Ian Ehrhart might be possessed. By what is up for debate, but he certainly acts like it every time he hits the stage with his band, Jesus Christ Taxi Driver. And at this point, the 27-year-old guitarist and frontman embraces the unknown entity that makes him do things no sane person would attempt.
Take the Denver-based group’s Aggie Theatre set at this year’s FoCoMX, when Ehrhart felt compelled to eat a patron’s cigarette out of their hand after he fell into the photo pit and spotted it dangling in front of his face.
Colin Kelly, the bluesy punk trio’s lead guitarist, recalls a similar incident of temporary insanity, when Ehrhart simulated a sex act with an unlikely fashion item while opening for a country band.
“He jumped into the crowd, took a cowboy hat off of some big dude’s head and fucked it,” he explains. “We were like, ‘We don’t know if he’s going to get killed or praised for this.’”
But the audience loved it, which is typically the response evoked by Ehrhart, Kelly and drummer Miles Jenkins.
“Afterward, there was a line of cowboys who wanted me to fuck their hat, too,” Ehrhart claims. He says he can’t really explain what exactly comes over him and his bandmates during shows, but it always makes for an interesting night.
“Everything’s spur of the moment, in the middle of the show, when our eyes roll back in our head and it becomes a whole different reality,” Ehrhart shares.
Kelly, who also plays in Boulder band Augustus, describes the erratic, Erie-raised Ehrhart as a “court jester” behind the mic, perpetually poking and prodding at onlookers’ sensibilities.
“He’s making people feel things, but also making them chuckle,” the 37-year-old says. “There’s usually some moment of Ian pushing the boundaries of people’s comfort.”
‘I just let the world speak to me’
If you’re wondering what the name Jesus Christ Taxi Driver means, Ehrhart doesn’t have a cool backstory. It came to him on a whim, but feels like the perfect moniker to describe the raucous indie rock the band has kicked out since their 2023 debut LP, Lick My Soul.
“I was in Mexico, and our taxi driver’s name was Jesus. That’s it,” Ehrhart says. “You know how it goes looking for band names: You don’t want it to be too serious, and you don’t want it to be too silly. This was like the second time in my life I had to think of a band name, so I just let the world speak to me, I guess.”
Still, at the core, it’s the music that really makes it all work. Inspired by his Catholic upbringing, Ehrhart’s irreverence for the faith is on full display on Lick My Soul, especially on songs “STUPIDMOTHERFUCKER,” “Goat Hell” and “Diabolical Catholic.”
“It’s harkening back to my younger days going to church and Catholic school and feeling alienated and confused and tricked,” he says.
“‘STUPIDMOTHERFUCKER’ is leaning into another thing religion bestowed upon me, unfortunately: this self-hatred,” he says. “I’m leaning into it like, ‘Yeah, I’m stupid, whatever.’ It feels cathartic and good to sing. It’s surprising how many people relate to that and hear something similar to what I hear.”
Plugging in and letting it rip
This absurdist worldview and approach, paired with the punk-rock energy Jesus Christ Taxi Driver thrives on, makes Ehrhart & Co. one of the most exciting new bands lighting up the local circuit. If nothing else, you’ll at least get your money’s worth, as every gig is truly one-of-a-kind and off-the-cuff.
But in a sense, having no method to the madness has become the blueprint. It’s all about plugging in and letting it rip. The rest is left up to some sort of diabolical, rock-and-roll divine intervention.
“The most exciting thing about us is none of what we’re doing is planned. We don’t have setlists,” Ehrhart says. “Right before we go on, we’re like, ‘Let’s play this first and then go for it.’ Then whatever happens, happens.
“Songs can devolve into something else. If there’s an opportunity to fuck a cowboy hat or eat a cigarette or something, the songs take on a different tone and it’s going to go somewhere else,” he says. “[It’s] the nature of walking on a knife’s edge. It could fall apart at any moment. It’s exciting when it doesn’t, and exciting when it does.”
ON THE BILL: Jesus Christ Taxi Driver with The Thing and Bitchflower. 8 p.m. Saturday, November 30. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $19