Punk Rock Journalism Amplifies Youth Music Scene

Local journalist captures the sights and sounds of the valley’s teen musicians

By The Crystal Valley Echo Staff

Carbondale- Roaring Fork High School student and Carbondale local Ash Bohmfalk, following in the footsteps of music journalists of the past has founded the new music journalism publication Amped Magazine which focuses on local youth bands and musicians from Aspen to Grand Junction and beyond. Amped provides readers a monthly look into shows, album releases, and an accompaniment of commentary. It will be publishing its sixth consecutive issue this month.

Bohmfalk, the editor, designer, beat reporter and lead author of the magazine began the odyssey after noticing a lack of coverage of the local music scene in the valley, and identifying the need to compile and share the stories of local musicians on their ways up from the garage to the stage. They stated that because of the nature of these shows, if people do not see them, they do not know they happened, and so in creating Amped, they strove to create a space where all of the pressing and insightful news of the month on all things local youth music could be shared, preserved, and read by all. The widening of the audience, and the growing of hometown support for youth musicians is at the heart of the philosophy of the magazine, as is cutting through the noise and sharing the stories that matter.

Speaking on the decision to create Amped Magazine, Bohmfalk stated that after being part of the scene, seeing their friends join bands and derive a lot of joy from it, they decided that they wanted to create a record of the local music scene in the valley so they can look back and pass the word around and get people interested and informed in local shows to increase the sizes of audiences attending performances. The goal was to create a monthly update on current events, reflections on performances and editorial content on the nature of the intersection of music and society.

The interconnectivity of music, social reality and the state of the world is at the core of the magazine, where, in its pages readers can observe the ebbs and flow of modern life in real time as it ties to the local music being written, played and shared. 

Amped began its life in the local skate scene, where punk rock and indie genres came to influence of a new generation of musicians to pick up a guitar and start writing their stories in the world. Bohmfalk discussed how in the early days of social media, those platforms allowed for a stronger voice of resistance, of political and social engagement through music, but in the years since it has become so normalized that “We need to go back to the physical media, and reporting, and making a song, not just making a video, but making a song that lasts forever that can be interpreted.”

The magazine follows that thread of making physical media in the scene, being a full-fledged analog publication that is nearly 90% composed by Bohmfalk alone, where aside from an occasional article and graphic design, they are out in the crowds at every show they can attend, writing recaps and stories about them, taking photos and compiling all their work into a monthly magazine that distributes at the Carbondale Library, KDNK, and Roaring Fork High School at present.

Amped Magazine Founder and Editor, Carbondale Local Ash Bohmfalk. Crystal Valley Echo File Photo.

Currently, aside from occasional arts and culture features in various local newspapers, and on KDNK and Colorado Public Radio, there is not a singular publication solely dedicated exclusively to the local youth music scene. Bohmfalk has stepped into that role, taking skills from a Colorado Mountain College English Composition course and applying them to fill the music journalism void in the valley. 

Their self-taught background in journalism mirrors many of the punk-rocking icons of previous decades in both music and journalism, to a degree that Amped stands as our valley’s own equivalent to some of the monumentally important music journals from throughout music and popular culture history.

In an effort to expand the readership and engagement of Amped Magazine, and to continue to further its mission of spreading awareness and documenting stories of the local music scene, The Crystal Valley Echo is proud to announce a continuing partnership with Amped where, beginning in the May 2026 issue, Amped will be distributed as a separate publication folded inside every copy of The Echo which will see it on shelves and in newspaper racks from Marble to Glenwood Springs, and in the hands of many readers who deeply care about music, local bands and supporting youth music. 

May’s issue of The Crystal Valley Echo will include a special collector’s omnibus back-catalog of Amped Magazine, including all of its editions published to date, so that readers may fully familiarize themselves with the local scenes and celebrate Bohmfalk's triumphs in youth music journalism. 

The Crystal Valley Echo will also be helping to sell advertising and sponsorship spaces to support Amped which to date has been entirely paid for by its founder. All advertising revenue generated from these sponsorships goes directly to supporting Amped Magazine and its coverage of the local music scene, and its punk rock music journalism. 

For more information about Amped Magazine, you can visit their Instagram page by searching “amped_zinee”, or email them at ampedzinee@gmail.com. 

For more information on how to sponsor Amped Magazine, please reach out to editor@crystalvalleyecho.com for ad rates and to get on board to support local youth music. 

Be sure to be on the lookout for the May issue of the Crystal Valley Echo, containing a copy of Amped!