Daily Inspiration: Punk Is Dad

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Kiefer.

Hi Tim, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Dorian De Long was a long-time supporter of the Denver music scene, particularly the punk scene. Dorian was a dedicated husband and father, a good friend, a Thornton High School social studies teacher, and political activist who advocated for education, particularly arts education. Dorian played an instrumental role in getting the Colorado House to pass a bill implementing visual and performing arts instruction in school curricula. The bill was signed into law in 2010 by then-Governor Bill Ritter.

Dorian passed away in May 2015. After his death, a group of his friends decided to honor his memory by creating the Dorian De Long Arts and Music Foundation in his name. The foundation supports arts education in Colorado and has provided scholarships to twelve incredibly talented Colorado high school students who pursued arts and music degrees at Colorado-based universities.

Punk Is Dad is an annual concert put on by a group of Dorian’s friends, Roger Dowd, Tim Kiefer, Matt Lemme, Matt Oehlert and Jason Sorter. All funds raised at the Punk Is Dad concert fund the Dorian De Long Arts And Music Foundation.

The first Punk Is Dad concert was help in May 2016. In the intervening years, the concert has been held mostly annually, interrupted for a few years by the Covid pandemic. Throughout the years, the Punk Is Dad concert has featured terrific Denver bands with support from a number of Colorado-based partner organizations.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We’ve had our share of challenges.

Our foundational inspiration was a challenge: Dorian was an incredibly spirited friend who unfortunately passed away young. In homage to the punk DIY spirit, we found a way to do something positive in his memory. The foundation and Punk Is Dad offer a unique way for us to attempt to channel Dorian’s boundless positive energy.

A few months ago, we lost our good friend Jason Sorter, Jason was a founding member of Punk Is Dad and the Dorian De Long Arts and Music Foundation. Jason was the initial spark behind the foundation, an integral part of the crew of oddball friends that have coalesced around Punk Is Dad, a lobbyist and activist and a dedicated father.

Covid was definitely a challenge for us, as it was for all artists. We had assembled an AMAZING lineup of musicians in 2020, but unfortunately had to cancel the show. We thought about hanging it up altogether after postponing shows in 2021 and 2022, but started them back up in 2023.

The support we’ve received from many of our favorite musicians in Denver, partners such as Bandwagon Presents, The Black Buzzard at Oskar Blues Grill and Bar, The Clocktower Cabaret, Ink Lounge!, the RKR MTN RPR, and others makes it easy and exciting to continue to hold the event,

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Dorian was an artist and an educator, The Punk Is Dad logo comes from a stencil that Dorian created of his dog Buster. Dorian used this stencil to create magnets that we used to hang in music venues and about Denver as a form of movable graffiti. The rest of us “play an artist on TV”. We’re all fans of live music – going to shows together was how we became friends.

What sets us apart is our mission, otherwise we’re just five guys who put on a concert in a very DIY fashion. If we have a specialty for our concerns, it’s partnering with great musicians in Colorado who are also great people that share our passion for arts and music education – we’re always awed by the energy these bands put into supporting our cause.

We’re most proud of supporting the DDAM scholars as they pursue their degree in arts and music. We’ve awarded scholarships to incredibly talented musicians, dancers, actors, sculptors, painters, writers and film-makers;’ the applications we receive each year are humbling and renew our collective faith in the future.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
As a 15 year old growing up in Omaha, NE in the 1980s, I was drawn to the local punk scene. I was in a band that could probably at best be generously as “energetic”. However, local promoters were looking for “energetic and talented”, so if we wanted to play shows we had to learn to put them on ourselves. In the ensuing years, we promoted a number of shows by local and touring punk musicians. It was a ton of fun and I learned a lot about doing whatever you set your mind to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.punkisdad.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/punkisdaddenver/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/punkisdaddenver
• Other: https://www.ddamscholarship.com