Gary Hall doesn’t mind saying he’s a pretty hot guitar player. “Music’s been in my blood since my dad woke us up to watch The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964,” Hall said last week as he walked to Estes Park’s Rock Cut Brewery, where he was playing in an acoustic folk trio. “Being in a small town, I get to play a fair amount.
When I was in IT, I played 110 or 120 nights per year. Now it’s more like 20 to 25 per year.” That’s party because of his busy new schedule as mayor of Estes Park.
Like former Denver mayor and current U.S. Sen.
John Hickenlooper, Hall projects a personality somewhere between crunchy-granola and business leader. He’s long filled his emotional cup by performing with his Grateful Dead cover band — currently titled Buster and the Boomers — and other acts, as well as hiking fourteeners with his wife (last weekend: Mt. Columbia).
Between 2004 and 2012, he and his wife summited every 14er in the state, he said, which informs his environmental advocacy. But lately he’s also handing out taffy and branded tote bags to people stuck in Estes Park’s infamous traffic, and meeting with nearly every citizen and group who desires his attention. It’s part of his drive to be open, accountable and pragmatic about fixing the town’s problems.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges with the police department, construction and many, many other things that have led to a lot of volatility in town,” Hall said. “I think I can bring a calming influenc.