It has been two years since Ariel Hyatt packed her bags and moved to Colorado. And since she has planted her roots in Boulder, the local music scene hasn't been the same.

Hyatt studied theater, arts and journalism in college, then followed it up with an internship with a fashion PR firm in New York. But after four years, she'd had enough.

"Ultimately, fashion became too superficial for me. It's very elitist. Few people have enough money to but a Versace," she said. Her departure from her career in fashion didn't happen without her gaining some valuable publicity lessons. So, when What Are Record in New York was hiring, Hyatt was very interested. Her skills were the perfect asset for W.A.R. Her love for the fashion industry may have faded, but her love of music had always been strong. Though she wasn't pushing high fashion to industry editors, she had a knack for making things look good and getting the word to the streets.

When W.A.R. moved their operations to Boulder two years ago, they brought Hyatt with them. After working for a while as the assistant to the president of W.A.R., she was offered a lucrative position as director of publicity for a new company, Small Axe Concerts Incorporated. She also helped develop an up and coming band at the time, Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass. She loved the idea of handling a band full-time rather than just for one show.

"When you work with a band, you have to look at the big picture for a long period of time. You get to create everything. That's the exciting part of working with a band." Once her work at Small Axe was completed, she decided to start her own company because she loved what she had done with Lord of Word.

Enter, "Ariel Publicity, Artist Relations, Promotions." She has quickly become one of the most respected and sought after artist relations representatives in Colorado. From a small, second floor Boulder apartment, she works her magic. Surrounded by CD's, bright pumpkin-orange colored business cards, paper clips, and a few strategically placed pictures of Elvis, she schmoozes, (via the phone and fax), open-eared columnists, entertainment editors, radio guys, and whoever can help in letting the world know the bands like Acoustic Junction and the Sponge Kingdom do exist.

When asked what the difference is between promotion and publicity, she replied, "Publicity is talking to the press and getting exposure that you don't pay for. Promotion is...I paid for a poster and I hung it up. Or I paid a radio station to give away tickets."

Hyatt's specialty is getting people interested in who she's talking about without having to pay people to pay attention. She says that timing is everything. On one Publicity stunt a while back, she had two tons of snow hauled to Fiddlers's Green for the Graffix Company. She had pitched the idea of what a great story it would make to every news paper in town. Two tons of snow in the middle of August! Imagine some of the best snow boarders in the country showing off their stuff, along with the coolest bands in Denver on the stage. What a great picture; pan from the snow to the stage. The overwhelming response from Colorado's first amendment minions was that if there are no murders in Denver that day they'd think about it. Well guess what? Not only were there no murders in Denver, but no bloody car wrecks, no political scandals and no natural disasters. And not just in Colorado. CNN couldn't find anything better either. Snow in August? Tadahh! That's publicity.

"As long as there's a hook, there is potential for good press," she said after a satisfying gulp of steamed and whipped caffeine. "We got lucky."

Hyatt's current project is a two-CD set called More Than Mountains which features a cross-section of some of the most promising local artists. Proceeds from the disc go to Colorado Conservation Fund for the benefit of Colorado's state parks. This project represents the first time in the step history that such a broad scope of local artists have come together to promote environmental awareness.

"I am happy that W.A.R. has taken the initiative as a Colorado record label to put out such a compilation to the people of Colorado."

When asked what she liked least about what she does, she didn't have too much to say. "The least exciting part is when you call a major label and you play: Find this band. You call someone like MCA and you're transferred fifty times before finally getting the person you need to talk to. No one knows who's doing what...it's a nightmare."

So why do it? "Music is fun," she said. "It's hard to keep in perspective that music is a business. We're having a great time. It's so much fun to get out there and create!" The thing that separates Hyatt from a lot of publicists that I've come across is how much she seems to care for the artists, the art, and the people that she represents. The problem with the big firms and record companies with huge publicity departments, she says, is that a publicist at one of these places might have 400 bands under his of her belt. They don't have time to care. "Nothing makes me happier that when a band like Zuba or Acoustic Junction comes back from the road with their picture in a paper from some town somewhere. You're not just sending out a press release. You're sending out someone's life work. You have to respect their art." Hyatt won't jump behind just anyone who comes along. Her short, but impressive roster reads like a who's who in the Denver/Boulder music scene. She represents a cross section of some of the finest musicians in the area including Zuba, Acoustic Junction, and Chaos Theory, in addition to Small Axe Concerts. Because of the dedication she has to the people she works with, she is slightly picky. "If i can't take the CD in a player and listen to it all week, all day, all month, I won't work with that band." Image, stage presence, and looks are also very important. She needs to be able to tell people, "come see the energy, come see the vibe."

But how does a band know if they're ready for a publicist? For starters, a band should think about it when the leg work is too time consuming, especially when touring is involved. "You've got to stay on reporters...'here's why we deserve to be in your column.' It's about knowing when to quit and when to be persistent." So what does a band need to do to work towards that next level?

First off, Hyatt says they need to get out there and play all the gigs they can get. Good gigs, bad gigs, whatever. They need to promote themselves feverishly. Simple things like flyers, kiosks and bulletin boards can go a long way. They need to get to know their audience. What kind of people will like this stuff? Where do they do to find it? Who would be willing to talk about it? Who would be willing to pay for it? Work and angle. If you don't have one, find one. Is your lead singer a girl, or a cyclops? Find an original element in what you're doing and work it. The idea of why should somebody come see the band and not someone else needs to be conveyed as clearly as possible.

And most importantly: "They have to make themselves totally accessible. The people who are the most popular are the ones who have made themselves most available to the press. Ultimately, if what you want is total fame, you aren't going to get it iding in your bedroom."

As much as she loves Boulder and Colorado she admits she is still running at a New York pace. "If you're doing everything at New York speed and everyone else is at Boulder speed, you can get a lot done in this town. I am very much a New Yorker."

Although she's not yet working with millionaires, she says that she is glad she followed the advice of her mother who told her to do what she loves and the money will follow.

"I followed what I loved. I could talk about music until the cows come home."