When Esme Patterson was learning to play Townes Van Zandt’s song “Loretta,” she says she started singing the words and got angry. “I started thinking about how one-sided and subjective a lot of ‘love songs’ are, and how a lot of women immortalized in songs might tell a different side…
Since the start of the new year, we’ve been filling our four blogs — Show and Tell, Backbeat, Cafe Society and the Latest Word — with a Colorado bucket list of the 100 things to do before you kick it. Here is the complete 2014 Backbeat bucket list. See also:…
John Doe (due this weekend at Lion’s Lair) is most well-known for his tenure in the influential punk/roots rock band X. That band was known not just for a fiery intensity as a live act but also for its combination of primal rock and roll and thought-provoking lyrics, which had…
What are the hundred things everyone should do in Colorado before they die? We posed this question to our writers and editors, and over the next week, we’ll be rolling out the answers across our blogs. Check back on tomorrow for the full list — and in the meantime, feel…
It’s been ten years since Yellowcard (due on Tuesday, January 21, at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs, and Wednesday, January 22, at the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins) and released Ocean Avenue, and while jumping on the Anniversary tour train, the Florida-bred pop punkers decided to do things a…
I’m a huge Lil B fan. Now I wouldn’t call myself a Stan — although that would probably be entirely accurate — but that’s only because I don’t reference my love for Lil B in the context of other rappers’ songs. That would be an affront to The BasedGod. Lil…
Back with another fresh batch of local hip-hop. This week, we’ve got a little something for everybody; whether you dig the old-school vibe of the Soul Pros, the futuristic sounds of Aires Jackson or something more reflective of this era, we think you’ll come away satisfied. Along with cuts from…
Banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck and legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea teamed up in 2007 for The Enchantment, an album of duets, but the two have been playing on each other’s projects going back to Fleck’s 1995 album, Tales From the Acoustic Planet, and Fleck appeared on Corea’s Rendezvous in New…
Atomga (due this Saturday, January 18, at Cervantes’ Other Side) was founded by three friends who shared a mutual love of Afrobeat. Early on, Atomga expanded to its current size of eleven members, and although the outfit has released live recordings in the past, it is finally releasing its debut…
Since 2000, RJD2 (aka RJ Krohn) has been creating anthemic hip-hop tracks. Live, the turntablist dominates four decks while seamlessly mixing classic songs in with his own original beats. In the studio, RJD2 is continuously working to progress his sound, from laboring over honing the brass sections to finding just…
Tristan Shone was a mechanical engineer before he formed Author & Punisher (due this Wednesday, January 15, at Summit Music Hall). His first album, 2005’s The Painted Army, hinted at the sound Shone would later hone five years later on Drone Machines in 2010, after having fully integrated various MIDI…
A couple months ago, our sister paper LA Weekly published a piece entitled “It’s Crunch Time for Nipsey Hussle.” In it, writer Justin Tinsley examined the 28 year-old LA rapper’s career, and how he believed it had come close to a stall. Barely three months later, and already Nipsey Hussle…
If you’re a Hawkwind fan, we’ve got a good news/bad news scenario for you: The good news is we’ve got a great interview with Dave Brock in which he talks about Lemmy. The bad news is that we did the interview in anticipation of the band’s upcoming show at the…
Back again with a fresh batch of local hip-hop, the first crop of 2014. This installment of That’s a Rap is dominated by club anthems set on partying up for the new year: Capo Coleone starts off with a big house party, G-Slick offers interesting production on a new cut…
While MCs like Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore and Chance the Rapper are running the game right now — and will likely continue to do so until the next batch of hungry rappers rises up to give them a run — there are a number of MCs who are poised to grab…
Kris Barman was one of the founding members of Innerpartysystem. Before that band split, Barman had already done some program-ming and synthesizer work on his own. On one tour, in fact, he even gave pointers to Sonny “Skrillex” Moore, when the EDM superstar was getting his start in that style…
Robotic Pirate Monkey started as a trio in Boulder and has since built up a national presence as a touring duo, giving a fresh new face to dance music. Working through the kinks of no longer living in the same town, Andrew Hathaway and Matt Berryhill are preparing for the…
When Phish set up shop in New York last week for New Year’s, there was a lot of talk about city Stop and Frisk program, warnings to fans to be mindful when hanging out outside Madison Square Garden. And while those admonitions proved to be prescient, the most pressing thing…
Drawing from influences from nearly every genre, Pan Astral (due this Saturday, January 4, at Larimer Lounge) is pushing the barriers between sound and visual elements in a live show. Similar to the likes of bands like EOTO, which improvises audio and visuals live in each show, Pan Astral strives…
Maria Taylor (due this Sunday, January 5, at the Larimer Lounge) first came to prominence as a member of Azure Ray. Her luminous and ethereal yet strong and warm vocals and skill in multiple instruments helped to make that band stand out and resulted in Taylor being invited to collaborate…
Jello Biafra has had an unmistakable and enduring impact internationally, both on punk and the counterculture. The iconoclast grew up in Boulder and moved to San Francisco in the late ’70s, where he formed the Dead Kennedys and established the Alternative Tentacles imprint. As an outspoken critic of the more…
After playing in a few bands in Michigan, bassist Jeremy “Squirmz” Robins and singer Nick Kjolhede moved to Denver in 2006. Five years later, the pair formed the Cutthroat Drifters with guitarist Dave Myers through Craigslist. After going through a number of drummers since then, the band recruited scene veteran…
