Meet Shane Bumgarner | Retired Adventuring Musician Photographer Hippy Hiker

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

Hi Shane, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I had no choice. Although it turned out to not be my full time career, music and art were things that I just could not live without having an outlet for in my life. It is very much the thing that drives me day to day. I was shocked at some point in life to discover that there are people who don’t really like anything in particular, have no hobbies, and nothing to be passionate about. In this way I have always felt blessed to know exactly what I loved to do from a very young age and that hasn’t changed to this day, I’ve only added more things to the list!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was drawn to music like a moth to a cloth at a very young age. My parents had me taking piano lessons by age 5 or 6, but I was uninterested in learning the technical side of playing music even at that age, I would copy what the teacher was doing by ear, and she quickly became frustrated with me for that. It wasn’t long before I realized I didn’t want lessons, I wanted to just PLAY for the love of it. Soon after a family friend brought an electric guitar to our house and I was completely, utterly and jaw droppingly in love with it. Just the sight of it was so beautiful to me. I told my parents I wanted a guitar. After the piano debacle they were skeptical that I would stick with it so they basically told me if I could save the money for it I could have a guitar. This was like a cruel joke. I was 7 years old with no way to make money. We lived in the country, so I took to riding my bike along the roads looking for discarded aluminum cans I could recycle for change. I’m not sure how long it took for my parents to take notice but when I hadn’t given up after months of saving, they surprised me one night with a new acoustic guitar. That was the beginning of a life long obsession with music. I spent every waking moment that I wasn’t at school playing guitar and trying to learn everything I could about music. I’m not sure this makes me any different from any other musician I know, I just discovered a love for creative things and then pursued those things, because they make me happy.
In my twenties and thirties I did some touring with a couple bands but those things did not work out long term.
And then I met the love of my life. Within a few years I realized that pursuing a musical career would not be conducive to having a long term relationship and I took a long step back from music. I had come to that moment in life where I felt I could have one or the other full time, but not both.
I chose the girl. And I’m still happy about that decision 27 years later.
I learned to put my obsession in it’s proper place in life and I still deeply enjoy creating things and becoming better at my creative goals.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living in a resort town (Buena Vista CO) I get a lot of friends and family coming to visit for the sheer jaw dropping beauty of this place. My agenda for entertaining them depends on their personalities and likes. I decided soon after I moved here I would not say “no” to any request to do something “Colorado”.
If they want to climb a 14er, I’m in.
Want to raft the Numbers? I’m in.
Mountain bike Midland hill? I’m in.
Fly fishing? Sure!
Having said that I have developed go to spots for taking visitors. If they’re very fit and love to hike, we’ll climb a mountain. If they like history I might take them to St. Elmo Ghost town to feed the chipmunks and check out the history. If they like motorsports we’ll go four wheeling.
I love everything about living in the mountains, and I rarely pass up a chance to do something outdoors.
I have definitely developed a love for climbing 14ers and I hope to finish the Sawatch this summer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Maybe it’s cliche but it’s certainly my wife who has guided me thru the vast majority of the successes I’ve had in life. She taught me a lot of things about myself, and how to navigate the world with grace and kindness, so much more than I ever could have done on my own. So yeah… shoutout Tammy B!

Website: https://theadventuringmusician.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidewinds/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shane.bumgarner.965

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shanebmusic