Colby Acuff Headlines Aspen Belly Up With Handmade Horsepower Tour

Aspen —The sun dips below the Maroon Bells, casting long shadows across the cobblestones of downtown Aspen. The air is crisp, carrying the faint scent of pine and woodsmoke from a dozen fireplaces. On S. Galena Street, the neon glow of Belly Up spills onto the sidewalk as locals and visitors alike push through the doors. Inside, the bass is already thumping.

Colby Acuff is back in town. But this time, he’s not opening for someone else.

He takes the headliner slot at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, bringing his “Handmade Horsepower Tour” to the stage at 450 S. Galena St. The Aspen Times reported that Acuff previously opened for Charles Wesley Godwin here in Sept. 2023, but the dynamic has shifted. He’s now selling out rooms on his own merit, a significant jump for an artist who started by independently going viral with “If I Were the Devil.”

Let’s do the math on his rise. That 2020 single reportedly garnered more than six million streams in its first six months of 2021. That viral moment, as Acuff told the Times, was his “aha” that music could be a career. Since then, he’s written seven albums in six years. He plans to accelerate that pace to two albums next year.

The new record, released in June, marks a tonal shift. Acuff described the band as “modern-day outlaw country,” noting they are “just six dudes up there playing music the way it’s supposed to be.” No tracks. No artificial intelligence. The word “Handmade” in the tour title is a direct signal that the music was crafted by humans, while “Horsepower” nods to the album’s higher-energy, electric sound. He wrote the entire project in two months and locked it down with producer Eddie Spear in just six days of studio time.

It’s a stark contrast to his earlier acoustic work, but the themes remain grounded in what he calls “everyday misfits.” The album touches on his relationship with Nashville and the music industry, a city he moved to in 2023 after spending years as a fly-fishing guide and fifth-generation Idahoan. He’s performed at the Grand Ole Opry, toured with Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson, and released major-label records with Sony Music Nashville before opting for an independent release on his latest effort.

For the folks in the valley, the logistics are straightforward. The show is all-ages, but anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian. Tickets are available through bellyupaspen.com/events/colby-acuff.

The practical bottom line: you’re paying for a two-hour, high-octane set from an artist who is betting on raw energy over polished production. If you value live instrumentation and a band that plays without backing tracks, the ticket price buys you exactly that. If you’re expecting the stripped-back acoustic version of his earlier work, this isn’t it. This is horsepower.