Conor Oberst

The ten most timid musicians

There's a long history of musicians who suffered from and overcame (or sometimes didn't overcome) crippling shyness, anxiety and stage fright to fulfill their dreams of standing in the spotlight. That spotlight, it's a cruel, uncaring light. So bright. So uncomfortably warm. Everyone's staring at yo ... More >>

Weekend's best live bets: the Fray, the Lumineers, Leftover Salmon, Drake and more

Welcome to the weekend! The sun's hiding this morning and rain's in the forecast for the next few days, but even that can't dampen spirits today. The Nuggets destroyed the Lakers last night, and you've got another full slate of local goodness on tap this weekend: Tonight the Fray kicks off a two-nig ... More >>

Review: Cursive at Larimer Lounge, 2/12/12

CURSIVE @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 2/12/12 If it's possible that there's a good time to find out that the first person you said "I love you" to is marrying the girl he dumped you for, you could do worse than the middle of a Cursive show. I'm not saying this happened to me (Congratulations, Joey), but if it ... More >>

Summer's Ending: 8 Great Weekend Roadtrips You Need to Take Now

National Park Service​It's the first week of August, so it's likely that many of you are experiencing Endofsummeritis. You may think there's nothing you can do but watch the slow creep to winter, and before you know it, you will be shoveling your car out of six feet of snow while icicle tears form ... More >>

Review: Bright Eyes at the Fillmore, 6/5/11

​BRIGHT EYES at THE FILLMORE, 6/5/11"It was a bit bittersweet to think that this might be the last time Bright Eyes plays Denver."

Bright Eyes Boulder Theater show announced

​Anyone who missed Bright Eyes' show last night at the Fillmore, will get another chance to see Conor Oberst and company, as the Boulder Theater just announced a date with the band on Tuesday, August 9. Tickets ($30 in advance and $35 day of show) go on sale this Friday, June 9.

Tonight: Little Brazil at the Hi-Dive

​Little Brazil (playing tonight at the hi-dive with the Photo Atlas and Take to the Oars) began as the solo project of Landon Hedges, following his time in big name acts like Tim Kasher's The Good Life and the Conor Oberst-led Desparecidos. Eventually Hedges decided fill out his pretty guitar ... More >>

Win Bright Eyes prize pack, including merch and a pair of tickets to the Fillmore show

Bright Eyes has sure come a long way since we saw him open up for the Gloria Record up in Boulder at Club 156 sometime in the late '90s. Back then, Conor Oberst was awkward kid with a guitar slung over his shoulder singing awkward songs with a tentative voice. Since then, of course, he's grown into ... More >>

Indie collaborations: Are they taking cues from hip-hop?

​The National and Sharon Van Etten recorded a song for the Win Win soundtrack. It leaked yesterday, but Fox Searchlight has pretty well scrubbed the legal-ish streams. Regardless, the two artists are a good fit, Matt Berninger's sleepy baritone makes a seamless companion for Van Etten's own ho ... More >>

Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus talks bagpipes, Bright Eyes and the Boss

​ Titus Andronicus is frightfully serious about punk rock. The group of well-read, New Jersey-bred twenty-somethings recently released The Monitor, a concept album about the Civil War that contains spoken-word, era-appropriate interludes, male-female call-and-response, and three track punk su ... More >>

Titus Andronicus

Wednesday, September 15, Bluebird Theater, 303-830-8497.

Band of Horses at the Ogden: It's that booty-rocking funeral music!

Photos by Joe Tone​Band of Horses • Co. • 03.16.10 | Ogden Theatre There are certain tricks storytellers use, moves that keep the audience's minds or livers from getting anxious and hitting the bar. Band of Horses owns a heavy arsenal of those tricks -- but we'll get to that shortly.

NPR's All Songs Considered weighs in on the best music of 2009

​Last time we checked, there's still a good four months left until the end of the year. Regardless, that hasn't stopped Bob Boilen and company from NPR's All Songs Considered from weighing in on the best music of 2009 (so far). Actually, check that -- the results, which were posted on the show's b ... More >>

David Dondero

Monday, July 13, Meadowlark, 303-293-0251.

Rocky Mountain Low top seller at Wax Trax

Rocky Mountain Low, a compilation of Colorado underground bands of the late 1970s, was the top seller at Wax Trax for the week of May 17. Green Day's new album came in second, while Peaches, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Obits grabbed slots in the top five. See the full breakdown after the jump.

Steve Earle grabs top spot at Twist and Shout

Steve Earle, who performed songs from his new Townes Van Zandt tribute album at Twist & Shout last Friday, beat out Green Day for the top spot on the store's best seller list for the week of May 17. Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, Iron & Wine and Conor Oberst continue to hold down spots in the top te ... More >>

Bob Dylan grabs top spot at Twist and Shout

Bob Dylan's latest disc, Together Through Life, was the top seller for the second week in a row at Twist and Shout, while new releases from Ben Harper, Isis, Peaches and St. Vincent rounded out the list for the week ending May 10. See the full breakdown after the jump.

Pleistocene top seller at Wax Trax

For the week ending May 10, local glacial rockers Pleistocene topped Wax Trax's best seller list with their new album, The Mammoth and the Microchip. New releases by Bob Dylan, Metric, Cursive and Isis also earned spots in the top five. See the full breakdown after the jump.

The Show Is the Rainbow

Friday, April 3, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Week in Review: 1/26/09 - 1/30/09

In terms of music news this was a slower week in the Mile High City. The biggest items were news of Overcasters being invited to perform at South By Southwest on the heels of a particularly harrowing trip to the East Coast a few weeks ago with the Fluid, followed closely by DJ Vajra's inclusion in ... More >>

Springsteen, Modest Mouse, Conor Oberst shows announced

Modest Mouse visits CU's Balch Fieldhouse February 28. As we reported earlier today, Bruce Springsteen's April 10 Pepsi Center show was announced today, but it's also been a busy week for other concert announcements, including Modest Mouse's February 28 gig at CU's Balch Fieldhouse, Conor Oberst's A ... More >>

Zack Nichols

Bright Eyes EP
Self-released

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

Over the next couple of weeks, Backbeat will feature some Top Ten lists from around the Village Voice Media chain. Click here for previous year-in-review coverage from Backbeat and VVM. Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records t ... More >>

Paper Bird, the Autumn Film, Laura Goldhamer, Chuck Potashner & Rob Drabkin at the Oriental Theater

Paper Bird, The Autumn Film, Laura Goldhamer, Chuck Potashner, Rob DrabkinWednesday, November 26, 2008Oriental TheatreBetter than: The typical Thanksgiving birdThanksgiving Eve (that's a thing, right?) is always a good night to get out and have a little fun, unless maybe you're the one stuck cooking ... More >>

Live Review: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band at the Ogden

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Thursday, October 16, Ogden Theatre, 303-830-8497.

Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst
Merge Records

Top Sellers: Twist & Shout

David Dondero and the Entire State of Florida

Saturday, April 19, Larimer Lounge, 303-292-3666.

Freeloader

The best in legitimate, artist-approved downloads.

Year's to You

The Fray's Isaac Slade and Joe King sound off on their favorite albums of 2007.

Review: We Are! We Are!/ The Narrator @ Larimer Lounge

Bright Eyes

Saturday, April 28, Buell Theatre, 303-830-8497.

On the Download

Linking you to the best in legitimate, artist-approved exclusives.

Listen Up

Fast reviews of recent releases

Jenny Lewis

Saturday, September 30, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-830-8497.

'Til We Meet Again

For Tilly and the Wall, there's no place like home.

Have Strum, Will Travel

David Dondero's road-weary folk is picking up speed.

Bright Eyes

Monday, November 7, and Tuesday, November 8, Boulder Theater, Boulder, 303-786-7030.

Beep Beep

Friday, February 18, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Bright Eyes

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek)

David Dondero

Thursday, November 11, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-0959.

Electric Company

As pop eats itself, the Faint gives birth to new sounds and vibrations.

Now It's Overhead

Fall Back Open (Saddle Creek)

Statistics

Leave Your Name (Jade Tree)

Tales From the Script

With its fourth and most compelling album, Cursive walks it like it writes it.

Critic's Choice

Rilo Kiley

Spanish Inquisition

Outspoken and a little bit angry, Desaparecidos uses artful indie pop to question everything.

On the Records

Backbeat contributors reflect on the releases that helped them survive the year 2000.

Little Boy Blue

Conor Oberst sees the world through Bright Eyes.