(This coming July the Fire in the Mountains festival will take place at the Red Eagle Campground in the Blackfeet Nation in northwest Montana, with a spectacular lineup of performers and many other attractions. In the following exclusive interview, our man Gonzo talked with festival organizers Jeremy Walker and Shane McCarthy about how FITM got connected with its new location, what inspires the event, and a lot more.)
It was a clear, calm day in Denver. A cloudless sky left plenty of room for the Colorado sun to focus its fiery wrath directly onto my bare head. Sometimes putting on a hat is all but necessary when living up here. Today, I was woefully unprepared.
While walking down Broadway, one couldn’t be blamed for questioning whether spring had come a week or two early. At this elevation, Mother Nature tends to be especially fickle, and any Denverite knows you should probably dress like you’re going skiing at the beach before going outside during this time of year. It’s a decidedly weird aesthetic, but I don’t make the rules.
I was on my way to the dark depths of Trve Brewing, my usual haunt for getting a midday beer and hiding from the sun’s persistent wrath, especially in summer. I am no stranger to this place, and it’s one of my favorite dark corridors in which to lurk and drink.
Today’s visit would be different, though. I’d be meeting up with Jeremy Walker and Shane McCarthy, two of the gentlemen behind the curtain of the Fire in the Mountains festival, to talk about the event’s long-anticipated comeback, where that journey has taken them since its last appearance in 2022, and how in the hell they managed to get Old Man’s Child to play their first-ever US show as a headliner.
I was fortunate enough to have experienced this festival in ’22, when Enslaved and Wolves in the Throne Room were featured, and I can say without exaggeration that it was a life-changing weekend. It became very clear to me back then that this was more than just a music festival. This was something special.
With all that in mind, I’d been looking forward to today’s conversation with Jeremy and Shane for weeks.
I walked into Trve and headed straight to the bar. Blood Incantation’s Absolute Elsewhere was booming over the bar’s speakers, and the usual groups of black-clad patrons were in high spirits. It wasn’t long before the venerable Jeremy and Shane spotted me getting a beer at the bar. We made our quick introductions and grabbed a table by the door.
I know I already said it, but it bears repeating: No other festival I’ve heard of — let alone been to — has been able to blend so many elements worth celebrating into an alchemy of unique brilliance. Music, nature, revelry, discovery, and adventure are some of the operative terms I can think of. But beyond that, there’s a sense of community and inclusivity that radiates long after you leave. Getting to the heart of that was top of mind for me today.
Gonzo: So, why don’t we start with introductions – tell me about yourselves and your roles in the festival, and maybe a little about how you got involved.
Jeremy: I’m Jeremy Walker, festival director, owner, and co-founder of Fire in the Mountains.
Shane: I’m Shane McCarthy, festival curator. As far as how I got involved, way back (in 2015) – the first official festival, I played it with my band Wayfarer after I received a call from Jeremy and the other co-founders. We went up, played on the mountain in Jackson, had a blast, and I encouraged Jeremy to add some other bands, and it eventually became my job to make that happen.
Jeremy: It took a big leap of faith for him to trust us and play some random pin on the map.
Shane: (laughs) We had a lot of questions at first, like “is this actually real?”
Gonzo: So, following that, what became the actual vision for the festival and how has that evolved over the years?
Jeremy: Well, in 2015, the vision was really just, “hey, this band Wayfarer rocks, and they sing about mountains. And we have a place our friends like to go camp out with this beautiful mountain backdrop – why don’t we get Wayfarer to play this?” It was really just that, but when Wayfarer got on our stage we had built up there, the connection between the music and the gorgeous Teton Mountains made it fairly obvious that there was a synchronicity between the epic-ness of the music and the grander heaviness of those mountains. I remember specifically looking around at the 100 or so people that were there and watching their faces… their jaws were dropped down to their belly buttons. It was then that we realized that we’d stumbled upon something special.
In 2018, that was the first year we brought it to Heart Six Ranch and made it a legit, “above-ground” festival, not just a clandestine show in the woods.
Shane: Back then (in 2015), I was told by Jeremy and the other founders that the long-term goal was getting Wardruna to come up here and play in the mountains. 10 years later, it’s a different mountain range, but here we are.
Jeremy: It was always a dream of mine to have Wardruna play in the mountains in a very special location. As a crew, we’ve always been into Wardruna. I felt like that would’ve been a very touching, special show for everyone to be a part of. And now, we’re able to make it happen. That was all part of the original vision, for sure. And now, ten years later, Wardruna and the Blackfeet Nation are ushering us into a new era of Fire in the Mountains.
Gonzo: After things fell apart with Heart Six Ranch, can you describe how the partnership with the Blackfeet Nation came to be, and how you chose Red Eagle Campground to be the location for the festival in 2025?
Jeremy: When we had our permit denied to have the festival again in Teton County, a fellow 2022 participant came down with a few guys who lived and worked up there, and basically just cold-called us through email. They emailed us and said “hey, we’ve got a spot up here, it’s right by Glacier National Park.” And to us, one of the motives here has always been to get people outside to experience public lands. It used to be at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, and now it’s at Glacier. But what’s more, we’re now able to benefit a community that deserves to have this more than they did at Teton County, Wyoming.
So, at that point, we were right at the drawing board and had nothing else going on. We decided to go up and check out the spot that Charlie, who cold-called us, wanted to bring us to: Red Eagle Campground. When we got up there, my jaw was at my belly button, just like those first people were who originally saw Wayfarer play in 2015. Shane wasn’t with me on that trip, but I called him right then and said “we got it.” It felt real. It felt like we were supposed to be there. I can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction when they first get there. I just want to see them walk in, setting up their tents, and seeing the looks on their faces when they walk in.
Shane: What I’d add is the appeal of that place and then, born from that, we kind of took on a whole new purpose. It still retains a lot of the original vision of music and nature, you come in and leave the place better than it was before, but with this new partnership, it’s kind of a whole new vision and goal. Now, first and foremost, we’re partnering with people who actually want us to be there. Teton County is so rich and tourist-driven by things like tech billionaires and whatever. We were always kind of a blight on their ‘perfect system’ over there. So the people of the Blackfeet Nation’s tribal council were, first of all, not only open and interested in what we were doing, but second of all they said “we think this will be great for our nation and for our people to be involved in.” That made our vision totally evolve and gave us a whole new purpose.
Jeremy: A door closes, a window opens. But it’s not just a bigger door for us — it’s a bigger door for more people, and that’s a really great thing.
Red Eagle Campground, Blackfeet Nation, Montana
Gonzo: It’s always been about community and inclusiveness, and I think that part of it really appeals to more people than just within the metal community.
Jeremy: Exactly, And right now, we need community more than ever.
Gonzo: Speaking of, in what ways is the festival bringing community and inclusivity into the mix this year?
Shane: One big way I can say is, beyond the music and everything, is what we’re referring to as the cultural program this time around. In years past, that has been expanding year to year with workshops, talks, and demonstrations, but this year I think, a) that’s going to be expanded, and b) a lot of the curation has been handed over to Firekeeper Alliance, the nonprofit that formed out of this partnership with the Blackfeet Nation. That’s going to allow the Blackfeet themselves to curate and present a lot of these aspects of their culture, because nobody knows it better than they do. So, the people who live up there are directly involved in presenting the workshops, panels, whatever you want to refer to them as. You couldn’t do this anywhere else.
And as far as general inclusivity, yeah, we’ve all kind of circled around the fact that the world is in a weirder fucking place than any of us thought it’d be in our lifetimes. You need something now that brings people together. We’re not sliding into politics directly, but a lot of people in marginalized communities are feeling the pendulum swing back in the wrong direction as far as how inclusive the world is. It’s important to us to swing that door open wider for more people. It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from – this is for you.
Jeremy: With that said, you asked about community and inclusivity. Thursday, July 24, the first day that’s open to VIP guests and everyone on the reservation, is the community feast. That is the Blackfeet Nation putting on and cooking food for everyone, and then having a grand entry, cultural games, and traditional powwow, to showcase their community right up front. And that’s happening from the moment the festival starts, and those elements will be dispersed throughout the weekend.
“we’ve all kind of circled around the fact that the world is in a weirder fucking place than any of us thought it’d be in our lifetimes”
Gonzo: Describe a little more about the Firekeeper Alliance and how that came to be.
Jeremy: Charlie Speicher was the one who called us, and he’s the executive director of Firekeeper Alliance. He deals with a lot of mental health stuff. He’s a clinician who deals with it on a daily basis (on the reservation). I said, “if we’re gonna do this up here, we have to do it right.” Fire in the Mountains now has a focus on mental health and suicide prevention. We all know music saves lives; heavy music especially. Of course I was like, “hell yeah, let’s do it!” To have an impact like that, to have Charlie and the rest of the tribe run that – it’s not us, it’s them! It was born out of the opportunity that the festival created and that’s one of the best feelings.
The goal now is not just to have Wardruna play in front of the mountains, it’s a lot bigger and deeper than that now. And to be the principal fundraising event of the year for the Firekeeper Alliance, it’s really important. I hope people realize that when they come. It’s more than music and having an experience and having a good time and opening your minds, it’s about making a real change.
“We all know music saves lives; heavy music especially”
Gonzo: That’s incredible and I fucking love that. It’s a festival of “firsts” this year for sure. And speaking of firsts, you got Old Man’s Child to come out here and play their first-ever show on US soil. How did that go down?
Shane: We were just talking about this earlier today. I know I still kick myself every once in a while and think “holy shit, did this really happen?” Honestly, as this thing has grown, all the aspects of it as we’re attempting to be more professional about it – the way this thing went down with Old Man’s Child was pretty old-school.
Jeremy: (laughs) It really was!
Shane: It was a super grassroots thing from our end. There wasn’t an agent to hit up and ask about a contract right away. Galder casually posted on social media one day and said he’s going to resurrect Old Man’s Child and to specifically watch out for live activity. Anyone who’s a fan of the band probably knows they’ve never played the US, and even the live activity in Europe was in the late ’90s. It really isn’t something that a lot of heavy music fans have ever gotten to see no matter where you are. And so, we’re all big dreamers and that’s why we’re doing this insane endeavor.
We basically saw this post and said, “we have to try. Wouldn’t that be amazing if we were the first show they played in the US?” And because there wasn’t a clear path through the normal channels, it was just kind of talking to friends we’ve made in the metal community in Europe that had connections with the band. It took a minute to get ahold of anybody – long enough where I was starting to think we missed the chance – but once we finally got there, it was just a simple conversation. We said to Galder, “this is what we’re about and what we’re doing.” It didn’t take much to get a reply, and it was “this sounds great, we’re in.”
Jeremy: I think it speaks volumes for Galder and his band to say “well, I guess the first place I’m ever playing in the US is the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, not like New York City or LA,” and I respect that a lot.
Shane: I have so much respect for Galder and they’ve been great to work with along the way. There’s so much I’m excited for on the music end, but for my personal taste and upbringing, honestly, that’s one that I still can’t believe is happening.
Gonzo: I was doom-scrolling Instagram one day, as one does, and when I saw the Old Man’s Child logo splash across the Fire in the Mountains announcement post, I literally dropped my fucking phone.
Jeremy: I was through the roof about that announcement and trying to not tell anyone for so long… this might’ve been even crazier than the Wardruna announcement simply because (Old Man’s Child) has never played in the US before. I never thought I would ever see them, and to be able to announce this at our festival that we started with me Facebooking Shane 10 years ago is wild. I never thought it would happen, especially in conjunction with the Blackfeet. It’s amazing where life takes you. That was a fun day to see people’s reactions because nobody was expecting it.
Gonzo: This is kind of an obvious question, but how important was it to get indigenous metal bands on the bill like Blackbraid and Pan-Amerikan Native Front?
Jeremy: Extremely important.
Shane: Yeah, just extremely important. A lot of these are actually bands that we’d planned to book sometime anyway. We had a finger on the pulse in our years of waiting, and we had a short list of bands that were in our “if we ever have this again, this is who we want to invite.” It’s such a perfect opportunity. First and foremost, we’re partnered with the Blackfeet Nation and we’re working with the tribal council and Firekeeper Alliance. There’s going to be a large concentration of young Blackfeet people just at the show, you know, just being young and also living where they live, who knows how many heavy shows they’ve ever got to see, period? When we have this platform where we can bring in bands, I just love the potential of if you’re one of those kids seeing this big show, but also – what if some of the people playing look like you?
Jeremy: And that’s one of the purposes of Firekeeper Alliance and Fire in the Mountains teaming together. We hope the youth on the reservation at some point will be starting their own grassroots DIY music scene and bring in touring acts on their own. And I think there’s a real chance that that could happen with the work that Firekeeper Alliance is doing here.
Fire in the Mountains has always been about a sense of place and connection – connection to the land, connection to the culture, and connection to the people. It’s really, really important.
Gonzo: Jeremy already mentioned this, but I want to hear it from you both – what excites each of you the most about the festival this year?
Shane: While there was a very cool grassroots community in the Jackson and Teton area that were extremely supportive and worked really hard to make the festival happen, the powers that be were anywhere from annoyed to completely put off by it. Bureaucracy and all that. I’m most excited to bring this to a culture that wants us there. It’s a great feeling to be approaching something and feeling like a full team with everyone excited about it. I’m looking forward to being there to experience that.
Gonzo: I’ll never forget when the cops got called in ‘22. When the cop got there, I heard him tell someone he was expecting all these “tattooed weirdos” causing trouble, but he said it was the nicest group of people he’d ever met at a festival.
Jeremy: Seems like a common theme, doesn’t it? (laughs)
Shane: Oh yeah, as metalheads we all know that’s a stereotype we’re constantly fighting, but everyone who’s been around it knows it’s the opposite. I always tell people from the outside looking in, talk to people who work at venues. All the bartenders and security want to work the metal shows. They might not be metal fans themselves, but they always want to work the metal shows. Why? The people are nice, they tip, they’re considerate, there’s rarely any fights, they don’t trash the place, and these are the people you want to work with. That’s the easy night at the venue!
Gonzo: With all this in mind – getting back to the “firsts” of the festival this year – what advice would you give to people who are coming out to Fire in the Mountains for the first time?
Jeremy: That’s a good question.
Shane: My brain goes two places: One is the experience, the almost spiritual part of it. Soak in the moment and absorb all of it. It’s a beautiful thing. And not to toot our own horns, but because of the community there and how it feels, and the people you meet, it’s a beautiful experience but it tends to fly by. On that note I’d say to slow down. Feel the moment. Take it in. Feel where you are, feel who you’re with. We plan for this thing for three years, and it happens in four days. You have to make sure you’re present and enjoying it.
The practical side of my brain says bring bug spray, bring sunscreen, bring water bottles. (laughs)
Jeremy: Yup, bring plenty of water, food, bug spray, and warm layers. And you’re right, being present and living in the moment. And take advantage of the workshops! Take advantage of being around the community, not only in the moment but in the place. It’s something truly unique and something we’re truly proud of, and I can’t wait for people to experience it with us.
https://www.fitmfest.com/
https://events.humanitix.com/fire-in-the-mountains
https://www.instagram.com/fireinthemountains
https://www.facebook.com/fireinthemountains
https://firekeeperalliance.org/
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