In sunny San Francisco, Greta Kline is telling her bandmates to shut up. Of course, the artist known as Frankie Cosmos phrases the demand as a question and with a laugh – a firm laugh. The 22-year-old singer-songwriter, known for clever, conversational songs and intimate delivery, is also a bandleader…
You know that saying, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist”? After seeing Justin Bieber in concert at the Pepsi Center last night, I think the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was us convincing ourselves he’s more than a silver-throated young…
First Friday at Denver Open Media Foundation is extra-special today, as the nonprofit launches a major new media project – a radio station of the people by the people. Going live on June 3, Open Media’s low-power radio broadcast will air on 104.7 FM twenty-four hours a day, covering “most…
It was Taking Back Tuesday, and I had nothing to wear. The Emo Night L.A. DJs brought another edition of their popular throwback party to the Marquis Theater last night, giving twenty- and thirty-somethings the chance to relive a very specific moment in recent music history — the third-wave emo-inflected…
Earlier today we reported on the names of a few confirmed bands for the new music festival happening near Buena Vista this summer August 5-7, 2016. Organizers of Vertex Festival have now released the full initial lineup for the fest’s inaugural iteration, which features headliners ODESZA, Alabama Shakes and two…
A new 20,000-capacity summer music festival will take place August 4-7, 2016, on a ranch outside Buena Vista, put on by Madison House Presents and AEG Live. Organizers’ lips have been tight on details about the festival, for which the permit was approved by Chaffee County Board of Commissioners last…
Lately, friends on Facebook and In Real Life have been asking me to name songs I consider to be “perfect.” Not favorite or critically-lauded or guilty-pleasure songs, but perfect songs. This is a tough question, changing at the whim of an ear, but many responses included pop songs, gilded by…
Emi Night of Strawberry Runners moved to Denver from the Midwest in 2011 for the same reasons as many transplants — friends and the sunshine. Night has been immersed in the music scene since her arrival, playing in Mega Gem and now performing as vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and all-around leader…
Last week we interviewed Frances Quinlan of Hop Along, a genre-straddling indie rock band that’s made music critics (including this one) gush. (That Voice tho!) Our conversation ranged from Chris Brown and Taco Bell to Denver’s “amazing free clinic,” which hopefully Quinlan won’t need to visit again when the band…
It’s the first Friday of February, and it’s time to celebrate: Spring is on its way (according to the groundhog) and it’s time for another Open Music Session. Denver’s Open Media Foundation hosts this monthly party at 700 Kalamath, and it’s free and open to the public. The event features…
Say the name “Rossonian” to Denverites, and more often than not, they will recall The Rossonian, the historic hotel in the heart of Five Points and the center of that neighborhood’s storied jazz scene. Over the last few years, local band Rossonian has been making a name for themselves with…
Wiz Khalifa announced today that he will partner with Denver-based RiverRock Cannabis on an exclusive line of cannabis products. This is the first collaboration of its kind that the multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist has done, though Khalifa has long been associated with marijuana culture, titling his 2011 debut Rolling Papers. …
At 29, Frances Quinlan says she is coming to terms with her flaws. “I’m really just beginning to realize how much of an idiot I was in the first half of my twenties,” says the singer and songwriter of Hop Along. “I cried when I turned twenty. I hope I…
The Colorado Music Hall of Fame announced this morning that it will honor six musicians with induction — including one who is still actively performing. Dubbed “20th Century Pioneers,” the list of new inductees includes famed big band leader Glenn Miller; Paul Whiteman, the “King of Jazz” in the 1920s and…
Glenn Frey, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles, died on Monday. Frey and the Eagles are deeply associated with the culture of the American West Coast of the 1970s due to their centrality to the country-rock scene that emerged from Los Angeles at that time, as well…
The death of David Bowie last Sunday night has inspired a glittery torrent of online appreciations and remembrances. Facebook quickly became the venue where we could face the strange change of a world without the cultural icon, but once we’ve finished reading the heartfelt reflections and ogling old photos of Bowie…
This Saturday, rock fans around the world will raise a glass of Jack Daniels to the memory of Lemmy. On Motörhead’s official Facebook page, the band issued this invitation to its audience to livestream the funeral service for frontman Lemmy Kilmister, who died at age 70 on December 28: “Wherever…
2015: The Year of the Call-Out This week, Westword music contributors took a moment to call out and shout out the standouts of their year in music, whether their concerns skewed local or national, niche or general, personal or quantifiable. In this week’s print edition and on the web, you…
This was the year of call-out culture, viral backlash and Facebook activists — but 2015 also saw frequent in-person, organized demonstrations for a variety of causes around the world. Denver’s Flobots make conscious music of and for the current social and political moment, but their new projects are a continuation…
This past weekend, Denver breakout boys Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats played a two-night holiday homecoming stand at the Ogden Theatre. Here’s the narrative I’ve heard every day since I moved to Denver: After years of teeth-sharpening in stalwart bands, releasing solid albums and wearing deep grooves into local…
The “Queen and King of Telluride” will keep watching their thrones as Emmylou Harris returns to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for the fourteenth year, and Sam Bush headlines the popular festival for the forty-second time. The annual festival announced its initial lineup of artists who will take the stage June…
What’s your stoned soundtrack of 2015? Yesterday WeedStream.net released its list of the top ten weed-related songs of the year. The list includes tracks from a few usual suspects, including Snoop Dogg and Kottonmouth Kings, but also notes surf-rockers Best Coast (“California Nights”) and British dance-pop duo The Ting Tings…
