Richard Baca

Interview with Richard Baca conducted September 2009.

Richard Baca knew how to woo the girls at Pueblo’s County High School. “I carried my guitar around and used to sing to them.”

Ever the performer, it wasn’t until 1973 that he joined the local band, The Tributes – but three years later he realized being in an organized group was not all that it was cracked up to be.

“There was too much traveling, and we just couldn’t get a good sound.”

So he decided to go out on his own and form his own group, appropriately called The Rebels.

Joined by Eddie Aragon on guitar, Denver drummer Steve “Bird” Acosta, and Juan Ortega on bass, the Rebels, who were also known as Los Reveldes, immediately found gigs close to home.

“We were playing, at the time, at a club known as The Del Rio Night Club, located in the Blende area just a few miles east, on the old Highway 50, from downtown Pueblo,” he said. “We did that for two and half years straight on Saturdays. We also played at the Latin Village, Pueblo Lounge, Dave and Rena's, El Patio Lounge, Tia Marias, Shirley's Lounge, and La Favorita. We also played every hall in Pueblo at that time for weddings or private parties.”

One of the regular audience members at The Rebels gigs was Tom Vasquez, the owner of Tom’s Trash Barrel, a waste management company in Pueblo. Tom thought the band had star potential and offered to finance a recording session at Steel City Sound Recording in the Bessemer area of town.

To commemorate recording their first record, the band stayed out late the night before the studio session and celebrated – heavily.

“Eddie Aragon and myself were the only ones to show up for the recording,” he said. “Eddie and I did our parts in about ten minutes and Steve and Juan dubbed their parts in at a later time, individually.”

Listen to "So Afraid of Losing You."

“I chose the two songs on the record. Although the performance was not even close to the live sound, we were pretty excited about it," he said. “I chose the Charlie Pride song ["So Afraid of Losing You"] because I loved it, but we had never performed it live before as a group.”

Listen to "Si Tu Tambien Te Vas."

A total of 500 records were pressed, on the Tom label (named after the band's financial backer), and given away to family and friends.

Tom Vasquez saw big things for Richard Baca, so he invited friends with music connections out on the West Coast to Pueblo to give the band a listen.

“Those people agreed with Tom that we had something special and then they contacted someone in Los Angeles. The record producer from an independent record company came to see us on the recommendation of the friend of Tom’s. So, this guy caught our live show, and later approached me about going back to Los Angeles.”

But as was the case when he played with the Tributes, Baca didn’t want to tour, and certainly didn’t want to leave his wife and children.

“I told him I already had a band and that I was not interested. I told him that I could always pursue that career when my children were grown. He advised me that I would never get that opportunity again, and that I would lose my looks and the energy that I had and maybe even my voice. I didn't change my mind and I never regretted it as both of my children turned out to be great people and I was there to see it.”

Richard Baca disbanded The Rebels, and stayed on at CF&I, retiring in June. He went on to form Sierra Gold – and true to his word, now that his children are grown, he’s touring with the band.

“We play all over – Kansas, Nebraska and all over Colorado.”

Sierra Gold

Abel Valero, Richard Baca (standing center), Rodney Ortiz (red and white shirt), Danni Lucero (brown suit), and JoAnn Ewing.

COMING NEXT POST: Johnny Wyatt

Dot and Jimmy Vaughn

Updated Sept. 21, 2013 - with self titled LP picture and information.

Interview with Dorthy Sowards conducted September 2009.


In the fall of 1943, Vaughn Sowards decided to take a break from college. The then 19-year old came back home to Manassa, located midway between the New Mexico border and Alamosa, Colorado. While there he took in a football match-up between his high school alma mater, Manassa High School, and their arch rivals, La Jara High School.

“He kept watching me in the stands, said Dorthy Sowards, who was a then 15-year old La Jara sophomore. “And I started watching him.”

After the game, Dorthy and her friends went for a soda at a nearby café – and he just happened to show up.

"He was very shy," she said. "He sent a waitress over to tell me that he wanted to talk to me."

The two began dating, and realized they shared a common bond – they loved to sing.

“We would go on dates, and go off where nobody could hear us, and sing,” she said.

The couple stayed in touch, even after Dorthy and her family moved to Arizona, and Vaughn joined the U.S. Navy.

Right after Dorthy graduated high school, the two married, and moved back to Manassa, where they took up ranching – but they never stopped singing. Before too long, word got out about the couple, who were soon being booked for weddings, funerals, and conventions.

In the winter they would move to Arizona, where they made a living singing around Phoenix. In the summers they would come back to Colorado, where their talents were beginning to get noticed.

“One of our friends heard us sing, and mentioned that his son knew producer Norman Petty, in Clovis,” Dorthy said. In 1965, the couple packed their bags and headed across the state line to put their songs on vinyl - where Buddy Holly had previously launched his career.

Needing studio musicians for the recording, Petty enlisted the help of the Fireballs who two years earlier scored a national hit with “Sugar Shack.” The group was looking for gigs, after their leader, Jimmy Gilmer left for an artist management and record production job in New York. The session produced two singles, the folk ballad, “Between Two Trees,” along with the Porter Wagoner hit “A Satisfied Mind,” (which was later recorded by Bob Dylan, the Byrds and Johnny Cash). The second record was the duet’s take on two Webb Pierce hits “Slowly,” and “That’s Me Without You.”


Listen to "Between Two Trees"
Before the records were pressed, the couple had one more professional decision to make.

“Vaughn is a hard name to pronounce,” said Dorthy. “He was always called Jimmy in high school, so we thought it sounded more professional to be known as Dot and Jimmy Vaughn.”

The records were put out on the couple’s own Manassa record label.


Listen to "Slowly"   300 copies of “Slowly” were pressed, and sent to radio stations across the country.

“It was picked in Billboard, as an up and coming record,” Dorthy said. The song also caught the ear of national agents and producers – but the timing was not right for the couple.

“They all said they could make us big stars, but at the time we had an auto accident, and the thought of traveling on the road was not something we wanted to do.”


The couple would release a third single, also produced by Petty, and accompanied by the Fireballs, the Dorthy Sowards-penned “The Lovin’ Arms of You” and the b-side, “Hayseed” on the KLR label, along with a self-titled country album.

(a BIG thanks to B. Cook, of the most excellent Lone Star Stomp blog, 

for finding this album and sending to me)

“The label was named for the initials of our children, Kim, Lee and Rick,” Dorthy said.

While Vaughn and Dorthy enjoyed singing country music, their heart was in performing sacred songs. As members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, they often performed for church functions. Then one day they received a letter.

“We were asked to come into the tabernacle in Salt Lake City,” said Dorthy. “They asked us to record a song there.” By the end of the two-night session, Dorthy and Vaughn had recorded 13 songs.

With the blessing of the church, they brought the tapes back to Norman Petty, who sent them to the Dot record label – the same label that made national stars of Jimmy Gilmer and Fireballs.

The Sowards were immediately signed.


The Magnificent Mormon Sound was released in 1967.

“We received some wonderful compliments about that record,” said Dorthy. “Gene Autry was playing our record on his station in Arizona, and sent us a letter telling us that had more requests for our songs than any other record they played.”

Deseret News - Salt Lake City

Sept. 3, 1966

The couple stopped performing professionally in 1980, when Vaughn Sowards suffered a heart attack. They continued to sing in their church choir.

Vaughn Sowards died in 2000.

“I look back on my life and it was great life,” said Dorthy. “Those were really exciting and fun times.”

Guys and Doll

Interview with Angelo Rotondo conducted August 2009.

Angelo Rotondo was ready to play music again. It was 1970, and just a few months earlier he was part of the “this close" to national success band, the Teardrops, who scored the huge regional hit “Armfull of Teddy Bear,” produced by Norman Petty.

After the Teardrops broke up, Rotondo put away his drum kit, and went to work at the local steel mill, CF&I – then former Teardrops keyboardist Rick Witcowich called him.

“Rick’s dad was a friend of Wayne Sloan [the owner of the local Caravan Club]. He needed a band to play a party, so I showed up with my then-wife, Claudia, who is a classical pianist, and we played – then Rick showed up, and we all jammed.”

After the receptive gig, and bitten by the performing bug again, the three decided to form a trio – Guys and Doll.

Guys and Doll (from left: Angelo Rotondo, Claudia Rotondo, and Rick Witcowich).
Picture courtesy of Angelo Rotondo.

“We never had a guitar or a bass in the band. We’d have musicians approach us, who wanted to join, but we never needed them – it was always two keyboards and drums,” Rotondo said.


The three musicians found a receptive audience for their diverse playlist, performing three nights a week at the Caravan Club, and getting regular bookings for parties and weddings.

Then the group decided it was time to take the next step – make a record.

Rotondo put together ARC Records (an amalgam of their first name initials). He also contacted old friend Norman Petty to produce the session.

Armed with the Rotondo and Witcowich-penned “In The Meantime,” the group headed to Clovis, New Mexico, and to the studios where the Teardrops had recorded a few years earlier.

“We recorded that song pretty quick,” Rotondo said. “Rick sang lead, and Norman suggested that we add harmony. Claudia did double harmony on it.”

Listen to "In The Meantime"

Needing a flipside, the group decided to use a song they had played numerous times at their Caravan shows, The Rivieras “California Sun.”

“It was a song we really enjoyed playing,” said Rotondo. “Rick sang lead on that one.”

Listen to "California Sun"

Guys and Doll sold the record at their Caravan Club shows, where they played for six years to packed audiences. Then abruptly, they decided to call it quits.

“We wanted to quit while on top,” Rotondo said.

Witcowich went on to form another local band, Loose Change. He passed away in 2001.

Rotondo took some time off, joined the country outfit, the Sundowners, and later hooked up with the popular polka group, the Chuck Spurlock Band. He just recently retired from CF&I, after 40 years on the job.

He and Claudia divorced in 1981.

Strange Cargo

Interviews with Dan Treanor and Joel Scherzer conducted July-August 2009.

Dan Treanor felt that he had done all he could do in Pueblo. As a member of a number of several successful local bands, including the Steel City Blues Band, Crooks and Hungry Bear, it was time to move up north, to Denver – a route his former Crooks bandmate Kenny Grimes had done earlier.

“I wanted to pursue a full time career in music, so my wife Eleanor and I decided to move to Denver where there were more opportunities,” he said.

Treanor, Eleanor, and Grimes, along with former Pueblo musicians, Monty Bradbury and Chico Apodoca took up residence in the same Denver condominium complex. “We called it Pueblo North,” Treanor said. There the group would jam and write songs.

While in Denver, Treanor kept in touch with Joel Scherzer, the owner of the Pueblo used record mecca, Record Reunion. The two had previously worked together to publish The Pueblo Poetry Project, a book featuring local poets. Scherzer would later enlist Treanor to write the soundtrack for the documentary, Damon Runyon’s Pueblo.

“Joel and his wife would come and see our group play, and on one of those occasions he came up with the idea of putting out a 45 that would feature Pueblo musicians doing some original music,” Treanor said. “He asked me if I could write a couple of songs and get a band together. I jumped at the chance of doing that.”

“My business partner, Marc Shulman and I liked their bluesy, harmonica-driven sound,” said Scherzer, who proceeded to form the Jo-Mar label (a contraction of Joel and Marc), for the project. The only thing they didn’t have was a name for the band.

“I came up with a list,” said Scherzer. “I liked The Rockin' Townies, but the musicians preferred Strange Cargo, the title of a 1940 Joan Crawford movie.”

Strange Cargo (clockwise from top left: Monty Bradbury,
Kenny Grimes, Chico Apodoca, and Dan Treanor)
Photos and graphics courtesy of Dan Treanor.

"Black Night Has Fallen" and "Settle Down Blues” - songs Treanor had already been performing with his Denver band, the Terrifics - were picked for the single. The group soon booked a date at Colorado Sound Studios.

“We went in and recorded the whole thing in about two hours, he said. “We did it old school, played all the instruments at once, with no over dubs,” said Treanor. “You can hear all the influences of each musician on the record. I'm a bluesman, Chico's thing is jazz, Kenny can play anything on the guitar, Monty is a great bass player, but specializes in country.”

Listen to "Settle Down Blues" - Strange Cargo

Treanor estimates about 300 records were pressed, and sold at Record Reunion, in 1983. Shorly thereafter the one-shot group disbanded, and its members went on to other projects.

Strange Cargo never played any gigs together, and never recorded another record.

Listen to "Black Night Has Fallen" - Strange Cargo

Grimes and Bradbury would go on to play in Cactus Jack, a Denver country band. Treanor would make a guest appearance, playing harmonica, on the band’s first album.

Kenny Grimes would later move to Austin, and find steady work playing with the likes of Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Thompson, Shelly West, Chris Wall, Gary P. Nunn, Johnny Gimble, and most recently, Hal Ketchum.

Chico Apodoca went on to play with the Rendon Brothers and the Tony Romo Jazz Band, for a number of years. He is still playing the jazz circuit in Denver.

Dan Treanor keeps busy with Dan Treanor and the Afrosippi Blues Band – considered one of the top blues bands in Colorado, playing about 200 concerts a year.

COMING NEXT POST: Two guys and a doll...

The Rudy Gutierrez Orchestra

Rudy Gutierrez Jr. interview conducted July-August 2009.

Born in 1935, in Bronte, Texas, to bass player Jesus Gutierrez and his wife Tibursia, Rudy Gutierrez grew up surrounded by music.

“When my grandfather saw that my dad had an interest in music, he helped him form a band. I believe my dad was somewhere between 10 to 13-years old – he was known as the ‘youngest band leader in Texas’ back then,” said Rudy Gutierrez Jr.

href In 1954, after a number of years performing around Texas, Rudy Gutierrez moved to Colorado. Several of his family members followed, setting up a new base for the band. The group was quickly establishing themselves in the Pueblo area, but homesickness for Texas eventually split up the family. While a majority of the band headed back to the San Angelo area, cousin (and trumpet player) Danny Gutierrez and Rudy decided to make a go of it in Pueblo.

After recruiting a number of local players, the Rudy Gutierrez Orchestra was soon complete, with a total of ten members: Two trumpeters, one trombonist, one alto saxophonist, one tenor saxophonist, one bari saxophonist, one bass player, one guitarist, one organist, and a drummer.

“My father played alto saxophone – but he could also play clarinet, flute, piano, tenor sax,” Rudy Gutierrez Jr. said. “To the best of my knowledge, possibly more.”

By the 1970s, the Rudy Gutierrez Orchestra became a regular fixture around town, playing in various clubs, including Gutierrez’s own Tico Room on Northern Street.


Due to their popularity, and the demand of their audience, the band began to record their music. Gutierrez created the Flamingo record label, which was based out of his Pueblo home on 6th street.

While unsure of the total, Gutierrez Jr. estimates that his father released close to a dozen singles.
Performing traditional ranchera, balero, and cha-cha styles, the band enlisted the help of Paul Romero, who took over as lead vocalist on the early recordings.

Hear a sample

(Author's note: Flamingo 1278 "Our Love" / "All About You" with vocals by Eddie Martinez).

On the later recordings, singer, and organist Larry Montoya would lend his talents to the band.

 Listen to a sample

“Larry Montoya was sensational,” said Gutierrez Jr. “I was blown away each and every time he got behind the keyboards. You couldn't help but stare and listen. His improvisation style was so hypnotizing.”

(Author's note: Flamingo 1280 "Marita" / "Las Cuatitas." Flamingo 1281 "Este Fue Mi Adios" / Todo Me Gusta De Ti," Flamingo 1282 Una Por Una" / No Cuento Contigo," and Flamingo 1283 "Mi Chulita" / "Dame Un Poco De Ti" all vocals by Larry Montoya).

Listen to a sample

Rudy Gutierrez had established himself as a showman, giving his audiences their money’s worth with often marathon-long shows.

“Seeing them perform live was awesome,” said Gutierrez Jr. “Man the band would stretch and groove. He played his sax with a lot of heart and took his time during solos to say what he wanted to say musically.”

Rudy Gutierrez died September 1, 1975. The group would carry on as the Gutierrez Orchestra for a number of years, before disbanding.

His son, Rudy Gutierrez Jr., would go on to follow in his father’s footsteps as a local musician. He is also a published author, Rudyville.org.

The Crew

Interview with Rick Terlep and Earl Poteet (The Crew) conducted July and August, 2009.

Rick Terlep was having a hard time recording a song he had written, “Mickey One.” The band he had put together to record had “issues” and fell apart almost as soon as it was formed.

“Rick and Kenny Grimes recorded a demo version of the song at Dan Treanor’s house, with Mike Green on drums,” Poteet said. “But everybody had a different idea on what to do, so we all drifted apart.”

So Earl and Rick went with Plan B – start over.

Both Terlep and Poteet had already established themselves in the local Pueblo band circuit – Terlep with The Crooks, and Poteet in the polka outfit, The Chuck Spurlock Band.

With Poteet on lead vocals, and Terlep on guitar, the two recruited Alfred Sanchez on drums, Brain Police member Phil Dirt on bass guitar, Dave Carleo on keyboards, and John Grove on backing vocals.

“The name of the band came from Rick’s mother,” said Poteet. “We were rehearsing in Rick’s grandmother’s old house, and his mother came in while we were practicing, and said, ‘That's a motley looking crew.’”

Terlep got the idea for the single “Mickey One” from a Warren Beatty gangster movie. “I never saw the movie but I knew Mickey One was a cool guy,” he admitted.

Listen to "Mickey One" - The Crew

The record was put out by Terlep’s own Klover Records, in 1981. “There was an article in the Pueblo paper about some St. Patrick’s Day event here. The holiday is pretty big here in Pueblo, and at the bottom of the story there was this shamrock. I thought that could be cool for a record label, but there was already a Clover Records, so I ended up spelling it differently.” The Wheatridge Drive address on the label was to his own home.

The flip side, “Front Window Dummy,” was written by Terlep and Mike Green. “Mike was mad because he had broken up with his wife and he didn’t like the dating scene, because the thought all of the women were phony and plastic,” said Terlep.

"Mickey One" went on to become the "Pepsi Pick of the Week” on local station KDZA. “They played two records and the other one was some nationally-known artist. The one song with the most calls won,” said Poteet. “We were on pins and needles because here was our song being played on KDZA.” The distinction meant that the song would go into heavy rotation on the station. "For whatever reason it didn’t," Poteet said. “I think the station thought we jammed the phone lines with our own people, but we didn’t."

In the process of promoting "Mickey One", Poteet and Terlep approached Jay Ritchie, a disc jockey on KIIQ, based outside of Colorado Springs. Ritchie hosted a program called “Band on the Run,” featuring local up and coming acts.

“We wanted to play “Mickey One,” but Jay said since it was a long show, we needed to have about four or five more songs,” said Poteet. The band went back into the studio and recorded the extra material, including a song entitled “Invasion of the Plant People.”

While "Plant People" received airplay during the KIIQ broadcast, it also caught the ear of Dr. Demento, who played the song on his nationally syndicated show, August 1, 1982, sandwiched in between the premiere of “Hey E.T,.” by Dickie Goodman and “There Was a Fungus Among Us,” by Terry Nolan.

“We also submitted another song called “Computerville,” but that didn’t actually air on the Demento show,” said Poteet.

The Crew would go on to steady bookings throughout the city. “Our band was known all over town for playing a pretty diverse playlist,” Terlep said. “We would play “Houston” by Dean Martin, along with some Eddie Rabbitt, and Buddy Holly. We had a regular gig at the Best Western on Santa Fe, the Bandstand Bar, and were the house band at the Cosmopolitan Club.”

Shortly after the release of the record, Terlep left the band for a guitar conservatory in San Antonio. Poteet quit music to work as a high school teacher, and later a longtime radio personality on KDZA, Wallace Cotton. "I would also go on to have a seven-piece R&B/funk band named Wallace Cotton & The Royals that would play together from around 1990-2003, and had a huge regional following," said Poteet.

Terlep returned to Pueblo to join Brodie White and White Noise, and in 1994 he recorded a solo CD, Electric Silence. It was released in 1997.

The Crew carried on with Alfred Sanchez, Nick Lucero and Anthony Miklavec. Poteet was replaced by Carlos Crull, who also added a saxophone to the act. The group went on to record the single “Sooner or Later” and the flip “Voices in the Night”

Listen to "Sooner or Later" - The Crew

"I actually had the pleasure of singing the first version of the song," said Poteet. "It was right before I left the band. Anthony took over the lead vocals and did a great job with it."

The Crew went on to play around southern Colorado for several years, before disbanding.

Marvin Shilling

Head south out of Pueblo, turn right at Walsenburg, and you’ll come to La Veta, Colorado—population 882.

Situated on the eastern side of La Veta Pass through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, at the northern opening of the Cuchara River Valley, you’d never expect to find one of the kings of square dance callin’ – Marvin Shilling.

Shilling ran the Lightning S Guest Ranch in town, a popular tourist destination for city slickers wanting to play cowboy. The facility also served as a Huerfano County hot spot, with dances held throughout the year.

Bow and Swing - June, 1960

A savvy businessman, Shilling recorded not only himself, but close to 20 different callers on more than 60 records on his Lightning S label.

Listen to "Rocky Mt. Dew" - Marvin Shilling and the Rhythm Outlaws.

The June, 1960 issue of Bow and Swing describes "Rocky Mt. Dew" as "a singing call, with a continuous do-paso ending in a promenade with the right hand lady." He sold the record for $1.45.

While Colorado was Shilling’s home base, he would regularly gas up his private plane and fly himself to dances across the country, where his calling was always in demand.

Bow and Swing - December, 1957

Shilling died October 25, 1962 when the plane, of which he was piloting, crashed while on his way to call a dance in Nebraska.