7PM Sunday night. Just got home from the ER at Longmont United Hospital. Went for a bike ride at noon. I wound up being taken by ambulance to the ER after passing out at a local Dairy Queen, where I stopped for a minute to go to the men’s room. Fortunately it was something the dr called vaso vasil (?) .. not a cardiac problem (apparently the symptoms are the same?) as was told to me in the ambulance – basically it was a fainting spell. A few hours in the ER … a nice nap .. some IV fluids and I’m back to being goat. I’ll be trying this ride again on Monday.
Sometimes it takes awhile for a hit to emerge. In classic rock history it was “Dream On” from Aerosmith’s first album (my favorite non-Colorado American rock and roll band from my youth). The album came out in 73. The hit emerged in 76.
This week I debuted “Evil Eye” from Snake Rattle Rattle Snake. Their latest album, “Totem,” came out in November. Open Air has championed it since it was released. It took a while for me to get it. “Evil Eye” is one of this week’s new music shares along with Kramies’ “The Fate That Never Favored Us” produced by Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) and trending “hit” single “Now Leaving” from Rose Quartz. Check em out below.
Andy Schneidkraut and I moved to Colorado at the same time – 1976. (I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver from SPT to DEC 1973). In 1987, when he opened Albums on the Hill in Boulder, I was in between 99.1FM KUAD and 96.1FM KSQI in Greeley/Fort Collins.
Boulder always seemed like a different country to me. There was never much of a reason for me to travel there from up north. The Finest Record Store in Greeley (and Fort Collins) ran a course from 1972-2008 and provided our record store fix. And we had stations like KTCL, KCSU, KYOU, and KSQI (K-Sky) when Boulder had KBCO and KGNU. As a result, Andy and I have met only a few times in our lifetimes traveling parallel paths in our different worlds. I admired it all from a distance.
The only thing Boulder really ever had over us was a vibrant local music scene that included many nationally famous musicians. Tulagi and the Fox outlived venues like Sam’s Old Town Ballroom and Panama Red’s in Fort Collins, and the Library in Greeley. .. and oh yeah, it had Caribou Ranch. Albums On the Hill outlived the Finest … may it outlive us all.
VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
This week’s pick is the first time for a weekly co-bill: Andy Schneidkraut & the Richie Furay Band.
“twice an orphan” by Andy Schneidkraut from the documentary about his life, “Old Man,” by his son Dan Schneidkraut. The film premiered in Boulder at the Dairy Center’s Boedecker Theater. Read the whole story in Westword by Adam Perry. I look forward to seeing it.
Richie Furay’s “Hand In Hand,” hits the streets March 31. The first official single, “We Were the Dreamers,” is the story of his life in music. It is also the story of our lives with him. “Hand in Hand” has to be in the discussion that it may be the most significant and important record of Richie’s solo career. Where hits like “Kind Woman,” defined his legacy with Poco and Buffalo Springfield, “We Were the Dreamers” defines the entirety of his career, as much a love song to the friends of his youth as “Kind Woman” is to his wife of over 40 years. Congratulations Richie, you’ve brought us another tear-jerker. Thanks brother 😉
PLAYLIST S9 EP11
HOUR 1
Sweet Water Well “Zoeology” from Watermelon (1996)
Electric Swingset “Inebriated Witchdoctor” from Inebriated Witchdoctor (1996)
(D) Sean Curtis Band “Nowhere Road” from Kind of Like Wyoming (2015)
Stephanie Pauline and Joe Uvegas “I Don’t Dance” from When the Smoke Clears (2011)
Lionel Young Band “I Feel So Good” from On Our Way to Memphis (2011)
My Body Sings Electric “New Friends” from Part 1: the Night Ends (2014)
Safe Boating is No Accident “Lover/Undercover” from Bonus Features (2014)
Chemistry Club “Miranda” from Miranda (2014)
Jeff Austin “What the Night Brings” from The Simple Truth (2015)
Big Gigantic “The Night Is Young” from The Night Is Young (2014)
Beats Noir! “Hypnotic” from 13 Tracks From the Dark Side of The Beat (2011)
(D) H2 Big Band “Lynda B” from It Could Happen (2015)
HOUR2
Leftover Salmon “Baby Hold On” from Euphoria (1997)
Subdudes “Papa Dukie & the Mud People” from Behind the Levee (2006)
(D) Kramies “The Fate That Never Favored Us” from The Fate That Never Favored Us (2015)
(D) Snake Rattle Rattle Snake “Evil Eye” from Totem (2014)
The Congress “Minutes” from The Congress (2010)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Make A Little Magic” from Certified Hits (2001)
Richard Dean “Blue Coal Miner” from Accidental Human (2015)
(N) Rose Quartz “Leaving Now” from Axis of Love (2015)
Xiren “Ship of Fools” from Trip-R (2008)
Brad Goode “All Fall Down” from Chicago Red (2013)
It’s that season when flu and colds hit out of the blue .. kinda like operating system failures that cannot be restored. My main pc went down last week this time, and my laptop appeared to on Sunday when Jesse Elliott (Ark Life) and Bryce Merrill were sitting with me in my dining room discussing the music scene here regionally. Fortunately, that blip was just that – just a minor heart attack; my pc, not so much.
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 