Missed the Boat

Steamboat Springs — Local band Missed the Boat recently added “Grammy-nominated” to its name.

The idea of being nominated for the music industry’s most prestigious awards is new to the band, which formed in late 2007 and has been playing a danceable blend of bluegrass, folk and rock for audiences in Steamboat Springs ever since.

“You know, our reaction was just like everyone else’s: ‘What? No way,’” said Ryan Cox, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for Missed the Boat. Singer-songwriter Paula Mengarelli submitted the band for nomination.

“It was awfully hard to believe until we started doing some digging and talking to (Mengarelli),” said Bryan Joyce, the band’s bassist. Missed the Boat also includes mandolin player Andrew Henry, drummer Pat Waters and harmonica player Peter Hall.

Mengarelli nominated the band in four categories: song of the year, best new artist, best country song and best country album. There are 109 categories for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. The ceremony is Jan. 10, 2010, and a final list of nominations will be out later this year.

How it happened

Missed the Boat got into the long list of first-round Grammy nominees based on songs from “Rollin’,” the band’s first full-length album.

Recorded at Chicago Re cording Company during two days in January, “Rollin’” ended up in the hands of the Recording Academy when Henry Cox — Ryan Cox’s father and a corporate real estate associate of Mengarelli’s — handed her a copy of the disc. She listened to the CD, called Cox to make sure he didn’t mind her approval, and nominated the band for the Grammy categories she thought would suit them best.

“It’s that new country. It’s not that twangy country that has been out there for years, but it’s got a really great sound to it, a sound that all ages will listen to and not get bored with,” Mengarelli said. “It was very tight; it was a very tight sound.”

The first list of Grammy nominees will go out to voters in a month or two, she said. There are four rounds of voting, she said, with names knocked off the list at each round.

Mengarelli has been a member of the Recording Academy since 1999, and she acquired voting rights for the Grammys based on a release that included the song “Great American Country,” which topped the charts in Australia, she said. Missed the Boat is the first band she’s submitted as a nominee.

“In all the years that I’ve been with the Grammys, this is the first time that I’ve felt comfortable enough to nominate a group,” Mengarelli said. “I get thrown a lot of CDs my way, and you want to be careful what you put your name on.”

Cox and his band mates understand that getting a vote doesn’t mean they’ll be hearing their names at the Grammy Awards ceremony in January.

“There can be 1,000 or more nominees in each category,” Cox said. Still, his band is reeling from the prospect of putting the tag “Grammy-nominated” next to its name.

“It’s what they always say at the podium: ‘It’s an honor just to be nominated,’” Hall said.

The road from here

The band hopes a Grammy-associated stamp of approval will certify Missed the Boat as a name worth hiring and hearing. When the band’s name shows up on the first round of nominations, voting members might go to Missed the Boat’s Web site for more music and information, Mengarelli said.

“There are going to be thousands of entries that go in, and they’re going up against groups and artists that are well-known — you know, Brad Paisley, Beyoncé,” Mengarelli said. “But what this does is, it will give them exposure, because the National Recording Association will listen to their music. … That’s the bottom line, you never know who’s listening to your music.”

For now, the band plans to concentrate on getting some Front Range gigs, playing regularly in Steamboat and putting together another record as soon as this winter. Missed the Boat opened for Freddy Jones Band at the Steamboat Springs Free Summer Concert Series on Friday, bringing in guest drummer Dan Caro to fill in for Waters.

Cox said the band has plenty of room to grow but has come a long way in a short time.

“Bryan (Joyce) and Pat (Waters) have played in a number of bands, and for Andrew (Henry) and I, this is the first serious band we’ve been in, and we’re extremely passionate about it,” Cox said.

“Sometimes we have our differences about where to play and when to play and what to play, but when we get on stage it’s just all smiles.” - Steamboat Pilot

"KFMU throws huge support behind local band Missed the Boat. More than just a bluegrass band, with their mix of innovative guitar, harmonious vocals, and the unique sounds of the banjolin, Missed the Boat brings great energy to their live performances. It’s not quite folk, nor is it rock. Not really a jam band, or rocky grass. It’s music that’s born, bred, and inspired by life in the Rocky Mountains.... Missed the Boat will leave the average music fan dancing, and the true music aficionado in appreciation of their true lyrics, tight harmony, energetic stage presence, and great musicianship." - KFMU RADIO STEAMBOAT SPGS 104.1 and 105.5 FM - Eli Campbell - KFMU Steamboat Spgs, CO

Earlier this week, local bluegrass and folk rock band Missed the Boat was getting back into town from Chicago, where band members had put the finishing touches on a debut CD.

That album will have its official local release with a party on March 14 at the Old Town Pub. But fans of and newcomers to the local band can catch pieces of its laidback, song-driven style on Saturday with a homecoming show at The Boathouse Pub.

The musicians in Missed the Boat come from Illinois, Colorado, Iowa and West Virginia, but the sounds and places that influence the band’s music converge in ways that are familiar to Steamboat ears. - Steamboat Pilot

Steamboat Springs — Local band Missed the Boat recently added “Grammy-nominated” to its name.

The idea of being nominated for the music industry’s most prestigious awards is new to the band, which formed in late 2007 and has been playing a danceable blend of bluegrass, folk and rock for audiences in Steamboat Springs ever since.

“You know, our reaction was just like everyone else’s: ‘What? No way,’” said Ryan Cox, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for Missed the Boat. Singer-songwriter Paula Mengarelli submitted the band for nomination.

“It was awfully hard to believe until we started doing some digging and talking to (Mengarelli),” said Bryan Joyce, the band’s bassist. Missed the Boat also includes mandolin player Andrew Henry, drummer Pat Waters and harmonica player Peter Hall.

Mengarelli nominated the band in four categories: song of the year, best new artist, best country song and best country album. There are 109 categories for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. The ceremony is Jan. 10, 2010, and a final list of nominations will be out later this year.

How it happened

Missed the Boat got into the long list of first-round Grammy nominees based on songs from “Rollin’,” the band’s first full-length album.

Recorded at Chicago Re cording Company during two days in January, “Rollin’” ended up in the hands of the Recording Academy when Henry Cox — Ryan Cox’s father and a corporate real estate associate of Mengarelli’s — handed her a copy of the disc. She listened to the CD, called Cox to make sure he didn’t mind her approval, and nominated the band for the Grammy categories she thought would suit them best.

“It’s that new country. It’s not that twangy country that has been out there for years, but it’s got a really great sound to it, a sound that all ages will listen to and not get bored with,” Mengarelli said. “It was very tight; it was a very tight sound.”

The first list of Grammy nominees will go out to voters in a month or two, she said. There are four rounds of voting, she said, with names knocked off the list at each round.

Mengarelli has been a member of the Recording Academy since 1999, and she acquired voting rights for the Grammys based on a release that included the song “Great American Country,” which topped the charts in Australia, she said. Missed the Boat is the first band she’s submitted as a nominee.

“In all the years that I’ve been with the Grammys, this is the first time that I’ve felt comfortable enough to nominate a group,” Mengarelli said. “I get thrown a lot of CDs my way, and you want to be careful what you put your name on.”

Cox and his band mates understand that getting a vote doesn’t mean they’ll be hearing their names at the Grammy Awards ceremony in January.

“There can be 1,000 or more nominees in each category,” Cox said. Still, his band is reeling from the prospect of putting the tag “Grammy-nominated” next to its name.

“It’s what they always say at the podium: ‘It’s an honor just to be nominated,’” Hall said.

The road from here

The band hopes a Grammy-associated stamp of approval will certify Missed the Boat as a name worth hiring and hearing. When the band’s name shows up on the first round of nominations, voting members might go to Missed the Boat’s Web site for more music and information, Mengarelli said.

“There are going to be thousands of entries that go in, and they’re going up against groups and artists that are well-known — you know, Brad Paisley, Beyoncé,” Mengarelli said. “But what this does is, it will give them exposure, because the National Recording Association will listen to their music. … That’s the bottom line, you never know who’s listening to your music.”

For now, the band plans to concentrate on getting some Front Range gigs, playing regularly in Steamboat and putting together another record as soon as this winter. Missed the Boat opened for Freddy Jones Band at the Steamboat Springs Free Summer Concert Series on Friday, bringing in guest drummer Dan Caro to fill in for Waters.

Cox said the band has plenty of room to grow but has come a long way in a short time.

“Bryan (Joyce) and Pat (Waters) have played in a number of bands, and for Andrew (Henry) and I, this is the first serious band we’ve been in, and we’re extremely passionate about it,” Cox said.

“Sometimes we have our differences about where to play and when to play and what to play, but when we get on stage it’s just all smiles.” - Steamboat Pilot