Catching up with Alan Duty and the Lost Rangers
Six years ago, Steamboat high schoolers Alan Duty, Ryan Hoffman and Darren Halik were just a bunch of students jamming and hanging out. Now they’re recording music with their band Alan Duty and the Lost Rangers, moving on from underage shows at Schmiggity’s to gigs at The Press, Old Town Pub, and, most recently, opening for Howelsen Hill’s Free Summer Concert series. “It’s snowballed,” Duty says, adding that playing the free concert series was awesome. “We all grew up going there, so it was pretty amazing.”
After high school, the musicians all went off to separate colleges, but kept writing songs and playing remotely and together whenever they could. At Auburn, Duty picked up bass player Drew Turnipseed to join the band. And they’ve all stayed together enough to keep the band going. Somehow, it’s worked. When Duty and Turnipseed started working on new song “Cross Country Love” in Auburn together but couldn’t figure it out, the band got back together in Steamboat for a show at Old Town Pub and the song came together. In 2024, they recorded their first album “Nicotine and Daydreams,” featuring nine songs and a mix of southern rock, jam band, and acoustic folk. “Everyone has different inspirations,” Duty says. “We’re working different jobs and going to different colleges, and we’ve brought our experiences together and found common ground.”
Duty credits musicians like Cory Morrow and Pat Green for helping the band get their foot in the door. Sharing mutual friends in Texas, Duty met Green in 2019, forming a bond when Green and his family started traveling to Steamboat more often. “One night we ended up playing guitar together and he liked some of the songs that I had written,” Duty says. That’s how Duty ended up on stage with Green during Texas Music Fest, performing Green’s song “Wave on Wave” with him – the pinnacle of Duty’s music career to date. But he knows there’s more to come. While the band members have graduated from college now and secured their first jobs, they’re still setting their sights on album number two. “We hope to get settled and continue playing as much as possible because we love it,” Duty says. “It all comes down to playing, trying to get your foot in the door, being respectful, and not giving up.”
