When Nick LaGorga moved to Routt County in 2016, he became infatuated with the live music scene. His first love, he said, was the free concert series each summer, and, after joining the band Acutonic, he was able to play in several of the free shows, opening for the likes of Stephen Marley and Tribal Seeds.

In the years that followed, LaGorga attended countless live shows in Steamboat and worked at both Strings Music Pavilion – as a stagehand and later a stage manager — and at Old Town Pub as a sound engineer, before launching Yampa Valley Entertainment late last year.

Now producing events across the Yampa Valley, LaGorga has created the Hayden Winter Concert at the Granary series, which is taking place in five iterations this winter. The third event in the series will be held on Saturday, March 12, at 5 p.m. It will bring local musicians Pat Waters and Eric Delaney to the stage.

Waters, who has been a staple on the live music scene in Steamboat since he moved to town in 2006, will open the concert with an hour-long set. While he has played – and currently plays – with multiple bands, when performing solo, Waters has an extensive repertoire than spans the 1960s to the present day.

Delaney will follow with his own unique sound, which includes everything from what he calls “rock-n-roll guitar shredding” to more easy-listening folk music with soulful lyrics. Delaney has lived in the Yampa Valley for nearly two decades, and many of his songs are written about the area, he said.

On Saturday, March 26, the fourth concert in the series will bring Carolyn Alexis Berns of the band Apple Pie Order to the stage, accompanied by John Fog. The duo will be followed by Tyree Woods of Buffalo Commons. The winter series will close out on Saturday, April 30, with Adia Clark Lay and the entirety of the band Apple Pie Order.

LaGorga said that the series has been successful in its first year and he is on track to bring a summer series to Hayden as well.

“Since I’ve lived here, I’ve only ever noticed a half-dozen musical performances in Hayden, usually during Hayden Days or the occasional open mic night at the brewery,” LaGorga said. “I am trying to bring musical performances much more often.”

Beginning with once or twice a month, he hopes to ramp that number up to once or twice a week in the summer.

“Yampa Valley Entertainment is redefining the music scene in Hayden,” he said.