David Tiller and Enion Pelta-Tiller, the husband-and-wife team who make up the core of the Lyons-based group Taarka, lost their house when the St. Vrain River flooded in 2013. “Whether it was bad or good wasn’t really the perspective; it was more just, ‘Wow!,’” Tiller says. “Definitely through the process…
Church Fire and Morlox, both from Denver, might seem like unusual collaborators on a split cassette release. The two acts don’t have much in common at first glance: Church Fire could be considered a synth-pop act, and Morlox is more in the realm of IDM. (Each side of the tape…
In 1969, Miles Davis started recording sessions for his landmark jazz-rock fusion album Bitches Brew, using close to twenty musicians over six months. Pianists Herbie Hancock, who spent five years in Davis’s second great quintet, and Chick Corea were both on that album, as well as Davis’s In a Silent…
Over the last six months Scott Mattson and his wife Nicole have been transforming the building at 1330 27th Street from a warehouse-type space into Nocturne, a modern take on the 1940s jazz supper club, which opens to the public on Monday, March 9. Mattson, who graduated from Metro State…
“There was a time when there was a thriving music scene in Boulder. At least [there were] a lot of record stores and shows, places with interesting music,” says filmmaker Dan Schneidkraut, whose feature-length documentary Old Man — about his father, Andy Schneidkraut, and his iconic record shop, Albums on…
In its brief run, Fort Collins band Candy Claws made quite the mark, in Colorado and elsewhere. In fact, in the short time that Candy Claws was active, the duo of Karen McCormick and Ryan Hover earned a fan base big enough to include Ben Phelan, John Ferguson and Robert…
There may be a foot of snow on the ground, but spring is on it’s way, and with spring comes music festivals. This March many Colorado bands will be headed over to Idaho for Treefort and down to Texas for SXSW. But before our local musicians disappear to the streets…
Andy “Rok” Guerrero didn’t have a great high school prom experience. His girlfriend dumped him right before prom (before he even got to ask her to the dance with his elaborate secret scavenger hunt), the venue was lame, and the music was worse. But this year, Rok can’t wait for…
Artopia, Westword’s annual celebration of art, culture and fashion, returns to City Hall this Saturday, February 21. In addition to plenty of visual artists and the Whiteout fashion show, the event will feature some highlights from Colorado’s music scene — this year, over a dozen groups and artists will perform on four…
Dr. Dog rolls into Denver to play the Ogden Theater on Thursday, February 19 in the thick of a three-month tour that began January 9 with “4×4,” an eight-show Brooklyn and Manhattan run. The energetic and soulful Philadelphia indie-rock stalwart, whose best tunes juxtapose the Beatles and the Band, is…
Artopia, Westword’s annual celebration of art, culture and fashion, returns to City Hall on February 21. In addition to plenty of visual artists and the Whiteout fashion show, the event will feature some highlights from Colorado’s music scene — this year, over a dozen groups and artists will perform on four stages. …
For the last four years, a group of Colorado musicians have gathered to play an unofficial showcase at SXSW. The Colorado Music Party, as it is now called, has expanded steadily in that time, but this year’s installment will be the biggest by far. This year, the party will go…
In addition to fronting DeVotchKa, singer and guitarist Nick Urata has composed music for close to two dozen films over the past decade. But he’s never worked on a project as big as Paddington.He spent nearly three months in London composing music for the film, which stars Nicole Kidman and…
Macon Terry is sitting on the rooftop patio of Weathervane Cafe, drinking carrot juice. He’s talking about the thing he’s spent most of his life doing, which is playing music. The longtime Paper Bird bassist has been a fixture on the Denver scene for years, also logging time with Gregory…
The Replacements will be at the Fillmore Auditorium as part of their Back By Unpopular Demand Tour, their first full U.S. tour since 1991. Original members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson team up with drummer Josh Freese and guitarist David Minehan, who played with the band at three Riot Fest…
While some of the more recent output from Lloyd Cole, known for his work in the ’80s with his group the Commotions, has been acoustically driven, he realized early on in the writing songs for his most recent effort, Standards, that he wanted to steer the album in more of…
Cursive’s 2003 Album, The Ugly Organ, has been described as a masterpiece, a benchmark and a career jumping off point for an already highly touted band. The album contains elements of song-writing and musical mastery and sold over 170,00 copies. But it can also be viewed as merely one of…
By Jim Louvau The post-Cobain era of alternative rock was very kind to Gavin Rossdale and his band, Bush. The band’s multi-platinum debut record, Sixteen Stone, thrust them into mainstream and made Rossdale the crush of sixteen-year-old girls around the world. But let’s face it, Bush happened to be in…
Billy Joel will return to Denver on September 16 for a show at the Pepsi Center. This will be his first show here in five years and one of only ten non-New York shows scheduled in 2015. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 6, at 10 a.m. through Altitude Tickets…
Caribou Ranch belongs on a very short list of Colorado’s musical treasures. Artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Frank Zappa to the Beach Boys worked at the recording studio north of Nederland. It hasn’t been in use since 1985, and the family of former owner James Guercio is auctioning a…
We hope you’re enjoying Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We’ll be back to our full slate of commentary, news and concert coverage tomorrow — for now, we’ve got a few shows to recommend. This is a great week in Colorado, with bands ranging from notorious metal outfit Mayhem to the…
A lot has changed in the area surrounding 26th and Welton in the last twelve years. The neighborhood went from somewhere you didn’t want to venture into to somewhere you would happily go to for a drink or meal or to even find your next apartment. The name even changed…
