An old-school Aspen musical reunion | Arts & Entertainment

In the classic song “1999,” Prince sang, “I was dreaming when I wrote this, so sue me if I go too fast. Life is just a party, and parties weren’t meant to last.”

Musicians Randolph Turner and Cameron Williams might take umbrage with Prince’s comment about parties not being meant to last when they front the 10-piece band Home Team Time Machine at Home Team BBQ in the Inn at Aspen on Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. 

The show promises to have revelers partying like it’s 1999 in the Roaring Fork Valley. If you spent any time at the Tippler, Legends, Howlin’ Wolf, Acme, Mountain Dragon, Timber Mill, Grottos or the Double Diamond, then you might want to ignite your flux capacitor and let the Home Team Time Machine take you back to those halcyon days in the ‘90s and early aughts in Aspen at Saturday’s free show at Home Team.

“Music has always been part of the Home Team culture for multiple reasons, mainly because of the community it creates,” Kutcher Miller, owner of Home Team, said. “That’s what these jam sessions with Randolph, Cameron and the boys are all about. For those that stumbled into Aspen decades ago and have managed to hang on and make a life here, these afternoons on the patio take us back to a simpler, more carefree time of our lives. There can be a sense of longing for ‘the old Aspen’ amongst the air of entitlement and pretentiousness that can sometimes cloud our valley and hopefully some live music at the base of Buttermilk allows us to forget that for a minute so we can just listen, laugh and enjoy together. 

“And if you just stumbled into Aspen last week, c’mon over, we’ll always leave the lovelight on for ya!”

Home Team Time Machine is rooted in the musical bond between Turner and Williams, who have been playing music with one another for close to 30 years. 

Williams grew up in Tallahassee, Florida and went to college at Western State in Gunnison. He finished school at Florida State in 1997 before moving out to Aspen in 1998. Turner grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of Georgia before moving to Aspen in 1992. 

Upon arriving in Aspen, Williams immediately began playing solo gigs around town. 

“I kept hearing about this new kid in town named Cameron Williams,” Turner recalled. “When we played together it was like an instant musical brotherhood. Different guys would join us for gigs and we decided to form Jes Grew.” 

Other original members of Jes Grew, which got together in 1998, were Rob “Monkey” Desaro on keyboards, Andrew Simmons on bass and Paul Valentine on drums. 

Williams left the valley in 2000 and started the band Tishamingo, which toured nationally from 2000 to 2008. After Williams departure, Jes Grew continued to play gigs sporadically with a varied set of musicians until 2017 when the band hung it up. 

Jes Grew came out of a five-year hiatus in February 2024 when they played the Bud Light Hi-Fi Concert Series in Wagner Park. Since then, the former members of Jes Grew have played a few gigs with Williams at Home Team and every show has been a gathering of old school locals getting down to one of their favorite old bands. 

Turner and Williams will be joined Saturday by Steven Vidamour, Toby Britt, Rob Dasaro, Galen Gatzke, Kriss Harmony, Ben Yaeger, Mark Yaeger and Chris Lanter. 

Home Team Time Machine plays primarily cover songs by bands like the Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers and more.

“It’s such a great reunion every time we get together,” Turner said. “It’s a great time to catch up with old friends. We’ve had so many great experiences, we also celebrate those who aren’t with us anymore.”