Featuring 150 local bands and national headliners on thirteen stages, including Dada Life, Trampled By Turtles, P.O.S., Nick Waterhouse, The Mowgli's, My Body Sings Electric, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra plays Beck's Song Reader and more. More >>

Old Crow Medicine Show has a dedicated, ever-growing fan base, healthy album and ticket sales, boatloads of critical acclaim and admiration from a legion of respected musicians across numerous genres — not to mention the talent and stamina he and his bandmates possess to play hundreds of... More >>

Third-wave ska peaked sometime in the late 1990s, when bands like The Toasters, Save Ferris and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones achieved mainstream recognition. Times change and people move on, and now we're left with Rihanna searching for a rude boy. Thankfully, Streetlight Manifesto has been... More >>

The 16th Street Mall will come alive with the sound of music this afternoon when Denver musicians — performing in conjunction with musicians in hundreds of cities around the world — will gather to celebrate World Music Day with an eclectic variety of instruments and... More >>

Patrick Stump's ferocious, proto-Glambert shriek, Pete Wentz's lacerating text-message bon mots, exhausting song titles: The mid-00s emo-punk answer to hair-metal pomp is back in business. Glossy and lupine, Fall Out Boy have long felt like a clash of contradictory forces. Vital, hungry,... More >>

While there a number of string quartet tributes to rock artists out there, Portland Cello Project, a group of cellists, percussionists, and horn players who take the whole thing to a much more exciting, enjoyable conclusion by tackling such works as OutKast's "Hey Ya," Pantera's "Mouth for... More >>

Nearly four decades after Rodney Crowell played and sang background vocals on Emmylou Harris' 1975 album, Elite Hotel, the two teamed up again for this year's gorgeous effort, Old Yellow Moon. Being ideal duet partners, the two are in exquisite form on the album, which includes four... More >>

Father John Misty is the product of Josh Tillman's identity crisis. After making gently plucked acoustic guitar music with hushed, depressed, tortured vocals for a number of years, Tillman eventually got sick of his own creative persona. So, like any person stuck in a similar crux might do,... More >>

Joe Ely (the rocker), Jimmie Dale Gilmore (the silver-throated spiritualist), and Butch Hancock (the artsy revelation) grew up playing music and eating peyote together in Lubbock, Texas. More a Legend Than a Band, recorded in 1972, is simply one of the best alt-country albums ever. 2009's Hills... More >>

Fourteen years after "One Week," it's hard to believe that Canada's Barenaked Ladies are still capable of headlining an American venue the size of Red Rocks. But here they are, touring behind this year's good-enough Grinning Streak, the band's first album on the Vanguard imprint and the second... More >>

Austin-based singer-songwriter Bob Schneider may be one of the hardest-working men in the music biz. And that should work in his favor, because it takes seeing the guy live to appreciate his spastic energy. More >>

Dan Hicks is one of those artists you're pretty sure was never in it for the money. It's not that he doesn't take his craft seriously; it's just that his formula — a combination of just about everything under the sun — is a guarantee for cult status. In that arena, Hicks has few... More >>

Snowden's Jade Tree debut, Anti-Anti, instantly transports listeners to the dark, electro-infused '80s rock of Joy Division, Bauhaus and the Cure. So, naturally, comparisons to Interpol, She Wants Revenge and the Editors are inevitable. However, none of that name-checking helps much, except to... More >>

Richard Thompson probably isn't the first name that comes to mind when listing the greatest guitarists of all time, but it should be. In his seventh decade of existence, Thompson is a respected figure among those who appreciate superb musicianship informed by a rich imagination. Thompson first... More >>

The late Screamin' Jay Hawkins once declared, "I'd rather sing opera than be a black Vincent Price." And though he's better remembered as a novelty performer who rose from a coffin, foisting a skull on the end of a stick, Hawkins possessed an astounding vocal range that would have made Puccini... More >>

Crookers may have hit the radar for some with a mean remix of Kid Cudi's "Day and Night," but he's been on the radar for the heads for quite sometime. He adapts hip-hop roots with modern club spins and always keeps your feet moving with uptempo tracks and low-down bass. (Catch Crookers with... More >>

One in a long line of Rhymesayers entertainers to keep alive the tradition of self-reflective poetic rap, Grieves headlines the official after party for this year's Westword Music Showcase. Grieves crafts dark, visceral images that imbue his music with a tender sadness that sticks in your gut... More >>

Portland-based Beisbol (the moniker is Spanish for "baseball") brings its '80s drenched synthy pop to the Lost Lake a day before releasing its debut long-player, Lo-Fi Cocaine on the Badcopbadcop imprint. The duo of brothers Jeff and Ryan Burian craft simple yet catchy songs put through a lens... More >>

In I-can't-believe-he's-that-old news, Everclear's Art Alexakis celebrated his 50th birthday last year. Fifty. That's sort of mind-blowing and, well, inspiring. Last year Alexakis and Everclear released their eighth studio record, Invisible Stars and are spending this summer on the road... More >>

Pulling from the '60s garage-punk sound of tube amps, organs and sweat-drenched tempos, Colfax Speed Queen is one of the most committed live acts to emerge in Denver over the past few years. The band impressively brings its chaotic sound into focus on its full-length debut, Satisfaction... More >>

As the leading force behind SMOG, L.A.'s premier dubstep connection, John Dadzie (aka 12th Planet) is well known in the EDM world. Touring with Skrillex certainly helped, but this solo act stands alone, with a quarterly Beta residency that showcases just what is going on behind closed doors at... More >>

Half a decade after releasing the platinum single "Handlebars," which made rounds on radios across the country, the Flobots have grown significantly, both as a musical group and as a philanthropic force within the Denver community. Since parting ways with Universal Records after the lukewarm... More >>

Krizz Kaliko is best-known as co-owner with Tech N9ne of Strange Music, which houses such powerhouse MCs as Rittz, Jay Rock and Brotha Lynch Hung. But Kaliko is more than just a businessman; he's made four albums of his own with the fifth, Son of Sam, scheduled to come this July. Tech N9ne... More >>

On her 2010 release, Caravan, San Francisco-based jazz vocalist Lisa Engelken puts some fresh spins on standards, including a sassy takes on "Just One of Those Things" and "Afro Blue." She recently crowdfunded her second album, Little Warrior, which is due out in October, and she plans to... More >>

Tony Bennett is an artist who takes his work very, very seriously. Rather than drift aimlessly on a wave of nostalgia built up over the decades, he continues to search for ways to imbue the music he loves with even more passion and elegance. And he's succeeding: At 86, he is as skilled and... More >>