Playing the legendary Colorado concert venue Red Rocks last week was a big bucket list item for popular singer-songwriter Ian Munsick, born and raised in Sheridan, Wyoming.
At 6,450 feet above sea level, Red Rocks Amphitheater is a visual spectacle. But the red rock walls rising all around the amphitheater are not only visually stunning, they create superb acoustics as well. That’s made it a coveted place for some of the most famous and influential acts in music history.
The Beatles, U2, Diana Ross, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen have all played Red Rocks. Add Wyoming’s own Ian Munsick to the playbill.
The Colorado amphitheater seats 9,500 or so people, and Munsick sold every seat.
That means he needs a new bucket list, Munsick announced on his Facebook page not long after the concert.
At the top of that new list of big dreams?
Headlining Cheyenne Frontier Days.
“Playing Red Rocks has been a dream come true,” Munsick told fans attending his sold-out Red Rocks Show on June 6. “But my ultimate dream is to headline Cheyenne Frontier Days. It’s where I grew up, and it’s where my heart will always be.”
Munsick has performed at Frontier Days before, just not as a headliner. In 2022, he opened for Parker McCollum, and he told Cowboy State Daily that it was an incredible experience.
“I can only imagine the electricity in the arena if and when the day comes I get to headline that sacred stage,” he said. “There is no state more loyal to her own than Wyoming, and no region more supportive of me and music than the West.
“I’m confident that the grandstands would be full of folks that continue to make my dreams a reality. For the 307!”
Bringing The West To The Rest
Munsick, whose motto is bringing the real West to the rest, has been a rising star since his breakout 2013 hit “Horses Run Faster,” inspired by watching horses running at his parents’ ranch in Sheridan. That single hit gold, highly unusual for an independent release.
Munsick eventually got a record deal with the Warner Music Group in 2020. All of the music he has released under that label has retained Munsick’s authentic Wyoming roots.
Wyoming is first and last when it comes to inspiration for his music, Munsick has told Cowboy State Daily, and he makes regular visits to his parents’ ranch in Sheridan to keep his connection strong.
This year, Munsick also plans to play more often in the West, including an appearance at the Ford Wyoming Center.
The Wyoming connection so impressed Laramie resident Justin Scott, who happened to be at the Red Rocks show to watch friend Chancey Williams open for Munsick ,that he decided to hop on the bandwagon and create a Facebook page devoted to promoting Munsick as a future headliner for CFD.
“I have zero connection with Ian Munsick,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “He just made the statement at the recent concert that I attended.”
Scott said he appreciates Munsick’s passion for Western music.
“When he made the statement about headlining CFD, I thought to myself, ‘He’s earned it. How can I help make that a reality?” Scott said.
In addition to the Facebook page to gather support for Munsick, Scott plans to write letters to the governing body of CFD to encourage them to make Munsick one of the event’s next seven headliners.
Wyoming's own Ian Munsick sold out Red Rocks for a June 6 performance, checking off a bucket-list item for the Sheridan Country-Western star. (Ian Munsick via X) 
With a capacity of 19,000, playing the Cheyenne Frontier Days venue is more than twice as large as the legendary Red Rocks and is the next goal for Wyoming-born star Ian Munsick. (Cheyenne Frontier Days)
CFD Interested, But Noncommittal
Scott started his Munsick fan page on June 18. It already has more than 50 followers.
On the page he notes that the iconic Red Rocks venue seats 9,525 people, and that Munsick easily filled all of those seats.
Cheyenne Frontier Days, meanwhile, has a maximum capacity of 19,000 seats, almost double Red Rocks.
“We can fill those seats!!!” Scott wrote.
Cheyenne Frontier Day’s Executive Director Tom Hirsig doesn’t disagree.
He told Cowboy State Daily that Munsick is already on the Cheyenne Frontier Days radar as a potential headliner and has been for a while now.
His 2022 performance at the festival remains a memorable one, Hirsig said.
“And he put on a really great show,” Hirsig said. “He’s really burst upon the country scene. So, he’s a name that we talk about, and it’s certainly something we’d consider.”
Munsick has been named an artist to watch by the likes of CMT, Spotify and MusicRow, and both his albums, “Coyote Cry” and “White Buffalo,” have been popular and attracted critical acclaim.
The fact that Munsick has never forgotten his Wyoming roots is an edge that most other popular artists don’t have, Hirsig said.
“We love the Wyoming guys,” Hirsig said. “Chancey, he’s played here a lot, not as a headliner, but as an opener, and Wyoming really gets behind these guys.”
Actually booking Munsick for next year, Hirsig said, depends on a lot of variables.
“People think it’s like a menu, that you just say, ‘I want this guy and this guy,” he said.
But a lot depends on the entertainers’ schedules and how well they mesh with Cheyenne Frontier Days, as well as other factors.
“If they’re playing in Boston, Mass., or somewhere on the East Coast, they don’t want to come out here for one show and then go back to the East Coast,” he said. “So, it’s actually a complicated deal. To get seven headliners, we’ll probably put in close to 40 offers.”
That process also starts early, Hirsig added.
“We’re already talking about 2025,” he said. “So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
Contact Renee Jean at renee@cowboystatedaily.com
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
