Massage therapists on hand to support musicians at WinterWonderGrass festival - Steamboat Pilot & Today

[massage]

Music is a demanding business.

The stresses of touring, music production and the management of popularity with fans are all aspects that can wear on the mind, body and soul of musicians. This is in addition to the physical stress of life on the road, late nights on stage and long periods sitting down during travel from venue to venue.

Luckily for the artists playing WinterWonderGrass in Steamboat, there is a group of massage therapists ready to help.

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Chantel Havre, the owner of Mountain Cascade Massage Therapy, seeks to alleviate those stresses as she and her team of massage practitioners use their skills to treat musicians, ensuring they are ready and able to provide the best possible music to their fans.

Havre moved to Colorado in 2008 to enjoy the mountains and pursue her passion for the outdoors. She has since used her degrees in biology and massage therapy, as well as her certifications in reflexology and craniosacral therapy, as pathways for her to help improve the minds and bodies of her clients, especially musicians.

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In 2016 she founded Mountain Cascade Massage Therapy in the Vail Valley.

Early in her career while working in Golden, she was invited to attend Ullrgrass, a local bluegrass festival, and do massages backstage for the musicians in the green room. From there, according to Havre, it grew into something that served as a conduit for her to enjoy music while making the overall community that surrounded the events healthier.

Havre has been offering her services since WinterWonderGrass moved to Steamboat Springs in 2017. Originally, her work at music festivals served as a way to attend in lieu of having to purchase tickets. As time went on, and the demand for her presence grew, it became a way to give back to the community that she cared for so much.

Havre and her revolving team of massage therapists also offer their services in the general admission and VIP sections in addition to working backstage and by appointment for musicians. Her crew of massage therapists varies depending on availability as well as who is a good fit for the therapies that need to be provided.

Joining Havre at WinterWonderGrass will be Eileen Lindbuchler, Will Licking, Alicia Kelley and Molly Palmer, all of whom have their own private practices in Eagle County.

Musical artists are prone to experience a range of muscular and skeletal issues that could hinder their ability to perform as part of their work amid the stress of life on the road.

She pointed to the fact that the repetitive motions and movements of playing instruments, in addition to the body stresses induced by touring, result in decreased capabilities on stage. Havre explained that certain instruments, such as the fiddle and mandolin, can cause imbalances in certain parts of the body. For example, fiddle players can become imbalanced in their neck muscles and mandolin players can experience forearm ailments that massage therapy can help alleviate.

“It’s really interesting to see how different instruments resonate throughout the body,” Havre said. “The music industry is plagued with some serious mental health challenges as well … and I also think that massage is a great way to have healing connections to help with anxiety and dealing with the ‘on the road’ blues.”

To address the varied ailments artists experience, she and her therapists can use Thai massage, which generally involves stretching and work to improve range of motion, as well as myofascial techniques that target the overuse symptoms of spasms in the forearms and hands. Additional therapies that are relevant to musicians include trigger point, neuromuscular, shiatsu, cupping and gua sha.

There is a balance, however, between just the right amount of therapy and too much.

“When they are playing a show that night, you don’t want to do too much deep work,” Havre said. “You want to avoid making them sore while still giving them the relief that they need.”

Havre pointed to a recent instance at the 2023 Billy Strings Renewal Festival in Buena Vista as an example of the importance of massage in the support of musicians. A musician on stage experienced a painful spasm in his forearm that hindered his ability to play for the crowd.

“He had to turn away from the crowd to stretch his arm so he could keep playing the show,” Havre said. “The next day I worked on him, and afterwards everything worked out great and he was playing normally again. It was really cool to see that.”

Chantel Havre focuses her work on a musician at WinterWonderGrass in 2019.
John Ryan Lockman/ShowLove Media

Havre has been instrumental at many festivals including Campout for the Cause, Tico Time Bluegrass, Rapidgrass and Ullrgrass as well as working backstage at Red Rocks and the Dillon Amphitheater. She has worked with many bands including Greensky Bluegrass, Billy Strings, Elephant Revival, Trampled By Turtles, Lindsey Lou and the California Honeydrops, among many others.

Lindsey Lou, who will be performing at WinterWonderGrass, testified to the importance of having Havre and her team on-hand. She pointed out that “pushing your body to the limits” amid the intensity of being on stage results in decreased musical capacity.

“Getting the right kind of body work in that environment just helps you tap even more deeply into the somatic element of such a spiritual experience,” Lou said.

At festivals, Havre operates on both a walk-up and appointment basis, offering a wide range of services to both the musicians as well as other workers at the venue.

“Live music has been such a healing part of my life and it’s such a blessing to be able to be part of the community and give back to the artist,” Havre explained. “That sense of love and community is so palpable. That in itself makes these moments memorable.”

WinterWonderGrass begins Friday at the Knoll parking lot of Steamboat Resort and continues through Sunday. Havre and her team will be offering massages in the VIP area from 2-6 p.m. during the festival.

For more on Mountain Cascade Massage Therapy, MountainCascadeMassageTherapy.com.

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