All Strings Considered

Is like freshly sanded mahogany on a July afternoon

Sweet. Smooth. But with enough character to remind you that it once had roots.

All Strings Considered is three fifths of Denver-based bluegrass cum Americana but “don’t call us folk” band, Tenth Mountain Division, which borrows its name from the famed military unit that trained in the frigid Rockies.

Hailing from the Centennial State is about where the similarities between the two end. Members Winston Heuga (mandolin, vocals), MJ Ouimette (guitar, vocals), and Andrew Cooney (guitar, vocals) are certainly lovers before fighters, and are much more likely to be caught in a Canadian tux than camouflage.

Missing from the usual Tenth Mountain Division junta were drummer Tyler Gwynn and keyboardist Campbell Thomas.

Like many musicians and music groups, Tenth Mountain Division was on the cusp of making “music our full time jobs” before the pandemic hit. The band had just wrapped a coast-to-coast tour following the release of their second studio album, In Good Company, building a faithful following from biker bars in Indiana to college campuses in Texas (their trusty yellow school bus turned touring charter, Dorothy, sadly lost her spirits somewhere in Illinois).

But not to be deterred, Tenth Mountain Division has been hard at work on its third studio album, Butte la Rose, for the last year-and-a-half, and will finally give its faithful fans a taste on June 18th.

We had the opportunity to shoot with the All Strings Considered boys on some railroad tracks by Western Stock in Denver, and then again in the back of a 60s Ford pickup before getting dumped off in downtown Globeville. We’ve done some dynamic shoots before, but this one might take the grand prize.

The songs, in order of performance, are “Who’s on That Train?”, “Let It Ride” (Ryan Adams cover), and “You’re Love Won’t Let Me Go” (Mountain Heart cover).

You can find more from Tenth Mountain Division on Spotify, here.