The Darkness Almost Didn’t Happen Because of South American Bees

The Darkness return to Denver to perform this Friday, October 16, at the Summit Music Hall. The U.K.-based rock band made a big splash with its 2003 debut album, I Believe In a Thing Called Love. Its brash and theatrical performance style and music sounded like it could have existed…

How the Latino EcoFestival is Using Music to Inspire Conservation

The third annual Americas Latino EcoFestival is ongoing in Denver, and it’s using music to inspire conservation efforts. The downtown festival, which features over 400 presenters and takes place now through Saturday at the Denver Art Museum, History Colorado and Denver Public Library, features presentations by advocates and experts designed…

Celebrate Tapes With Cassette Store Day 2015

You remember cassettes? The cases always broke after you accidentally stepped on them. The actual tape caused you mental anguish as you attempted to manually rewind it with a pencil. Loading it in a tape deck made the best analog sounds known to mankind. Well, good news lovers of both…

Z2 Takes Over as Promoter for the Chautauqua Summer Concert Series

A Boulder-based concert promotion powerhouse just got a little bigger. The Colorado Chautauqua Association has just announced that Z2 Entertainment will become the exclusive promoter of the long-running Chautauqua Summer Concert Series. The South Boulder music venue is over a hundred years old and is a National Historic Landmark. Z2…

Jazz Pianist Tamir Hendelman on Adapting International Influences

Tamir Hendelman discovered jazz while growing up in Tel Aviv, but after moving to Los Angeles when he was thirteen years old, the pianist, who had already had seven years of keyboard studies under his belt, took his musicianship to another level. Hendelman, who performs with his trio at Nocturne…

Lara Ruggles’s Debut Full-Length Was Worth the Wait

“Fighting Time” is one of the standout tracks on Cynics & Saints, the debut full-length from singer-songwriter Lara Ruggles. It’s brooding, poetic, and angry as hell. Ruggles hurls threats with her impressive vocal range: “It’s fighting time, and I need to see blood on the floor/Whether it’s mine or yours.”…

The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone on the Beatles and Writing New Material

The Zombies were one of the most popular bands of the British Invasion in the mid-1960s. Their vocal harmonies and simple but sophisticated songwriting on hits like “She’s Not There” and “Time of the Season” struck a chord with audiences. In 1967, the Zombies recorded the classic album Odessey and…

Simon Katz Was One of Denver Music’s Brightest Young Talents

Pablo Garduno’s favorite memory of his friend Simon Katz was the time Katz showed up at his house, unannounced, with an adventure in mind. “He just showed up at my house and we drove 45 minutes to a skatepark because he wanted to watch people skate,” Garduno says. “Simon doesn’t…

The Oversized Ambition of Titus Andronicus

Earlier this week at the Marquis Theater, opening band Spiderbags introduced Titus Andronicus as the “best rock n’ roll band on the planet,” and that just might be true. No band in the last decade has been as ambitious or creative. Between this year’s rock opera The Most Lamentable Tragedy…

R.I.P., Mike Herrera: Veteran Denver Musician, Friend to Many

The Denver music family is shocked, confused and saddened by the recent passing of Mike “Mikey” Herrera — a veteran Denver musician who fronted numerous bands throughout the years, including One Dying Wish, the Blackout Pact, Sleeper Horse and Tin Horn Prayer (which he and I were in together). Mikey…

Lipgloss to Relocate to Bar Standard on October 30

The long-running weekly dance night Lipgloss will be relocating to Bar Standard starting on Friday, October 30, with guest DJ TR/ST. Following a three-year run at Beauty Bar, Lipgloss had been held at Syntax Physic Opera since May of this year. Lipgloss founder Michael Trundle says that the first month…

Titwrench Is Setting a Higher Standard for Music Festivals

The seventh edition of the Titwrench festival worked well in its new single day, single venue format. In fact, one of Denver’s most thoughtful festivals set a strong logistical example in many ways. The entrance at Dryer Plug Studios made it easier for people coming in and out and for…

Colorado’s Sera Cahoone Found Musical Success (and Love) in Seattle

Sera Cahoone, a Littleton native and Columbine High School graduate who now lives in Seattle, quickly rose to critical acclaim as a singer-songwriter when, already known for her drumming in bands like Band of Horses and Carissa’s Wierd, she released a self-titled solo album in 2006. Cahoone’s dusty, welcoming songs…

The Fourth Annual Northwest Denver Folk Festival Is This Saturday: Schedule

The Northwest Denver Folk Festival kicks off its fourth year this Saturday, October 3, at The Oriental Theater. The annual festival has previously been held in the spring, and this year’s installment has been streamlined to one day. Breaking with a traditional definition of “folk” for the festival, organizers Dustin…