The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Young people generally come and go in ski towns and the scene has a short memory. The band Mountain of Venus, which formed in Steamboat Springs, experiences that phenomenon first hand when it comes back to the valley to play.

"We aren't getting any younger, but the kids all seem to stay the same age," lead singer Tanya Shylock said about returning to play in Steamboat.

The band plays a show tonight at the Old Town Pub. Shylock said each time it returns, the musicians know fewer people in town and fewer people know of the band.

But make no mistake, Mountain of Venus is a Steamboat band.

The band's original members include Shylock, Jody Cohen on vocals and guitar, Dave Gesualdo on bass and Michael Pascale on guitar. All lived in the Yampa Valley for at least four years before forming the group in 1999.

Before that, Pascale played in the popular local band Mud Funk with pianist Mark Johnston. Gesualdo was in the band Duck Butter, also a fairly prolific local group a few years ago.

But shortly after Mountain of Venus formed, the group moved to Boston to break into a more national music scene.

"It was definitely a cultural shock when we moved to the city from where the Routt National Forest was our backyard," Shylock said.

Mountain of Venus has gained notoriety since relocating to Boston.

The band recently became a fixture at the House of Blues in nearby Cambridge, Mass. and tours the country, playing 200-plus dates a year.

The musicians, along with newly added drummer Mike Garrett, have a growing reputation for being powerful live performers and received a positive mention in Relix magazine for their unique jam rock and roll style.

Now Mountain of Venus is in the process of moving again, hoping to escape the high rent of Boston so the band members can afford to stay on the road while maintaining a home base. The musicians will now call Fayetteville, Ark. home.

But no matter where they go, Shylock said the band remembers its roots.

"We are very proud of saying that we are from Steamboat," she said, even if there are fewer and fewer locals who remember the band.

While awareness in the band may have dropped off in Steamboat, band members said while touring they frequently run into former Steamboat residents who remember the band.

"All of a sudden, someone will show up in like High Point, North Carolina," Pascale said. "That actually happens a lot."

Mountain of Venus will perform at 9:30 p.m. tonight at the Old Town Pub.