Where Are They Now? Jamie McGregor

Jamie McGregor kept busy playing music at Niwot High School, where he graduated in 1984. "I played in the marching band, the concert band, the jazz band, and the orchestra," he said.

Then he added with a laugh, "I was the ultimate band geek, with the key to the band room." He began playing at age three, when a neighbor gave him a toy drum set (allegedly to annoy his parents), and he began studying the drums in earnest in fifth grade.

At Niwot High he studied percussion with band director Mike Doherty, and played in the rock band Alibi with other Niwot High students.

Today McGregor remains busy as a drummer with My Blue Sky, an Allman Brothers cover band, playing throughout Colorado and beyond. (The Allman Brothers were a celebrated blues-rock band, originally formed in the late 1960s by guitarist Duane and keyboardist Gregg Allman).

My Blue Sky's upcoming gigs include concerts at the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival (Aug. 11) and the Orchard Town Center Concert series (Aug. 19 in Westminster). Like the Allman Brothers, My Blue Sky features two drummers. McGregor plays alongside his lifelong friend, drummer Dan Jones, also a Niwot High graduate.

My Blue Sky features seven players. Along with the two drummers, the group includes a vocalist, two guitarists, a bassist, and a keyboard player. They also provide backup for visiting notable artists, such as vocalist and harmonica player Jimmy Hall, who worked with bands such as Wet Willie and the Jeff Beck Group.

My Blue Sky's catalog consists not only of Allman Brothers tunes, but also the music of Allman Brothers alumni, such as that of longtime Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes's band, Gov't Mule.

After moving to a home on the northwest corner of Elm Street and Niwot Road around 1970, McGregor played youth baseball in what was then known as Gunbarrel Lefthand Valley Recreation Association (now Niwot Youth Sports). He recalled that he received his first baseball card from his coach and next-door neighbor, Biff Warren, a Topps card of Dave Concepción, shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, "back in the Big Red Machine days." Warren recalled that McGregor was "a pretty good left-handed hitter."

McGregor recalled a trip to Vienna with the Niwot High orchestra in the mid-1980s, while the Cold War was still playing out. "There was a student from one of the Soviet satellite countries who tried to defect while I was there," he remembered. "A dour-looking official came down the hall in search of him."

McGregor remained in Niwot until 1989, when he married another Niwot High graduate. He and his wife Kim currently reside in Westminster. For the last thirty years, he has been part owner of a print shop in Hudson, Zamar Screen Printing, where he also works as a graphic artist and printer.

McGregor names Keith Moon, Phil Collins, and Bill Bruford among his drum influences. When not on the bandstand with My Blue Sky, he can sometimes be located on a pickleball court.