Critic's Notebook

Tyson Murray, of the Railbenders, talks about the disaster that was his first concert.

Colorado Music Hall of Fame inductee Dianne Reeves remembers her encounter with Ella Fitzgerald, her years at George Washington High School, and the musicians who influenced her.

Rise of the VLLN debuts November 15, 2017. This weekly event at the new Broadway spot, Sneekeazy, will open up space for local creatives to gather, connect and do what they do best: Create.

To get her first gig, Lannie Garrett told a fib. Now she’s in the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

Richard Kogan, an award-winning psychiatrist and pianist, sees Beethoven as more than just the mad genius he’s often portrayed as.

Pairing drugs and music is nothing new. Here are ten must-read stories about this delightful and at times deadly duo.

Vic Mensa, who opens for Jay-Z on Sunday, November 5 at the Pepsi Center, represents the highest form of hip-hop. His latest recording, The Autobiography, is not only among 2017’s best albums in any genre, but it’s essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the social, cultural and political moment in which we find ourselves. In the interview below, he explains why with both passion and compassion, not to mention a fierce intelligence that spares no sacred cows.

Local hip hop artist Isaiah Smith, who performs as IMJLS, wanted to connect artists of all kinds to create, so he launched the Creative Collective, through social media, during the fall of 2015.

Steve Millin of the Reals talks about the early days of New Belgium’s Tour de Fat.

Denver DJ, producer and rapper Zenas Willard still has hope that real, organic love exists. He brings this question to life in his new song, “Real Thing,” which showcases Denver singer-songwriter Kayla Rae Jackson.

DeVotchKa’s Tom Hagerman is trying to raise money to record his masterwork, The 7 Deadly Sins, with the Boston ensemble A Far Cry.

Suzanne Slade of Battle Pussy & Daenerys and the Targaryens shocked herself the first time she performed live.

Tech N9ne answers the phone. He’s somewhere in Canada, tripped up on time zones, with a fitness trainer named Jaws.

John Denver died twenty years ago today. Here are twenty of the weirdest stories we have written about him since.

In 1989, Mexico City’s Cafe Tacvba first formed, aiming to blend traditional Latin music with rock and hip-hop, resulting in a sound that is entirely the band’s own. That’s 28 years of bending genres and blending cultures in a way that doesn’t seem forced.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Joshua Drummer set out to create a legacy project. His one-man-band death metal act Buried Realm has just released its debut album, the Ichor Carcinoma.

Bill McKay likes to stay busy. The former choir singer and Colorado College graduate spent his formative years gigging nonstop with the blues-based Derek Trucks Band and then Colorado’s own Leftover Salmon. A glance at his current schedule reveals that he hasn’t slowed his pace much.

Alan Cogen founded Pathways to Jazz in 2014 to support Colorado’s jazz community. That first year he gave grants of up to $5,000 to five local jazz players to record albums. Since then, the organization has gone on to grant another 32 musicians money to make records.

Larry Legend never imagined becoming rapper after his successful high school football career. But that’s where he is and the future is his.

The Denver country band the Hang Rounders celebrates the release of its new album, Outta Beer, Outta Here, at Syntax Physic Opera on Friday, September 29, 2017.

Writing the bare facts about my friend Matt’s death, I’m struck by how limiting the cold tone of journalism can be: “Denver musician Gary Matthew Bellinger — who went by Matt — died Thursday, September 7, at the age of 40.

“It was around Christmas time, and there was a holiday showcase at the Cricket where lots of local punk bands would be playing a song or two each.”