River Spell

jam band · folk rock · rock

River Spell is a jam band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2022 along the state's Front Range, whose sound draws on folk, rock, funk, psychedelia and bluegrass and pairs original songwriting with extended improvisation. The band is currently a trio in which all three members sing: Grant Livingston on acoustic guitar, Charlie Milo on bass and Zack Ritchie on drums. Its self-titled debut album was recorded at Evergroove Studios in Evergreen, Colorado with engineer Athena Wilkinson, mixed by Matt Schimelfenig at The Bunk and mastered by Brad Smalling at Evergroove, and released on February 16, 2024; it runs seven tracks and about 38 minutes. The lead single, "Bottom of the Hill," was picked up by Spotify's Modern Jam Band playlist. Alongside the studio record the group self-releases full soundboard recordings through Bandcamp, including sets from The Stage Door in Elko, Nevada and Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery in Santa Fe in 2023 and The Press in Steamboat Springs in March 2025. That practice reflects where the band's identity actually sits: setlists change nightly and songs are opened up rather than reproduced, so no two shows repeat. River Spell tours regionally and nationally out of Colorado and has shared bills with Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth and members of The String Cheese Incident. It has co-headlined the Fox Theatre in Boulder with Bear Hat and played Cervantes' Other Side in Denver on bills with Pert Near Sandstone and Armchair Boogie, two of the rooms that anchor Denver's improvisational and string-band circuit.

Past shows