Minturn Duo Manmaker Headlines First Friday After Golf Cart Discovery

Aspen —Will Minturn’s First Friday party actually deliver a crowd-pleasing show?

Yes. And it will be loud for two people.

Dan Purtell of Rocky Mountain Taco booked the local duo Manmaker to headline Minturn’s First Friday event. He didn’t pick them because they were famous. He picked them because he heard them from a golf cart at 14 miles per hour.

Purtell was driving to a residency at Kirby Cosmos when he heard Manmaker cover Wanda Jackson’s “Funnel of Love.” He sped up his cart to get a better listen.

“That’s just not a song you hear covered,” Purtell told the Vail Daily. “I started flooring my golf cart to get there and hear it better, I think I got her up to 14 MPH.”

He wasn’t the only one impressed. Purtell noticed local musicians in the crowd, not just fans. When half the audience is there to critique the performance, the band has earned its spot.

Manmaker consists of Jacob Whisman on vocals and guitar and Steve Matkin on drums. They met a few years ago after knowing each other for a while. The chemistry was immediate.

“Most of our songs started coming from us just out talking and laughing,” Matkin said. “From our natural camaraderie.”

Whisman is self-taught on guitar. He started in grade school and had more than 10 years of experience by his teenage years. He traveled the country playing shows before returning to Eagle County. He and Matkin linked up, played the Minturn Hometown Throwdown, and decided to stay.

“We both love Minturn,” Whisman said. “We’ve played outside of Minturn of course but it seems to be the most welcoming and accepting for the stuff that we’re doing.”

They considered adding members. They decided against it. Two is enough.

Scotty Kabel will open for Manmaker. Purtell chose him because Kabel uses looping technology effectively in small spaces. The two acts will also play a brief transition set together.

Whisman plays a semi-hollow body guitar to add low-end frequencies. He runs his gear through specific pedals to fill out the sound spectrum. This setup allows a two-piece band to project volume and texture that usually requires a full lineup.

Purtell believes Manmaker is “something special.” He cites their original songs and unique cover selections.

The band’s residency at Kirby Cosmos proved they can hold a room. First Friday will test if they can do it for a larger, mixed audience.

Make no mistake: this is not a background music event. It is a full-band experience from two people with a lot of volume and zero filler.

The short version: you can hear a Wanda Jackson cover from a golf cart a block away. That is the sound of a band that knows what it is doing.

Read that again. Two people. One guitar. One drum kit. Pedals to fill the gaps.

Purtell is excited about the lineup. Whisman and Matkin are comfortable in Minturn’s scene. Kabel brings technical precision to the opening set.

The event is a local showcase, not a touring stop. The band chose to stay in the valley because it accepts their style. That acceptance is now on display for the whole town.

No press release hype. No corporate sponsorship logos plastered across the stage. Just two musicians and a loop machine in a small venue.

If you want to know if they are good, go listen. If you don’t like what you hear, walk out. But you will have heard something distinct.

The Vail Daily reported on the booking and the band’s background. Purtell made the call to feature them based on what he heard from his golf cart.

The ball is in your court.