John Common

Making Spirits Bright

Download John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light's just posted Daytrotter session

Johnnie Cluney​This past Friday, Daytotter.com posted the session John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light recorded at their studios in Rock Island, Illinois over the summer while the band was in the midst of its Midwest tour. If you're not already a member of Daytrotter, it's totally worth s ... More >>

2011 Denver Day of Rock schedule announced

With the exception of the main headliners (Dennis DeYoung and the Gin Blossoms) and a handful of new local acts, the lineup for this year's Denver Day of Rock Concerts for Kids (taking place for free on five stages along the 16th Street Mall, between 15th and 16th Streets, on Saturday, May 28) doesn ... More >>

A freezing-weather playlist, from Denver and beyond

​Fun fact you probably didn't know already: It's really fucking cold outside. How cold? Well, eleven degrees below zero at last check. This is hunker down with hot chocolate and delivery Chinese food weather. Work can wait until you don't need an ice pick and a Sherpa to navigate your neighbor ... More >>

Moovers and Shakers: Our favorite Denver music releases of 2010

Tonight: Matt Morris, Jen Korte, John Common and more at Casselman's

​Though the sound of Wham's "Last Christmas" may have you wishing it was 2011 already, there is hope. Tonight, Matt Morris -- along with Jen Korte, John Common, Rob Drabkin and a handful of other smiling local faces -- will be singing holiday songs at Casselman's for the "Something in a Pear T ... More >>

Vinefield Agency showcase at Casselman's, 10/15/10

Jon SolomonMonroe Monroe​ VINEFIELD AGENCY SHOWCASE 10.16.2010 | Casselman's Bar & Venue It's an ambitious task fitting close to a dozen diverse acts into a five and a half-hour show, but the folks at the Vinefield Agency pulled it off as part of new company's launch party and showcase. Loca ... More >>

John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light, The Knew at Mile High Music Festival, day two

Brian Landis FolkinsJohn Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light​John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light, 1:15 p.m. on the Cougar Stage John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light didn't let the early hour or the high temperatures derail their sense of decorum. The band emerged for t ... More >>

Reviews: Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Joe Purdy, John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light, Drive-By Truckers at Mile High Music Festival, day two

Brian Landis FolkinsDanielle Ate the Sandwich on the Wolf Stage.​My first stop was the Wolf stage, where Danielle Ate the Sandwich was parked, being all adorably quirky -- as she does so well. She was playing "Bad Romance" and then lead into "Canada," the simple harmonies and clean uke and vio ... More >>

Fierce Bad Rabbit, I'm a Boy and Andrea Ball spun on radio last week. See who else got spins.

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190's Local Shakedown*, KTCL's Locals Only, KBCO's Local Edition*, The Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broa ... More >>

Dub Skin, Take to the Oars, The Foot, Pretty Lights spun on radio last week. See who else got spins.

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190's Local Shakedown*, KTCL's Locals Only, KBCO's Local Edition, The Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broad ... More >>

Warlock Pinchers, Big Head Todd and Dan Craig spun on radio last week. See who else got spins.

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190's Local Shakedown*, KTCL's Locals Only*, KBCO's Local Edition, The Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broa ... More >>

2010 Westword Music Showcase Awards wrap up

Kate LevyCheck out the slideshow for more pics from last night.​ Whoo boy! What a time we had last night. Every year, I'm always so energized after hosting the awards ceremony -- not to mention hungover (more on that in a minute). As I mentioned last night (numerous times, apparently), I'm re ... More >>

Astrophagus, Wentworth Kersey and Houses got spins this past week on local radio. See who else got played.

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, KBCO's Local Edition*, The Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broad ... More >>

The Weekend Show Down: hi-dive Hullabaloo brings the rock mayhem

​There's nothing like experiencing the sweat, thump and catharsis of a great show. Trouble is, you live in Denver, the land of embarrassing riches when it comes to music, the land of too many shows and too little time. So which ones are worth checking out? Glad you asked. After the jump, we've ... More >>

The Skyline Park Free Summer Concert Series reveals lineup

​ Great news for those who got their groove on this past weekend at the Denver Day of Rock and are now jonesin' to hear more music downtown, particularly with the absence of the annual summer concert series at the Denver Pavilions. The Skyline Park Free Summer concert series, which just annou ... More >>

John Common unveils his next collaborative project

​John Common has a passion for collaborative art. He's just kicked off the third project asking artists to draw inspiration from his Beautiful Empty album and share it with the world, with the Beautiful Empty Photo Conspiracy.

The Weekend Showdown: The Flobots Big Party will not be denied.

​ We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we've decided to run down five of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us -- and the rest of the world -- what we missed in the comments. This week, a pa ... More >>

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broadcast all over Colorado, ... More >>

Over the weekend: John Common at Cassleman's Bar & Venue

John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light, Achille Lauro, Danielle Ate the Sandwich Casselman's Bar & Venue Saturday, January 16, 2010 Better Than: Martinis and Red Wine Brian Landis Folkins​ John Common is too old for the slog of rock and roll. In this week's feature, he talked about giving i ... More >>

After nearly quitting music, John Common made the best record of his life with his new band, Blinding Flashes of Light

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of January 11, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. F ... More >>

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, 99.5 the Mountain's Homegrown Show*, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC a ... More >>

Presenting a half-dozen acts worth keeping an eye on in 2010

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of January 4, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. F ... More >>

Freeloader: Download "Love Is a Shark" by John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light

So we've been listening to John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light's new record, Beautiful Empty, for the past few weeks, and man, have we been digging it. So much so, that we convinced Mr. Common to let us hook you up with our favorite track, "Love Is a Shark" -- despite the fact that the record ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 21, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For ... More >>

John Common wants you to make him a movie

​If you like music -- especially the music of John Common -- and have an interest in making film, there's a project you should know about. In the wake of his successful Common Box Project, a collaborative project that asked visual artists to create a piece of assemblage box art inspired by the ... More >>

Box Set

John Common’s collaboration with the Abecedarian Gallery brings uncommon results.

Tonight at Forest Room Five: See behind the blog with Mizel Museum's "Blogging as Self-Portraiture" discussion

John Common will break down blogging for you. As someone who's been blogging since before that was a word -- I created and maintained a personal journal-type site back in 1998, using HTML hand-coded in Notepad and uploaded to my server via FTP -- I've been there for most every change the medium has ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase reviewed: Mo's

Chad FahnestockJoshua Novak helped break in Mo's on Broadway. See more photos from Mo's and the other venues at westword.com/slideshow. Andrea Ball, 12:00 p.m. Andrea Ball kicked off the Mo's lineup with an enjoyable set of mostly piano-driven, literate yet approachable songs that fit well in the ... More >>

The Common Box Project

John Common is a regular fount of cool ideas. He did that whole Kazoo Orchestra thing a while back, he was a hilarious blogger for this very blog at one point and now, he's doing this: The Common Box Project. The idea here is that 65 artists are creating unique art boxes inspired and informed by his ... More >>

Barnes Storming

Moving Pictures: Iuengliss, Tauntaun, Paper Bird, Hot Congress, John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light

Behold our latest weekly feature: Moving Pictures. Like a slideshow, only with sound and motion, Moving Pictures is basically just a quick highlight reel of the things we saw during the week or, in this case, over the weekend. This first edition features clips from yet another extraordinary weeken ... More >>

Here we are. Now entertain us: Dualistics channel Nirvana. Sheryl Renee pays tribute to Marvin Gaye.

Got plans this weekend? If not, you do now. There's a couple of shows totally worth checking out featuring local musicians paying homage to a pair of past icons, groundbreaking, paradigm shifting artists who left this world violently and prematurely. This Friday night at the hi-dive, the Dualistics ... More >>

Fertility in fallow fields, part one

Boy, does this economy suck! If you're like most people I know, you were already broke before the market took a dump in September, and making your bills was hard enough then. Artists seem to always be up against challenges financially, but now, things are just plain ridiculous. Even people making go ... More >>

Blinding Flashes of Light (and John Common)

Thanks to a tip from a reliable informant, I managed to catch a sneak preview of John Common's band last night as they "rehearsed" at a most unlikely venue: the Washington Park Grille. Common has assembled a top-notch ensemble for his latest outing, and it was great to hear the group working out ... More >>

That John Common is something else, isn't he?

All right, so this is a new one. While most bands are content to promote their shows by sending out MySpace bulletins or posting fliers around town, leave it to John Common to come at it from a completely different angle. To spread the word about a show at the Oriental on Friday, February 20, from h ... More >>

Update: John Common's People's Kazoo Orchestra

Mile High Makeout: Binge and purge

On the third day of an alcohol, caffeine, fat and sugar binge in the name of the winter solstice and some folks' savior, I'm feeling lethargic, unhealthy, dirty and startlingly unattractive. This is the stuff New Year's resolutions are made of. All I want to do is eat raw foods, spend four hours in ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, October 10 edition

The Westword.com blog shortcut, August 14 edition

The Westword.com Blog Shortcut, July 11 Edition

Rearview: The Week in Review (7/5/08-7/12/08)

Oriental Express

Common Wealth

John Common's new album raises the bar for rock in Denver.

Critic's Choice

Filmstrip Series

Rainville

The Longest Street in America

Common Ground

The sun is shining on Rainville, Denver's standard-bearers of all-American rock and roll.

Best guitar tone

John Common