The Belly Up Aspen

Balancing folk songwriting, rock ‘n’ roll energy, raw instrumentation, and sonic wanderlust, the Seattle-based musicians comprising Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners—Mitch Cutts, Nic Haughn, and Jakob Ervin—draw inspiration from thefriendship between them. What began as a high school passion project in Colorado Springs has quietly translated to billions of streams and packed crowds.

“We were always friends who hung out and joked around with each other, but music allowed us to connect emotionally and share an outlet,” observes Mitch. “This is a safe place where we can all meet, bring ideas to one another, and create something out of nothing.”

Growing up in Colorado Springs, their friendship preceded the band. Throughout high school, Mitch and Nic participated in as many projects together as possible. They signed up forrandom sports teams, launched YouTube channels, went on hiking trips, shot home movies, and eventually decided to record an album of their own. Their collectivetastesspanned diverse influences, ranging from Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Gregory Alan Isakov, Peach Pit, and Bon Iver toDIIV, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Cage The Elephant, and Portugal the Man. In 2017, the guys cut their self-titled debut, RMCM, recorded in a closet under a staircase at Nic’s house. Even though the members attended separate colleges(with Nic at the Air Force Academy, Mitch studying engineering in Denver, and Jakob going to school in New York and England), they continued to write and record remotely and on breaks.

“Music was going to be a way for us to stay in touch throughout college,” Mitch notes.

Moving the studio to Jakob’s house, Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners unveiled Solstice in 2018 followed by Subliminga year later. In between, Nic, Mitch, and Jakob relocated to Montana where they split their time between day jobs, music, and the ski slopes. Unexpectedly, the one-minute and 27-second intro to “Evergreen” caught fire on TikTok. The outdoor community embraced the trackfirst, while a slew of major co-signs followed. This enthusiasm about the song carried over to DSPs as “Evergreen” has generatedover half a billion Spotify streams and the group has averaged north of 20 millionmonthly listeners on the platform. It notably has cracked the BillboardHot 100, Hot Rock Songs Chart, and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Chart.

From its inception, “Evergreen” always meant a lot to Mitch. “I had done this 300-mile backpack through Colorado when I was 16-years-old, and that’s when I wrote most of the first album,” Mitch recalls. “At that point, the song was about hiking. You’re battling against yourself to keep walking and stepping. It was a cool way to start the album, because you’re looking forward and you have to move your feet. Now, it means stepping into music, making a record with friends, and taking a chance to release it into the world. There’s a lot of power in getting a collective of people together to create something.”

Jakob agrees, “I look at it as a stepping stone to get our feet in the door of the industry, drop everything else, and work on this full-time.”

“Evergreen” knocked down that door once and for all. Among many highlights, “Lake Missoula” also piled up 100 million Spotify streams and counting, while “Wet Socks” and “Subliming” generated tens of millions of streams. They launched their first proper headline tour in 2023, graced the bills of festivals such as Lollapalooza, Under The Big Skyand Hinterland, collaborated with Mt. Joy and Caamp on new versions of Lake Missoula and Evergreen respectively , and remained prolific with “Signal Sender,” “Careful,” “Northstar,’ and “Sierra Vista.” Maintaining this momentum, they cap off 2024 with their biggest tour yet, playing to sold out crowds coast to coast.

No matter what happens next, the friendship and the music go hand-in-hand for Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners.

“We’ve been able to overcome a lot, and the band is a testament to that,” Mitch leaves off. “We started this as kids. Keeping it going through college, jobs, and moving around was a huge accomplishment for us. It’s kind of mind-blowing that we’ve turned this into a career in the last year. For me, it’s symbolic of being able to work together and write honest music with a lot of vulnerability.