Kaj Seifert – 1984-2020
As a child, Kaj Seifert loved hanging out at the airport with his daddy, setting up for Ringling 5 gigs and tagging along with his dad to deliver mineral. He never travelled anywhere without his pal Rocky the raccoon, a toy steering wheel, drumsticks, and music on cassettes. It turns out that this was the shape of his whole life.
He got to fly private jets and work in aviation for many years, he was a musician of many talents, he just bought a Porsche that he didn’t get to drive nearly enough, and with a dear friend he started King of Stain and they ran their own business. He was smart, talented, kind and loving. He loved Labradors, kids, trains, the Red Sox, and all his friends. Kaj and his mother were travel buddies taking in as many baseball games as possible and one memorable Metallica concert in San Francisco. And throughout his whole life he had his Ringling 5 family with people who started out as honorary uncles but who became personal friends and family for Kaj.
There were school people who helped guide Kaj with his music and shape who he would become as a person. Laurie Hickman and Russ Newberry challenged him, believed in him, and broadened the love of music that started with his daddy and the Ringling 5…and Raffi and Rodney Crowell! Many of Kaj’s dearest lifelong friends he met through the Bozeman music program and Derek, Kyle, Eric, Kara, and the rest were close to his heart forever. He loved The Grateful Dead and that was about the only group he didn’t get to see in concert, but he went to so many amazing concerts in his life that his interests were broad across both time and genre.
