Author: goat

I've been on the air in Colorado since 1978. The Colorado Playlist is broadcast on 30 FM frequencies in the state. I am also a musician, talent buyer and business consultant. Email me at coloradoplaylist@gmail.com

The Colorado Sound – V4 EP11 2012

Okay, this is late this week – just a day, but still … I had six events to do in four days … including two of the most incredible days of the Denver UMX I can remember as an emcee over the past nine years.  Between that and four straight nights of doing sound, I’m feeling a bit foggy and brain dead (and slightly hearing damaged).  I know that I’ll miss someone I saw on stage or in the crowd but I do have to point out some notables … starting with the Yawpers on Friday night.

When you see two guys with acoustic guitars plus a drummer take the stage and you’re asking where the bass player and electric instruments are and the band says “this is it” you begin to wonder if those responsible for booking the band even bothered to check the band out previously — seriously.  You just don’t see this type of set up … and virtually never on a Friday night in a room that doesn’t do acoustic music on Friday nights.  BUT – this is NO “just simply acoustic” band.   Never fear – these guys literally and figuratively “rock the house.”  Given that Band Guru Mark Bliesener (Danielle Ate the Sandwich and several nationals) showed up and let me know he was the band’s manager – it became very obvious very quickly that this is a band on the verge of blowing up regionally.   Look for great things — and get thee to a show.  Their ep, Savage Blue, just does not do this band justice.  Make the trip kids .. it’s worth it.

Shout outs to many friends at the UMX this weekend.  The UMX is the official audition for the Capitol Hill People’s Fair, now in its 41st year.  Most of the folks playing in bands were not even born then… check it out at PeoplesFair.com … there were over 80 acts auditioning for one of about 40 open slots in this year’s festival, coming up June 2&3 at Civic Park in Denver.   All in all about 110 acts will take one of six stages this June.  The bands that came out to audition came loaded, locked, and ready to rumble for a slot.  I cannot remember any other wkend in the past nine years where so many bands were so highly scored.  All I can say it … good luck .. when the ballots are tabulated it’s going to be the highest scoring UMX season on record, I’m sure.

Props to The Holler out of Fort Collins – who totally rocked the house with one of the tightest sets on Saturday – they definitely brought the party and set the bar for every act that followed them.  Other very impressive sets were turned in by The Foot., Rebel Tongue, the Blender Cats, Instant Empire, Gang Forward, and Jet Edison to name a handful.

Here’s what got played on the show this week.

Dan Fogelberg “Stars” from Live From Ebbet’s Field Vol. 4 (2010)
(N) Coles Whalen “Paper Airplane” from I Wrote This for You (2012)
(D) JD Feighner “Feel The Way I Do” [single] (2012)Beats Noir! “Not For You” from 13 Tracks From the Dark Side of The Beat (2011)
Future Jazz Project “Faded Memories” from True By Design (2007)
Catch Bees “Atlanta” from Newman’s Open Choir (2012)
(N) Lumineers “Big Parade” from Lumineers (2012)
(D) The Jekylls “Where Were You” from The Sweet Factory (2012)Boenzee Cryque “I’ve Never Known A Girl” from Psychedelic States: Colorado in the Sixties (2007)
(D) J. Miller Band “The Reasons” from The Road to Elvado (2012)Finnders and Youngberg “Nebraska” from FY5 (2011)
Paper Bird “Steady As” from When the River Took Flight (2010)
Greg Garrison “Blackwell’s Reel” from Low Lonesome (2011)
Otis Taylor “Walk Right In” from Recapturing the Banjo (2008)
(N) Katie Glassman “Bye Bye Boise” from Snapshot (2012)
(D) Grant Farm “I Come From the Country” from Grant Farm (2012)Charlotte Sass “Not Alone” from Lighter Things (2012)
OneRepublic “Everybody Loves Me” from Waking Up (2009)
Achille Lauro “Upward Away From the Ground” from Flight or Flight (2012)
(N) Churchill “Change” from Change EP (2012)
(D) The Pretty Sure “Hot Sass” from Subtle Sabotage (2012)Johnny Hickman “The Great Decline” from Palmehenge (2005)
Patti Fiasco “Someone Tell Me” from The Patti Fiasco (2010)
(D) Musketeer Gripweed “Thief” from Straight Razor Revival (2012)Fox Street Allstars “Baby Don’t Fight It” from Welcome to the Mighty Pleasin’ (2011)
Lelah Simon “To Be Oblique” from Third Week of April (2009)

The Best Day, Way, and Reason to Send a Press Release

It’s Tuesday morning.  Since yesterday I have received over 40 “press releases” across three email addresses as well as private messages via Facebook.  One email in particular, from someone I happen to like, prompted a rather goat-ish personal email from me explaining that local gigs are not news worthy events – but are more likely those “press releases” that will elicit a delete or “I’ll get to it later” (and never do) type scenario.

My friend wrote back, “Wow!  So, I should just play gigs and expect people to show up with no support from the press.  Just because I am daring to play music that truly love instead of pandering to the usual commercial formula is nothing special. I studied jazz, gigged with bands too numerous to mention, learned to write music, build an improvising ensemble… Harsh man… P.S. Sorry to bother you and the rest of the press with my gigs… I let you know if pass away or have another heart attack or something special…”

So what is news worthy?  I cannot answer for my peers in media, but for me it’s not about when you’re playing next.  There are gig calendars for that – twitter and facebook etc.  However, perhaps you’re opening for “X-Superstar” at “X-MAJOR VENUE.”  That would spark some interest … that might be considered news-worthy.  Not so much you gigging out locally.

Releasing a new album is almost (note I said almost!) not even news worthy anymore except for the purposes of attempting to receive a review, and then only the smallest percentage receive those … since recording is no longer the exception but the necessary rule for being a musician, and 99% follow the rule.

So, how do I come across this opinion?  Decades in the trenches as a journalist, radio personality, venue promoter, record promoter and musician …. and reader of the most esteemed of local music media on a daily basis.  I’ve often wondered how to improve my skills as a promoter sending out information … and as well, I’ve studied incoming information to determine what works and doesn’t from my position as “media.”  It’s not easy.

What I’d like to see more of is personal information — births, deaths, marriages, divorces, awards, break ups, new members etc … things that people really want to read or hear about or as my friend suggested “…something special…” When I prep for my weekly news and notes on my radio show or the monthly News Notes and Spins column, it’s that “something special” that I want to relate to my audience.

Because I thought (no doubt rightfully) that I had distanced my “friend” with my email response I looked for some other articles on press releases etc.  Opinions are as varied as the persons stating them.  I dug around a bit and found what I considered to be a reasonable explanation of the subject at blog.journalistics.com …  … The Best Day to Send a Press Release.

Enjoy.

The Colorado Sound – V4 EP10 2012

Ok, so I like keep telling folks – if it ain’t from Colorado I don’t know jack — so how was I supposed to know that the new Big Head & the Monsters “Sexy and I Know It” is a cover of the LFMAO track?   Huh?  Well?  If it ain’t from Colorado I don’t know it … (with extremely few exceptions).    I had to go to youtube to check out the LFMAO version (also finding Todd’s solo version … see below).  Can’t say as I care much for LFMAO’s version, but then I’m not a Venus beach type anyway — give me some “303” – speaking of which, Broken Tongues is representin’ – check out their intro video below … … Todd’s version of the song is much better IMO LOL.

I had one very great nearly three hour hang over a couple pints of Irish ale with Katie Glassman this week … after doing sound for her trio last week I became enthralled with the uniqueness of her voice – vocally and musically.  Turns out that before Sir Paul McCartney did his swing album, Katie had envisioned doing one of her own, complete with five songs that ultimately appeared on Paul’s disc … so, she does the Beatles classic Honey Pie and would love to get it to Sir Paul.  Anyone got his number?  If so, please pass it along to Katie.

Katie’s Snapshot gets my nod for featured album of the month on the Colorado Sound.  John Macy at Silo along with friends like bassist Eric Thorin who arranged / co-arranged four of the tracks, and an all-star band that includes keyboardist Eric Moon and E-tones drummer Christian Teele as well as over a dozen other world class session players and award winners  make it one seriously fun record … especially if you’re into Texas country-swing-jazz with a dollup of airy indie-pop cuteness drizzled throughout Katie’s vocal stylization.

The Lumineers is counted as a debut this week – although I’ve had this particular track for several weeks now, Dualtone just sent the album out – and it’s picking up mad adds at stations around the state, including  KBCO (Boulder), KFMU (Steamboat), KSMT (Breckenridge), KSPN (Aspen), and KYSL (Breckenridge) – making it a sure shot for a #1 Out of the Box (OTB) DEBUT for the month.

And just because it’s too much fun, I included the newly released video from the Hickman-Dalton Gang in this week’s post … ’bout one of the best country videos I’ve seen come out of CO the past couple of years… it forces at least a big grin and some foot stompin. … lay that one in next to Gary Bragg’s hilarious Free Range video…

Here’s what got played on this week’s show.

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club “This Is How We Do It in the Country” from Blovdy Tenent Trvth Peace (2004)
(D) Chimney Choir “ace of spades” from (ladder) (2012)
Juno What?! “You Can’t Stop It” from Shameless (2011)
Tommy Metz “Dreams Will Collide” from The Blossom Frontier (2010)
Electric Swingset “Inebriated Witch Doctor” from Inebriated Witchdoctor (1996)
(D) Rebel Tongue “Lose Hope” from Movin’ On (2012)
Coles Whalen “Wrecking Ball” from I Wrote This for You (2012)
Kelly J “I Didn’t” from It’s A Jungle Out There (2007)
After Midnight Jazz Band “Hit That Jive, Jack” from Hit That Jive, Jack (2012)
(D) Overcasters “Moonshift” from Curses/Prayers (2012)
El Toro de la Muerte “Things In My Head” from Dancer These Days (2011)
Carmen Sandim Sextet “Sampa” from Brand New (2011)
The Apples in Stereo “Same Old Drag” from New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
Pretty Lights “Future Blind” from Making Up a Changing Mind (2010)
(D) The Lumineers “Ho Hey” from The Lumineers (2012)


(N) Broken Tongues “The Way” from Crooked Skyline (2012)

Selasee Atiase “Pray for Me” from African Gate (2010)
Railbenders “Sweet Caroline” from Segundo (2003)
(N) Hickman Dalton Gang “Construction Man” from Vol. II (2011)

Lionel Young Band “Blues & Boogie Woogie” from On Our Way to Memphis (2011)
(D) Big Head Todd & the Monsters  “Sexy and I Know It” [single] (2012) – The cut I played on the show is a full band version that BTHM keyboardist and local producer/engineer (Hickman Dalton Gang among others) sent to me .. that he described to me as having been worked on in many different places out on the road this winter.  The video is Todd rockin it solo.

(N) Katie Glassman “Honey Pie” from Snapshot (2012)
The Swayback “Lost Lake Woods Club” from Double Four Time (2012)
Soul Merchants “Crowns of Glory” from Soul Merchants (2007)
(N) Varlet “In My Pocket” from The Drifter (2012)
Jim Stranahan “Caliente” from Free For All (2010)