Full Bio

Valerie Vampola didn’t want to form a band. She just wanted to play a gig for her friend’s birthday party. She planned to play piano and sing, just like she did (and continues to do so) at hotels in ritzy ski towns and dive bars in Morrison. Hey, if it was good enough for the St. Regis in Aspen, it was good enough for a standard bar and grill in Littleton. But the bar disagreed and wanted a band, not a solo piano act. Vampola rolled her eyes and brought in friends she met at the famed jazz school at the University of Northern Colorado, where she got her jazz degree, and from the Loveland Academy of Music where she taught.

But then, during the gig, they played Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and it turned into a 15-minute jam. Vampola and the guys looked at each other at the end and knew they had something. They later named themselves Val Chillmer because it reflected the fun they have together playing, much like Vulfpeck.

Val Chillmer consists of Vampola on keys and Vox, Kyle Cervantes on saxes (he plays more than one, though not at the same time), Tristan Johnson on guitar and Vox, Gavin Wilson on bass and Zack Hall on drums. They are not a pop band, or a funk band, or a jazz band. They are all three. You’ll hear Stevie Wonder because every funky band sounds like Stevie Wonder, but you’ll also hear Bruno Mars and Herbie Hancock. They are currently writing an EP of original music, but they also play many popular covers done their way, so you might just hear “Play that Funky Music” extended to “Free Bird”-like lengths. The band plays weddings, dive bars and a few premium Colorado concert venues. They haven’t gotten to St. Regis yet, but it’s a goal.