Meet Dennis Bradley

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dennis Bradley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dennis below.

Dennis, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

As a band, Mimic are always looking for new opportunities to showcase our music and we are constantly learning new material. Colorado’s front range has a vibrant music scene, and a lot of great events and venues to perform at. Since we started this band 3 years ago, we have been able to branch out and play more and more venues in different cities and towns. We started out primarily in Colorado Springs and Woodland Park, but have also played in Castle Rock, Canon City, Cripple Creek, and Monument. In 2025, we hope to break into even more markets – the Denver area and Pueblo – but we are also seeking those “hidden” opportunities as well; the locations that we haven’t thought of yet. New venues and new faces in the crowd fuel our enthusiasm, but it’s always nice to see familiar faces in the crowd from our faithful followers – many of whom advocate for us and help us book gigs in new locations. Just as important, as a band we are always suggesting new material to each other and learning more songs. We’ve got over 80 songs from the 1960s through the 1990s currently in rotation in our set lists and have “retired” almost as many that weren’t as popular with our audiences. We’ve always got at least 5 to 10 songs that we’re learning and readying for live performance at our weekly rehearsals. Learning new material, and seeing the crowd’s reaction to it, at numerous different venues, keeps that creative spark alive for a group of seasoned musicians like the ones in this band.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Mimic are a classic rock cover band based out of Colorado Springs that are dedicated to keeping the greatest hits and artists of the 1960s through the 1990s alive through our performances. Music from those decades is truly timeless. Those who grew up with it as the soundtrack of their lives have deep emotional ties to these musicians and their music, and since many of these artists no longer perform live, we try to provide that experience for the fans of the genre. It’s very inspiring to see this music transcending generations as well. We often see younger music fans in the crowd these days whose parents introduced them to classic rock. I don’t think this music will ever fade away – there will always be a demand for it, and the guys in the band not only enjoy playing it as musicians, but we also enjoy playing it for the fans and seeing their reactions.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First, surround yourself with other musicians who are better than you. I’m fortunate that my bandmates all have decades of experience playing in numerous different groups. Darrin, Jim, and Rob are all very talented individuals who also bring a wealth of knowledge to our band. I learn something from them every time we rehearse and perform, and they force me to constantly improve as the lead guitarist in the band. As a musician, you can sit in your room and play along with recordings all you want, but you won’t realize your full potential unless you play with other musicians and learn from them. Second, expose yourself to different genres of music. You don’t have to like every genre, but you can learn something from very style of music. If you are an original artist, taking techniques from one type of music and incorporating them into your own will help you develop your own unique style and sound. And third, educate yourself. Take lessons. Go to school. There are so many assets for learning in today’s music scene. Social media, online classes, and instructional videos, just to name a few. Mahatma Gandhi said “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” I think that’s great advice. Music is an art where you can never “know it all.” The greatest musicians are life-long learners, and there’s always another aspect of this art that you can learn and improve upon.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

We’ve been gaining traction in the local music scene steadily for nearly 3 years now and have gained a following among some very dedicated music fans. We’ve also steadily improved our social media following and have capitalized on that momentum with increased presence on social media. We know that this is paying off, as we have been nominated for Best Local Band in the 2025 Best of the Springs poll. We’ve also never played a venue without being asked back or asked to play there regularly moving forward. However, there are still some venues that outright ignore us and won’t respond to booking requests. Every musician deals with this problem – it’s not unique to us. We try to strike a balance between reaching out to venues that are unresponsive to us and not pestering them to the point where they will never consider booking us. I’ve found that doing research and applying best practices from industry insiders – both successful musicians and the venues and booking agents that hire them – can get your foot in the door in some places. But others, it just takes time. We’re always going to remain loyal to those who have been loyal to us and continue to book at venues that have supported us in the past, but we’re also consistently engaging with new venues and asking our fans to spread the word to help us gain a foothold in new markets.

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Image Credits

Erin Kiemele, Sarah Brezniak

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