris (lead guitar) joined by his neighbors Jason Eckman and Peter Boyle, and included folks like Kevin Ott (drums), Alex Grote (acoustic bass), and Taylor John Caron on strings. Dana had met Dave Levy (drums) at an open jam party in 2009, where Dana and Dave were the only folks who brought their instruments. They ended up blasting Dead tunes over the PA system and played along with the music, calling themselves the Virtual Dead for the day. Soon after, Peter Boyle joined Dana and Dave for a jam session at Dave's house...from there, they continued to play with Eckman, recruited Arne Oittinen (bass), and brought in Dave Wisbon at their first backyard show in 2012. At that point, Dana, Eckman, Pete, Levy, Arne, and Wisbon became Switchman Sleepin' and their first public show was at Equinox Brewery (Fort Collins, CO) in September of 2012. Soon after, Scott Davis (keys) and Lauren Parsons (vocals) also joined the band, and with Eckman eventually turning the rest of us loose.

In 2018, Peter and Arne moved on to bigger and better things, and the band recruited Steve Wayne Cobb (guitar) and Chuck Grewe (bass) for their first gig with Switchman in 2019 at the Drunken Monkey in Fort Collins during the FoCoMX Music Festival. Scott Davis also moved on in 2021 but with Dave Wisbon remaining on keys. A few years later, the band continued to evolve with the integration of Steve and Chuck, during which the Covid pandemic struck and with Lauren taking off for some quality family time. Switchman began diving deep into experimenting with more intricate jams and took things to a higher level, when all of a sudden the Switchman train was derailed by the sad and sudden passing of Dana Harris in 2022.

The remaining members of Switchman vowed to continue and were incredibly fortunate to have been joined by the very talented Max Mackey (lead guitar, vocals) in 2023, and with Lauren returning in a stunning fashion. Moving forward in 2023, the band experienced a resurgence fostered through the incredible energy and support of our fans who understood what we were going through, and liked what they were hearing. The band played nine shows in 2023, keeping with the traditional FoCoMX and Swing Station Halloween shows. A few more fans were brought aboard as the band branched out a bit, playing three shows at Oskar Blues in Longmont. CO.

Unbeknownst to all, more changes were in the works in late 2023. The Core 4 (Cobb/Grewe/Levy/Wisbon) began an experimental, yet focused, effort to expand their sound and repertoire, adding in some Jerry tunes along the way. The 2023 “Four on the Floor for New Year's Eve" show was conceived, and the Core 4 delivered a solid first set performance at The Whisk(ey) in Fort Collins, CO. This first and only Core 4 performance was followed by another surprise for the second set, with the wonderfully-talented Caleb D'Aleo joining in on lead guitar and vocals. That night's memorable show set the stage for many good things to come, with Caleb becoming an official member of the band somewhere around 2:00 a.m. New Year's Day 2024.

Not only did Switchman Sleepin' switch to another track in 2024, but maxed out the throttle with the addition of Angelo DeSalvo as a second drummer! With the addition of Angelo, the band is yet ascending to another level with his skills and knowledge of the Grateful Dead that he shares.

Switchman is circling back and hopefully even bigger than before, we look forward to playing more shows along the Front Range in 2024. To our fans and family, WE LOVE YOU!