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Holy Fool

@holyfoolco

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Holy Fool is a nonprofit community devoted to supporting working musicians through generosity, community, and mutual aid.

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Our nonprofit @holyfoolco has given out $41,000 in direct support to Colorado working musicians in 2026! We’re working to raise another $40,000 before the end of year. Join us at the 2026 Holy Fool Gala (Nov 13, 2026 at @fellowshipdnvr) and help us hit our goal. RSVP at holyfoolco dot com

At the Gala you’ll hear live music, encounter powerful stories from Colorado working musicians in our community, and have an opportunity to support our ambitious 2027 goals. Hope you can make it!!

(If you live outside of Colorado or you’re unable to attend the Gala, please consider giving a gift online before Nov 13! Help us hit our goal by giving at give.holyfoolco.com )

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Straight from the horse’s mouth 🐴 well, all of you who filled out our attendee survey. We know you had a great time but did you know HOW great? Did you know there were 3,100 of you? And that you attended 278 sets of live, local music at 48 independent venues and house shows over 4 days? Did you know your tickets and merch and sponsorships paid out $124,000 to Colorado musicians? And a total of $168,000 to artists and Colorado creative businesses? Did you know $25,100 of that was to musicians who played house shows in @bakerhistoricneighborhood with our partner @holyfoolco ? And that doesn’t even count an estimated $188,000 in food and drinks and cool stuff y’all snagged up and down South Broadway?

ALL of you said you had a good time. ALL of you saw at least one new band. 96% of you felt that it was affordable. 93% want to ride again next year. 79% want to be more involved with local music all year.

We had a hard time choosing just a handful of the emotional and heartfelt things you all had to say, but I think you summed it up with “This f*cking rocked.”

YOU did this, you made it happen, you lifted up your scene on the wildest weekend of the year and we sincerely hope you are proud.

We are shining the Bluce saddle for upcoming events and shows and meet-ups! All to empower artists and invite everybody to be a real part of making live, local music year round! 🐴 love y’all very much 🐴 A photo of a crowd in front of a stage with a blue filter on it and white text overlaid that says “3100 festival attendees, 278 sets of live local music, 48 independent venues and baker house shows, 4 incredible days.”

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Howdy! As artists ourselves, we have done a lot of planning for what the musicians and performers will be offered the weekend of the festival and we are proud to announce our artist hospitality partnerships and sponsorships 🐴💙🐴

@vaultairedenver : Exclusive artist lounge, featuring a free gourmet buffet of curry chicken salad and tabbouleh salad by Chef Jamie Rutherford, as well as discounted cocktails and drinks, and a dessert bar of Voodoo Doughnuts (while supplies last), plus the opportunity to bring and play your records on their beautiful hi-fi system.

@chaos_bloom_theater : Exclusive artist lounge, featuring a fully-stocked fridge (wink), pizza from Pie Hole, courtesy of Holy Fool, and more surprises to be announced (did someone say massage therapist).

@trashhawktavern : Hosting an artist party 7/23 6-10PM, BOGO Trash drinks and wells by showing your artist wristband. PBR is also doing a $100 buy, so get there early!

@mchcden : Free entree by showing your artist wristband! Enjoy the concert photography exhibit curated by @lk.konkoli.visuals while you’re there!

@coorsdistributingco : Donating… quite a few… PBRs to our friends at Holy Fool, who will be helping us disperse them throughout the weekend! Don’t worry, you’ll get one!

@yerbamadre : Donating truly so much Yerb! You’ll get one! Also doing free samples outside @awakeningboutique for everybody!

@pieholedenver : Donating a stack of pizzas for artists, with even more pizzas supported by Holy Fool! Find 🍕 in the back of Chaos Bloom!

@flowershopbeerwerks : Local craft brewer making an exclusive Bluce beer and citrus cream soda for the weekend, with artist discounts at Vaultaire! We’ll tell you more about this very exciting collab soon!

@atomiccowboyco : Get a free slice, burger, or chicken sandwich by showing your artist wristband!

@voodoodoughnut : Free doughnuts for artists at Vaultaire!

@holyfoolco : Our amazing artist hospitality nonprofit pardner, whose tireless work and support makes so much of this possible! Shoutout Holy Fool forever and ever amen!

We announce even more artist support pardners soon, as well as food and beverage deals for all wristband holders!

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Live & Local is back! A night of coffee, community, & live music. Event put on by @holyfoolco presenting @ourvioletroom & @hollylovell_ It’s the chance to discover new artists, support the local music scene, & enjoy an evening out in a relaxed, welcoming space. This is a free event with the coffee bar open throughout with drinks available to purchase.

RSVP with the link through our bio
June 12th, 2026
Doors open @ 6pm
Event is from 6:30-8:00pm
Location: Front Porch Coffee Shop

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@bluciferfest hosted a meetup for artists at @scmc_denver_diy Wednesday night with a legendary panel sharing their knowledge, experiences, and inspirations. It was a true pleasure to witness @dirtonair, @brerness, and @heynowdana in conversation with Ben of @holyfoolco. Even as a visual artist, there capturing the night, I left feeling empowered and reinvigorated. I'm incredibly excited for Blucifer's First Rodeo and honored to be a small part of it. I can't wait to party with you all in July!!

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When asked what advice he’d give, Kevin told me, “Be gentle, and say the quiet part out loud... Say things gently. That’s how you help people feel like they can be themselves and also engage with the important stuff.” Playing in smaller spaces has been an intentional choice for Schlereth and his family. “There was something special that happened in a small room with a number of people whose names you might actually learn.“ After doing it for nearly twenty years, those relationships have piled up. What he has learned is worth considering for our cultural moment.

Pour that Chemex. Make our conversation your Saturday read. Link in bio.

#kevinschlereth #theluminaryproject
#audiofeed

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When we first started laying the groundwork for The Luminary Project, a friend suggested we reach out to @kevin_schlereth. He had just hosted an event for him in his living room and mentioned that the conversations they shared, he felt, would resonate with us. He couldn’t have been more right.

Kevin Schlereth is a touring folk-nomad hailing from the Midwest. After an unexpected religious encounter when he was 17 – something he enjoys talking about with hospitable caution – he sensed that he should make music for God. However, he didn’t know anything about God…and he had never played music. Since then, life has been a journey of figuring it out. He has been on tour permanently, or ‘perma-tour’ since 2011. We chatted recently about his experience with the divine, raising a family on the road, and creating safe spaces for people across all spectrums of faith.

“Wherever people are coming from, everyone is bringing some kind of baggage, some lens through which they’re viewing scripture and God,” He shares, “I really hope to just kind of disarm that and present something that makes a person want to look into it themselves, or think, I never thought about it that way.”

You can find the link to our full conversation in the bio.

#theluminaryproject #houseshows
#kevinschlereth #audiofeed

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They say, “Never say never.”

In 2022, I told my wife I would never get into video. Four years later, I’m launching my own production company: Spoken Films.

The pivot was fast. One agency request for an internal marketing piece was all it took—I was hooked. Within two months, I had filmed and launched my first short documentary. A second one followed shortly after.

In that process, I didn’t just stumble into a career; I found a vocation. I realized that every chapter of my life—from the depth of biblical studies to the grit of recovery and the journey of being a foster-adoptive father—had been architectural. These weren’t just personal milestones; they were my preparation to be a storyteller who isn't afraid of the dark, because I’ve seen exactly how the light breaks through.

Real Stories. Redemptive Impact. That is the heartbeat of Spoken Films.

Stories have a unique way of bypassing our defenses. They invite us, with gentleness and beauty, to ask the questions we usually try to ignore. At Spoken Films, we don’t tell you what to think; we give you questions to think upon. We aren't afraid to press into the broken parts of the human experience, because we know the light shines brightest in the dark. No platitudes, no tidy narratives—just a light of hope shone into our raw, lived experience.

If you have a story that needs to be told with beauty and redemptive weight, let’s connect. Spoken Films

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Being part of the @holyfoolco community is a blessing. Lots of musicians and music lovers to encourage and support.

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Ben Sooy is a believer. In music, in community, in the power of one person’s passion to start a revolution.

That’s why the lead singer of @aplaceforowls launched the Holy Fool last year, a nonprofit with a mission to create a network of artists who can lend and leverage the skills, experience and resources of their peers.

Read more about Sooy’s vision for a world where working artists can achieve financial stability at the link in our bio 🔗 ✨

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Great news! Blucifer’s First Rodeo is partnering with Colorado-based nonprofit @holyfoolco 💙🐴💙 We want to make sure all artists who perform at BFR are paid an equitable and generous wage to play. Holy Fool will also be assisting us in organizing hospitality and artist care for all the bands during the weekend of the festival.

Donations made to Blucifer’s First Rodeo via Holy Fool are tax-deductible and 100% of your donation will go directly to supporting working artists. To donate, head to the link in our bio or go to bluciferfest.com/donate 🐎💙🐎

We’re stoked to partner with an organization created by fellow working artists who share our vision of a Denver music community led BY ARTISTS FOR EVERYBODY!

Holy Fool was started by artists and patrons who partner to create a world where working musicians can thrive. Their mission is to provide encouragement, peer coaching, and strategizing ways to help musicians who are not yet financially independent. They lend resources, equipment, and offer micro-grants to musicians in need.

Hit that link in bio for more info or to donate!! A little bit goes a long way.

📸: @lk.konkoli.visuals

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New @holyfoolco Podcast featuring @brosaleigh and @crowdshy!! We discuss the joys of working with a trusted and beloved creative partner, the strengths of the music scene in Salt Lake City, and how being an enthusiast for good music makes the lives of everyone around you better.

We also talked about the thrill of seeing @jennydianelewis in the wild.

@holyfoolco is a Colorado-based nonprofit community of musicians and patrons who hold all things in common. Our mission is to provide encouragement, peer coaching, and strategizing help to musicians who are not yet financially independent. We lend resources, equipment, and micro grants to musicians in need.

On the Holy Fool Podcast, we interview bands, songwriters, patrons, and others doing redemptive work in their music scenes.

You can support Holy Fool at holyfoolco.com

#workingmusician #livemusic #indierock #diymusic

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