Denver’s Swallow Hill Music To Be Inducted Into Colorado Music Hall Of Fame

Swallow Hill Music, the Colorado non-profit music venue that has championed local and national artists for forty years, will be inducted in the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame November 9. With its induction, the venue becomes only the second venue in Colorado to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame. The other is Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. 

Swallow Hill will celebrate its induction with a 40th-anniversary concert featuring this year’s other inductees The Mother Folkers. The event takes place at Central Presbyterian Church in Denver on November 9 at 6 pm. 

“Swallow Hill Music started with Harry Tuft’s commitment to build community around music, and forty years later we have an amazing community that attends classes and comes to concerts,” Swallow Hill CEO Paul Lhevine said in a release. 

For many connected to the Swallow Hill Music Association, the story of roots, Americana, and folk music begins and ends with Swallow Hill, locally, and nationwide. Championing artists like Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, and others long before a national audience had been established, Swallow Hill grew to become more than a stage. Over time, it has grown into a scene unto itself – bringing communities of music lovers together through music with classes and an expanded concert spaces. Swallow Hill is now located on East Yale Street. 

Tuft, the founder of Swallow Hill, and himself a member of the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame, helped usher in an early folk scene in Denver, establishing the city’s district of Swallow Hill as a meeting ground for musicians and artists. Modeling the area after the Greenwich Village scene of the early 60s, Tuft opened the Denver Folklore Center in 1962.

The roster of artists he brought to the Mountain West astounds, from Muddy Waters to Pete Seeger, and dozens more. He is still an active performer to this day; he has a show Thursday, September 12. 

The Colorado Music Hall Of Fame is located in the Trading Post, just east of the main stage at Red Rocks. Visitors there can interact with the music and legacies of artists like Steven Stills, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Denver, and now, Swallow Hill Music, which, arguably, paved the way for artists like those to gain a foothold in Colorado. 

For a full list of Swallow Hill’s upcoming shows and classes, you can find a schedule here. Tickets to the November 9 induction are now available.