Denver — Swallow Hill favorite and Zen Cowboy Chuck Pyle returns to the Swallow Hill stage on Saturday, January 19 in his signature custom white cowboy hat and masterful finger picking guitar skills that have garnered teaching invitations to the prestigious Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and the Swannanoa Gathering. With a career spanning more than 40 years, he is known for his groundbreaking guitar work and infectious, meticulously well crafted songs filled with intelligent lyrics of true-to-life imagery and humor. Between songs, audiences are treated to his flair for words incorporating humorous stage banter, cowboy poetry, and quotations of everything from bumper stickers to proverbs.

It comes as no surprise that Pyles' songs have been recorded by such well-known musicians as John Denver, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Suzy Bogguss, Chris LeDoux and Jerry Jeff Walker just to name a few. Eugene Weekly proclaims, "Vivid landscapes flow from Pyle's pen with grown up themes of the New West …[his] big campfire smoked voice and solid guitar work anchor the song … its really quite impressive how full the orchestration sounds with only Pyle’s voice and guitar." His music has made him a favorite of Bill & Melinda Gates, who have had him play at their home in Seattle. Since writing the theme song for a PBS series called Spirit of Colorado, he's attained local fame, and even sings for the opening session of the Colorado State Legislature. An excellent recording artist, he has just released his 10th CD, Higher Ground - Songs of Colorado.

Up-and-coming country duo Jed & Kelley, originally from Memphis, will open for Pyle. On tour throughTexas and the Southwest, they have been generating a lot of positive buzz and building a loyal following.