Vail Musician James Carstensen Dies After Choosing Hospice Care

Grand Junction —James Allen Carstensen died on June 23, 2026. He was in St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, a facility founded by the Sisters of Charity that he chose for its compassionate care. The Vail Daily reported that he was surrounded by his family, specifically his two sons Shawn and Will, along with his sister-in-law Peg and brother Don. Carstensen had elected to enter hospice care, a decision the obituary described as him being "ready to meet his maker."

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 5, 1949, to Hans and Ida Carstensen, Carstensen grew up at the intersection of 34th Street and Thurston Avenue. The obituary notes a specific detail about that address: it was a dead-end street, but "not for Jim."

His early life in Milwaukee established his identity as a multi-talented performer. He was a three-year starter in basketball at Custer High School and the only unanimous selection to the Milwaukee Public School 1967 All Conference Team. He also played tennis and golf, but it was his relationship with music that defined his professional trajectory. It began with a ukulele gifted by his sister Betty. Carstensen taught himself to play and eventually transitioned to guitar, a skill he later monetized by teaching at The Guitar Shop LTD on Milwaukee’s eastside.

That shop, owned by John Ver Haagh, served as the launchpad for a career that spanned six decades. Carstensen’s work included seven studio recordings, produced across the technological shifts from vinyl to cassette tape to CD. The Vail Daily noted that his recordings were made at the Dr. Black studio, a detail that anchors his later career in specific local infrastructure.

His musical partnerships were long-standing and geographically diverse. Mark Bews and Bob Schwartz were part of his first recording 46 years ago and remained collaborators on every subsequent project. In Milwaukee, he formed the duo "Allen and Aubrey" with Custer High School friend Jim Aubrey Schultz, performing to great reviews.

The move to the Vail area introduced new collaborations that defined his Western Slope years. He performed with Nick Steingart under the name "The Flask Brothers," a moniker derived from their shared Wisconsin roots. The obituary highlights Steingart’s role as a close friend who was "boots on the ground," checking in regularly. Carstensen also connected with Willie McDonald, a musician with a bluegrass pedigree.

Beyond music, Carstensen was an avid year-round fisherman. He documented this passion in songs like "Hard Water Fishing" and "Fishing Song," the latter of which received exposure on a local sports TV broadcast in Iowa City. The obituary describes fishing as both a respite from daily pressures and a competitive challenge, noting his determination to "never return to the pier empty handed," even if he occasionally caught and released.

Carstensen’s life moved from the dead-end streets of Milwaukee to the studios and stages of Spokane, Old Town in Chicago, and finally Colorado. His death in Grand Junction closes a chapter that included decades of performance, teaching, and collaboration across the country. The Vail Daily’s obituary frames his final days as a conscious choice, with Carstensen comfortable in the decision to enter hospice and ready for what came next.