Loretta Lynn

Sera Cahoone knows what it's like to have Thom Yorke hold your hands and sing to you

Lauded Sub Pop recording artist Sera Cahoone grew up in Colorado -- Littleton, to be exact. By the time she was in middle school, she was playing drums for gigging bands, and in the early '90s, she formed the experimental-rock band Idle Mind with her friend Roger Green. Although one of the more prom ... More >>

The five most listened-to songs and albums of the week, August 20 through August 27

Well, lookie here. What you do know? It's the return of Heavy Rotation. Longtime readers of Backbeat will remember this feature as one in which we shared our weekly listening habits in hopes of giving you some insight into our individual sensibilities. It's been dormant for a while, but starting tod ... More >>

R.I.P. Levon Helm, 5/26/40 - 4/19/12

See Also: At the Helm - A throat cancer survivor, the Band's Levon Helm can't sing anymore -- but the beat goes on Levon Helm, iconic drummer and singer extraordinaire of the Band, died yesterday at the age of 71, after a long and strenuous battle with throat cancer. Helm's imaginative drumming and ... More >>

Sharon Van Etten: "I get nervous sometimes that my songs are too personal"

Sharon Van Etten (due this Wednesday, March 28, at the Bluebird Theater) saw more sides of the music industry than most of her peers before embarking on her musical career. She moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee as a teenager to go to school and became involved with Red Rose, a coffee shop/music venue ... More >>

Jewel: "I've never held back because I'm a woman. I feel like I can accomplish anything a man can accomplish in my field.""

Since having her son, Kase Townes Murray, last summer, Jewel might have taken time off the road, but she's still busy at home with a number of things, including working on a new Christmas album. Her free solo acoustic show this Saturday night at the Colorado Convention Centeras part of the Women's ... More >>

Paper Diamond, Lizzie Huffman, SBTRKT, Judas Priest and more on tap this weekend

​Have plans this weekend? If not, there's ample choices: Tonight, Paper Diamond's at the Ogden, Lizzie Huffman is celebrating the release of her new CD at the hi-dive and Rich Robinson is at the Soiled Dove Underground. On Saturday, Judas Priest is at 1STBANK Center, SBTRKT is at the Bluebird ... More >>

Lizzie Huffman is a Pretty Old Soul

Lizzie Huffman on her new album Pretty Old Soul, and her love of hip-hop and country

​Although these days Lizzie Huffman plays what she calls "country folk pop," the 22-year-old singer-songwriter says she was more into hip-hop and R&B artists like Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill early on. But just as she was becoming a teenager, she discovered classic country singers like Patsy Cl ... More >>

Artists like Springsteen and Dylan can start applying to regain copyrights of 1978 recordings

​When copyright law was revised in 1976, there was a provision that gave artists control of their work after 35 years, provided they applied two years in advance. The law didn't go into effect until 1978, but now artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Loretta Lynn can start a ... More >>

Five careers Jack White could help revive next

​Jack White has been a busy bee lately, producing records for Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson and now, Jerry Lee Lewis. We're starting to get the feeling he might view himself as a sort of Rick Rubin-type character, but instead of making older musicians darker and more introspective, he's just mak ... 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 >>

Elton John, Ray LaMontagne, Iron & Wine shows announced. Tickets on sale this weekend.

​Elton John is performing at the Wells Fargo Theatre on Tuesday, April 12 to benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation, founded by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year old son, Matthew, who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming in October 1998. Tickets ($49-$149) go on s ... More >>

Best Coast and Wavves at Fox Theatre, 2/14/11

Tom MurphyTour Banner at back of stage. Should've been a t-shirt.​ BEST COAST With Waaves and No Joy 02.14.11 | Fox Theatre Opening the show with "Ghost Blonde," No Joy provided the perfect blend of noisy garage rock and dream pop. The title track to the group's debut full-length is one of i ... More >>

Last Night: Paramore, Tegan and Sara, New Found Glory at Red Rocks - 09.13.10

Aaron Thackeray​ PARAMORE Tegan and Sara • New Found Glory • Kadawatha 09.13.10 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison view full slide show While this year's installment of the Honda Civic Tour felt more like an obscene barrage of advertisements (complete with a pamphlet about credit-buildin ... More >>

Jack Lawrence of the Dead Weather on the band's origin and working with Loretta Lynn

Floria Sigismondi​ Founded in 2009, the Dead Weather had a bit of a leg up for a new band. But then all its members came together from other well-known projects: Jack White, who decided to take up the drums once again for this band, is famous, of course, for his stints in the White Stripes an ... More >>

Honky-Tonk Angels

God bless the USA... and Cracker Barrel

Wake-Up Call: Same old song

Governor Bill Ritter took a break from his budget-busting business last week to pop by the Paramount Theater, where he presented Loretta Lynn with a plaque commemorating her induction into the Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame. The Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame? Yeah, I hadn't heard of i ... More >>

Loretta Lynn

Wednesday, June 10, Paramount Theatre, 1-866-461-6556.

New Kids on the Block, Boz Scaggs, Loretta Lynn shows announced

A number of shows were announced this week, including New Kids on the Block (Wednesday, July 15, Fiddler's Green), Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald (Monday, July 6, Paramount Theatre), Loretta Lynn (Wednesday, June 10, Paramount Theatre) and Reggae on the Rocks featuring Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squa ... More >>

Jessica Lea Mayfield

Saturday, February 28, hi-dive, 720-570-4500.

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 >>

The Lost Charlie Louvin Interview

Westword Music Showcase 2005

Tift Merritt

Wednesday, February 9, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Americana Pie

Grab a slice of 2004's best roots music while it's still hot.

Neko Case

The Tigers Have Spoken (Anti)

Drink of the Week

Ten High Bourbon Whiskey and 7-Up

The Show(case) Must Go On!

Letters to the Editor

From the week of April 17, 2003

Backwash

Radio waves: Clear Channel clears the air about independent promoters.

Backwash

The All Night Honky Tonk All Stars crank it up at the Fox Theatre.

Still Scorching

Jason Ringenberg embraces his title as alt country's architect.

Kelly's Heroes

Kelly Hogan takes great songs by great artists and makes them her own.

The Grass Is Greener

While stretching the boundaries of old-timey bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band has reached a peak.

A Special Case

Neko Case has yet to make the Opry, but her reputation as a new country pioneer is grand.

For Love of Country

Now part of Denver Joe's "family," Dick and Lois Meis have strummed, plucked and picked their way across five decades of Western music.

Backwash

Detroit's White Stripes will save your savage soul.

At the Helm

A throat cancer survivor, the Band's Levon Helm can't sing anymore -- but the beat goes on.

He Done It

His song dares to challenge the Nashville money machine. Somehow, though, songwriter Larry Cordle has gotten away with Murder.

Neko Case & Her Boyfriends

Furnace Room Lullaby

On the Case

Neko Case aims to shake up the world of country music.

Foggy Notion

How the West Was Ween

Gene and Dean Ween take on country music and live to tell the tale.

SO FINE

THE MOST MEMORABLE ALBUMS OF 1994.