Les Paul

Yngwie Malmsteen plays to impress himself first

Yngwie Malmsteen is a guitar god known for his supremely technical fretwork. The virtuosic guitarist burst into the world of international music in 1984 with Rising Force. At the age of seven, Malmsteen says, he saw a documentary about the death of Jimi Hendrix and was so taken in by his musical pow ... More >>

Tea Leaf Green's Reed Mathis on how improv is a spirtitual discipline and an emotional art

Reed Mathis talks about improvisation like it's a mystical religion. The current bassist for the San Francisco-based quintet Tea Leaf Green and former frontman of the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey sees a great deal of power in making music on the spot, and that passion will likely be front and center when ... More >>

R.I.P. Mike Scaccia of Rigor Mortis and Ministry

Some sad news coming out of Texas this morning. We've just got word that Mike Scaccia of Rigor Mortis and Ministry has died at the age of 47. Last night in Fort Worth Texas, Scaccia reportedly collapsed on stage during a performance with his band Rigor Mortis and was subsequently transported to a ne ... More >>

Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli on being chased by Meat Loaf for helping himself to Meat's leftovers

While the Afghan Whigs are probably not the first band people think of when they think of the '90s, album for album, the band consistently put out quality material. The outfit's soul-inflected rock, which could just as easily be called power pop even though it packed a lot more punch than some of th ... More >>

Ben Dicke on the emo rock opera Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

UPDATE: Just hours before Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson was set to open last night, Ben Dicke, who directed the show and was to play Andrew Jackson, fell through an open trap door in a stage floor, sustaining a head injury and four broken ribs. According to updates from fellow production member Jason ... More >>

Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia on Rigor Mortis, Psalm 69 and his friendship with Al Jourgensen

See Also: Ministry's Al Jourgensen on his ties to Colorado: living in Breckenridge, attending Greeley High School and his ill-fated attempt at a rodeo career Ministry (due Sunday, June 17, at the Ogden Theatre) got its start when Al Jourgensen moved from Colorado to Chicago, where the Wax Trax labe ... More >>

Bon Iver at Red Rocks, 5/31/12

BON IVER @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 5.31.12 Flanked by talented multi-instrumentalists and standing in front of two drummers, both of whom played kits so sprawling they resembled Neil Peart's smaller setups in the '70s, Bon Iver compelled the packed Red Rocks crowd with songs from across its powerf ... More >>

Jolie Holland at the Walnut Room, 5/26/12

JOLIE HOLLAND @ WALNUT ROOM | 5.26.12 After the applause died down following her final song last night, Jolie Holland offered to pay someone in the crowd for gas if they could drive her to her next gig in Colorado Springs. It's a shame that she was forced to ask, and also rather bittersweet for fan ... More >>

White Rabbits: "It was more important to be emotionally visceral and in the moment'"

White Rabbits (due tonight at the Bluebird Theater) moved from Columbia, Missouri to Brooklyn within a year of forming in 2004. The group's music had, from the beginning, an ineffably energetic spirit that could be heard by broader audiences first with its 2007 debut album, Fort Nightly. But it was ... More >>

Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth: "The chemistry in the band is better than it's ever been"

Iced Earth (due tonight at Summit Music Hall) came out of the rich heavy metal scene in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late '80s. At a time when melodic heavy metal, especially the glam variety, was on the wane, Iced Earth came in with the wave of metal that produced a melodic speed metal as well as the ... More >>

Blair Shehan of the Jealous Sound: "Anything else didn't feel like the right suit to put on"

The Jealous Sound (playing tonight at the Marquis Theater) came together when former Knapsack guitarist and singer Blair Shehan got together with some of his friends who had also been members of melodic punk bands of the '90s, including Padro Benito of Sunday's Best, John McGinnis of Neither Trump ... More >>

The 54th Grammys: who will win (Adele) and who won't (Lady Gaga)

From power pop to power ballads, rock anthems to rap staples, the nominees of the 54th Grammy Awards, which airs this Sunday night, sees no dearth of great music. There's little doubt that it will be Adele's night, but others, like Kanye West and Mumford & Sons, could win big too. Continue reading f ... More >>

Review: Scott Kelly at the Hi-Dive, 12/3/11

Tom MurphyScott Kelly​SCOTT KELLY at HI-DIVE | 12/3/11There were plenty of signs around the hi-dive last night indicating that this was an acoustic show. Meaning: Talking was ill-advised. Even so, some people near the stage decided to have a conversation at the beginning of Scott Kelly's set, ... More >>

Raymond Scott's looniest tunes: An introduction

​The pianist and composer Raymond Scott, born Harry Warnow in Brooklyn in 1908, is probably best-known for his cartoon music, which he didn't even originally write for cartoons. But his history is way more more interesting than that: Scott was not only a pioneer in sound engineering and multi- ... More >>

Les Paul Google Doodle in honor of what would've been the guitar legend's 96 birthday

​No, we don't have our guitar plugged into our Smokey Amp again. Why do you ask? Oh that. Yeah, no, we're just screwing around with our Google Doodle in honor of Les Paul, who would've been 96 today. Easy, tiger. It only sounds dirty -- uh, the Google Doodle, that is, not what we're playing. W ... More >>

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

Tina-Korhonen​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's aggressive guitar work flirted with psychedelia but was too heavy to ever be ... More >>

Jeff Beck, Katy Perry, Snow Ball Music Festival shows announced. Tix on sale this weekend.

​Les Paul has been a long-time inspiration for Jeff Beck, and last summer, Beck paid tribute to the legendary guitarist on what would have been Paul's 95th birthday. Beck's two performances at New York's Iridium Jazz Club, where Paul performed for fourteen years until his death of August 200 ... More >>

Richard Thompson on Fairport Convention, Nick Drake and Sufism

Pamela Littky​These days, the legendary folk-rock band Fairport Convention isn't as widely known as it once was, and yet Richard Thompson, the band's most storied guitarist, is often cited as an influence by a wide range of musicians and frequently included on the short list of the most talent ... More >>

Guitar hero: An evening with Richard Thompson at the Boulder Theater

Conan O'Brien "Freebird" makes you want to flick your Bic

Now this is what you call going out on a high note. In case you missed it, Conan O'Brien ended his stint at NBC on Friday night by strapping on a Les Paul and playing "Freebird" with Will Ferrell, Ben Harper, Beck and ZZ Top's Bill Gibbons. Ferrell actually does a pretty mean Ronnie Van Zandt an ... More >>

Q&A with Ethan Ward of Gangcharger

Tom MurphyGangcharger's Ethan Ward at the Meadowlark​Gangcharger started out as something of a side-project Ethan Ward did with a few friends. Few probably saw or remember the earliest incarnation of the band, but when it started up full force at the end of 2008, even if you didn't like the ac ... More >>

Q&A with Adrian Belew

​Adrian Belew has lead something of a charmed existence as a musician for the last thirty years, from his first high-profile gig as a guitarist for Frank Zappa in 1979 to his later work with Talking Heads, Trent Reznor, David Bowie and King Crimson. Though possessed of preternaturally able technic ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of August 17, 2009

​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Woody Paige knows his Les Paul

Photo by Brett AmoleWoody Paige in the Denver Post newsroom circa 2005.​Yesterday, I expressed regret for the January blog headline "Good News, Woody Paige: Les Paul Isn't Dead Yet" in light of the fact that Paul, a pioneering guitarist and inventor, had just passed away at age 94. Then, this ... More >>

Remembering Les Paul, June 9, 1915 - August 13, 2009

​Les Paul's nose was running. It was during one of his weekly Monday gigs at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York, and I was sitting about ten feet from where he was sitting on stage. He looked at me, pointed at the napkin on my lap and gestured for me to toss it to him. So I did. He wiped his no ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, August 14 edition

Photo by Tom MurphyThe Sunn O))) will come out tomorrow....​Getting your weekend off on the right note.... Today in Backbeat Online: • Last night: Sunn O))) at the Bluebird. • Hearsay bits: Van Morrison, Yonder Mountain String Band, Tyler Despres Band, Pictureplane. • Freaky Friday - "P ... More >>

Excuse us for that last Les Paul headline

The late Les Paul.​Back in January, Denver Post columnist Woody Paige wrote that New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul "plays basketball like Les Paul played guitar" -- a sentence that implied the elder Paul, an ax pioneer, inventor and namesake of a Gibson electric guitar beloved by a legion o ... More >>

Good news, Woody Paige: Les Paul isn't dead yet

It's always dangerous when sportswriters include music references in their columns. Such citations are typically moldy -- as, for instance, Rocky Mountain News staffer Bernie Lincicome's dopey mention of Loggins and Messina, who hailed from an era "when music was fun," he claimed in a December 7 p ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, January 7 edition

Better late than never. Today in Backbeat Online: • Vintage Q&A with the late, great Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton. • Mile High Makeout: Coming home. • A review of the Fray at the Gothic Theatre. • Baji wants to announce your calls. • Femi Kuti cancels Boulder Theater show. Today in Ca ... More >>

Delegating Denver #55 of #56: Wisconsin

Live Review: My Feral Kin with Married in Berdichev! and French Quarter

Redline Defiance of Death

Having a near-death experience causes you to rock like your life depends on it.

Last Night: Rilo Kiley, Jonathan Rice and Grand Ole Party @ The Ogden Theater

Last Night: Lez Zeppelin @ Bluebird Theater

Grazing

There was something for every musical appetite at the Westword Music Showcase.

Unlikely Requiem

On the road to recovery with the Drive By Truckers.

The Beatdown

Rose Hill Drive's no-frills approach is guaranteed to rock your socks off.

Mistletunes

Rounding up holiday discs that offer season's greetings -- and beatings.

The Mars Volta

De-loused in the Comatorium (Universal)

Hit Pick

Los Muertos

Something Underground

Slides (Self-released)

Death Becomes Them

Two original members of Fort Collins's Wretch Like Me get down and arty on a new album.

The Picking's Good

Doc Watson has played across five decades of bluegrass music.

In Like a Lion

In Black Lamb's eyes, hard rock was never broken. Why fix it?

Fraternal Rush

The Kalamath Brothers' progeny is a dark country concoction.

Strung Along

Rocky Mountain Guitar Show

Taking Wing

The Subdudes may be grounded, but Magpie's flying high.

Punks of the Rising Sun

Thanks to Electric Summer, the Denver music scene is turning Japanese.

The Spirit of 72

DANNY BOY

THE FEW UPS AND MANY DOWNS OF GUITAR MASTER DANNY GATTON.