+++Help Us Turn Back the Clock If you have vintage Black Rose items such as old newsletters, tee shirts, posters, photos, videos, or written stories, we’d love to hear from you here+++

History

The Black Rose has a rich, musical history in the Pikes Peak area. It all began on April 8, 1994, when Charlie Hall, Hope Grietzer (then Kressner,) and Murry Stewart gathered a group of like-minded, local musicians at the Black Forest Community Center to make music together. The “Black Forest Music Society” was born that evening. With historical input from Murry Stewart and his brother Bill, the name was changed to “The Black Rose Acoustic Society” a few weeks later.

From this humble beginning, the Rose has grown to become the home of handmade acoustic music in the Pikes Peak Region over its award-winning, 30-year history.

Founders Radio Interview Video

Colorado Springs radio station KCME-FM interviewed TBRAS founders Hope Greitzer and Charlie Hall in 1999. Check out the beginnings of the Black Rose as told by the founders themselves.

Newsletters

There’s no better record of our history than our newsletters, postcards, and other event publications. First published in 1994 as a single-page flyer, our newsletters evolved into multi-page “newspapers,” full-color postcards, and finally, twice-monthly email blasts to get our message out to the world.

View and download examples of our early newsletters and postcards on our Newsletter History page. Also, do subscribe to the email blasts that replaced them, so you’re up to date with all our goings-on.

Leadership History

The Black Rose is what it is today, because of the dedication, energy, and time donated by hundreds of volunteers through the years. There are far too many leadership roles to list, but the major ones are outlined in our Leadership History documents, along with the good folks who have captained them through the years. We hope this offers some acknowledgement and a hearty “Thanks” to all the folks who have made us what we are. Thanks, volunteers!

Branding

Our logo evolved along with our newsletters and other collateral. It served as our masthead through the years, and it’s become a symbol for acoustic music in our area. (Ginni Francis designed the versions from 2000 on, including our current one.)

Our stage banner evolved from a quilted, muslin one created in the late 1990s (designed by Hope Grietzer and Alex Carr, and sewn by Marcia Hall,) to the colorful one that dresses our stage to this day. (Our new banner was handcrafted and donated by volunteer Maria Swalley in 2014.)

Vintage Videos

We started regularly recording and posting video of our events in 2014, but many of our performers captured the fun much closer to the beginning. For a fascinating peek into those vintage shows, check out the Artist-Posted Videos playlist at the bottom of our YouTube channel home page. (Many thanks to Mike Carr and Hope Grietzer for posting much of this early material.)

You’ll also find other playlists containing over 1200 videos of our shows since 2014, and don’t forget to Like any videos you watch and to Subscribe to the channel! It costs you nothing, and it really helps us out.

10th-Anniversary Scrapbook

For a glimpse into the evolution of the organization and the many volunteers who made it happen in our first decade, check out our 10th Anniversary Scrapbook. It covers the early years of the Rose up until around 2004. (Author unknown)

Awards Through the years

The Colorado Springs community voted us the Best Non-Profit Arts Group in our local newspaper's annual contest.

KRCC-FM and the Colorado Springs Independent newspaper honored us with their Community Weaver Award for outstanding community service.

In April of 2024, on the occasion of our 30th anniversary, the Colorado Springs City Council awarded us with a proclamation in appreciation of our service to the community over the years.