Open Music Session: Matt Rouch & the Noise Upstairs Brings Virginia Roots to the Open Media Foundation

On Friday, March 3, the Open Media Foundation hosts its next monthly free Open Music Session event, which will feature musical guests El Javi, as well as a set by comedian James Conklin.

Last month, the February Open Music Session welcomed Matt Rouch & the Noise Upstairs, a folk-roots-country outfit born in Virginia and now based in Denver. The group blends old and new roots music, with Rouch citing contemporary influences such as the Decemberists, the Tallest Man on Earth, Iron & Wine, and the Milk Carton Kids.

"Baby Do You Love Me" is a joyous track, a traditional country ditty with male and female vocals trading off of each other.
Listen to more of Matt Rouch & the Noise Upstairs' music library, and download and remix with the stems of the band's Open Music Session songs below.
"Queen City Junkies" was inspired by a trip to Cincinnati and Rouch's indirect exposure to the heroin epidemic in that city. "In a place you don't need to go, with people you don't need to know, getting buzzed their only goal, and they see you as just another obstacle," he sings.
About Open Music Sessions: Every month, Westword joins Open Media Foundation and Greater Than Collective to bring you Open Music Sessions, a video series aimed at introducing people to bands and providing context for their music. Every First Friday, we bring a band to the Open Media Foundation studio at Seventh and Kalamath and record a live performance. In addition to broadcasting the show live on the Denver Open Media TV stations (Comcast channels 56, 57 and 219), we edit the clips for certain songs. You'll also find additional information about the band and the recordings of individual instruments on select songs, which you are welcome to download in order to create remixes or simply to learn more about the way the music is constructed.