Modern Music’s Eric Fawcett Plays the X Games with Yukon Kornelius

February 12th, 2009 by Modern Music

This January, Modern Music composer Eric Fawcett traveled to Aspen, Colorado to perform at the X Games with his all-star cover band, Yukon Kornelius. With an hour and a half rehearsal time, the group rocked covers of all kinds (from Blue Oyster Cult, to Wham!, to Neil Young, to the Scorpions) to the crowd of winter athletes and fans of extreme sports.

Fawcett joined the band almost two years ago when his friend, Stefan Lessard of the Dave Matthews Band, needed a drummer. The two met on tour when their groups crossed paths, and they’ve been trying to work together ever since.

When Warren Miller, the extreme sports filmmaker, had the idea to include musicians in his film “Children of Winter: Never Grow Old,” Ed Robertson of Bare Naked Ladies, Adam Gartner of Guster and Fawcett all joined Lessard to form Yukon Kornelius. The band’s name comes from the prospector character in the 1960’s film version of “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.”

The show at the BellyUp in Aspen featured actor Jason Biggs on cowbell, Dee Snider handling heavy metal vocals, and Fuel’s former singer Bret Scallions. This is the second show for the band whose first gig at a ski resort in Killington, Vermont is shown in Miller’s film. Also appearing prominently is Fawcett in his first attempt to snowboard, captured as one of the worst “extreme sporters” within a hundred-mile radius.

Take a look at the festivities and then feel free to wonder why you weren’t there. Luckily, the group plans on being involved in next year’s X Games.