The challenges of being a teenage musician are the same now as they have been for decades – most venues have little interest in performers whose members and friends are too young to buy drinks, events tend to be run by adult professionals who are less than entertained by youthful passion that might outsize talent, lots of teens just don’t have the money to afford professional equipment and spaces. So lots of shows for young bands tend to be in fly by night style – at backyard parties and such – which might be fun, but aren’t the most sustainable or safe model.
Truckee’s Aspen Collective formed as a direct response there being no ‘for the kids, by the kids’ spaces in the tourist town. The collective, founded and run by Leo Murrell and Eliot Lowe – themselves two teens headed into their senior year of high school – has organized to put on events from local bands at venues throughout the Truckee and north Lake Tahoe area.
“I always explain it to people that in every 80s movie all the high school kids go some place after school, whether that’s the movie theater or the mall or the arcade or whatever. I tried to think of something in Truckee that matches that sort of vibe and doesn’t cost money to sit there, and there’s nothing,” says Lowe. “And the music scene in Truckee is all targeted at much older people. It’s always centered around alcohol. I feel that that really creates an unhealthy community here and a lack of cool spaces for kids to be that aren’t substance-related.”
In July of 2023, Lowe and Murrell had an idea of putting on fun and inclusive shows at friendly spaces aimed at their peers. By the following month, they were renting out the Community Arts Center in town to put on their first event, a show with local bands and vendors.
“I went bone dry with my savings account,” Lowe said of coming up with the money to make the show happen.
“We had no idea what we were doing,” Murrell laughed. “We figured we’d get maybe 20 people, and half of those would be our parents. But the community really pulled up and we ended up hosting around 75 to 80 people at our first event.”
Lowe grew up with musician parents and began going to show’s at The Holland Project in Reno, which demonstrated the model for a successful youth oriented and inclusive music and arts space where positivity and a sense of community are the vibe.
Murrell also mentions witnessing the need for Truckee to offer the school aged crowd something for those whose interests are outside of sports.
“There are always sports or summer camps, but as you get older there’s really no third space outside of school. You have your house and school, but usually neither of those places are super great when you’re a teenager, so a lot of times kids end up in the woods with some kind of drugs or copious amounts of alcohol,” Murrell explains. “One of the main things we try to promote with our events is just being a safe sober space.”
The pair explain their emphasis on keeping their events affordable, with shows always having a door price of $15 or less, and merch usually being printed on upcycled clothes and materials. In addition, the collective is rounded out a growing group of volunteers, who get together for creative meet ups outside of the collective’s concerts.
“We’re creating an outlet for kids that want to be connected and aren’t necessarily super into the sports world,” says Lowe.
“Everyone is welcome, of course,” Murrell says of the groups efforts, “but teenagers are the ones that thrive off of this space and the ones that really need it the most.”
The group recognizes that while there have been efforts by adults and established venues to target programming toward teens, there does seem to be an irreplaceable authenticity to the events being brainstormed, organized and put on by teens themselves.
Murrell describes the events getting bigger in size as the Aspen Collective learns and develops a little more with each passing event.
“Keeping it all teen managed, it gives a lot of empowerment to the people that are a part of it and are behind the scenes. It’s really inspiring to see people that want to be a part of this, and that it just keeps growing is really cool to see.”
The pair admits that finding venues is amongst their biggest challenges. For now they are renting different public spaces in the area, though they mention that the goal is to eventually get a semi permanent venue space and make it a hub for people to gather at.
The other challenge is the stigma they think might be creating a barrier from others checking out their events.
“I don’t know if it’s a fear of the unknown or if it’s intimidation, there are a lot of kids at our school and other schools in the area that would really love what we’re doing,” says Lowe.
“It takes a lot of pieces but you kinda just gotta do it at the same time and it works,” Murrell says of the Aspen Collective’s momentum. At one year old, the collective is aiming to bring the frequency of their events to a monthly basis, and to increasingly be able to offer a positive and fun environment for teens in the Truckee and North Lake Tahoe areas.
“It might not be your type of music,” Murrell says, “but it’s the most supportive scene of people. Everybody’s there just connecting over the fact that they all love music and expressing themselves authentically, and that’s the energy that we’re trying to create!”
To stay updated or get involved with The Aspen Collective, visit their Instagram at @theaspencollective_truckee or reach out to the collective directly via TheAspenCollective@gmail.com
