LOCAL STORY CREDIT: GILES CLASEN BACK ON TRACK: AFTER A PANDEMIC-CAUSED HIATUS, TONY MASON RETURNS TO HIS PASSION BY GILES CLASEN TONY MASON WAS NOT DESTINED to become a music promoter. Tony Mason’s destiny was to paint houses, like his parents and their parents before them. The plan was simple – he would one day take over Thomas A. Mason Painting, the successful business that has been around since 1912. But Mason was drawn to the music business rather than the family business. That’s not to say that he didn’t try to be a painter. It was simply that Mason found more passion for his “terrible” punk bands than a paintbrush, and just before he turned 21, he told his parents he was going to move from Grand County to Denver to go to college. Once again, Mason was faced with the dilemma of following the family tradition or forging his own path. If he studied business or construction management his parents would pay for college. Instead, Mason chose to start at Red Rocks Community College studying music performance and had to foot the bill himself. “I barely made it through high school,” Mason said. “I almost failed out of high school. I was suspended several times. I was expelled once. High school was just not a good experience for me.” Once Mason found his passion, though, school became easy. He was getting all A’s and B’s at Red Rocks Community College, and an academic advisor pushed him to attend the music business program at CU Denver. During his first semester at CU, Mason’s eyes were opened, and he realized he wasn’t going to be a musician. “I transferred to CU Denver, and all of a sudden, I was surrounded by, like, really talented musicians and people who were so amazing,” Mason said. “I knew I couldn’t compete. I kind of lost my will to play and practice every day at that point.” So rather than compete, Mason determined he would promote his friends and their abilities. “I kind of decided rather than trying to be a rock star, I wanted to work for all of my friends who were amazing musicians,” Mason said. “I wanted to help them with their careers.” In 2008, Mason started booking his first shows, singersongwriter showcases at Leela’s European Cafe, the Mercury Cafe, and any other spot that he could convince to let his friends play. He called his little venture Tonedynamix – a play on his name and his dynamic range of music genre interest. Those early shows led to him booking bigger shows at bigger venues until he found a place as the in-house booking agent for Lost Lake Lounge, Larimer Lounge, and Globe Hall. “I loved working at Lost Lake and the Globe,” Mason said. “It was a lot of work for little money, but I was so passionate about working for small independent venues. It was worth it.” Then in early 2020, Mason was offered a big career move. A much larger venue in Texas offered him a higher-paying job and the opportunity to book big, national shows. 6 DENVER VOICE July 2021
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