Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 2 • FEBRUARY 19, 2009
Taking Flight CRMS student opens John Oates songwriting series at the Wheeler By Trina Ortega A sweet airy female voice blends with the strumming of a ukulele and floats through the vast stairway at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen. The melody is coming from center stage, where Carbondale teen Riley Skinner is singing about growing up and leaving the nest: “And all birds must fly And all mothers cry Migrators must go Far from their homes But I’ll still sing with you” Riley, a senior at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, was rehearsing with dad Steve Skinner, who was playing guitar and singing backup, during a sound check. In just under two hours, they would be opening for nationally recognized folk and pop artists Patty Griffin, John Oates and Scott Miller for Oates’ “Stories Behind the Songs” series. Skinner’s song, “Migrators,” was selected by Broadcast Music, Inc., the world’s leading songwriting rights association, as one of the three local winners in the high school songwriting competition sponsored by Oates and Jazz Aspen Snowmass. The reward for young songwriters is a chance to perform their work as the opening act for big-name acts like Oates, Griffin and Miller. Aspen High School student Obadiah Jones and Glenwood Springs Middle School student Erica Arensman will have their chance to open on later dates. But February 15 was Riley’s moment under the lights on a stage commonly graced by Grammy-winning artists but one that has brought the 18-year-old back to her roots. When she was about 6, she sang at the Wheeler in her dad’s rock opera. “I was terrified. I was sitting on top of this cow [statue]. I was supposed to be a buttercup. … I’m pretty sure that audience was sold out. So it kind of has come full circle,” she said. RILEY on page 10
CRMS senior Riley Skinner rehearses during a sound check before opening for Patty Griffin, John Oates and Scott Miller on Sunday at the Wheeler Opera House. Photo by Trina Ortega