Rising Stars: Meet Kim Haggarty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Haggarty. They and their team shared their story with us below:

A local ski town in Northwest Colorado has established a reputation as a music town. Although many touring acts often choose to play in other cities when touring the state, Steamboat Springs has become a desired stop for touring bands coming through Colorado.

Schmiggity’s in Steamboat Springs opened in May 2014 to attract great musicians to the Yampa Valley by providing studio-quality sound and great vibes. Schmiggity’s was the only music establishment to be exclusively built for live music in Steamboat Springs. Managing owners Pat Waters and Kim Haggarty have created a friendly atmosphere that is welcoming to both residents and tourists.

The room is cozy and familiar like a neighborhood bar but features national touring acts and sounds better than most larger venues. Because what makes Schmiggity’s great is not just the great bands but the extremely high sound quality. Schmiggity’s incorporated many of the same soundproofing materials and recording equipment found in high-end recording studios.

Schmiggity has raised the bar in defining how small venues should be designed and how they should sound. To just call Schmiggity’s “nice” does not do justice to the hard work and dedication put into building and designing the room. Schmiggity’s is likely one of the best-sounding small venues in the nation, let alone Colorado.

The creation of Schmiggity revolved around teamwork between the two owners, Kim Haggarty and Pat Waters, and veteran sound engineer Scott Singer. Haggarty and Waters gave Singer the opportunity to build his dream venue, and using his 40+ years as a sound engineer, Singer did just that. “I wanted to build a room I could control,” said Singer. “Rather than one that controlled me.”

Singer covered every wall in the room with sound panels and even more on the ceiling and surrounding the stage. The stage is hardwood flooring set on mass-loaded vinyl, sitting on 29 inches of blown insulation. Hidden under the front of the stage, Schmiggity’s installed all QSC speakers: 2 KLA12s per side on top, 2 KW181 sub-woofers down low, and a single K-Sub bottom center for good measure. To top it all off, Schmiggity’s has full multi-track audio recording capabilities. Bradley Leister replaced Singer as house sound engineer and has elevated the experience at Schmiggity’s. They later added a state-of-the-art light, laser, and projection system and the wizard of lights, Adam Richard, to their production team.

Since the venue opened on May 15, 2014, Schmiggity’s has hosted many well-known acts including Floozies, Boombox, Billy Strings, Twiddle, Fruition, Spafford, Nappy Roots, and Afroman, just to name a few. They cover every style of music for all musical tastes.

Over the years, Schmiggity’s has branched out from just music and dancing by also hosting Karaoke, Live Band Karaoke, Drag Shows, Burlesque Shows, Comedy Shows, Sing-A-long Guitar Bar, and Male Revues, among other recurring events.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It took a few years for our venue to get recognized and be on the radar for touring bands. This took time (3-5 years) and now we have become the place to go for entertainment for the tourists, locals, and touring bands. Covid hit our venue hard.

We were closed for 8 months and opened with a lot of Covid restrictions. We have put countless hours of love, passion, and time into this business and years of not getting paid, but now it has all been worth it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Pat Waters is a very successful local musician in town.

He plays in over 7 bands ranging from Heavy Metal and Classic Rock (Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd cover band) to country rock and everything in between. He plays both drums and guitar and sings lead or backup vocals in all of the bands. His passion for music is the inspiration for Schmigigty’s.

Kim Haggarty owner of several restaurants and businesses in town decided to open a music venue with Pat Waters after getting a taste of the music scene at her former restaurant, The Sweetwater Grill. She decided to sell her restaurant and businesses and put all of her efforts and focus into Schmiggity’s.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
We live in a world-class ski resort with a great down-to-earth feel. Locals are very friendly and welcoming.

We raised all of our kids in Steamboat and the two oldest and their boyfriends all work at Schmiggity’s. It is a true small town family-run business. The only negative is we are a very seasonal town and need to rely on our local support during “mud season”.

Pricing:

• Tickets range from Free to $30

Contact Info:

• Website: www.schmiggitys.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/schmiggitys
• Twitter: instram.com/MrSchmiggity

Image Credits
Meraki Mountain Media and Nick Lyons