
FoCOMA Peer Award Winners 2020


I’ve been playing Colorado music on Colorado radio since 1978, but our history of award winning (and award worthy) popular music goes back much further. Over the past ten years, Colorado has experienced one of the most explosive eras in the history of Colorado music …if not THE MOST explosive era.
This past decade has arguably produced the most and the biggest hit-makers and award winners in Colorado music history, along with some of the most memorable music of the past fifty plus years.
I picked 30 titles I thought best represented the Colorado Playlist over the past ten years, 2010-2019. I asked you to order them from 1-30. I was somewhat surprised at the ones you did NOT vote for. Maybe it was the songs I selected from their various releases… hmmm.
At Bohemian Foundation, our focus is on building community …by coming together to create and enjoy music.
The Bottom Five (25-30)Chuck Pyle, aka the “Zen Cowboy,” passed away at age 70 in 2015 at his home near Palmer Lake. Over his 40 year Colorado music career he released 13 albums, including “The Spaces In Between” in 2010, his only studio release of the decade.
Churchill was a national breakout band from Denver, that broke up in 2013 with two arena shows and a Jay Leno appearance left on the table, after touring successfully with Pink and signing with major label A&M/Octone.
Esme Patterson was a member of the Denver based indie folk-rock band Paper Bird that she parted with in 2014. She released three records from 2012-2016.
All Princes, I (2012)
Woman to Woman (2015)
We Were Wild (2016)
Gerald Albright was nominated for a Grammy for “Slam Dunk;” one of eight total Grammy nominations, and the fourth consecutive between 2010-2014. A Colorado based musician since 2006, he released six albums during the decade 2010-2019
Pushing the Envelope (2010)
24/7 with Norman Brown (2012)
Summer Horns with Dave Koz, Mindi Abair, Richard Elliot (2013)
Slam Dunk (2014)
G (2016)
30 (2018)
Otis Taylor is the most awarded musician in Colorado music history and was inducted into the 2020 Colorado Music Hall of Fame class on December 3, 2019. Otis released five albums over the past decade –
Clovis People Vol 3 (2010)
Contraband (2012)
My World Is Gone (2013)
Hey Joe Opus (2015)
Fantasizing About Being Black (2017)
Maybe I just picked the wrong songs to represent this incredible body of award winning and popular music. Pick any of these five artists and bands to discover some of the best of Colorado music 2010-2019. And share with your friends, please.
Happy New Year 2020
Chris “K”
aka goat
Happy Holidaze! Every year, I put up the Fan Favorite Poll. It’s a race to see which band can get the most votes, from their fans and others who discover them via this poll. This year’s “race” was no exception. The LP/EP poll got over 1100 votes. The “single release” poll over 900 votes. The Video Pick of the Year poll garnered nearly 200 votes. And the results?
At Bohemian Foundation, our focus is on building community …by coming together to create and enjoy music.
The Fan Favorite LP/EP TOP 5 features two NEW artists/bands on the scene; Denver hip-hop/blues artist Avery J and the BA, and Boulder Americana-country artist Jackie & the Racket. This is the second time that Southern Colorado husband and wife folk duo Pint & a Half has graced the Best of the year list, the first in the Fan Favorite poll.
Merry funksters Float Like A Buffalo, one of the hottest up and coming bands in 2019, rounded out their fifth year with a Red Rocks appearance and CP fan favorites in LP/EP of the Year, and Single Release of the Year. Folk-rock outfit South to Cedars, from the Longmont area, makes their debut as a Fan Favorite in the CP Best of the Year.
Float Like A Buffalo fans voted both their LP Back from Nowhere, and their single release Gone By Morning as BEST OF for 2019. WTG fans! Southern fried country rock Williams Brothers Band is from Grand Junction, where the show is broadcast on KAFM. Glad to see GJ steppin’ up and voting for one of their own.
The Barrelors, Lola Rising and the Born Readies all make their debut as Fan Favorites for 2019. Alternative southern country blues rock to reggae infused sunshine pop and garage rock lead the way from 1-3.
FAN FAVORITE VIDEODurango/Nashville artist Caitlin Cannon‘s modern honky-tonkin’ rocker “Toolbag” leads the way with the sunshine psychedelic-punk rock of Boulder’s The Beeves rounding out this set. The Beeves have a new album in the works, produced by Nate Cook of the Yawpers, who has been championing the band.
WhiteWater Ramble released a video trilogy this year entitled “A Widow’s Lament.” The short film won the Best Music Video category at the International Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles. Part 2 (Hollow) and 3 (Kentucky Windage) are dark stories, relating to gun control issues and domestic violence. Patrick Sites and company turn up the southern rock vibe to fit the dark Southern motif of the stories.
The Copper Children are not a new band in the scene. Their 2014 debut, Drugs and Liquor, has been played over 1.7 MILLION times on Spotify. A strong regional following came out to get them a CP Fan Favorite Video Pick of 2019.