Vail Valley’s ‘Piano Man’

It’s your first visit to Vail and you’ve spent a glorious day playing among the peaks. In the evening, you’re in the mood for live music in the Valley. You’ve heard about a legendary “Piano Man” who performs at Vista in Arrowhead. You check him out, and you’re hooked forever. That magic has sparked and sustained Micky Poage fans for several generations.

Poage’s first Vail visit was spring 1976. Age 19 and a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, he frequently played at the Golden Bee at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, which managed The Lodge at Vail. He played at The Lodge for Easter week, then a summer booking. An avid dirt biker (and emerging skier), he got hooked — on Vail. He moved up permanently after graduating, declining an invitation from Sammy Cahn to launch his career in New York as a composer and arranger.

“I think I was destined to be a musician at birth,” Poage reminisces. “It all just evolved. Typical boy, I wanted to play sports, but I was a lot better at music.” He was born in Lincoln, Kansas where he first plunked piano melodies. At age 5, his family moved to Colorado Springs.

Photo by Parker Poage

“I was taught by serious ‘old school’ piano teachers,” Poage shares. “My Russian teacher hit my hands with a ruler when I made a mistake. Fortunately, I learned quickly, which cut down the time I had to spend on scales, arpeggios and exercises for technique. It took coaxing and borderline propaganda from my parents to keep up daily conventional practice. However, improvising popular music arrangements and composing my own pieces was always intoxicating.”

Growing up, Poage was as much a drummer and percussionist as he was a pianist. “I even played the French horn,” he adds, “played drums for my high school jazz band and marimba for another group. Being a drummer back in the day is probably why I focused on developing technique in my left hand as a pianist. Needed rhythm going or the music sounded empty and lifeless.”

His first steady job was weekends with a restaurant jazz trio, learning old “standards” from the guitarist who hired him. Then on to The Broadmoor and to Vail.

The Lodge’s piano bar featuring Poage became a hot entertainment spot. After time, they renamed it “Mickey’s” (with a different spelling), to surprise him upon returning one summer from Australia. “I think it was like no other place in the world,” says Poage. “People wanted the grandiose arrangements I was known for. I was exhausted after every night … napkins piled up on the music rack with written requests. I’d play a concert to a packed, attentive crowd and minutes later, lead a wild sing-along.” His most memorable performances include “the last night of Mickey’s, for sure,” Poage shares. “I really cherish that one.”

Poage has played multiple unique venues. Hearst Castle in California was “one of the most special and unusual.” Concerts at Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra included his original compositions. He performed “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Colorado Symphony. He entertained aboard the Orient Express in Europe. “Not my kind of playing venue,” he quips, “but an incredible experience. Old train. Nice piano they kept in pretty good tune considering all the linking, shaking and bumping.”

Like any accomplished musician, Poage has favorite artists. He liked Chick Corea growing up, also Keith Emerson, Oscar Peterson, Dave Grusin, Liberace, Roger Williams, Floyd Cramer, Buddy Rich and Elton John. “Having a truly eclectic taste in music puts a lot of musicians into play,” Poage says. “I was also influenced by classic rock and pop groups.”