Reviews – Page 7 – Chris K's Colorado Playlist

TEMPA & NAOR PROJECT – EMBER’S FIRE

Oh boy. #fullboxofKleenex #joyfultearjerker = new album from Tempa & Naor Project … Ember’s Fire.

Highly recommended if you like: Nancy Griffith, Roseanne Cash, Brandi Carlile

Tempa is a former Denver blues singer of the highest regard. From 2000-2012, Tempa and the Tantrums was nominated for 5 Westword Music Showcase Awards, winning Best Blues Band in 2006. Tempa hosted an award winning (Best Allcomers Jam, WestWord Awards 2007) open mic and jam session for 8 years – one of which is where we first met Rob Drabkin.

Tempa fell in love and moved to Hawaii, but has always remembered those she was close to in our region. I’m honored to be among those folks – so much love and thank you Tempa ❤

Well, after all these years we have a new album from our friend – and it’s NOT what I would have expected. What any of us who frequented her jams might have reasonably been inclined to expect was a blues album, since that’s what Tempa & the Tantrums were – a blues band. Not so this album. Tempa & Naor seem to have mastered the Americana / country-folk-rock style with Ember’s Fire, their debut.

“Never Meant to Be A Love Song,” is the first radio “hit” on the album, a country song full of claps and folky rap with tasty use of dobro, fiddle, and a stompin’ singalong chorus. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if I heard this on KYGO (Denver) or KUAD (Northern Colorado) let alone any of the excellent Americana music shows throughout the state.

The rest of the album is a finely detailed and produced arrangement of love songs and ballads – including a very western sounding “Wyoming Highway” that could have come from Nancy Griffith.

There’s a beautifully restrained subtlety of passion and togetherness in Naor’s fine acoustic guitar work and Tempa’s boldly measured vocals throughout the album. It’s an album of love songs with Tempa displaying a voice perhaps we could not have imagined a decade ago, nor fully realized if she hadn’t fallen in love and moved to Hawaii.

“Never Meant to Be A Love Song” – shared with permission from Tempa & Naor

CP S12 EP40 2018

Monday Oct 22 2018 … Here in about another two weeks we enter the 2019 release year – which will include any NEW releases submitted for airplay after Nov 1.

2018 has been a rather amazing year. Currently in the CP song catalog for 2018 there are over 390 song titles … from over 100 LPs alone – not including EPs and single releases.

So far this year I’ve seen more singles released than at any time I’ve done this show over the paste 12 years. This weekend I spoke with the owners of one of our prestigious studios. They affirmed they’ve seen more singles being produced than at any time they could recall.

Basically, it’s going to make for an interesting end of year “Best Of.”

Congratulations to Randall Frazier and Elisa Canali. Randall is the long time production manager and talent buyer for Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox as well as a longtime label owner (Helmut Room), sound and recording engineer, producer, tour manager and musician in the scene. Randall and Elisa met when Randall took her on as an intern learning sound. She is now Randall’s assistant and soon to be legally married life partner. Much love to both …

Ophelia’s has also announced they’re launching a new label based on live recordings that Randall will produce at the venue. The launch is set for early 2019.

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame class for 2018 has been announced. It’s a night dedicated to AEG’s Chuck Morris, who got started promoting shows in Boulder in the late 60s. Also being inducted – 97.3FM KBCO, a pioneering station with air talent that reaches back into the 70s and 80s.

The show will include performances by Amos Lee, Leo Kottke, Todd Park Mohr & Brian Nevin (Big Head Todd & the Monsters), Isaac Slade & Ben Wysocki (the Fray), Bill Nershi and members of the String Cheese Incident, Drew Emmit & Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon) and the Lumineers. The house backing band for the show is Chris Daniels & the Kings. Governor Hickenlooper will be hosting the roast of Chuck Morris. Dec 3 2018 – The Paramount Theater.

105.5 The Colorado Sound & the Colorado Playlist Present:

Brent Cowles w/ special guests Strange Americans at the Bluebird Theater (Denver) Fri, Dec 14

Covenhoven at Swallow Hill Music (Denver) Fri, Nov 9

Gasoline Lollipops with The Grant Farm at The Fox Theatre (Boulder) New Years Eve, Monday, Dec 31

Trout Steak Revival 2 shows…
Fri, Nov 30 at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (Denver)
Sat, Dec 1 at the Aggie Theatre (Fort Collins)

The Railbenders at The Bluebird Theater (Denver), Friday, Dec 21

Wildermiss with Silver & Gold and Ivory Circle at the Downtown Artery (Fort Collins) Friday, November 9

At Bohemian Foundation, our focus is on building community …by coming together to create and enjoy music.

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK

It shouldn’t be a secret and there’s little doubt that Gregory Alan Isakov is a perennial BEST OF Colorado artist – with a string of exceptional releases, and headlining slots at Red Rocks. Gregory is in a class of his own in our scene. This is from his new album Evening Machines.

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 on Soundcloud, BandCamp, Reverbnation, Spotify or YouTube.

PLAYLIST S12 EP40

(D) = debut of lp, ep or single
(N) = new cut from previously debuted lp or ep

HOUR 1

The Astronauts “Competition Couple” from Competition Coupe/Astronauts Orbit Kampus (1997)
The Moonrakers “Trip and Fall” from Anthology (2007)
(D) Hunter Burnette “At Ease” from The Good Life EP (2018)

Coral Creek “Cryin’ Bout My Baby” from Coral Creek (2015)
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats “Look It Here” from Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (2015)
(N) The SIR Band “So Cold” from So Cold (2018)

Leftover Salmon “House of Cards” from Something Higher (2018)
Wendy Woo Band “Walk Along the Water” from austerity (2011)
My Body Sings Electric “Step Into the Light” from Changing Color (2011)
(N) Plutinos “Falling Away” from Plutinos EP (2018)

Wildermiss “Carry Your Heart” from Lost With You (2017)
Wonderlic “Moses” from Wunderpus Photogenicus (2016)
Walter Gorra “’til Next Time” from In Due Time (2018)

HOUR 2

Big Head Todd & The Monsters “Broken Hearted Savior” from Sister Sweetly (1993)
(D) Elyse Miller “Quicksand” (2018)

Paper Bird “Don’t Want Half” from Paper Bird (2016)
You Me and Apollo “Don’t Sleep for Free” from Sweet Honey (2014)
(D) SYCDVK “Oasis In Space” from Lurking Earthlings EP (2018)

Slow Caves “Poser” (2018)
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club “No Doubt About It” from Unentitled (2011)
The Apples in Stereo “Signal In The Sky (Let’s Go)” from Let’s Go (2001)
Edison “Take Me Home” from Lion’s Heart EP (2018)
(N) Magnolia North “Just Like You” from Magnolia North (2018)
Richard Dean “Wild Night On the Bayou” from Vignettes (2017)
Greensky Bluegrass “Miss September” from Shouted, Written Down & Quoted (2016)
Analog Son “CTI” from Funky Mother (2018)

CP S12 EP27 2018

Another week and another weekend of live music in Northern Colorado. The main event this weekend was a benefit for Women In Blues held at the Armory Event Center in Brighton.

Event organizer Kyle Deibler (Memphis West Music) filled me in that W.I.B. is an aspiring national level non-profit (501C3) organization. Colorado women in blues owned the sparsely attended event from the first act on.

Unfortunately, I was not able to stay to see the non-Colorado talent headlining the bill, due to a scheduled show with my own band.

The biggest surprise of the day was a revamped Kerry Pastine & the Crime Scene. Gone are Lance “Romance” Bakermeyer (bass) and Mad Dog Minnick (drums/vocals), who have gone back to the Hillbilly Hellcats with Chuch Hughes.

Lance and Mad Dog provided equal parts of the look, vibe and style to the original Crime Scene lineup – giving the band a unified and uniformed look and sound on stage – matching Kerry AND Pauly Six in performance intensity and style. Wearing beards, caps, dark glasses and black shirts, the matching colorful fashion statement gone, a potentially darker and deadlier groove may be what we’ll get moving forward from the new rhythm section.

KPCS has a new album dropping very soon – I premiered a new track from the album (a Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood cover featuring Jim Dalton of the Railbenders) in the show this week .. it’s below in the MMMM.

Fresh off her album release show at the Walnut Room in Denver, Cass Clayton opened the show. She and her airtight band showed considered homage to her obvious influences, that include Susan Tedeschi and Bonnie Raitt.

The Crime Scene and Cass Clayton Band were not the only ones appearing with new releases in hand. Colorado Blues Society 2018 Band Champion, Mojomama, recently released their latest called Red, White and Blues. Happily for me they included my favorite track on the album, Lazy River. Eef & the Blues Express rounded out the show, showcasing her formidable guitar chops, alongside the Colorado Blues Society 2018 solo/duo Champion Scott Hackler on keys.

The Brighton Armory is an exquisite small venue in our region capable of seating 300, or providing standing room only for 500. They’ve been adding more and more shows there, produced either by the city of Brighton under the management of Gary Montoya or by independent promoters.

The sound system is more than adequate for the room, and stands out as among the best in the region – equaling those at venues such as the Armory in Fort Collins or the Boulder Theater or the Mishawaka Amphitheatre. One criticism from me is that the room clearly needs additional baffling and sound absorption panels to knock down the boominess of a near empty room.

In a city that lacks even ONE non-public venue dedicated to live music, the Armory is a wonderful place to catch upcoming shows from the likes of popular regional acts like FACE Vocal Band, or national country acts like John Anderson (coming Oct 28) … and is EASILY accessible to Denver, Thornton, and other north metro communities.