The current chapter of Joel Van Horne’s story begins with a family cabin in Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest. The Lakewood native grew up in a musical household, but the memories and moniker of that special retreat, built and named by his grandfather, inspired the defining stage of his artistic journey as Covenhoven.
“It’s a very meaningful place to me and my family,” Van Horne says. “I wanted to make a record to say thank you to my grandfather.”
Before adopting his current stage name, he primarily performed in groups. Van Horne has been involved in various projects since the turn of the century, most notably the Front Range indie rock outfit Carbon Choir. Since the band’s breakup in 2012, the Denver resident has worked to sharpen his sound as a solo artist, releasing five studio albums as Covenhoven over the past decade and change.
Van Horne’s latest full-length release, The Color of the Dark, continues his tradition of hushed Americana exploring time-honored subjects of love, loss and longing. He embraced his love of traveling and adventure in his follow-up to the record, Field Notes, re-recording each of the record’s songs in natural outdoor environments during an 8,000-mile road trip across the Western U.S. and Canada.
Even though there is a familiar comfort in the artist’s newest collection of songs, listeners shouldn’t expect a retread of his past musical offerings. “I try to keep myself guessing creatively,” Van Horne says. “I think if I return to the same thing over and over, then things begin to feel stale and I’m less excited and interested.”
Van Horne has played with sounds since his early years, building melodies on his family’s upright grand piano and the electric guitar he received as a gift just before high school. While he has delved into various styles like punk, jam music and jazz, his acoustic-folk roots have since led to on-stage collaborations with acts including Blind Pilot, Esme Patterson and Nederland’s own Elephant Revival.
Whatever genre Van Horne works in, and whoever he’s working with, the celebrated singer-songwriter hopes his music — which has been featured onscreen in series like Nashville, Teen Wolf and 13 Reasons Why — offers a cleansing quality for listeners.
Van Horne wants his audiences to “come away feeling either refreshed or relaxed, not unlike how you feel after leaving a movie you really loved.” To him, the most appealing aspect of art is “getting to peer into the pool, so to speak, and see a different life or another reality.”
Covenhoven will perform live at the Gold Hill Inn, located at 401 Main Street in Gold Hill, on Sunday, November 16, 2025, starting at 7 p.m. There is a $15 cover charge.
Editor’s Note: Looking for more music stories like this one? Keep an eye out for Caribou Current, a new monthly arts and culture publication from The Mountain-Ear, coming in 2026.
