Email Author Michael Roberts

Awards

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published December 11, 2008

  "The Rocky Mountain News is Going Down"

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1995 Stories by Michael Roberts

• PRODIGAL SON

  published August 16, 1995

  You'd be hard-pressed to find a more relentlessly upbeat person than Philip Bailey. Give the 44-year-old Denver native a chance to gripe about the... More >>

• SALEM'S TRIALS

  published August 16, 1995

  "I tend not to read my own press," says singer-songwriter/guitarist Kevin Salem, from a standard-issue room at a Motel 6 somewhere in North... More >>

• PLAYLIST

  published August 9, 1995

  Red Aunts #1 Chicken (Epitaph) Brutal Juice Mutilation Makes Identification Difficult (Interscope) The first thing you... More >>

• THE VH1-ING OF AMERICAN MUSIC

  published August 9, 1995

  When VH1 went on the air ten years ago, the network was rightly seen as a graying version of its sister channel, MTV. Programmers there attempted... More >>

• HIT PICK

  published August 9, 1995

  Gray Parade, with Lithium Grin and Bustopher Jones, Tuesday, August 15, at 13th Avenue Bar and Grill, isn't a band that's going to bludgeon you... More >>

• PHAR OUT

  published August 9, 1995

  Derrick Stewart, aka Fatlip, is not about to explode any myths. The members of his group, the Pharcyde, have a reputation as crazy, good-humored... More >>

• CRITIC'S CHOICE

  published August 2, 1995

  Charlie Haden, Thursday, August 3, at the Denver Botanic Gardens, has quietly had one of the most distinguished careers in the short history of... More >>

• BIG TRANE

  published August 2, 1995

  The music that makes up John Coltrane: Heavyweight Champion--The Complete Atlantic Recordings, a six-CD boxed set due for release in mid-August on... More >>

• GREAT SKA

  published July 26, 1995

  Although ska may be an exceedingly vibrant and energetic force, it's not a new one. In fact, the roots of the music are practically the same age... More >>

• LIBRE FOR ALL

  published July 26, 1995

  "That movie The Mambo Kings? That was a lot of Hollywood bull," says Andy Gonzales, bassist and musical director for Latin music purveyors Manny... More >>

• PLAYLIST

  published July 19, 1995

  Soul Asylum Let Your Dim Light Shine (Columbia) Back in the days when Say What You Will... and Made to Be Broken (from 1984 and 1986,... More >>

• NATURE'S WAY

  published July 19, 1995

  Kansas senator Bob Dole's recent attack on popular culture has garnered largely favorable responses despite his blatantly political motivations... More >>

• DAVE'S WORLD

  published July 19, 1995

  Boulder-based singer-songwriter Dave Gershen isn't shy about making grandiloquent statements. For instance, he says, "A couple of years ago, I had... More >>

• PLAYLIST

  published July 12, 1995

  Truman's Water Milktrain to Paydirt (Homestead) You can't describe Truman's Water as just another punk band--not when the closest... More >>

• STICK A FORK IN IT

  published July 12, 1995

  David Yow tried everything. The lead singer for the Jesus Lizard, second on the lineup at the Lollapalooza Festival (which stopped at Fiddler's... More >>

• LET THE BAD VIBES ROLLSON OF A GUN--WHO'S THE REAL CAJUN ON THE BAYOU?

  published July 5, 1995

  Be warned, Cajun music enthusiasts: If you live in Colorado, you're not hearing the genuine item. At least that's the contention of... More >>

• PLAYING IT COOLIO

  published July 5, 1995

  Gangsta-rap performers who've led lives of crime have a leg up in the street credibility game. Snoop Doggy Dogg (soon to be tried for murder) and... More >>

• PLAYLIST

  published June 21, 1995

  Perez Prado Mondo Mambo! The Best of Perez Prado and His Orchestra (RCA/Rhino) Various Artists Mambo Mania! The Kings & Queens of... More >>

• CRITICS' CHOICE

  published June 21, 1995

  If you're wondering why Austin-based vocalist/multi-instrumentalist K. (for Kathy) McCarty has won the hearts of so many music journalists, bend... More >>

• THE CASSANDRA CROSSOVER

  published June 21, 1995

  Cassandra Wilson is a big fan of Cassandra Wilson. When asked how she's able to appeal to both Kenny G listeners and the Ornette Coleman followers... More >>

• PLAYLIST

  published June 14, 1995

  The Apples Fun Trick Noisemaker (spinART) Last year, Apples frontman Robert Schneider told Westword he wanted to write "uplifting"... More >>

• CRIMSON TIDE

  published June 14, 1995

  "Because I've been in King Crimson and Yes and Genesis," says Bill Bruford, among the planet's best-known drummers, "I always get the stuff about... More >>

• STRETCHING OUT

  published June 14, 1995

  Justine Frischmann, the lead vocalist and guitarist for England's Elastica, has been hearing the comments since her quartet came to public... More >>

• ADVENTURE TO NOWHERE

  published June 7, 1995

  Judged on the most superficial level possible, KTCL's Big Adventure, a music festival staged on June 3 at Fiddler's Green, was a good deal. The... More >>

• THE LAST ANGRY MONKEE

  published June 7, 1995

  You can't blame Micky Dolenz for being cranky. After all, he's sitting in a hotel room in Rochester, New York, where he's currently appearing in a... More >>