MUSIC IS THE HEART OF BIG SKY
YEARS AGO, PERFORMERS LIKE WILLIE NELSON and the Allman Brothers Band would swing through Big Sky, but those were rare occasions. The short-lived Moonlight MusicFest in 2018 brought artists like Grace Potter, The Wood Brothers, and Bruce Hornsby to the area, but the town didn’t have the venues or support for big acts, and Big Sky wasn’t exactly on the circuit for traveling bands crossing the country. Bozeman, Missoula, or Billings might get a large show, perhaps, but not Big Sky. Back then, the sleepy ski town at the base of Lone Peak all but shuttered come nighttime. It was tough to find a show after dark.
All of that has changed. These days, Big Sky is quietly becoming one of the Intermountain West’s most sought-after musical destinations. Visitors coming to Big Sky for the skiing, biking, or hiking in Yellowstone National Park can now stick around for an arts and music scene they didn’t expect to find. Artists like Dierks Bentley, Wyatt Flores, Maren Morris, Caamp, Lukas Nelson, the Foo Fighters, Trampled by Turtles, and Brandi Carlile have frequented Big Sky. Increasingly, guests and locals are treated to year-round musical offerings from celebrated national bands and a rising sea of local musicians.
From large-scale, multi-day festivals to free, family-friendly outdoor concerts to late- night bar venues across town, Big Sky’s musical offerings continue to grow and give people a reason to tune in. And this is only the beginning.
THE VISIONARY - THAD BEATY
It’s not that there wasn’t music musical future of Big Sky. in Big Sky before Thad Beaty showed up, but he sure tied it all together nicely. Beaty, a music industry staple and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, was hired as the music and entertainment manager for Big Sky’s Lone Mountain Land Company in January 2024.
He and his wife, the talented bassist and vocalist Annie Clements (the duo met while playing for the country band, Sugarland) first came to Big Sky to help the recently opened Montage Resort launch a music component to add to the guest experience.“We’ve played thousands of venues and our first time playing in Big Sky just felt like coming home. It had a different feel,” Beaty says. “There’s an appetite here for music that’s unlike any place we’ve ever been.” The couple moved to Big Sky full time and are raising their two young children here. Clements, fresh off the road touring for eight years with Grammy Award-winning country artist Maren Morris, rejoined Sugarland for their tour this last fall.
Beaty’s role with Lone Mountain Land Company is to develop musical venues around town, help bring in big-name acts, and tohelp ensure events are scheduled in such a way to best serve the local audience, because having multiple concerts scheduled on the same night doesn’t do anyone any good. But stack them one after the other, as Beaty is helping to coordinate, and suddenly, you have a proper events calendar.
Building new venues and enhancing the ones that already exist is a top priority. “If you just have a guy in the corner playing a guitar, people walk right by,” he says. “But put him on a stage, even a small one with intentional lighting, and people realize this is an artist. We need to support local musicians in this way.”
Beaty sees a future where Big Sky is synonymous with music. “I’d love to see us become a creative hub, an Austin or Nashville of the Rockies where artists can come and not just perform but create,” he says. “My long-term goal is that any night of the week, you might see an incredible musician in a small place you never expected.”
WHERE THE SONGWRITERS WRITE
At Lone Mountain Ranch, you could catch live music inside the Horn & Cantle Saloon or outside at the covered Ranch Hall for years. But today, in addition to live music, the ranch plays host to a new side of the musical experience: the songwriting process.
Recently, Beaty facilitated a partnership between the ranch and Creative Nation, a Nashville-based publisher and music management agency, to host songwriters and musicians for writer’s retreats—giving them a place to come up with new music in a stunning alpine setting surrounded by wilderness. Last May, as part of the four-day Songs from the Sky event founded by Beaty and Lone Mountain Land Company, guests were invited to the ranch and venues around town to listen in on some of the nation’s best country, folk, and Americana songwriters as they shared new work—and the inspiration behind those songs. The songwriters included Mark Holman, Lori McKenna, Travis Wood, Steve Moakler, and Barry Dean. Country star Jordan Davis also spent four days at Lone Mountain Ranch this year, working on new music that he later shared with a small audience. His hit song “I Ain’t Sayin’” was recorded in Big Sky and is now climbing the top 30 charts.
When you ask songwriters how they come up with ideas for songs, they’ll often say, “I pulled it out of thin air. And with an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet above sea level, Big Sky has got plenty of that!”
BIG ACTS, SMALL TOWN
The Wildlands Festival got its start at Montana State University in Bozeman in 2018. It took a hiatus during COVID, but in 2022, Wildlands returned, this time bringing its festival to the rodeo grounds in Big Sky’s Town Center. Every August, this two-night concert includes headliners like Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Dierks Bentley, Lukas Nelson, and big acts like the Foo Fighters. The Wildlands Festival is produced by Outlaw Partners and raises awareness for a handful of local and regional organizations conserving wild and open spaces.
SETTING THE STAGE - NEW AND IMPROVED MUSIC VENUES CONTINUE TO BE DEVELOPED AROUND TOWN.
The list of venues at which to catch live music around Big Sky continues to grow. The stage at Tips Up got a major sound system renovation last May, offering much-improved acoustics. And a new outdoor stage in Town Center, where musicians play at the farmer’s market on Wednesday evenings all summer long, debuted in the summer of 2024.
Block 3 Kitchen & Bar, the popular steakhouse in Town Center, didn’t have a music venue until last December, when a new stage was installed for live performances. Listen to W.C. Huntley play guitar while you’re sitting in Block 3’s private dining room and the music sounds like how Montana feels: wild and full of heart. The master plan for Big Sky has additional music venues on the map. Plans are in the works to build an event lawn in Town Center that could host free concerts as well as ticketed shows.
EMERGING ARTIST - AMANDA STEWART
Amanda Stewart is a fourth generation Montanan and spending time on her grandparents' ranch is inspiration for much of her original music. Stewart released her first album, “Miss American Lie,” in 2022, and her second album, “Venom,” the following year. She’s opened for major performers like Tyler Childers, Jordan Davis, and Brett Dennen, but these days, you’ll mostly find her playing solo at the Montage Big Sky or as a member of the trio the Tuesday Night Rodeo Club alongside Beaty and his wife Annie. The trio earned its name because they play after-hours shows after the rodeo at Lone Mountain Ranch.
EMERGING ARTIST - BUFFALO BURROWS
Andy Burrows plays under the name Buffalo Burrows, with a gritty country sound that’s all the buzz right now. He recorded his debut album, “All the Cowboys Are Dead,” in a bedroom in Big Sky. That album came out in the fall of 2024. His newest music video, “Roll Those Bones,” was shot at a snowy log cabin on the outskirts of Cameron, Montana. He plays at the Drunken Monk and the Waypoint regularly, and he opened for the Wood Brothers at Music in the Mountains last summer. You don’t want to miss his nuevo-cowboy vibe.
MUSIC FOR EVERYONE
When you show up on a Thursday evening in Big Sky’s Town Center mid-summer, you will see just how much this community appreciates good local music. Hundreds of people sway and dance in unison as the sun sets behind Lone Peak. Welcome to Music in the Mountains, a free weekly show at Len Hill Park put on by the Arts Council of Big Sky for the past decade. These no-cost, family-friendly shows are held from June through September and bring in names like the Wood Brothers, Jeff Crosby, and The Lil Smokies, as well as more up-and-coming artists.
APRÈS SKI-ELEVATED
Seven days a week all winter long, you can hear live music at the base of the slopes at Big Sky Resort. From midweek après-ski bands at Montana Jack to weekend DJ-fueled dance parties outside in the main plaza next to Westward Social, music and skiing go hand in hand. New this winter, a Songwriter’s Series at Chet’s Bar inside the Huntley Lodge will bring audiences into the songwriting process.
FIND YOUR NEXT SHOW
Until recently, if you wanted to know where and when to hear live music in Big Sky, you had to do a comprehensive search of various event calendars, newspaper listings, and websites—or just rely on spotty word of mouth. But starting last summer, the Big Sky music calendar made that process a lot easier. Now, one single community-wide calendar lists where you can find the next show at a wide range of venues across town. Find everything you need at bigsky.com/music.
YOUR LOCAL VINYL SHOP
Want to bring the music home? Montana Supply Co., next to Cowboy Coffee in Town Center, recently started carrying records. It’s a small but curated vinyl collection of recent albums from bands with Montana roots or from musicians who’ve recently played in the area. Currently, you can pick up “Feral,” the new album from local metal band Scavenger, as well as “Isle of Forgotten Dreams” by Hula Hi-Fi.
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