Copper Mountain Band plays Memorial Center

Sometimes the best formula a band can concoct is to not devise any plan, just be authentic. Of course, there are moments when progress necessitates making some decisions along the way.  

For the members of the Copper Mountain Band, music is not a choice. It’s a way of life. That commonality of staying true to the craft is one reason they are faced with deciding just how far they want to go in the music industry. It’s up to them.  

About eight years ago Israel David, “Izzy,” encouraged fellow core members of Copper Mountain Band, his cousin Nate Norman and Jacque Jolene, to put together some official gigs. They got together some equipment after a stint of playing open-mic nights at hole-in-the-wall bars in and around Columbia Falls.They were a hacker-band that barely knew enough songs to get through shows without playing some songs twice.

So they attached a tool shed to wheels, voila, a cargo trailer, and began expanding their playing area.

Along the way the band was developing a style that sets them apart from other bands. And most importantly, those who left their show were becoming fans.

“We’re not just performing, we’re strutting our butts off. We’re friends with those in the crowd,” said Jolene.

One year the band played at the Country Showdown in Polson to positive reviews.  They decided to play one more time the following year, they won.  The win propelled them to the state competition in Great Falls where technical difficulties derailed any chance of winning. But they didn’t go unnoticed.

The Nashville-based company responsible for Country Showdown asked the band to be a back-up band for the tour and things started to take-off for Copper Mountain Band.

David and Norman have shared so many life experiences they are more like brothers than cousins. They’ve been there for each other in hard times and good times alike.  Both have lost younger siblings. Jolene and Norman had their second child with barely a few weeks off for Jolene between performances. The band has been there for each other in life and death, cementing their bond.

Norman and David’s families share land in the Iron Creek Valley on Copper Mountain.  Music was an integral part of family get-togethers on the land where their great-grandparent were homesteaders. Guitars were family friends and sing-alongs were a part of every event, T.V was not.

Norman lived on the ranch through high school and continues to summer his horses on the property.

The bands’ main stomping ground continues to be the Pacific Northwest, but music has given them the chance to visit Disneyland, Mt. Rushmore, France and other western European locales.

In a saturated music scene, computers have made it both easier and more difficult to get noticed. Bruno, a booking agent in France, saw the Copper Mountain Band’s rendition of the Cher song Just Like Jesse James on YouTube. He liked it.  He booked the band to play a country music festival. The band was going international.

They were picked-up at the airport and given keys to a Euro Van and told to be at the show in three weeks. None of the band members or their girlfriends had been to Europe. John Betts had just recently taken over as the drummer of the band.

They strapped all their stuff, strollers and all, to the van.  As they circled the Arc de triomphe trying to figure out how to exit the roundabout they felt like the Griswold’s on a European vacation.

After stopping at a McDonald’s in Paris, the band members heard a familiar sound on the radio; it was the Copper Mountain Band. The band went back to France the following year.

It was a great experience for the group. Betts would like to see the bands’ fan base and tour locations continue to extend beyond American boundaries. They were working on booking a show in China, but the opportunity didn’t quite come to fruition.

As yet, the band hasn’t put much effort in extending their recognition beyond the Northwest. Jacque and Nate have kids to raise and a business to operate.  The other band members don’t have the same restrictions. But there’s no pressure, they continue to have a blast playing area shows.

Shows like the CARD’s Big Sky Bash really motivate the band. Put Copper Mountain Band on a big stage with a raucous crowd and they’ll give a performance that excites.

In April the band got a little younger.  Twenty-one year-old CJ Krager joined Copper Mountain Band as guitarist. Krager had recently moved to Seattle from Kalispell when David reached out to him to gauge his interest in joining the band.  He moved back.  “This is all I do right now,” said Krager.

Norman, on the other hand, is turning 40 soon. He used to dream of playing in front of throngs of fans, but now that it’s happening he can hardly believe it. Playing with his wife and being able to have his kids on the road is better than he could have imagined.

The band could have made it farther down the road to stardom, but so far they’ve sat back and let things unfold. But that could soon change. Securing a management team is the next logical step for the band to take since breaking through to major radio is a goal they all share.

Music can be thrown together in a lot of ways, but for Copper Mountain Band music is life. The band members are comfortable with most pockets and genres of country music, but David thinks fans want a band that plays raw, authentic country music. That’s just what the Copper Mountain Band provides.

“We’ll keep playing until doors start closing,” said David. So far the doors have been swinging open.

The Copper Mountain Band road warriors play at the Memorial Center in Libby on Dec. 26 at 7p.m.