There’s no denying the strong sense of musical history that propels much of Back to the Country. This ragtag ensemble has clearly done its homework when it comes to making American folk, country, blues and roots music, as evidenced by the stunning acoustic solos and heartfelt pedal-steel guitar that drive…

Dave Watts released the reins for the Motet’s latest album. According to the drummer and founder of the Boulder-based band, writing and recording tracks for the new record was much different from the creative process on past efforts. Whereas those featured a revolving cast of musicians led by a single,…

It won’t take long for faithful Samples fans to pick up on the nostalgic undercurrent of America. “It seems like it was 70,000 years ago,” sings guitarist, vocalist and sole remaining original member Sean Kelly on “Boulder,” a slow reggae jam that nods to the group’s beginnings over two decades…

“On a Roll,” the first of three songs on Eric, In the Whale’s bombastic new EP, tells a story that could fit seamlessly into a vintage Sam Peckinpah Western: “Forty-five hours to the Mexican border/I got the sheriff’s daughter and he’s breathing down my shoulder,” sings Nate Valdez. Instead of…

ITCHY-O at 3 KINGS TAVERN | 12/31/13 It only took moments to lose a sense of context. Less than five minutes into Itchy-O’s New Year’s Eve set at 3 Kings Tavern, any normal sense of time and place had already started to melt away. No, it wasn’t because of too…

There was a line I wasn’t willing to cross,” Zach Heckendorf declares. “And maybe I just can’t write the kind of pop song they wanted,” he goes on, speaking of his time with Aware Records, the Chicago-based imprint he was signed to for a little over a year. “They always…

It’s tough to find moments on Liars & Outliers where 4H Royalty frontman Zach Boddicker takes himself and his music too seriously: As on the outfit’s last two albums, there is plenty here in the way of levity. That light mood comes in the airy titles and lyrics of tunes…

The eight tracks on Crash Landings’ Tragedy tread musical ground that will be instantly familiar to fans of old-school punk and hardcore. Songs like “Burn Your Money” and “Who’s Next” summon the spirit of Jello Biafra and the Buzzcocks, with power chords, simple guitar solos and pounding drum lines that…

An odd duality marks Counter Counter Culture, Skyfox’s latest effort. There’s a common thread of pain that comes through in the lyrics on each of the ten tracks. Whether it’s the agony of a romance gone bad — a theme spelled out in songs like “Drug in Me (Down)” —…

Kristina Murray’s honeyed vocals and bright guitar style can be deceiving on Unravelin,’ especially as conduits for angry tirades and tales of all-night benders. But her vocal artistry tempers words that can feel like parodies of old-fashioned country-and-Western lyrics: “You’re a cheater and a bastard, and I can’t tell you…

GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV at BOETTCHER CONCERT HALL As he spoke to the massive crowd at Boettcher Concert Hall, you could tell that Gregory Alan Isakov was still getting used to the scope of the venue and the caliber of the musicians he was playing with. “I’ve been very, very nervous…

Indigenous Robot didn’t waste much time in producing a followup to Fireball, the quartet’s three-song EP from earlier this year. Castles plays like a natural complement to that release, with its unpredictable time signatures, surreal imagery and bizarre sound cues. But where Fireball largely stayed true to the band’s self-described…

On the title track of Honky Tonk Bastard World, Casey James Prestwood offers imagery straight from the best country-and-Western tradition: The tune is all about gettin’ high, fightin’ with the missus and drinkin’ whiskey on the weekends. The rest of the album maintains that vintage C&W charm. Anchored by top-notch…

COLORADO RISING at 1STBANK CENTER | 10/27/13 By the time Dave Matthews took the stage last night during the Colorado Rising flood relief benefit show at 1STBANK Center, it was tough to spot any empty seats. Matthews had the capacity crowd on its feet during his entire set, but even…

Plenty of Discovery Channel viewers cried foul a few months ago when the cable network aired a bogus documentary about a prehistoric shark called the Megalodon. But that little piece of on-air fiction for “Shark Week” proved more inspirational than frustrating for FaceMan’s uni-monikered frontman, Steve. Inspired by the idea…

It’s hard to make an overarching creative statement in the space of just four songs. Happily, though, the Highland Ramblers keep the message fairly straightforward on Four the Pour. Although the tunes don’t boast a lot of diversity in terms of style, the quintet shows plenty of heart when it…

The lap steel guitar is a tough instrument to learn, but that’s exactly why Will Buck of West Water Outlaws wanted to take a crack at it for his band’s new album. “I’ve been playing guitar for about twenty years at this point,” says Buck, who co-founded the Boulder-based quartet…

KGNU has always been about variety. For nearly four decades, the Boulder-based community radio station has followed a fiercely eclectic on-air approach, offering listeners a daily mix of news, debate and, of course, music. That model is about to change, thanks to the web and a grant of about $19,000…

The genre-blurring work of Fort Collins quintet Finnders & Youngberg is so seamless on the band’s newest release, I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry, that it’s easy to overlook the album’s impressive diversity of sound and structures. With Rich Zimmerman’s speedy mandolin and Aaron Youngberg’s equally…

Ashen Embers’ self-titled debut has the meditative feel of a Rocky Mountain sunset. Chalk it up to the slow tempos, the haunting rounds of slide guitar or the bluesy lyrical plaints — whatever the source, the record offers a strong sense of high altitudes, late-night campfires and small-town calm. That’s…

EAGLES @ PEPSI CENTER | 10/5/13 The Eagles’ current tour is titled “The History of the Eagles,” and this performance at the Pepsi Center did a great job of living up to that title with side lessons about Linda Ronstadt’s old touring band, the country-rock stylings of Poco in the…

Rob Drabkin has made impressive creative strides in the past few years, and the nine tracks on his new record show just how far he’s come. With earnestness and originality, Drabkin thrives within stylistic excursions that range from driving folk rock to understated experiments with classical musicians. His powerful vocals…