Over the years, Denver has birthed more than its fair share of DIY labels, including Local Anesthetic Records, Gift Records, Soda Jerk, Suburban Home, Relapse, Best Friends Records, Long Spoon and Elephant 6, which have proven to be important locally and beyond. More recently, Sailor Records, Black Box Tapes, Heart in Box,…
On April 16, singer Lannie Garrett will be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, and the festivities will take place in the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. Garrett will perform songs with her band in tribute to pioneers of twentieth-century music from Colorado,…
Like many significant bands, X never garnered the commercial success that should be commensurate with its influence. X’s mixture of poetry, folk and punk resonated with Americana and rockabilly while not fitting snugly in any sub-genre of music. In that way, X was alternative rock before that became an umbrella…
“The concept is just not there this time.” Travis Stever, lead guitarist for Coheed and Cambria, lets out an exhale over the phone as he begins to provide an answer to the question his band has been faced with over and over again since releasing its newest album, The Color…
Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work…
I have been playing music for twenty years, and in that time have accumulated experiences, both good and bad, that I know would have never happened if I weren’t a musician. I have played shows in Europe, Alaska and Mexico, but none of those prepared me for the experience I…
Editor’s Note: Kalyn Heffernan is a familiar voice to many regular readers of Westword Music. We’ve written about her band Wheelchair Sports Camp many times over the years, and she has sent us dispatches from previous trips to SXSW. This year, she shares this recap of the band’s fifth trip to…
Kevin Haskins was still his teens in 1978 when he became a founding member of post-punk band Bauhaus. Along with his brother and bassist David, guitarist Daniel Ash and singer Peter Murphy, Bauhaus brought together ideas from punk, glam rock and the avant-garde and created a brooding yet dynamic and…
The team over at Denver’s RMG Engineering have made a killer infographic with ten reasons explaining why Red Rocks Amphitheatre is one of the most amazing venues in the country. Nay, on the planet. And we could not agree more. But, hey, we’re pretty biased. “We decided to make this infographic…
Another year, another twelve months of outstanding local music videos. We watched more videos than we can remember this year, and there were lots of winners, showing off the Denver music community’s signature innovation and sense of humor. Though it’s impossible to make a comprehensive list, here are the ten…
When David Bowie passed away, anyone with a heart felt it break a little. He influenced fashion, music, culture and philanthropy in profound and important ways, and his passing left a massive hole in the universe that will never quite be filled. Longtime Bowie fan and artist Vincent Comparetto was…
“Denver has yet to solidify a place for hip-hop where these people are passing the mike and ripping the place apart,” says Jeff Campbell. “It will eventually happen, but it’s not happening right now.” Campbell, a longtime Denverite now decamping to Milan, Georgia, to take a job with the Genesis…
Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work…
The music business is a cruel mistress. There’s rarely rhyme or reason as to who gets the few-and-far-between big-money deals — even among worthy artists who are more than ready for a bigger spotlight. If there were justice, then the following eight talented local bands would be as adored nationally…
Sir George Martin, who’s died at age ninety, had a full, rich and varied life in music. But he will forever be known as the man who produced the vast majority of recordings by a little pop combo known as the Beatles. As such, Martin helped capture some of the very…
Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work…
There’s an old adage that is often attributed to Frank Zappa but, according to QuoteInvestigator.com, actually originated with actor and musician Martin Mull. It goes, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Despite the fact that it’s meant as a slight, we’ve always liked the line because, when you…
Denver-based experimental electronic artist Thug Entrancer has a new album, Arcology, coming out on Friday, May 3 released by Software Recording Company, the imprint run by Daniel Lopatin, better known for his performance moniker Oneohtrix Point Never. The album represents a bit of a departure from previous Thug Entrancer albums…
Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work…
No matter how many times she performs, Qbala still gets butterflies. Throwing up in trash cans before shows is common for her, as are endless bathroom detours and trips to and from her car. It’s a habit that started during her basketball-playing days, when she would get herself psyched for…
While the debate rages about whether or not Denver has a “sound” — most artists probably just don’t give a damn. Instead of trying to fit bands into certain categories or genres, we have rounded up nine great Denver bands that seem particularly difficult to pigeonhole — though we did…
Its origins may be in the Deep South, but Denver’s rich and diverse blues scene runs deep as well — and just keeps getting better. For more than 50 years, clubs in the metro area have offered the full spectrum of styles, everything from Delta to Chicago, jump to electric,…
