Tenth Mountain Division drops new album before planned hiatus
Colorado’s own ‘Ameriakinda’ pioneers reflect on the past decade while celebrating new music
Polly B Photo/Courtesy photo
It’s not very often that a band will release a new album and then go on hiatus, but that is what Tenth Mountain Division is doing after 10 years of playing together. The decision may be bittersweet, but the band is also looking to explore a different world where they aren’t on tour, going coast to coast, sleeping in different beds each night and the sacrifices that come with life on the road.
In a way, this lifestyle is all the five members of the band have ever known during their adult lives. Forming a band at 18, Eagle County natives MJ Ouimette and Winston Heuga went off to college knowing that they were going to go that route.
“When MJ and I graduated from high school in 2012 we both knew we wanted to start a band,” Heuga said. “I’m not sure our folks knew how dead-set we were on it when they shipped us off to CU Boulder, but MJ and I had a passion and were given a brand-new environment to flourish in Boulder.”
Heuga and Ouimette’s passion for music started early and was cultivated with the offerings in the Vail Valley music scene. Between the free shows at Checkpoint Charlie in Vail Village in the winter and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater’s Hot Summer Nights concert series, they were both surrounded by live music at an early age. The influences ranged anywhere from Leftover Salmon to Social Distortion to Stockholm Syndrome, a band formed as a collaboration between Dave Schools of Widespread Panic and Jerry Joseph of Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons.
“Although all would later become massive influences on my playing, I was able to see these acts while my palette was being developed,” Ouimette said. “I am incredibly grateful to have had free art available to me as a young man by simply existing in this community.”
Support Local Journalism
“I’ll never forget all the times MJ and I would sneak out during high school and go see shows at State Bridge Amphitheater, (sorry, mom!). Those were some of my first memories of being a part of something that was my own,” Heuga said.
Ouimette even had radio show on Radio Free Minturn at the age of 12.
“Once Radio Free Minturn was established as a legitimate LP (Low-Power) station, emerging from their pirate radio genesis, I was invited to host a show of my own. From seventh grade on through high school, I was called out of class every Wednesday to spin what started as a bag full of my CD collection to iPods and laptops. Spending time listening and talking about music was one of the great privileges of my life,” Ouimette said.
The Tenth Mountain Division band name pays homage to the history of the area that spawned the resort town Ouimette and Heuga grew up around.
“One early morning I woke up in my dorm room in Willard Hall and called MJ and said, ‘I’ve got it, I’ve got the name. It’s Tenth Mountain Division.’ It had come to me in a dream and MJ agreed right on the spot. We knew we had a strong sense of pride for where we came from and how better to represent that than to honor the men who had founded our home,” Heuga said.
A decade later, Heuga and Ouimette have more than lived out that dream to start a band which Ouimette said happened by mostly circumstance and blind faith in how an acoustic bluegrass trio evolved into a five-piece band. Joining Ouimette on guitar and Heuga on mandolin you’ll find Campbell Thomas on keyboards and Andrew Cooney on bass. Those four also provide vocals for Tenth Mountain Division with Tyler Gwynn on drums.
Throughout the past decade, deep friendships have been formed by this group of five and the decision to take a hiatus was a tough one.
“There are a ton of factors that go into a decision like this. One huge one is the ever-changing landscape of the music industry. We are still feeling the effects of COVID, with the current recession taking hold of the music scene,” Andrew Cooney said. “At our level, it’s super hard to crest into the tier of bands that can sustain a living just playing shows and selling records. It takes a lot of sacrifice to get to that point and it’s taken a toll on all of us after 10 years.”
“With this being said, we don’t want to close the door on something we’ve worked so hard at but recognize that a break could give us the opportunity to come back stronger and with a better foundation under us,” Heuga said.
The band is releasing its latest, self-titled album on May 11 with a kickoff party at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver. This pre-hiatus finale is part of the band’s last six performances before taking a step back from touring. Tenth Mountain Division will be playing to a hometown crowd during the SpringFree Bluegrass Festival, a free music event happening over Memorial Day Weekend in Vail Village.
“Listening back on this record, I can hear 10 years of friendship. Ten years of tears. Ten years of a mapless destination. I couldn’t have had more fun if I tried,” Ouimette said.
“The thing I’ll miss most is the feeling we all get when we’re on stage and the camaraderie and the brotherhood we have together playing our songs,” Heuga said. “But, the thing I’m most looking forward to is personal growth. It’s been a long time since any of us have been able to focus on our personal lives and this will give us the time and space we need to get in tune with ourselves as we mature, and in the long term it gives us the time and space to reevaluate our career and come back stronger.”
