Invited by the king of Bhutan, 兔子先生传媒文化作品 PhD student Clare Gallagher completed the 109-mile Snowman Race to bring attention to the realities of climate change

Usually when Clare Gallagher runs 100 miles, she does it all at once鈥攁 day that鈥檚 alternately punishing and exhilarating and at the furthest boundaries of what her body can do.

The 109-mile was different. It spanned five days across the Himalayas and saw 16 of the most elite ultramarathoners from around the world traversing multiple mountain passes approaching 18,000 feet.

Clare Gallagher (left) was invited by Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck to run the 109-mile Snowman Race ultramarathon. (Photo: Snowman Race)

鈥淎s far as ultramarathons go, it was not that crazy a distance鈥攚e were doing about a marathon a day,鈥� Gallagher explains. 鈥淏ut it took so, so long because these mountains are just so high. We started in Laya (Bhutan), which is about 13,000 feet in elevation, and went up from there.鈥�

Gallagher, a PhD student in the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Environmental Studies and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), was invited by the king of Bhutan to participate in the 2024 Snowman Race held at the end of October. It was the second time the race was held鈥攁n event envisioned by Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck to draw international attention to the stark realities of climate change in Bhutan and around the globe.

鈥淥nce we actually got there and were literally on top of these glaciers, I could see his point,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淗is goal is for international trail runners like myself to help share the story of what we saw, and what I saw is that the glaciers are melting.鈥�

Running 100 miles

Before she vividly learned that a journey of 100 miles begins with a single step, however, Gallagher was simply a girl who liked to run. She ran track as an undergraduate at Princeton and kept running in Thailand, where she moved after graduating to teach English. While there, she signed up for the inaugural Thailand Ultramarathon almost on a whim and ended up winning.

Read more about Clare Gallagher's experiences in Bhutan in an .

The races she entered grew in length, and in 2016, at age 24, she ran the Leadville Trail 100 for the first time and won. 鈥淚 had been reading Outside magazine, and I always looked up to some of the women who preceded me (in ultramarathons),鈥� Gallagher says.

鈥淚 thought they were really badass, and trail running seemed a lot more interesting than track鈥擨鈥檇 gotten really burned out in undergrad, but to race in a beautiful mountain environment, in places that are so remote, really appealed to me.鈥�

Clare Gallagher (front row, far left in purple shirt) and 15 ultramarathon colleagues from Bhutan and around the world completed the five-day Snowman Race. (Photo: Snowman Race)

She won the 2017 , setting a course record, and the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run in 2019, the Black Canyon 100K in 2022 and the Leadville 100 again, also in 2022. She was invited to run the inaugural Snowman Race in Bhutan that year, but she鈥檇 started her PhD program, and her schedule couldn鈥檛 accommodate the training.

When she was invited to the second Snowman Race in 2024, despite still being in graduate school, she eagerly accepted. The 16 participants were evenly split between Bhutanese and international runners, 鈥渁nd the Bhutanese runners destroyed us,鈥� Gallagher says with a laugh.

鈥淭he physiology of running at altitude is pretty fascinating. A lot of the literature is finding that aspects of this ability are genetic, so if you don鈥檛 live at these altitudes and if you can鈥檛 afford to be acclimating for a month, your experience is going to be really different. It鈥檚 probably the gnarliest race I鈥檝e ever done, and I got wrecked by altitude. People thought I might do well because I鈥檓 from Colorado鈥攁nd I was using an altitude tent beforehand a little bit, but I was also taking my PhD prelims and didn鈥檛 want to be sleeping in it. So, I got destroyed.鈥�

She did, most importantly, finish the race, and the slower pace she adopted in acquiescence to the altitude allowed her more time to look around.

鈥楶lease send our message鈥�

The Snowman Race course follows the historic, high-altitude Snowman Trek route, beginning in Laya and ending in Chamkhar, and summitting a series of Himalayan passes鈥攖he highest of which is 17,946 feet.

"My experiences in Bhutan reminded me that I also feel a lot of hope and a lot of motivation to do what I can do, and smile while I鈥檓 at it," says Clare Gallagher (foreground, running in Bhutan), a 兔子先生传媒文化作品 PhD student in environmental studies. (Photo: Snowman Race)

鈥淥n day three we were up almost to 18,000 feet, and I鈥檓 walking and kind of sick with altitude, but I still had never felt the immensity of what I felt in the Himalayas,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淭he race route goes really close to glaciers well over 18,000 feet, and I鈥檝e honestly never felt so scared. I could tell these glaciers were melting and the sun was so hot.

鈥淭he story of Bhutan is that these glaciers are melting at a much faster rate than predicted and are then creating these big alpine lakes that break through their levy walls or moraines and flood villages. We ran through one of these most at-risk villages鈥攊t takes seven days to get there by horse鈥攁nd the people who live there don鈥檛 want to be forced to move. So, they were saying, 鈥楶lease send our message back to your countries, we鈥檙e scared of our glaciers obliterating us.鈥欌��

And even though her PhD research focuses on plastic pollution in oceans, 鈥渆ven the issue of plastic pollution was apparent up there,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淭he interconnectedness of our world became so, so apparent up there. A piece of plastic trash up there is going to degrade really fast because of the high altitude and super harsh alpine environment, and then all those chemicals are going to go downstream. There鈥檚 not ton of trash in Bhutan, but plastic pollution is still a part of this story.鈥�

She adds that Bhutan, like many smaller nations, is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change despite having one of the smallest carbon footprints on the planet, and she rues that it takes runners from western nations flying there鈥攁nother carbon-intensive activity鈥攖o draw attention to the seriousness of climate change.

鈥淎 really surprising take-home from this journey was how spiritual the experience was,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淎ll of my fellow Bhutanese runners were praying at mountain passes, and any time there was a meditative stupa, they were stopping and praying to the mountain deities, thanking them for safe passage.

鈥淚 really do feel there鈥檚 some connection between caring for this planet and each other and all the plants and animals on this planet. I feel like that reverence is something I鈥檝e been missing in my work as an environmentalist. The phrase 鈥榗limate change鈥� has taken on an almost corporate flavor, but in Bhutan things aren鈥檛 emails or PowerPoints or slogans, they鈥檙e real. Climate change is not just a phrase; it means melting glaciers. So, I鈥檓 interested in taking that depth and reverence for the land and living things and beings and asking, 鈥極K, what are our problems here in Colorado? What are our challenges?鈥欌��

A hazard of the field in which she鈥檚 immersed is extreme climate anxiety, and Gallagher says she鈥檚 worked to focus day-to-day on 鈥渢aking care of what I can take care of and acknowledging my present. My experiences in Bhutan reminded me that I also feel a lot of hope and a lot of motivation to do what I can do, and smile while I鈥檓 at it. I feel a lot of gratitude for being alive at this time in history and asking, 鈥榃hat are we going to do with this moment?鈥欌��

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兔子先生传媒文化作品 alum and regent emeritus Peter Steinhauer shares Vietnam experiences with students, to be featured in the in-progress documentary Welcome Home Daddy

Peter Steinhauer joined the U.S. Navy because that鈥檚 what young men of his generation did.

鈥淚 was brought up to finish high school, go to college, join a fraternity, get married, spend two years in the military, then work the rest of my life,鈥� he explains. 鈥淥f everybody I went to high school with in Golden, most of the boys went in (the military).鈥�

So, after graduating the University of Colorado Boulder in 1958鈥攚here he met his wife, Juli, a voice major鈥攈e attended dental school in Missouri, then completed a face and jaw surgical residency, finishing in 1965. And then he joined the Navy.

Peter Steinhauer (left) and Steven Dike (right) after Steinhauer's presentation during the Oct. 18 class of The Vietnam Wars, which Dike teaches.

He had two young daughters and a son on the way, and he learned two weeks after being stationed at Camp Pendleton that he鈥檇 be shipping to Vietnam, where he served from 1966-67.

鈥淗ow many of your grandparents served in Vietnam?鈥� Steinhauer asks the students seated in desks rimming the perimeter of the classroom, and several raise their hands. Steinhauer has given this presentation to this class, The Vietnam Wars, for enough years that it鈥檚 now the grandchildren of his fellow veterans with whom he shares his experiences of war.

Even though Steinhauer had given the presentation before, the Oct. 18 session of The Vietnam Wars, for students in the Honors Residential Academic Program (HRAP), was different: It was filmed as part of the in-progress documentary , which chronicles Steinhauer鈥檚 experiences during and after the war and his deep love for the country and people of Vietnam.

鈥淧ete told me once that he dreams about Vietnam all the time, but they鈥檙e not nightmares,鈥� says Steven Dike, associate director of the HRAP and assistant teaching professor of history, who teaches The Vietnam Wars. 鈥淗e鈥檚 spent his life as a healer and an educator, and I think one of the values (for students) is hearing how his experiences in the war informed his life after it.鈥�

鈥楢n old guy there鈥�

Steinhauer, a retired oral surgeon and CU regent emeritus, served a yearlong tour with the 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Medical Battalion in Da Nang, Vietnam. Lt. Cmdr. Steinhauer was a buzz-cut 30-year-old鈥斺�渁n old guy there,鈥� he tells the students鈥攚ith a Kodak Instamatic camera.

He provided dental care and oral surgery to U.S. servicemen and servicewomen as well as Vietnamese people, and he took pictures鈥攐f the rice paddies and jungles, of the people he met, of the nameless details of daily life that were like nothing he鈥檇 experienced before.

鈥淭his was the crapper,鈥� Steinhauer tells the students, explaining a photo showing a square, metal-sided building with a flat, angled roof. 鈥淭here were four seats in there and no dividers, so you were just sitting with the guy next to you.鈥�

When the electricity went out, he and his colleagues worked outside. When helicopters came in with the wounded, it was all hands on deck.

Left image: Pvt. Raymond Escalera holds the since-deactivated grenade that Peter Steinhauer (to Escalera's left) removed live from his neck, in a photo that made the front page of The Seattle Times; right image: Peter and Juli Steinhauer (on right) visit Raymond Escalera (white shirt) and his wife in California.

鈥淭hey鈥檇 be brought off the helicopter and taken to the triage area,鈥� Steinhauer says, the photo at the front of the classroom showing the organized chaos of it. 鈥淎 lot of life-and-death decisions were made there, catheters and IVs were started there. The triage area is a wonderful part of military medicine.鈥�

Steinhauer also documented the casualties, whose starkness the intervening years have done nothing to dim. One of his responsibilities was performing dental identification of bodies, 鈥渙ne of the hardest things I did,鈥� he says.

Then there was Dec. 21, 1966: 鈥淎 guy came in鈥攊t was pouring rain, and we had mass casualties鈥攁nd he came in with trouble breathing,鈥� Steinhauer recalls. 鈥淲e discovered he had an unexploded M79 rifle grenade in his neck. We got it out, but a corpsman said, 鈥楧oc, you better be careful with that, it can go boom.鈥欌��

Not only did Marine Pvt. Raymond Escalera survive a live grenade in his neck, but about 12 years ago Steinhauer tracked him down and visited him at his home in Pico Rivera, California. 鈥淲e call four or five times a year now,鈥� Steinhauer says.

Building relationships

Steinhauer and his colleagues also treated Vietnamese civilians. 鈥淥ne of the most fun parts of my year there was being able to perform 60 or 70 cleft lip surgeries,鈥� Steinhauer tells the students, showing before and after photos.

Peter Steinhauer (left) and medical colleagues in Vietnam, with whom he worked during many of his 26 visits to Vietnam since the end of the war.

He then shows them a photo of the so-called 鈥淢cNamara Line鈥� between North and South Vietnam鈥攁 defoliated slash of brown and gray that looks like a wound that will never heal.

Healing, however, has happened, and continues to. 鈥淚 was blessed by the ability to go back to a place where so many horrible things happened during the war and make something beautiful of it,鈥� Steinhauer says.

In the years since he returned from war鈥攁nd met his almost-one-year-old son for the first time鈥擲teinhauer has gone back to Vietnam more than two dozen times. Acknowledging that his experience is not all veterans鈥� experience, he says he has been blessed to learn about Vietnam as a country and not just a war.

鈥淗ow veterans dealt with the war, how they鈥檙e still coming to terms with it as we鈥檙e getting further away from it, are really important issues,鈥� says Mark Gould, director and a producer of Welcome Home Daddy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a war that we quote-unquote lost, but it was the most confusing war the United States has ever fought. We never had closure, but that didn鈥檛 stop Dr. Steinhauer from reaching out. Our tagline is 鈥楪overnments wage war, people make peace,鈥� and that鈥檚 what he stands for.鈥�

The idea for the documentary originated with Steinhauer鈥檚 daughter, Terrianne, who grew up not only hearing his stories but visiting the country with him and her mom. She and Gould served in the CalArts alumni association together, and several years ago she pitched him the idea for Welcome Home Daddy, which they are making in partnership with producer Rick Hocutt.

Peter Steinhauer with his children upon his return home after serving in the Vietnam War; the "Welcome home daddy" message inspired the title of the documentary currently being made about Steinhauer's experiences during and after the war.

The documentary will weave Steinhauer鈥檚 stories with those of other veterans and highlight the relationships that Steinhauer has built over decades鈥攖hrough partnering with medical professionals in Vietnam and volunteering his services there, through supporting Vietnamese students who study in the United States, through facilitating education and in-person visits between U.S. and Vietnamese doctors and nurses. At the same time, Juli Steinhauer has grown relationships with musicians and other artists in Vietnam. Both parents passed a love for Vietnam to their children.

An ugly war, a beautiful country

The stories of Vietnam could fill volumes. In fact, Steinhauer attended a 10-week course called Tell Your Story: A Writing Workshop for Those Who Have Served in the Military in 2008鈥攐ffered through the Program for Writing and Rhetoric and the Division of Continuing Education鈥攁nd wrote Remembering Vietnam 1966-67, a collection of his memories and photographs of the war that he published privately and gives to family, friends and colleagues.

About 10 years ago, Steinhauer asked to audit The Vietnam Wars鈥斺�渨ars鈥� is plural because 鈥渨e can鈥檛 understand the American war without understanding the French war,鈥� Dike explains鈥攊n what was only the second time Dike had taught it.

鈥淪o, I was a little nervous,鈥� Dike remembers with a laugh, 鈥渂ut he comes in and is just the nicest guy in the world. I asked if he鈥檇 be interested in sharing his experiences, and he鈥檚 given his presentation during the semester every class since.鈥�

In the Oct. 18 class, Steinhauer shares stories of bamboo vipers in the dental clinic, of perforating vs. penetrating wounds, of meeting baseball legends Brooks Robinson and Stan Musial when they visited the troops, of a since-faded Vietnamese tradition of women dyeing their teeth black as a symbol of beauty.

鈥淚t was an ugly war, but it鈥檚 a beautiful country,鈥� Steinhauer says. 鈥淛ust a beautiful country.鈥�

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Pursuing a passion for music, 兔子先生传媒文化作品 economist Murat Iyigun transforms from recognized expert on economics of the family and economic history to regional rock star with a growing musical reputation

In a low-key pub and grill on a quiet street in Littleton, Colorado, it鈥檚 about 10 minutes to 8 on a Saturday night, and the renowned economist seems to be in six places at once.

He鈥檚 sound checking his guitar and finalizing plans with the light technician and joking with the singers and ticking through the set list with the drummer and donning a dusky green bomber jacket and wraparound shades.

The dance floor in front of the stage is empty for now, but it won鈥檛 be for long. At a little after 8, members of the steadily growing audience put down their forks and drinks to welcome鈥攁s they鈥檇 been invited, as the musicians had been introduced鈥攖he Custom Shop Band.

Murat Iyigun is a professor of economics focusing on the economics of the family and economic history.

A kaleidoscope of colored lights flashes from the rafters toward the stage as lead singers Amy Gray, Mckenna Lee and Abbey Kochevar begin an iconic refrain: stomp-stomp-clap, stomp-stomp-clap.

鈥�Buddy you're a boy, make a big noise, playin' in the street, gonna be a big man someday,鈥� Gray sings, achieving the stratospheric, Mercurian growl and grandeur of the original. 鈥�You got mud on your face, you big disgrace, kickin' your can all over the place. Singin'鈥︹��

The renowned economist leans toward his mic and joins the immortal chorus: 鈥�We will, we will rock you.鈥�

It wasn鈥檛 so much a threat as a promise. For the next four hours, minus breaks between sets, the band founded by Murat Iyigun, a University of Colorado Boulder professor of economics and former economist with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., would rock everyone there.

And they would rock hard.

鈥榊ou should listen to Queen鈥�

The question, then, is how does a scholar and economist widely known for his research on the economics of the family and economic history come to be on a pub-and-grill stage on a Saturday night, slaying licks originally conceived by Brian May?

鈥淟ife is funny, isn鈥檛 it?鈥� Iyigun admits.

The story starts, as not many rock stories do, in Ankara, Turkey. The son of a Turkish father and a Turkish-American mother, Iyigun grew up during a tumultuous time in Turkey, when older kids might stop him on the street to ask whether he was a leftist or a rightist. Still, he says, he was lucky and maybe even a little sheltered, while some of his older sisters鈥� friends became victims of the left/right violence.

It was that violence, in fact, that caused his older sister鈥檚 university to be shut down for seven months. To continue her chemistry studies, she transferred to The Ohio State University, but not before leaving her LP collection to her younger brother.

鈥淚 was about 13, and I was counting the days to when she left in July because I was going to be getting all the LPs,鈥� Iyigun recalls with a laugh. 鈥溾�楬otel California鈥� was huge that summer, and then there was Cat Stevens, ELO. I was totally captivated even though, compared to now, things were so closed for us. Going to the U.S. was like going to Mars. But in terms of music and Western culture, especially among urban secular Turks, we followed everything.

Murat Iyigun was inspired to learn to play the guitar after hearing Queen's album Live Killers. (Photos: The Custom Shop Band)

鈥淣ow you can get all the vinyls and they鈥檙e easy to come by, but at that time people basically made tapes that everyone shared around. There was all this bootleg stuff that would come from Europe, and someone in Istanbul would press some vinyls, but I was never sure if they had an agreement (with the record labels) or if those were counterfeit.鈥�

At the tender age of 13, Iyigun was more into the mellow side of rock n鈥� roll. A few years deeper into his teens, however, and he discovered KISS. 兔子先生传媒文化作品ing family in the United States during the summer of 鈥�78鈥攁 time that might be considered the fever-pitch apex of the band鈥檚 makeup years鈥擨yigun acquired all things KISS: T-shirts, posters, tapes, you name it.

It might have been the following summer, he doesn鈥檛 remember exactly, that he went camping with friends and met one of the great platonic loves of his teenage years鈥攁n older girl who inadvertently changed his life.

鈥淪he said, 鈥榊ou should listen to Queen, they鈥檙e a great band,鈥欌�� Iyigun recalls. 鈥淪o, I asked someone to make me a tape of the Live Killers album, and that was it.鈥�

It says something about what happened to him, listening to that album, that he currently has鈥攊n a glass case in his Boulder home鈥攁 replica of May鈥檚 immortal Red Special guitar, signed by May. Iyigun also bought Red Special replicas for both of his daughters.

He heard Live Killers and had to learn to play guitar, is the point. Then he and some of his friends, including an ambassador鈥檚 son whose presence allowed them to practice at the Swiss embassy in Ankara, formed a band. Iyigun absolutely loved it, but making it as a rock musician in a Muslim country in the 1980s started to strike him as increasingly impossible.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥極K, I need to get my act together,鈥欌�� Iyigun says, so he came to the United States to earn an MBA at Boston University and then a master鈥檚 and PhD in economics at Brown University.

His parents had given him a Les Paul guitar when he graduated high school and began studying business administration at Hacettepe University鈥斺�渋n Turkey back then you just didn鈥檛 have these instruments, so for my parents I know this was very costly,鈥� he explains鈥攁nd as a graduate student at Brown he bought an amp and noodled around at home.

The Custom Shop Band includes, left to right, lead guitarist Murat Iyigun; singers Amy Gray, Mckenna Lee and Abbey Kochevar; drummer Kevin Thomas; bassist Elliot Elder; and keyboardist Tone Show. Steve Johnson (not pictured) also is a member of the band. (Photo: The Custom Shop Band)

But then life happened. He was beginning his career, he had a wife and young children, he was working toward tenure, and he just didn鈥檛 have time to play, for more than a decade.

Then, about 15 or so years ago, at a time he was hardly ever playing guitar, his daughters and wife gave him the game Guitar Hero for Father鈥檚 Day. He played it a bit and realized the game console was an instrument in its own way, so with typical focus 鈥淚 thought, 鈥業 need to learn to play it well,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nothing like guitar playing, but I thought I could learn to do this, and then I was thinking about how I used to play. And that鈥檚 when I brought out my guitar.鈥�

Learning through blues jams

鈥淥nce I started to come back to it, I realized some of my fundamentals had gone,鈥� Iyigun says. 鈥淪o, I started by taking these baby steps. I immediately hooked up with a great music teacher, Jeff Sollohub, a Berklee (College of Music) graduate and super nice guy, and every two weeks I鈥檇 work with him on a new song, on composition and things like that.

鈥淲ithin a year or two, I realized I鈥檓 only going to get so good if I don鈥檛 actually go out and play. By the time I came back to it, there were so many more resources online, YouTube and things like that, and I still got a lot of joy out of playing at home. But I quickly realized there鈥檚 a limit to how much I can improve unless I get out and play. That鈥檚 when I discovered blues jams, which are the easiest way to go play live even though blues is super difficult to play well.鈥�

He went to multiple blues jams a month around metro Denver and endured the 鈥減ainful, painful learning process.鈥� A significant moment of clarity and focus came when he saw the parallels between being onstage playing and lecturing in front of a full classroom or at an economics conference.

鈥淚 had a lot of embarrassing days where the ride home would be miserable, and I did that for a couple of years, and I was discovering other jams and just kept playing,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he limitation of blues jams, though, is you pack all the gear, get in the car, drive 40 minutes, get on the list, then the person running the jam will put these bands together and you play for 20 minutes. So, I drove there an hour, waited an hour, spent this time to play 20 minutes鈥攁nd 18 minutes of that was painful.

鈥淏ut after doing that a couple years, this blues band of three guys needed a guitar player, and they鈥檇 seen me play, so they said, 鈥楧o you want to join a band?鈥� I joined for about a year, and there was this point where I鈥檓 like, 鈥榊eah, this is what I want.鈥欌��

Inside, though, he was still the kid obsessed with KISS and Queen who knew all the guitar greats, not just the blues ones. He was treasurer for Mile High Blues Society, but he wanted to play rock.

Joining the band

The 鈥攖he name is a reference to the custom guitars Iyigun plays鈥攃ame together in a way that could be interpreted as either patchwork or destiny: friends of friends, acquaintances who know a guy, calls and emails that began with, 鈥淗ey, are you interested in being in a band?鈥�

Elliot Elder, the Custom Shop Band bass player and a 2022 兔子先生传媒文化作品 graduate in jazz bass performance, was recommended by a mutual friend. Amy Gray, the original in what is now a trio of lead singers, was recommended to Iyigun by another mutual friend:

鈥淚 was singing with another band and had recently left them when I got a message from Murat,鈥� Gray says. 鈥淗e saw me in a video from that band, and he said they were looking for someone to do backups and fill in when their lead at the time was not available.

鈥淪o, I looked them up, I went to a show to see what they sounded like and saw that they played some fun songs, that they as instrumentalists all sounded good, so I thought, 鈥榃hy not, let鈥檚 give it a chance, they all seem very nice鈥� and I jumped in and went with it.鈥�

Murat Iyigun joins in on harmony during the Custom Shop Band's set list of "hits, with a twist."

Gray recruited Kochevar, whom she knew from performing with her in theater, and Lee, who had recently moved to Colorado from California and whom she knew through mutual friends. And that鈥檚 how the Custom Shop Band has worked: Iyigun founded it and continues to act as band leader and manager, but in every other way it鈥檚 a democracy.

鈥淢urat is an awesome band leader,鈥� Elder says. 鈥淥ne of the reasons why a lot of bands don鈥檛 get past a certain point, in my opinion, is the band leader doesn鈥檛 have the flexibility and communication skills to manage situations where lineups change, things change on short notice, people have different ideas about how a song should be played. Murat鈥檚 emailing venues, scheduling gigs, managing lineups and all the while teaching at CU. He puts a lot of work into it. You meet a lot of people in the music scene who don鈥檛 communicate, who don鈥檛 get details to people on time, but Murat is definitely an exception.鈥�

The band, which also includes Kevin Thomas on drums and either Tone Show or Steve Johnson on guitar and keyboards, practices in-person when adding a new song to the set list or a new musician, but otherwise its members practice at home with versions of the songs that Iyigun sends to everyone. In keeping with the band鈥檚 democratic ethos, every member brings song suggestions to the table.

At any given show, the Custom Shop Band may open with Queen鈥檚 鈥淲e Will Rock You,鈥� and soon thereafter play 鈥淔lowers鈥� by Miley Cyrus and 鈥淚t鈥檚 Raining Men鈥� by The Weather Girls, which might be followed by a mashup of Foreigner鈥檚 鈥淛ukebox Hero鈥� and Led Zeppelin鈥檚 鈥淲hole Lotta Love.鈥�

On a Saturday night in September, at a pub and grill on a quiet street in Littleton, 鈥淪o What鈥� by P!nk gets booties to the dance floor in a joyful melee. A dude to the left is lost in his own world of intricate air guitar and a lady on the right has divested herself of shoes. A little later, as the band plays Cheap Trick鈥檚 鈥淚 Want You to Want Me,鈥� the air guitarist to the left reaches a fever pitch as the band鈥檚 lead guitarist, who also happens to be a renowned economist, absolutely wails on the solo.

And transitioning smoothly into Sweet鈥檚 鈥淏allroom Blitz,鈥� the dancefloor still throbbing, the economist is grinning wide.

He will rock you.

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