Tommy and Julie Paxton: Press

Tom said he has played with just about every musician or group in the valley at one time or another since the 1970s, and he played at some of Aspen's great old haunts in the late '70s and early '80s - the old Andre's, Rick's American Cafe, Paddy Bugatti's, Jake's Abbey. . .

The Aspen Community Chorus, under the baton of local composer Ray Adams (Julie was the vocal coach at this point), once cut a record with the late international star, John Denver. The recording, called "Merry Christmas Aspen," has recently been reissued as a CD. . .

Together, Tom and Julie perform duets at weddings and private events, and both continue to give music lessons. The Dickens Carolers, an a cappella singing group that performs at functions and events, has become perhaps the Paxtons' most visible act. From the lighting of the huge Christmas tree at the Sardy House hotel, to the Grand Illumination in Redstone every Thanksgiving weekend, and on the Snowmass Village Mall through the winter months, they sing America's favorite Christmas songs. . .

In the 1990s Tom started using the skills he picked up some 20 years before at a YMCA Camp in Michigan, where, as an outdoor education teacher, he would sing songs, tell stories and call square dances as part of the job. He picked up those skills again as a ski instructor at Buttermilk, he said, and ultimately he and Julie attended a "Spellbinders" training to hone their storytelling abilities. From that association, Tom got a weekly gig entertaining kids around a campfire in Snowmass Village during the winter and summer seasons. He said he also regularly does kids events in Vail and Beaver Creek. "You're not only playing for the kids, you're playing for the parents. It's fun to stimulate a kid's imagination ... to watch their eyes light up."

The work with kids, he said, has spawned his latest project, a CD of children's songs, half of them written by "Tommy Paxton" and all performed by him, a few local kids and some of his local musician friends. The songs are clever, witty and musically astute, and the CD, entitled "S'more Songs," will soon be available on a new website, www.paxtonmusic.com - although the site was under construction as of last week.

And in keeping with his new career, Tom will perform a song from his new CD at next week's "Tellabration" event, put on by Spellbinders, at the Waldorf School near Carbondale.