David Devitt at Bucksnort Saloon, Sphinx Park (August 21, 2025)

The Bucksnort Saloon in Sphinx Park, CO is an off-the-beaten-path legendary establishment up in the mountains off of 285 between Conifer and Bailey. Unless you were one of the 50?, 100? People who lived on Elk Creek Rd, you’d have no reason other than Bucksnort to take the ~6 miles from 285. The Bucksnort under new ownership as of 2018, couldn’t quite recover from the impact of COVID and without announcement, closed the saloon in 2022.

Luckily, for all of us, the right person bought it in November 2023, spent his time, blood, swear, tears, and probably quite a bit of cash to bring the building up to code. To the delight of folks around the world (yes, the world), the Bucksnort re-opened on July 10^th 2025. As one who has enjoyed the quaint charm of the mountain gem over the decades, it didn’t seem like a single thing has changed in the 20 years since I’d last been.

Until a gentleman, I later learned is David Devitt (a photographer by trade), picked up a guitar, sat in front of the fireplace and started picking away. I’ve heard enough people playing guitar at various eating/drinking establishments to recognize talent. I had my back to Dave so didn’t immediately pay attention to his playing but three-fourths of the way through the first song, I ignored my lunch companions and gave him my attention.

Dave looks exactly like one version of what would expect a (nearly) 71-year-old bluegrass guitarist to look like. Take a look at the picture below and tell me you disagree. He made complicated fingering and plucking look easy, which, I guess, comes with 60 years of playing. As he described it to me, he plays with his Unitarian Church band down in Westminster and plays in coffee shops, restaurants, and bars around the Denver area.

We were enjoying his debut at the Bucksnort. He is friends with the owner who asked if he wanted to come up on a Thursday at 1:00 to “noodle around” on the guitar during the lunch rush. There were maybe twenty people there for the hour he played but the applause after each song sounded like twenty-five.

His set was a mix of his own songs, he has his own CD, which I bought, and Folk/Bluegrass classics. Based on my conversation with Dave, after his set, of his own songs he played “Captains of Industry”, “Even Kumquats Get the Blues”, “Toad in G Minor”, and “Work in Progress”. In addition, he played songs from Minnesota legends Bob Dylan, made famous by Timothée Chalamet’s performance in a recent movie about Bob Dylan, and Leo Kottke, as well as, Bruce Cockburn, and Andy Partridge. This was one of those chance encounters with music that is equal parts unexpected and amazing. I’m listening to his CD as I write this and am blown away again by Dave’s talent. Keep on sharing your gifts!