We had the good fortune of connecting with Luke Hinder and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luke, what are you inspired by?
Musically I get the most inspiration from seeing live music in intimate settings. In life, I feel like I draw a lot of inspiration just from the people I surround myself with whether that be friends, family, or coworkers.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Deer Creek Sharpshooters was the first band I ever was a part of. Some of my closest friends and I started this band back in 2012 where we grew up in Maryland. It then quickly moved to Charleston, SC where we continued playing and honing in our skills and sound. We all followed each other out to Colorado about eight years ago and have been growing together ever since! It definitely wasn’t and isn’t easy at times but if there is anything that I am most proud of in this band is our resiliency. We have had some members come and go through our many years whether it’s due to moving out of state to be closer to family or for life choices, but we have found a way to “keep on going” through the different stages of the band. We have all learned a lot from having so many great friends and musicians in our band, from Dallas Baker showing us how to have fun on stage to Jake Aschenbrenner for creating the idea of all of us yelling “Trash Cat” at a pivotal part of the song Trash Cat! I can’t not mention Liam Gaeng and Zach Hudson for not only helping create the band but also shaping and crafting so many original songs that we still play today. If there is anything the world should know about DCSS is that we might be a 6 piece band on stage but in reality, there are so many members of the band that have contributed to our success as a group. Heck I’d dare to say we are the only ever 6 piece bluegrass band with 12 members in it haha!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ooooh great question, I’ll break it down into categories to make it simple.

Things we’re going to eat are little devils from Lechugas up in the highlands, steak flight at Urban Farmer, some breakfast burritos from Bonfire, some grits from the Universal in sunnyside, then I’d take them to the McDonalds on east Colfax so they can really get a taste of the city.

Spots we would go to would be walking around Tennyson st., playing some games in Cheeseman Park, catch a baseball game at Coors Field in the summer, go sit or walk by clear creek in Golden, and finally we would go to east Colfax where I would drop them off with no wallet or phone and see if they can make it back to me before nightfall.

For the weekend we would definitely be seeing some live music somewhere whether that be one of the numerous festivals in the summer, seeing a show at red rocks, or catching a friends band at Cervantes. There really is no shortage of great live music to be seen in Denver and Colorado in general so there’s always going to be something for everyone.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout has to go to Jeff Austin and all the Yonder Mountain String Band guys. That was the band that first got me hooked on the sound of that next level new grass/jam grass whatever you want to call it. I remember trying to sleep on the way home from the beach my senior year of high school in my friend Ben McGuirk’s Yukon and he was playing Mountain Tracks Vol. 5 and I just could not fall asleep because I was so enveloped in the music. When we got home he let me borrow the CD’s to keep listening and after that, I was 100% hooked.

I have to shoutout our dear friend Ben Boniface as well. He was one of the main drivers in why Harrison, Liam, Fritz, and myself not only started this band, but play music in general. Unfortunately he passed away before we could all play on stage together but his presence lives on through the music we make every time we play.

Website: https://dcssbluegrass.wixsite.com/dcss

Instagram: deercreeksharpshooters

Facebook: https://facebook.com/deercreeksharpshooters/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCDBvHvoxBR_YLPF-AsfFc3w

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.