Category: News & Notes

#COMUSIC TOP 30 AUGUST 2026

Colorado music deserves to be celebrated. In 2027, that celebration could reach the State Capitol with a resolution recognizing Colorado Musician Day.

What a way to end a month — and begin another! Once again, you set a record for the most views in a month over the past decade. Thank you.

During the 18th Annual Dacono Music & Spirits Festival, I met a wonderful person from the Colorado State Senate. And you know me… get me talking about Colorado music and musicians and I get a little excited. We connected and brainstormed the idea of the Colorado State Senate passing a resolution honoring Colorado musicians.

WELL… turns out, it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all. I learned today that Senator Janice Rich is interested in introducing a resolution recognizing Colorado Musician Day during the 2027 legislative session.

How cool is THAT?!

ABOUT THE #COMUSIC TOP 30 & HOT SPINS

The #COMUSIC TOP 30 and weekly HOT SPINS track Colorado music aired specifically on Colorado non-commercial radio. Other charts include terrestrial and streaming activity outside the state; this is the only chart focused exclusively on in-state radio airplay.

HOW IT WORKS

Every week, I survey airplay from seventeen Colorado community, public and college radio stations, including Colorado Playlist spins. Monthly charts cover the first full survey week ending on Saturday through the final Saturday of the month, with titles tracked for twelve months beginning with the release of the first single from an album or EP.

The charts reflect what those seventeen Colorado stations actually play. That means some genres are represented more heavily than others: Americana, indie and roots music generally receive considerably more non-commercial airplay than metal or rap, while EDM receives limited but growing exposure.

The #COMUSIC TOP 30 and HOT SPINS reflect measurable Colorado radio airplay — nothing more, nothing less.

KAFM, KBUT, KDNK, KDUR, KFFR, KLZR, KOTO, KSJD, KSUT, KRFC, KRZA, KUVO, KVCU, and KVNF are surveyed via Spinitron, offering search functions for artists to track airplay on over three hundred stations and programs around the country.

KGNU Boulder, Indie 102.3 and 105.5 The Colorado Sound data is pulled from their websites, or emailed to me each week.

LP = album (5 or more songs)
EP = extended play (3-5 songs)
SP = single play (1-2 songs)
(D) = debut of SP (single), EP or LP release in the TOP 30
(R) = return to the TOP 30 of SP, EP or LP release

Your SUPPORT is ESSENTIAL.

The Colorado Playlist has been my passion for 20 years. Now retired, the monthly costs of producing the show stretch my limited retirement income — but I’d like to keep it going for another couple of years.

The show airs statewide on 11 primary stations across 30 FM/LPFM frequencies and is provided at no cost to Colorado community radio stations.

If you’d like to help keep it going, your support is sincerely appreciated. Donations via Venmo at chrisk-2 are preferred, or use the form below. Thank you — sincerely. – chrisk

Interested in getting your business heard across 30 FM frequencies and other Colorado Playlist assets? Email chriskmusic@gmail.com.
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#COMUSIC TOP 30 AUGUST 2026
Dates Tracked: JULY 26–AUG 30 2026

(4) 1. JOBI RICCIO – Face the Feeling LP Jan-26 Spotify / YouTube
(R) 2. BONNIE PAINE – Unseen LP Mar-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 2. NEON THE BISHOP – From This Height / Long Way Down SP Aug-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 3. CLEANER – Don’t Choke / Beer Creep SP May-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 4. BROTHERS OF BRASS – Street Life, Vol. 2 LP Nov-25 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 4. MOON HAMMER – Snakey SP Jun-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 4. SLEEP CLUB – Dweller LP Jun-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 5. MLDY – Not ur girfriend SP Jun-26 Spotify / YouTube
(15) 6. THE CROOKED RUGS – The Crooked Rugs LP Jan-26 Spotify / YouTube
(6) 7. FINN O’SULLIVAN – The Tape LP May-26 Spotify / YouTube
(11) 8. A.J. FULLERTON – Baretone LP Jul-26 Spotify / YouTube
(R) 9. BIG RICHARD – Pet LP Nov-25 Spotify / YouTube
(15) 10. CARLOS & THE CREW – Keep It Together SP Feb-26 Spotify / YouTube
(3) 11. REVEREND FREAKCHILD – Blues & Spirituals / Hymn Hustler LP May-26 Spotify / YouTube
(15) 12. HAYLEY HARKIN – Befriend the Beast LP Dec-25 Spotify / YouTube
(7) 13. RYAN DART – If Love Don’t Break You LP Jan-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 14. THE ANDES – Unwind SP Jul-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 14. GRAVEYARD CHOIR – The Space We Leave LP Aug-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 15. CIAN KRUEGER – First Moon Rising LP Jul-26 Spotify / YouTube
(R) 16. A.J. FULLERTON & JAKE FRIEL – Fullerton & Friel Vol. II LP Dec-25 Spotify / YouTube
(9) 16. MAY BE FERN – Three of Swords LP Sep-25 Spotify / YouTube
(13) 17. CLAY STREET UNIT – Sin and Squalor LP Sep-25 Spotify / YouTube
(R) 17. INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – 20/20 LP Feb-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 17. k8ie – Classified EP Aug-26 Spotify/ YouTube
(12) 18. AUBREY DALE – Fireweed LP Oct-25 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 18. DEAD PIONEERS – Wagon Burner LP Feb-26 Spotify / YouTube
(7) 18. JESUS CHRIST TAXI DRIVER – Taxi the Rich LP Jan-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 19. BRAD GOODE QUINTET – Live Your Dream (Live at North Street Cabaret) LP May-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 19. CARY MORIN – Songs From Anguilla LP Jun-26 Spotify / YouTube
(15) 19. GASOLINE LOLLIPOPS – Way Back Home SP May-26 Spotify / YouTube
(8) 19. KAMIKAZE PROM NIGHT – Holy Diamond Blue LP Jun-26 Spotify / YouTube
(1) 19. LILY NOVA – Pure Intentions / Flashlight SP Jan-26 Spotify / YouTube
(R) 19. REARVIEW – Webs SP Feb-26 Spotify / YouTube
(D) 19. ROAD PONY – Hang Your Weary Heart On Me SP Jul-26 Spotify / YouTube
(14) 19. VELVET DAYDREAM – Smoke & Mirrors LP Dec-25 Spotify / YouTube

88.5 KGNU BOULDER
(D) 1. JAKE LEG – No One Lives Here Anymore SP
(D) 2. BIG RICHARD – Pet LP
(D) 2. PRAIRIEWOLF – Zone Poems LP
(D) 2. REVEREND FREAKCHILD – Blues & Spirituals / Hymn Hustler LP
(D) 3. THE DIRTY TURKEYS – Under Your Spell EP
(D) 3. THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – 20/20 LP

88.9 KRFC FORT COLLINS
(2) 1. RYAN DART – If Love Don’t Break You LP
(D) 2. k8ie – Classified EP
(7) 3. A.J. FULLERTON & JAKE FRIEL – Fullerton & Friel Vol. II LP
(7) 4. A.J. FULLERTON – Baretone LP
(D) 4. CARY MORIN – Songs From Anguilla LP
(D) 4. ROAD PONY – Hang Your Weary Heart On Me SP
(D) 4. CARY MORIN – Pocket of Time LP
(1) 4. THE CROOKED RUGS – The Crooked Rugs LP
(D) 4. GRAVEYARD CHOIR – The Space We Leave LP

INDIE 102.3 DENVER / NoCO
(D) 1. NEON THE BISHOP – From This Height / Long Way Down SP
(D) 2. JOBI RICCIO – Face the Feeling LP
(D) 3. CLEANER – Don’t Choke / Beer Creep SP
(D) 4. BROTHERS OF BRASS – Street Life, Vol. 2 LP
(D) 4. MOON HAMMER – Snakey SP
(D) 4. SLEEP CLUB – Dweller LP

105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND GREELEY / NoCO
(D) 1. THE ANDES – Unwind SP
(D) 2. HAYLEY HARKIN – Befriend the Beast LP
(D) 3. GASOLINE LOLLIPOPS – Way Back Home SP
(D) 3. REARVIEW – Webs SP
(3) 4. EDISON – Seeing Double SP
(1) 4. REVEREND FREAKCHILD – Blues & Spirituals / Hymn Hustler LP

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. IT IS TRULY APPRECIATED.

CP S20 EP07 2026

AIR DATES FEB 14-20 2026. MMMM = GASOLINE LOLLIPOPS, KING CARDINAL, THE BARLOW, ROB DRABKIN

Plateau Creek sheep by the road

Thank you for stopping by. Every week I hope to bring you some of the best of Colorado music from across the decades, and around the state. I also usually share a new landscape photograph by my life-partner, Claire/Clear Vistas Photography.

There is no current website for Claire’s work. If you see a photo you like and would like to have printed, let me know. Email chriskmusic@gmail.com

Last week I made a couple of adjustments to the Monday Morning Music Meeting and This Week on YouTube. The MMMM still asks for your input, but it’s now just KEEP IT or CUT IT .. no equivocation.

THIS WEEK ON YOUTUBE features videos ONLY, of songs in this week’s show.

I WISH I WAS KIDDING. Your SUPPORT is ESSENTIAL.

The Colorado Playlist is the only program showcasing Colorado music statewide, broadcast by 12 stations covering 30 FM/LPFM frequencies.

This show has been my passion for 20 years now. I make this show available at NO COST to community radio stations in our state.

I more or less retired a couple of years ago. There are monthly costs associated with the show that honestly stretch my limited retirement income now.

Your support is essential and sincerely appreciated.

Please make donations via Venmo at chrisk-2 (preferred) or use the form below. Thank you, sincerely – chrisk

To learn about getting your business heard across thirty FM frequencies and on the Colorado Playlist other assets, please email chriskmusic@gmail.com

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ALMA Seeks Bands for Monumental Battle of the Bands on June 6, 2026
Event Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026
Submission Deadline: April 12, 2026
Contact: Nancy Harris, 719-937-1255 or almaconcerts@gmail.com

ALMA’s Battle of the Bands returns this summer and we’re seeking contestants! The Battle will happen on June 6, 2026, from 4pm-7pm, in Cole Park, Alamosa, CO, in conjunction with RioFest. The victor gets a $1,000 contract to perform at Sundays at Six in Cole Park on August 9, 2026! Five bands will compete and each band will have approximately twenty minutes to WOW the audience and judges. To submit your band for consideration to be in the battle, fill out the submission form at https://www.almaonline.org/battle-bands-wanted/ by April 12, 2026.

ALMA hosted a thrilling Battle of the Bands in June, 2025. The winner of that Battle was A Butter Way, a punk band from Alamosa. This year, five more contestants will battle it out on the stage at Cole Park, for a chance to perform during one of ALMA’s Sundays at Six summer concerts.

Live Music—The Soul of ALMA.

For more information, follow ALMA on Facebook or visit www.almaonline.org
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MONDAY MORNING MUSIC MEETING

The Monday Morning Music Meeting happens courtesy of Starr’s Guitars in Cedaredge, serving the western slope music community since 1998.

Every year I debut approximately two hundred new current-year songs. Every week I have to make decisions about what to keep to play again and what to archive. This is where you come in.

Should I KEEP IT or CUT IT?

Results enter into determining which cuts stay in the library and which cuts might eventually make it to the annual Colorado Playlist Fan & Listener Poll and the “some of the best of the year” show.
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Beast – I Am – Higher and Higher (1970)
Sugarloaf – Tongue In Cheek (radio edit) – Spaceship Earth (1971)
(D) Rob Drabkin – Everything is Better With You (2026)

Leftover Salmon –Let’s Party About It – Let’s Party About It (2025)
Carolyn Shulman – Matter of Time – Grenadine & Kerosene (2021)
Woven Hollow –Ten Feet Under (2026)
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Do You Know Thee Enemy? – Unentitled (2011)
DeVotchKa – Transliterator – A Mad & Faithful Telling (2008)
Ronjo V –Gray Skies – Ronjo V (2025)
(D) The Barlow – Factory or Prison (2026)

The Informants – Salvation – Crime Scene Queen (2009)
Marfa – Daisy (2025)
Gabriel Mervine –When It’s Sleepytime Down South – Say Somethin’ (2021)

Boenzee Cryque – Still In Love With You Baby (1967)
Poco – What A Day – Pickin’ Up the Pieces (1969)
(D) Gasoline Lollipops – Derailed (2026)

piKziL – Exit Strategy (2025)
Volores – All That We Could Need – Ages (2023)
Our Violet Room – Villian (2026)
Megan Burtt – Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – The Bargain (2015)
The Still Tide – High Wire – Run Out (2017)
LatinSoul, Joshua Trinidad – Mama Pacha (2025)
(D) King Cardinal – New Addiction – Reviver (2026)

Andy Monley and the High Horses – Drag Me to Hell – Totem (2023)
Sour Magic – Silver Sands (2025)
Brad Goode – St. Louis Blues – Chicago Red (2013)

THIS WEEK ON YOUTUBE

HOT SPINS WEEK ENDING FEB 15 2026

STATIONS TRACKED: KAFM Community Radio (Grand Junction), KBUT Community Radio (Crested Butte), KDNK Carbondale Community Access Radio (Carbondale), KDUR Community Radio (Durango), KFFR 88.3 FM (Winter Park), KLZR (Westcliff), KOTO Community Radio Telluride (Telluride), KRFC 88.9 FM (Fort Collins), KRZA Community Radio (Alamosa), KSJD Radio (Cortez), KSUT (Ignacio), KVCU (Boulder, KVNF Mountain Grown Public Radio (Paonia), 105.5 The Colorado Sound and Indie1023 (Denver) …

Spins tracked on Spinitron (except 102.3 and 105.5), designed to benefit community and college radio, and offering search functions to track airplay on over 300 stations around the count.

(D) = debut HOT SPINS
(R) = re-enter HOT SPINS

ALL STATIONS + THE COLORADO PLAYLIST – 73 TITLES TRACKED
(D) 1. GASOLINE LOLLIPOPS – Derailed SP Jan-26
(D) 2. KING CARDINAL – Reviver LP Sep-25
(D) 3. BIG RICHARD – Pet LP Nov-25
(D) 3. OUR VIOLET ROOM – Villain SP Jan-26
(R) 4. SOUR MAGIC – The Hive LP May-25

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Youth on Record’s Full Underground Music Showcase (UMS) Statement – For Youth on Record, UMS Was Part of the Story. Young Artists Are the North Star.

For Youth on Record, UMS Was Part of the Story. Young Artists Are the North Star.

By Jami Duffy
Executive Director, Youth on Record
Former Co-Manager, Underground Music Showcase

Last week, I sat in a leadership meeting with 13 young creatives selected to help build the future of Youth on Record’s workforce program. These rising stars are launching their lives in Denver and their careers in music and entertainment. Most have graduated from our programs and are now booking shows, releasing work, building networks, and figuring out who they are and who they’re becoming. They’re also deeply motivated by this moment in the United States, when human rights are being violated and our democracy is on the line.

I sat, overwhelmed by their collective power. They are bright. Capable. Wildly talented. Ready.

What isn’t quite ready for them is the world they’re stepping into—specifically, Colorado’s music industry, our creative economy, and our political systems. The systems meant to support young adults, artists, and creatives are strained. Opportunities are uneven. The path from talent to sustainability is still far too fragile. Sitting in that room, listening to them talk about their hopes, fears, and their hustle, I felt the urgency of this moment in my bones. And I knew—without hesitation—that selling UMS to its next capable stewards is the right move. 

Four years ago, Youth on Record stepped into ownership and co-management of the Underground Music Showcase because we wanted to ensure that the fest was rooted in values, access, and care. We stabilized this iconic festival, protected space for music discovery, and pushed for artist-first practices—particularly thriving artist wages, accessibility, sober spaces, harm reduction, mental health supports, and career pathways for emerging musicians. We also leveraged government and philanthropic dollars, encouraging those sectors to see the value of music festivals as a public good. 

Now, this moment calls for something more from Youth on Record.

We’ve made the decision to spend the next chapter putting our full institutional energy into shaping what comes next for music, culture, and the creative workforce in Colorado. This means partnering with Colorado’s music and sports industries to deepen their impact and build new job opportunities for the next generation. We will also work with community organizations, mutual aid networks, immigrant rights organizations, and young leaders to respond to direct threats to our work, our students, and our freedoms. This will require our full focus for the foreseeable future.

Discovery music still matters—especially now. That’s why we’ve begun the process of passing the UMS torch of co-ownership to RiNo Business Improvement District (RINO BID). RiNo BID is designed to steward large-scale cultural experiences and would carry this festival forward with the resources and infrastructure it deserves. We trust that they would continue cultivating the seeds of impact Youth on Record planted—particularly around artist care and thriving artist wages. 

As the festival potentially moves to RiNo, we also hope that policymakers and civic stakeholders continue to be proactive in understanding and addressing the economic and cultural impact that music has long had on South Broadway—a beating heart of Denver’s creative community, and a 20-year neighborhood partner in UMS.

To Colorado’s young artists: you are Youth on Record’s North Star. Your creative lives and your freedoms matter. You can count on us to continue to provide free programs and creative spaces, so you are ready not only to rock the UMS stages, but to build those stages—and one day, to lead the festival itself. We are committed to working closely with you on your art and your impact, because the future of this industry must be built with you, not around you.

The work ahead is urgent. It is harder. And it is worth it. We are choosing to meet this moment in Denver and in our nation with clarity, courage, and hope rooted in action. And when the next UMS unfolds, you’ll find us there, front row, cheering you on, proud of what you’re building, and excited for what comes next.

ABOUT YOUTH ON RECORD 

Youth on Record is a youth development nonprofit equipping Colorado youth ages 11-24 to find their voice and achieve their goals through free music and media arts programming. Since 2008, the organization has combined award-winning programs with community-building efforts to provide holistic support for young creatives. Through for-credit classes, out-of-school programs, hands-on and technical training, and paid apprenticeship opportunities, Youth on Record helps youth succeed not only as artists but in their education and lives. Learn more at youthonrecord.org.