Meet Cory Pearman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cory Pearman.

Cory, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in Denver, grew up in Aurora. I moved to Los Angeles, California, in October of 1999 to be a famous movie star. That didn’t quite work out how I had hoped it but I started learning guitar in 2007 and I fell in love with playing music. I had always been a giant fan of music but never knew how to play an instrument. I found out I could sing a little bit, and with some work and some lessons, became a better singer and had the confidence to sing in front of people. I started a little two piece band in L.A. called The Raging Peanuts, then joined a Pink Floyd cover band called Northern Strangers for a little while. I moved back to Denver in May of 2013 and shortly thereafter, Garrett Achten and I met at our job. We started doing open mics as The Shower Curtains, just having fun. A friend of ours, Richie Allen, had a band that had a show at The Meadowlark and asked if we wanted to open for them, but we needed a full band. So we started Float Like A Buffalo. It has gone through quite a few changes since 2014, but Garrett and I are still hard at work, making it better.

I also book bands and run the open mic night at The Alley in downtown Littleton. Since COVID, we have started doing a virtual open mic night on Tuesday nights through The Alley’s Facebook page. We are also working on ways we can still have live music in the building when we re-open, without having to have the bands in the restaurant due to capacity limitations.

Also, on Sunday afternoons, I host my own three-hour radio program on Tri-Lakes Radio called Step Right Up Sundays. It is from 3 pm-6 pm every Sunday and I feature a local or national musician who is an up and coming artist in the first hour where I interview them over the phone and we play some of their music. I also usually have the co-creator of the Rocky Mountain Virtual Music Festival, Sarah Shuel, also my girlfriend, on as a guest to talk all things RMVMF, and then a dance party in the last hour of the show.

Has it been a smooth road?
There have been more struggles than I know what to do with. The most recent big struggle was Float Like A Buffalo embarking on our first national tour on March 11th, only to have to turn around and come home two days later due to the virus. Then we didn’t get to see anyone in the band, or jam, or practice for two months when the stay at home order came through. But out of this whole situation, things like my radio program, and the online open mic, and Rocky Mountain Virtual Music Festival were born. So all struggles usually have a positive outcome.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I’m in the business of connecting musicians and building a positive community. I don’t know if that means I specialize in anything, really. My favorite thing to do is play live music, and I feel that is what I excel at the most. I think personally, I am known throughout the Denver community as an honest person and someone who will gladly pass along any knowledge I have to help encourage everyone to rise up together.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Well, as of now, it can only get better, right? I see the Denver music industry having a big boom of extremely talented performers, really making Denver the place to be for live local music. I’d like to see better pay for local musicians, especially the ones who really hustle to make it their career. It’s not an easy thing to chase down. It is pretty scary. But I think over the next 5 – 10 years we will see a big growth of the music industry here in Colorado. I think we will also see the virtual side of live music really changing things. People are figuring out how to put on amazing shows that people can watch from their homes. With the advent of Virtual Reality also, there could be a really big change towards live streaming virtual reality music concerts.

Contact Info:

• Email: cory.pearman@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/ginganinjacp instagram.com/floatlikeabuffalo
• Facebook: facebook.com/FloatBuffalo

Image Credit:
Brandon Thrift
Charla Harvey
Sarah Ashlee Shuel
Pete Escobar

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.