A RARE REVIEW
A disclaimer: One of the many things I do is service Colorado records to Colorado media, and municipal agencies that put on seasonal (summer) concerts and festivals, and I also book a few here and there.
I’ve known Andy Sydow for several years now. He enlisted my help to get his debut EP out a few years ago. Recently he advanced me his upcoming new album, Reasons for Departure, due out early in 2018 that I’ve spent many hours listening on my car stereo the past couple of weeks.
Andy has been among the region’s most respected up and coming young musicians; a multi-instrumentalist, who excels as much on slide guitar as his boogie-woogie blues piano chops. He’s played in support of the likes of Tab Benoit, Delbert McClinton, Chris Duarte, Tinsley Ellis and others …and appeared at esteemed events and venues such as Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
Andy and I have spent many wonderful hours together discussing music – his as well as that of some of his favorite songwriters. Andy’s favorite artists are guys like Jackie Green and Anders Osborne, who he’s opening for on New Year’s Eve at the Caribou Room in Nederland (congrats Andy!)
Some of my favorite singer-songwriters from my generation are guys like Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, and Dan Fogelberg. Add in elements of what I hear as Cat Stevens, and you begin to catch a bit of what I hear in Andy’s new album.
Reasons for Departure is absolutely beautifully produced by Chris Daniels, whose home studio is where a great deal of Andy’s album was recorded. Chris spent considerable time honing Andy’s vocal performances on this record – which along with the splendid songwriting is what really stands out.
Songs like Reasons for Departure, Lonely Love, Hearts Go On and Who I Want To Be showcase a songwriter, and singer, ready and able to share airtime with his – and my – favorites from across the generations.
I can’t share it with you yet, but I will say that when people do get it in their ears it will open up tremendous opportunities in Andy’s career and grow his fanbase considerably.
Much love my friend – I can’t wait to share this one with my listeners throughout Colorado.
VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
Sometimes it’s hard to define “Colorado” music .. is a band or artist who once lived here a part of what has defined our sound? Is a band made up of members from around the country, but where at least one of them is from Colorado a “Colorado band?” What if a record is made here? Does that make it Colorado? Hmmmm…. ponders goat.
Strawberry Fields came about in Denver in 2013, forged out of the pop-punk band Mega Gem. In 2016, the band appeared at Red Rocks and the Underground Music Showcase in Denver.
Since forming S.R. principle artist Emi Night has moved to the Eastern Seaboard. The new EP was recorded in Evergreen, but mixed and mastered elsewhere, as so many Colorado records are.
I’m adding this one to the Colorado Playlist collection ….
I often wonder who’s paying attention – ya know? I’m curious, how old are you? How often do you go out to a show NOT at Red Rocks or the Pepsi Center?
MONDAY MORNING MUSIC MEETING
What you’ll find below are new songs on the show this week … listen and let me know which ones you think I should keep in the Colorado Playlist, and which I should delete.
NOTE: In order to be included in the MMMM poll, the band/artist must have an embeddable file available on SoundCloud, BandCamp, Reverbnation or YouTube.
PLAYLIST S11 EP38
(D) = debut of lp, ep or single
(N) = new cut from previously debuted lp or ep
HOUR 1
Super Band “Acid Indigestion” from Psychedelic States: Colorado in the Sixties (2007)
The Trolls “That’s the Way My Love Is” (1969)
(D) Anitra Carr “She Ain’t Me” from 2017 (2017)
Shaley Scott “Style” from Rescue Me (2015)
My Body Sings Electric “Oceancrest” from Part 1: the Night Ends (2014)
(D) Gasoline Lollipops “Soul Mine” from Soul Mine (2017)
Retrofette “Skeletons” (2017)
Sixteen Horsepower “Outlaw Song” from Folklore (2002)
Devotchka “100 Other Lovers” from 100 Lovers (2011)
(D) Monocle Band “Medicine” from The Clearing (2017)
Young Ancients “Going Back to Tulsa (Tulsa)” from Fishstory (2015)
John Weeks Band “Closer to Home” from Dark Angel (2017)
(N) Paa Kow “Pete Pete” from Cookpot (2017)
HOUR 2
The Astronauts “Movin’” from Surf Series: With the Astronauts (1964)
The Chandells “We Are the Ones” from We Are the Ones (1967)
(D) Vincent Colbert “Dark Days” from Dark Days EP (2017)
Grim & Darling “Congratulations World” from Beauty Through Pain (2015)
Selasee and the Fafa Family “Time for Peace” from Time for Peace (2015)
(D) The Sparrow and the Fall “Light In the Darkness” from Close At Hand (2017)
High Fiction “Dynamite (feat Ron Miles)” from To Whom It May Concern (2017)
Big Head Todd & The Monsters “All the Love You Need” from All the Love You Need (2008)
Otis Taylor “Hands On Your Stomach” from Respect The Dead (2001)
(N) Richard Dean “Killin’ Boots” from Vignettes (2017)
Rose Quartz “medicine” from Axis of Love (2015)
James Egbert & Nina Storey “Sound System” from Friction (2017)
Space Orphan “Meeting Spot” from Shut Up About The Sun (2016)
NOV 25 = GOATZ + the Grant Farm at Avogadro’s Number(Fort Collins)
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 