Email Author Tom Murphy

2011 Stories by Tom Murphy

• As a "middle-aged punk-rocker," Mike Watt truly is a Hyphenated-Man

  published April 21, 2011

  Mike Watt is a legendary musical figure. He's also the type of guy who would never embrace such a designation if you passed it his way. Rather,... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Rory Block on the struggles and triumphs that happen When a Woman Gets the Blues

  published Apr 18, 2011

  Rory Block (due April 21st at Rock and Soul Cafe in Boulder and on April 22nd at Swallow Hill in Denver) was fortunate to be at the epicenter of the roots music explosion of the late '50s and early '6... More >>

• Ripley Johnson of Moon Duo on the move to Colorado and the duo's tapestry of sound

  published Apr 15, 2011

  Erik "Ripley" Johnson first came to prominence in the rock underground with his San Francisco-based band, the Wooden Shjips. That project's hypnotically dark, droning psychedelia became a favorite of ... More >>

• Marshall LaCount of Dark Dark Dark on its aesthetic and the symbolism of water

  published Apr 15, 2011

  Although it's often referred to as a "chamber folk" band, Dark Dark Dark (due tonight at The Walnut Room and tomorrow, April 16, at Odd Fellows Hall in Boulder as part of Communikey) from Minneapolis ... More >>

• Space in Time

  published April 14, 2011

  It should come as no surprise that this band did a cover of Uriah Heep's classic "Easy Livin'" from, appropriately enough, 1972's Demons and... More >>

• Mingo performs on April 16 at Art Network

  published April 14, 2011

  If you grew up in the Midwest during the '80s and '90s and you were a little different, chances are you had a brush with all that... More >>

• Ryat on its improvisational roots, its collaborations and Avant Gold

  published Apr 08, 2011

  Philadelphia's Ryat (due tonight at Rhinoceropolis) started as a solo project for multi-instrumentalist avant-garde songwriter Christina Ryat before Tim Conley joined the sonic adventure that is makin... More >>

• Woodrose

  published April 7, 2011

  Somewhere along the line, Jonny Woodrose & the Broken-Hearted Woodpeckers transformed into Woodrose. Along with the change in name came a... More >>

• Reading Rainbow

  published April 7, 2011

  LeVar Burton, the man most readily associated with the children's program Reading Rainbow, is probably unaware of this Reading Rainbow,... More >>

• The Shrapnelles

  published April 7, 2011

  With a name like the Shrapnelles, you might expect a reverb-drenched garage-rock band with a penchant for all things Phil Spector — and... More >>

• Sin Desires Marie reunion show, April 9 at the hi-dive

  published April 7, 2011

  At the end of the '90s, before almost every form of music had been completely compromised, colonized and commercialized, the Pauline Heresy... More >>

• Tesco Vee of the Meatmen on punk in Michigan, Meatmen album covers and Touch and Go

  published Apr 05, 2011

  In the late 1970s, Tesco Vee was an elementary-school teacher in Michigan who led something of a secret life, first as a fan of punk rock and then as the frontman of one of the most notorious and hi... More >>

• The Inactivists with Little Fyodor & Babushka Band and The Skivies, 4/1/2011

  published Apr 03, 2011

  THE INACTIVISTS With Little Fyodor & Babushka Band and The Skivies 04.01.11 | Walnut Room This show didn't turn out to be a April Fool's Day joke of some kind -- although that was certainly a possi... More >>

• The Inactivists explain the War on Jazz Hands

  published Apr 01, 2011

  Depending on what you think the proper role of a real musician might be or what a real musician is or looks like, the Inactivists (due at the Walnut Room tonight) might either be the ultimate novelty ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Henry Rollins on National Geographic gig and other adventures in work

  published Apr 01, 2011

  Henry Rollins (appearing at the Soiled Dove Underground this Sunday, April 3) began his career fronting Black Flag, an endeavor he won a Grammy for chronicling in the audio book Get in The Van. He wen... More >>

• Michael Sempert of Birds & Batteries on Panorama and San Francisco

  published Mar 30, 2011

  San Francisco's Birds & Batteries may be essentially a pop band, but the lushness of the act's songwriting and the ability to evoke and articulate complex emotions with poetry and intensity is a rar... More >>

• Dave Chandler of St. Vitus on the band's early days at SST and what inspired the reunion

  published Mar 29, 2011

  St. Vitus (due tonight at Summit Music Hall) were one of the pioneers of a style of music that took its direct inspiration from the first four, maybe even the first six, Black Sabbath albums. The band... More >>

• Pure Sunshine at the Bluebird, 3/26/11

  published Mar 27, 2011

  ... More >>

• Emil Amos of Holy Sons on his stint with Jandek, Lee Hazelwood and J. Mascis

  published Mar 23, 2011

  Emil Amos is part experimental rock musician and part philosopher poet. Amos is a champion of stripping away the layers of conditioning we accept as payment for being part of a mainstream society th... More >>

• Jared Mees on Tender Loving Empire and Only Good Thoughts Can Stay

  published Mar 22, 2011

  Even though Jared Mees & The Grown Children don't write strictly confessional music, even a cursory listen to the band's songs reveal that Mees and company are certainly heart on sleeve types. To de... More >>

• Pacific Pride

  published March 24, 2011

  On songs like "Left-Right," Pacific Pride sounds like a conjunction of the Buzzcocks and Pavement, with simple lyrics worthy of sarcastic Devo... More >>

• Akron/Family

  published March 24, 2011

  Akron/Family started in 2002 as what some might call a "freak folk" band. But the group quickly headed in its own idiosyncratic direction. In... More >>

• St. Vitus

  published March 24, 2011

  It's probably just a coincidence that St. Vitus formed the same year Ozzy Osbourne parted ways with Black Sabbath. Nonetheless, this Los... More >>

• Purple Fluid, March 25 at the Bluebird

  published March 24, 2011

  Before they formed the Purple Fluid, Richard and Roman Kulwicki had rock and roll in their blood. Their father, of course, is the late,... More >>

• Dave Wakeling of The English Beat on having a social conscience and Elvis Costello

  published Mar 22, 2011

  Inspired by the first wave of punk in the U.K., the Beat combined the social critique of punk with the broader emotional and sonic palette of reggae. Formed in 1978, the English Beat (so named when th... More >>