The Low Stakes

The Low Stakes are a band from Northern Colorado. They play rock ‘n’ roll. Their music is raw, simple, and honest. It’s like a good drink—it’s straightforward, it’s no nonsense, but it lingers.

Sarah Wilhelms, a woman of the earth, plays the bass. She sings, too. Tim Mallot plays guitar. He sings, too. They met through Tim’s wife. The band was born through a joke. The kind of joke that starts everything and changes nothing. Sarah knew Drew DeBerard. Drew plays drums. He is steady, solid. Tim met Matt Tredennick through his dog. The dog heard Matt play guitar and sing, and that was that. Tim and Matt became friends.

It wasn’t planned, any of it. But that’s how these things happen sometimes.

They played their first show at the 4th annual Friends Fest in Fort Collins. It was good and the crowd liked the music. They enjoyed the way the guitars bled into each other, the steady beat of the drums, the way the bass held it all together. It wasn’t flashy and it didn’t need to be. It was the music you could trust. The music that made you remember things. Things that you had forgotten, or things you didn’t want to forget.

The Low Stakes mix the old and the new. Dylan, The Band, Pearl Jam, Neil Young. They take it all and make it their own. They don’t try to be anything they’re not. They play because they love to play. They make songs that make you feel, songs that make you laugh, and songs that break your heart.

They’re not out to change the world. But they’re changing their own worlds, and that’s enough.

"Viva la Les Petits Enjeux," they say. Long live The Low Stakes. The little victories. The quiet moments. That’s what it’s all about.