Music & Venues

You’d be shocked to know that the members of the Dirty Turkeys only started learning their instruments a few years before making things official in 2022. The acid-rock band has put out a series of singles as a waterfall release for its upcoming album, Cowboy Caravan, due on April 11. With brothers Russ and Brad “Gonzo” Hansen, Sam Baker and Ty Tullar, the Turkeys have established a unique sound that blends classic rock, Western twang and high-energy cowpunk in the vein of the Cramps. They played the college house-party circuit in Boulder before moving to bars and even the Fox Theatre. Their shows are as lively as their sound, with the musicians often stage-diving or moving into the crowd.

The indie-rock trio Tiny Tomboy, a group that some may have initially discovered through the college house-show circuit, put out a brooding sophomore album, Psychic Scar, that’s sure to leave an impression on anyone who hears it, thanks to guitarist and vocalist Eliza Neiman-Golden’s open-a-vein-and-bleed approach to writing. Songs such as “Dead Dog,” “Disposable Vape” and “Vegas” all hit like distressing diary reflections, but not in a weepy way; it’s more like “Fuck you. I’m better off without you.” So it’s safe to say you can pull a lot of motivation from this band, which also includes drummer Sam Seymour and bassist Ethan Gould. Despite the name, Tiny Tomboy packs a big punch.

Very few bands can make two people sound like five, but Blankslate does it effortlessly. While the indie-rock act had been a three-piece after forming six years ago, it has recently scaled back to founding members Rylee Dunn and Tess Condron. With Condron on drums and keys and Dunn playing dual electric bass and guitar as well as handling vocals, the sound remains all-encompassing and powerful at live shows, where Blankslate captivates crowds with its lyricism and grunge-y indie sonics. And those shows are the best way to experience the music – especially the nearly six-minute “Aptos,” from 2022’s Summer on a Salt Flat.

Listening to Everything Happens by Gestalt almost feels wrong if you’re not hearing it live at venues like Globe Hall or the hi-dive, drink in hand or banging your head in a mosh pit. Yes, the album is full of addicting melodies and hooks that you can play in the car or in your headphones at work, but that just makes you want to hear them live all the more. You can feel the camaraderie of the band radiating through the album as all of the elements come together to create what feels like a house show on vinyl; you can’t listen without wanting to sing along, dance around, jump on stage and crowd-surf. It’s like the joy and community of Denver’s music scene all wrapped up in one album.

Sure, we all love to support our favorite local bands by loading up on their merch at shows – but that usually consists of standard, unimaginative fare such as T-shirts, records and maybe a koozie with the band’s logo, if someone’s feeling creative. Very few groups put as much subversive thought into their merch as Denver experimental electronic outfit Church Fire. Case in point: One of the band’s current merch offerings features its name printed on a book of matches. Now, that’s how you strike up attention.

If someone came to us and said, “I’ve never listened to music from any local artist before,” we’d point them toward the next Milk Blossoms show. Having played music around town since the 2010s, the indie band is a central part of the scene. It’s been through phases of growth – members have come and gone, and its sound has shifted from album to album – but the heart of the Milk Blossoms remains: a ukulele and dreamy vocals from lead singer Harmony Rose. A Milk Blossoms show will not only have you wanting more from the band, but it’s sure to inspire you to check out what other Denver artists are doing.

Outlaw country is alive and well in Ryan Chrys & the Rough Cuts, which formed in January 2013 after frontman Ryan Chrys, who moved to Denver in the early 2000s, had spent a decade performing guitar in a variety of acts. The five-piece puts on the best country shows in town, bringing Western twang and rock to the classic genre. The band’s latest album, Blame It on the Road, contains bangers and solemn musings, with rhythms on such songs as “Tonight, A Party!” and “All the Way” encouraging a rollicking good time, while “Doin’ What We Do” pledges that the band will stick to its roots.

High Lonesome combines guitar, bass, fiddle, dobro and mandolin to create a polished, modern bluegrass sound. The five-piece band brings boot-stomping energy to its live performances, and audiences can’t help but get swept up by the captivating tunes. Hailing from Longmont, High Lonesome is always playing somewhere around Colorado, from Swallow Hill Music to the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder. You can get a taste on the group’s self-titled debut – a collection of eleven modern bluegrass tracks where the bandmembers each have their moment to shine. High Lonesome is quickly picking up a following as it tours, and we see it going far.

It’s only been five years since Clay Street Unit formed, after lead vocalist/guitarist Sam Walker met banjo player Jack Cline at Zuni Street Brewing, but the bluegrass band has big things in store. The six-piece worked its way from playing breweries to venues, and this summer, it will open for Leftover Salmon and Kitchen Dwellers at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. But that’s not the only dream to come true for the group, which includes Scottie Bolin (mandolin, vocals), Brad Larrison (pedal steel, dobro), Brendan Lamb (drums) and Jack Kotarba (bass). In January, Clay Street Unit signed with the Sony Music label Monument Records, joining an impressive and growing roster of country and roots acts.

In 2015, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club started re-releasing its work through its own imprint, SCAC Unincorporated Records, which included connected groups like Denver Broncos UK (DBUK), Munly & the Lupercalians and Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots. In 2022, the label released Kinnery of Lupercalia: Undelivered Legion, by Munly & the Lupercalians, which served as the first in a mythical trilogy that would include SCAC and DBUK. SCAC dropped its contribution, Kinnery of Lupercalia: Buell Legion, in May 2024, and it’s another storytelling masterpiece about an existential journey through Lupercalia, a magical world invented by lyricist Munly J. Munly.

You never know who’s listening. Bryce Menchaca and Kellen Wall formed the folk-Americana project Marfa a couple years ago while studying music at CU Denver, and their popular TikTok song covers caught the attention of their teacher and local scene vet Bart Dahl, who had once managed Dinosaur Jr. and a pre-fame Nathaniel Rateliff. Dahl came out of retirement and joined forces with Ryan Ramos and Joel Klaiman of Ascend4M to manage the duo, and soon enough, Wall and Menchaca were invited by producers from Nick Waterhouse to Josh Block and Jonathan Wilson to record four different singles that were released last year.

Jam bands are known for their on-the-spot improvisation, and Polysanto is establishing itself with that specialty. The four-piece, which includes Mitch Melodia (guitar/vocals), Hartland Brown (bass), Skylar McDonald (guitar) and Luke Reinhold (drums), often plays around town at such venues as Cervantes’, Lost Lake and the Larimer Lounge as well as at festivals, where the group has established a fan base ravenous for its juicy, rambling jams that still showcase classical, tight sensibilities. Taking inspiration from such acts as Phish, the Grateful Dead, Umphrey’s McGee and more, Polysanto blends heavy prog moments with uplifting melodies that keep us coming back for more.

Whether they’re stage-diving or moshing until they all fall in a pile, the members of Horse Bitch have the best stage presence in the scene. This group defies genres, landing somewhere between train-hopper punk, psychedelic folk and rock. It’s as if Neutral Milk Hotel was kidnapped by pirates and began to sing earnest and strange shanties. But who cares what genre these guys are, anyway? Horse Bitch is mesmerizing in sound, lyrics and stage chemistry, which is evident at every show. The band’s latest album, UVA, makes you just want to hang out with this crew, so head to a concert and experience the madcap music live.

The five-piece rock band Boot Gun released its first full-length album, One for the Willing, early last year and has been a fan favorite at shows throughout the city and beyond for years. Boot Gun’s songs, as well as the bandmembers’ personalities, draw in the crowd at every show, with people dancing, singing and laughing along. You wouldn’t think a band named after a concealed-carry weapon would be so chill, but the musicians jokingly refer to themselves as the “booty boys” and recently performed while wearing tracksuits (they also all got matching tattoos – that’s commitment). Definitely put shaking your booty at a Boot Gun concert on your 2025 bucket list.

Genuine rock and roll can be hard to come by in some cities, but not Denver. Shady Oaks stands as a leader in the next generation of Mile High rock bands, with whiskey-soaked blues riffs and raucous live shows that include searing solos that send the bandmates to their knees. Made up of frontman Ty Gallaway (guitar/vocals), Jonah Samp (drums), Hunter Bates (bass), Isaac Vance (dual lead guitar/slide guitar), Ian Arras (keys) and Sarah Hubbard (fiddle), the band is making blues-rock waves in the Denver scene while showing off its more laid-back country side on the 2024 EP Best Thing.

It’s a bit of a paradox that an album with fifteen collaborators is titled are u alone?. The Denver musician who goes by ego is anything but alone on the nineteen-track record, which was released in June 2024. With such familiar music-scene names as Lady Los, DNA Picasso, ReSrface and Keenan TreVon all making appearances, each song takes you on a different journey influenced by its unique collaborator. The album is also extremely polished, the result of ego n friends‘ masterful production skills, which few local artists can match.

To really claim you’re involved in the local scene, you need to have seen Rootbeer Richie & the Reveille. The seven-piece group of longtime rockers has built a strong fan base here thanks to rowdy sets that swirl audiences in a wild, steamy brew of rock and roll. You can hear the band’s extensive sound on Never Needed Me, its latest album, released in October 2024. From bouncy tracks such as “Six More Blocks,” which easily transfers its lyrics’ excitement to listeners, to the rollicking classic-rock tune “Bad Boy Cry,” the album is brimming with hits – each one a standout you’ll want to hear live as soon as possible.

When you listen to Wild Love Tigress‘s latest album, On the Prowl, you are instantly injected with a potent funk fever. The nine-piece group brings the heat to Denver clubs, where it blows the roof off with wild, earnest funk that sounds as if it was plucked straight from the ’70s. The musicians are all talented as hell, and their tiger-striped outfits are just the cherry on top. On the Prowl is an album to pump you up, whether you’re getting ready for a night on the town or heading out on a long mountain drive, with such standout tracks as “I Plead the Fifth,” “If I Can’t Run” and “Milk & Honey.” Even better, the songs sound just as amazing live. Gotta have that funk!

When Denver trumpet legend Ron Miles died in 2022 at age 58, there was no doubt that he still had decades of great music left in him – and that it would tragically never be heard. But one posthumous album has come to light: Old Main Chapel, released last year by the legendary jazz label Blue Note. The live album takes its name from the Boulder venue where it was recorded in 2011. Accompanied by his longtime trio of Bill Frisell on guitar and Brian Blade on drums, Miles imbues the set, primarily made up of his own compositions, with both melody and adventure. It’s a fitting tribute to one of Denver’s all-time greatest musicians.

Namebackwards, or Enmanuel Alexander, is here to uplift fellow musicians of color through his Meadowlark residency, Off the Cuff, which started in 2023 and packs the venue every Wednesday with the best local talent he’s discovered in the scene. Alexander himself is a force to see live, emitting an unequivocally cool presence while grooving on guitar. That’s been captured on his debut album, Off the Cuff (Live at Meadowlark), which showcases his innovative improvisation alongside Khalill Brown (drums), Solomon Chapman (piano), Will Gaines (bass) and Parris Fleming (trumpet). It doesn’t take a jazz enthusiast to recognize the immense talent on this album, and we predict you’ll be running to the Meadowlark to hear more.

Among other Denver clubs, you can often find Venus Cruz at Herb’s, the Larimer Street dive that’s filled with jazz throughout the week. And you don’t want to miss Cruz, who takes the genre to the next level with her dulcet neo-soul vocals over a band whose enigmatic structures and beats entrance listeners. She’s an artist you won’t forget once you’ve seen her live, thanks to years of hard work establishing herself in the community, whether as a KUVO host or collaborating with other area musicians, including Wheelchair Sports Camp. Every time you hear her, you know you’re witnessing something unique.

We’re so grateful to LatinSoul for releasing Queendom last June, because we’ve had it on repeat ever since. Born and raised in Denver, Felisa Hernandez has long been a presence in the city’s music scene (she recorded her first EP at Swallow Hill at age eighteen). As LatinSoul, she collaborates with other area musicians to fuse Latin, R&B and neo-soul rhythms with her ethereal vocals and mystical lyrics. Queendom is an excellent bilingual showcase of the healing properties of Hernandez’s work, with interludes that guide the listener to relax into the following track. The songs instill a divine-feminine quality that offers powerful reflections on our place in this world.