Stray Grass

The band members are locals that live, work & play in the Western Slope of the Grand Valley.

Hiking, camping, fly fishing, skiing, mountain biking, whitewater rafting & off-roading are just a few of the

outdoor activities they enjoy & the wonderful things the Grand Valley has to offer.

Guy Stephens is one of the founding members of Stray Grass and has been part of the Western Colorado music scene since the 1980’s as a member of various rock, blues and jazz groups in Grand Junction and Crested Butte. Originally inspired to pick up the guitar by watching Glen Campbell, Guy loves performing onstage and making people smile.

Garry Tullio got his musical start at 12 playing polkas with his grandpa. Having a newfound love for acoustic, newgrass and Americana music, Garry can trace his musical influences back to his parents love for the Grateful Dead, the Eagles and The Steve Miller Band. With a diverse musical respect for bands such as Sublime, Sam Bush, the Dave Matthews Band and the String Cheese Incident, he continues to better himself instrumentally through the inspiration of his mentors and friends. Garry contributes to the distinct sound of Stray Grass with his songwriting, vocals, mandolin, octave mandolin, and guitar.

Dave Rowley has been in the Grand Valley almost his entire life. He began playing the upright bass in the school orchestra as a sixth grader and continued through high school. It wasn’t until a few years after graduating that he joined his first local band, Dem Bones. Since then he has been hopping from band to band, being a part of as many as three groups at one time, ranging from ragtime to alternative rock. Having played music all over the Grand Valley, Northwest, and part of the Eastern US, he holds true to a driving principle, “Playing music with others affords an opportunity to learn from and communicate with them unlike any other.”

Byron Walcher began performing professionally after college. First gaining local exposure with standout bluegrass band The Ridgerunners as a banjo player, he then made the switch to pedal steel guitar and spent the next few years touring the “sagebrush circuit” in the Western US and Canada. In 1986 he accepted a slot with Chuck Wagon and the Wheels and moved to Sun Valley, Idaho. During the next 28 years the calendar was kept full with hotel and convention dates, road trips, recording and club dates in the very busy, upscale resort area. “Really too many bands to remember them all, everything from a doo-wop cabaret show to spaghetti western punk”. In 2008 Byron returned to his acoustic roots with the formation of Dewey Pickette and Howe, returning to banjo and bringing the dobro onstage. Returning to GJ in 2014 he was “lucky enough” to meet Gary and Pete and join Straygrass.