It has been a big year for You, Me & Apollo. The Fort Collins-based group released its second full-length album Sweet Honey to acclaim and set off on a successful national tour. What should be a joyous homecoming show at Hodi’s Half Note at the end of the month will…
Whenever an artist covers a song they take a risk, particularly if the song they are covering is a classic or at least already burned into everyone’s minds a certain way. Some covers don’t feel right because it’s a classic is getting mangled, other times it’s uncomfortable because a song…
First: If you’re a Courtney Love-hating troll and you’ve just stopped by this post to take a verbal shit on her existence with your misogynist insistence that she’s a fame whore who ruined Nirvana forever and killed Kurt, you can just stop reading right now. Seriously, go back to wanking…
After releasing Sonic Highways earlier this month and wrapping up the HBO documentary series of the same name that concludes this Friday, Foo Fighters head out on tour next summer and stop at Fiddler’s Green on Monday, August 17. Tickets ($42.50-$75) go on sale on Friday, December 5 at 10…
[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…
Willie Lewis was a wild musical legend, a collector of supernatural talent, a label head of uncompromising values and, by some estimations, the best rockabilly singer of his generation. The Colorado native died earlier this year, and at his funeral, friends were still at a loss for words to capture…
What sets Seth Evans apart from most local bandleaders is that he understands the importance of making personal connections through marketing. Since his band Rossonian formed in 2012, Evans has used physical “thank you” notes and cards to not only grab attention, but to connect with fans. Before Rossonian left…
Unlike a few of the other area record stores, Black & Read doesn’t have many shows. So when a band does play at the store, it’s kind of a special occasion, especially when it features legendary ’70s psychedelic hard rock band Medusa. This was one of only a handful of…
There’s no shortage of places to listen to live music here in Denver. But when you are out with friends on a Friday night, you might want something nice to drink as well. While whiskey and Coors are always an adequate pairing, you can do better. When in your in…
Halfway through the Pizza Underground’s set at the packed Marquis Theater, something strange happened. Most of the band departed the stage and flannel-clad one member stepped up, and started playing straight Nirvana covers. The songs might have contained some wordplay or puns, like all The Pizza Underground songs do (which…
Shara Worden, the artistic force behind My Brightest Diamond, makes smart music for smart people. But if her descriptions of creating This Is My Hand, her mind-expanding new recording, can seem academic at times (she talks about searching for the album’s “thesis statement”), she’s hardly anti-populist, as the key inspiration…
The truth is that no one in his or her right mind wants to go shopping on Black Friday. So rather than waiting at the doors early morning at some big box store hoping to get one of the five rare items before the other barbarians at the gate can…
Dave Grohl with his mustache.By Rae Alexandra As you may have already seen, there’s been a fair amount of criticism leveled at Dave Grohl’s new HBO documentary series, Sonic Highways, since it launched five weeks ago. And, in the week since the accompanying Foo Fighters album of the same name…
House venues are unofficial by nature. There are no real rules at a house show other than to respect each other and the space. There are no tickets, only donations. There’s no promotion, no bar, no third-party marketing team. What is created right then and there at each show is…
William Lewis Klug was best known as the founder of Rock-a-Billy Record Co., a Denver-based label that has released nearly forty rockabilly singles since 1982.
Isaiah “Ikey” Owens would have turned forty on December 1, but heart failure on October 14, 2014 took him from us before that could happen. Those who knew him best have already offered their memories and condolences. He was a great mentor and friend to various musicians around the country,…
Thanksgiving. A holiday full of food, football, family fights about politics and awkward run-ins with high-school exes. It’s a wonderful American tradition. But this year, instead of waiting until midday Thursday to bond and drink and eventually argue with your relatives, take your great aunt, step-uncle and second cousin to…
Kevie Durham (aka KL Tha General) was making strides in Denver’s hip-hop scene. This week, in fact, he was headed to Atlanta to work with some artists and industry people there. But that’s a trip he’ll never take: Durham’s life was cut short Saturday night in a shooting outsideThe Beach…
A few hours after the Broncos barely beat the Dolphins, The Beach Nightclub just a stone’s throw from Mile High Stadium is mostly empty. The tailgaters and fans and revelers have all departed, leaving just under a dozen Manning jersey-clad people all huddled in one part of the spacious club…
When bands take to the road to tour in support of a new album, they play a lot of shows in a lot of different venues –some small, some cavernous, all of them unique. The trick is to adapt to the room, so that the songs connect with the audience…
This year’s Global Dub Festival, which features Excision, Zomboy and other acts to be announced, is at Red Rocks on Friday, May 15, and tickets ($39.95) are on sale now. 420 in the Streets, which will be held on Welton Street outside of Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, will features Method Man…
[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode! • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…
