String Cheese Incident “One Step Closer” from One Step Closer (2005) Big Head Todd & The Monsters “Broken Hearted Savior” from Sister Sweetly (1993) (N) Grant Farm “Colorado” from Spokesbuzz Volume 4 (2013) The Lovely & Talented “Death Of The Lover” from The New American Fable (2010) Devotchka “Exhaustible” from 100 Lovers (2011) Tennis “100 Lovers” from Small Sound (2013) Ian Cooke “Fortitude” from Fortitude (2011) Toad In the Hole “FireGirl” from APT 203 (2013) My Body Sings Electric “Rings” from Changing Color (2011) Instant Empire “Cadillac Road” from Keep Up! (2013) (D) The Wild After “Lesson Learned” from Lesson Learned EP (2014) (D) Sound Studies “Smoke and Mirrors” [single] (2014) Tyler Ward “Keeping Secrets” from Hello. Love. Heartbreak (2012) Tom Gershwin “Harlem Nocturne” from Sweet Pastimes (2013) Joe Walsh “Rocky Mountain Way” from The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (1972) Churchill “Made A List” from Change EP (2012) (D) The Motet “123” from The Motet (2014) Katie Herzig “Little Bit of Love” from Secret Road – As Heard on TV (2014) Bop Skizzum “Say Something” from Say Something (2013) (D) Medic “Wake Me Up” [single] (2014) The Czars “Paint the Moon” from Goodbye (2004) The Apples in Stereo “No One In The World” from Travellers in Space and Time (2010) Whiskey Bottles “Baby, Your Bad Luck” from Grandville (2013) Blake Brown & American Dust Choir “Rise n’ Fight” from The American Dust Choir (2014) (D) Walker Shellist “Dream” from Readyset (2013) The Knew “What’s Hip (Long Walk)” from What’s Hip (Long Walk) (2013) (D) Drag the River “Not That Kind” from Drag The River (2013) Peter Sommer “Looks Like This” from Tremolo Canteen (2010)
17,000. That was my goal. For the year. For unique page views for all of 2013. I would have been pleased with that kind of growth over last year’s views. A reasonable 10% increase. Doable. 32,700+? With over 16,000 coming in December alone? I’ve never seen 16,000 views in a year, let alone a month before. All I can say is “wow; just wow.”
The Colorado Sound Live365 launched on April 1, and has been a bit a challenge to grow. December has been the best month, no doubt due to the tremendous number of visits to the website. In December the station averaged just at 22 streams a day at about a 30 minute average TSL (time spent listening).
Thanks to all who contributed towards the $1200 goal to keep things moving forward thru the end of the current license period on March 31. That really means a lot, so thank you for that. We’re still a little short of making the full goal. Please share the link to the station with your friends. I’d like to keep this growing into 2014. Numbers matter.
Since I began this annual rite about five years ago now, I’ve included a “critics’ list” each year – a call out to friends in the business and some select fans and musicians who know what’s up in Colorado. This year I did things just a little differently. Instead of a “critics’ list” this year I launched several FAN FAVORITE POLLS. The overall TOP 20 FAN FAVORITE ALBUM/EPS are below. Follow the links for the category breakouts.
There are lots of ways to measure the success of a record – sales, airplay, fan favorite, critics’ favorites, etc. But, generally speaking, it is sales, “radio” airplay, placements (tv shows, commercials, movie soundtracks) and YouTube views that are the visible markers of success. Sprinkle on some major awards for extra credit. So, aside from the FAN FAVORITE POLLS and TOP 40 SPINS this is how things looked to me this year.
OVERALL TOP 5 2013
#1 – OneRepublic – “Native.” Unlike last year’s big breakout hit by the Lumineers, you will not find OneRepublic represented in the TOP 40 below. The album was not popular with non-comm station djs. This was a commercial hit. And a big one at that.
The current single from the album, “Counting Stars,” is one of the band’s most successful, ever. It is their first top five hit since “Apologize” in 2006, landing at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has also been a big hit overseas, landing at the top of airplay charts in the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand. Look at the popularity bar based on sales at iTunes – it SMOKED “Apologize” and everything they’ve done since. The video has had 107,592,715 views and counting.
#2 – Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World … #6 in radio spins in Colorado, #1 COLORADO FAN FAVORITE Urban Contemporary/EDM/Hip Hop/Soul …it peaked nationally at #24 The Billboard 200, #14 Digital Albums, #2 Electronic Albums, #4 Independent Albums + a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album … that’s enough to earn most records “Record of the Year.” One of the most popular urban contemporary records of the year at radio around the state – with significant airplay stats at KBUT, KRCC, and Radio 94.9 Colorado. YouTube views = 822,352.
#3 – Elephant Revival – “These Changing Skies.” #3 in airplay statewide for the year, it broke the TOP 20 of the national Americana Music Association airplay charts. NPR Music/Folk Alley selected it as part of “The Top 10 Folk And Americana Albums Of 2013,” and it was one of NPR Music‘s “10 Artists You Should Have Known In 2013.” It was consistently one of the most played records at our reporting stations statewide, making #1 at several stations statewide throughout the year.
#4 – Gregory Alan Isakov “The Weatherman.” It managed to crack the top spot on the iTunes singer/songwriter charts, as well as #5 on the Billboard folk charts. In Colorado it was the undisputed leader in spins per month statewide, landing at #1 for the year, despite it not hitting radio until June.
#5 – Otis Taylor “My World is Gone.” Hitting #4 for the year at Colorado radio, it should come as no surprise that Otis is once again at the top of the page for one of his albums. The man just cannot stop winning accolades and awards, nominated this year for Blues Foundation Music Awards 2013 Best Contemporary Blues Artist.
FAN FAVORITE ALBUM/EP
Fans definitely came out in support of their favorites. Fans voted for 142 album/ep titles, and set all time page view records in the process.
1. Kramies – The Wooden Heart (rock) 2. Michael Kirkpatrick – Key to My Cage (folk)
3. Joshua Trinidad – Maritime (jazz)
4. The Patti Fiasco – Small Town Lights (rock)
5. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Maestro and the Elephant (rock)
6. Danny Shafer – Wherever You Are (folk)
7. Manuel Lopez Trio – Searching Out (jazz)
8. Cary Morin – Streamline (blues)
9. Wire Faces – King Cataract (rock)
10. Post Paradise – Digging Secrets (rock)
11. Joe Johnson – New West Sound (country-folk)
12. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies (folk-rock)
13. TheChanging Colors – Joan & the King (indie-folk)
14. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round (bluegrass)
15. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round (rock/indie)
16. Instant Empire – Keep UP! (rock/indie)
17. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Eyes on the Prize (blues)
18. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman (folk)
19. Covenhoven – Covenhoven (rock/indie)
20. Aakash Mittal Quartet w/Ron Miles – Ocean (jazz)
TOP 40 COLORADO AIRPLAY 2013
Here are the TOP 40 most played Colorado records in the past year at our incredible network of stations that have been dedicated to airing Colorado music — KAFM (Grand Junction) KBUT (Crested Butte) KDNK (Carbondale) KDUR (Durango) KGNU (Boulder) KOTO (Telluride) KRCC (Colorado Springs) KRFC (Fort Collins) KRZA (Alamosa) KSUT (Ignacio) KUNC (Greeley) KUVO (Denver) KVNF (Paonia) OPEN AIR 1340 (Denver) Radio 94.9 Colorado (Loveland/Fort Collins).
253 titles were tracked as played Jan 1 – Nov 31 2013. Only those records that were released between Nov 1 2012 and Oct 31 2013 were considered for the final year end charts.
[ ___ ] = release date
** = serviced to radio/press by Rocky Mountain Music Network
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman (Suitcase Town Music) Folk [June 24, 2013]
2. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony (Cicero Recordings) Indie/New Alternative [November 13, 2012]
3. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies (Its Evolving Records) Folk [August 1, 2013]
4. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone (Telarc) Blues [January 20, 2013]
5. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Maestro and the Elephant (self) Rock [January 1, 2013]
6. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World (8 Minutes 20 Seconds) Urban Contemporary/EDM [July 1, 2013]
7. Jeff Brinkman Band – Strange (self) Rock [December 2, 2012] **
8. Cassie Taylor – Out of My Mind (Yellow Dog) Blues [May 7, 2013]
9. Paper Bird – Rooms (self) Indie/New Alternative [March 1, 2013]
10. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round (Blank Tape) Indie/New Alternative [February 20, 2013]
11. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk (self) Americana [July 1, 2013]
12. Thom Chacon – Thom Chacon (Pie Records) Americana [March 6, 2013]
13. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round (self) Bluegrass [February 1, 2013]
14. Grant Sabin – Anthromusicology (Blank Tape) Rock [January 10, 2013]
15. WhiteWater Ramble – Roots & Groove (self) Rocky-grass [March 29, 2013] **
16. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Eyes on the Prize (self) Blues [March 1, 2013] **
17. Beautiful Loser Society – The Desperate Promenade (self) Americana [December 10, 2013]
18. Head for the Hills – Blue Ruin (self) Bluegrass [July 1, 2013]
19. The Patti Fiasco – Small Town Lights (self) Rock [August 9, 2013] **
20. a. Tom Collins – Stick & Poke (Greater Than Collective) Indie/New Alternative [June 20, 2013]
21. Jon Wirtz – Tourist (self) Jazz/Instrumental [April 16, 2013]
22. Jeff Scroggins & Colorado – Western Branches (self) Bluegrass [June 1, 2013]
23. The Congress – The Loft Tapes EP (self) Rock [March 16, 2013]
24. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP (self) Pop/rock [September 1, 2013]
25. Andy Hackbarth – Treadmill Horses EP (January Records) Pop/rock [May 5, 2013] **
26. Churchill – The War Within EP (A&M/Octone) Rock [April 23, 2013]
27. Land Lines – Land Lines (self) Indie/New Alternative [November 24, 2012]
28. A Boy and His Kite – A Boy and His Kite (self) Indie/New Alternative [November 20, 2012]
29. 3 Twins – De Nada (Sleeping Elephant Music) Americana [July 9, 2013] **
30. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck (self) Folk/rock [June 1, 2013]
31. You, Me and Apollo – S/T EP (self) Indie/New Alternative [January 22, 2013]
32. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be (Vizztone) Blues [March 1, 2013]
33. Wire Faces – King Cataract (Hot Congress Records) Rock [February 7, 2013]
34. Brad Goode – Chicago Red (Origin Records) Jazz/Instrumental [February 13, 2013]
35. Trout Steak Revival – Flight (self) Bluegrass [November 22, 2012]
36. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry EP (Swingfingers Records) Bluegrass [August 1, 2013]
37. Wendy Woo Band – Live (Woo Music) Pop/rock [June 1, 2013] **
38. TheChanging Colors – Joan & the King (Blank Tape) Folk [May 20, 2013]
39. Manuel Lopez Trio – Searching Out (Dazzle Recordings) Jazz/Instrumental [November 10, 2012]
40. The Gromet – Barren (self) Rock [November 14, 2012]
STATION BY STATION
Airplay tablulated from Jan 1 2013 – Nov 31 2013 for titles released Nov 1 2012 – Oct 31 2013
KAFM (GRAND JUNCTION)
1. Bobby Walker – Feelin’ Good
2. Cassie Taylor – Out of My Mind
3. Beautiful Loser Society – The Desperate Promenade
4. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
5. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
KBUT (CRESTED BUTTE)
1. WhiteWater Ramble – Roots & Groove
2. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round
3. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
4. Trout Streak Revival – Flight
5. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Eyes on the Prize
KDNK (CARBONDALE)
1. DeVotchKa – Live w/ the Colorado Symphony
2. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
3. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
4. Paper Bird – Rooms
5. Halden Wofford & the Hi* Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
KDUR (DURANGO)
1. Farmington Hill – Bridge to Nowhere
2. Beautiful Loser Society – The Desperate Promenade
3. Thom Chacon – Thom Chacon
4. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Maestro & the Elephant
5. Wire Faces – King Cataract
KGNU (BOULDER)
1. Paper Bird – Rooms
2. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round
3. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
4. Head for the Hills – Blue Ruin
5. DeVotchKa – Live w/ the Colorado Symphony
KRCC (COLORADO SPRINGS)
1. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round
2. DeVotchKa – Live w/ the Colorado Symphony
2. Grant Sabin – Anthromusicology
3. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World
4. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be
KRFC (FORT COLLINS)
1. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Maestro & the Elephant
2. Paper Bird – Rooms
3. Cassie Taylor – Out Of My Mind
4. Michael Kirkpatrick – Key To My Cage
5. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
KRZA (ALAMOSA)
1. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Eyes on the Prize
2. Gabrielle Louise – The Bird in My Chest
3. Trout Steak Revival – Flight
3. WhiteWater Ramble – Roots & Groove
4. Jeff Scroggins & Colorado – Western Branches
KUNC (GREELEY)
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
2. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
3. DeVotchKa – Live w/ the Colorado Symphony
4. Jeff Brinkman – Strange
5. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
KUVO (DENVER)
1. Brad Goode – Chicago Red
2. Polarity – King of Hearts
3. Jon Wirtz – Tourist
4. Tom Gershwin – Sweet Pastimes
5. Lynn Baker – LectroCoustic
KVNF (PAONIA)
1. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
2. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
2. Paper Bird – Rooms
3. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry
4. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
OPEN AIR 1340 (DENVER)
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
2. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
3. Paper Bird – Rooms
4. a. Tom Collins – Stick & Poke
5. Land Lines – Land Lines
THE COLORAO SOUND
1. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Maestro and the Elephant
2. Thom Chacon – Thom Chacon
3. Cassie Taylor – Out of My Mind
4. Beki Hemingway – I Have Big Plans For The World
5. Churchill – The War Within
GENRE/PROGRAM FORMAT
Americana / Alt-country / Bluegrass
1. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
2. Thom Chacon – Thom Chacon
3. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round
4. WhiteWater Ramble – Roots & Groove
5. Beautiful Loser Society – The Desperate Promenade
Blues / Rhythm & Blues
1. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
2. Cassie Taylor – Out of My Mind
3. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Eyes on the Prize
4. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be
5. Dan Treanor’s Afrosippi Band f/Erica Brown – Tangled Road
Folk / folk-rock / singer-songwriter
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
2. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
3. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck
4. Changing Colors – Joan & the King
5. Kristi Stice – Under the Willow
Indie / New Alternative
1. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
2. Paper Bird – Rooms
3. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round
4. a. Tom Collins – Stick & Poke
5. Land Lines – Land Lines
Jazz / Instrumental
1. Jon Wirtz – Tourist
2. Brad Goode – Chicago Red
3. Manuel Lopez Trio – Searching Out
4. gogoLab – Border Patrol
5. Tom Gershwin – Sweet Pastimes
Pop / Adult Contemporary / Crossover
1. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP
2. Andy Hackbarth – Treadmill Horses EP
3. Wendy Woo Band – Live
4. Lisa Bell – The Italian Project
5. OneRepublic – Native
Rock / AAA / ALT / AOR
1. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Maestro and the Elephant
2. Jeff Brinkman Band – Strange
3. Grant Sabin – Anthromusicology
4. The Patti Fiasco – Small Town Lights
5. The Congress – The Loft Tapes EP
Urban Contemporary / EDM / Hip Hop / Soul
1. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World
2. The ReMinders – Born Champions
3. P-Nuckle – The System
4. Selina Albright – Brighter
5. Wheelchair Sports Camp – Blank Space EP
WOW … I’m freaking blown away now … seriously. Sunday – Dec 15, 2013 – unique page views for the month = over 6000 and counting. Until now, the best month ever (launched March 2009) was 2227, this past May …the entire year 2012 = 15,473. The Colorado Live365 has also been enjoying the best listener metrics of the past several months … already we’re at 424 streams launched and 232 total listening hours logged. In November we only did 320 streams launched /76 TLH (total listener hours). HUGE improvement. Funds raised so far = $665 / $1200 goal by March 1.
Lots to cover in this week’s post – and a rare two video pick Sunday. Also, something new in the playlist section I hope will be entertaining.
The Denver Public Library is seeking local music for a flagship program it’s preparing to launch this spring called Volume Denver. “We were talking about how we really wanted to do something to get some content that you can’t find at Walmart or the other big box stores,” says Joan Hansen of the library’s Collection Development team. “There’s a great music scene in Denver, and we thought we could probably find a lot of bands who were interested in having the exposure and supporting the library, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Ideally, the library would like to launch the site next spring with a healthy selection of local music for cardholders to have access to. The site will be browsable by artist or album, with detailed information about each act and links to the individual websites. With 647,078 CDs checked out from the Denver Public Library system last year, an estimated 400,000 cardholders and over nine million visits to the library’s website alone in 2012, the potential for exposure for the scene to new listeners is obviously immense.
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Make a donation to keep The Colorado Sound Live365 streaming the Best in Colorado Music 1960-today. The goal to keep it on the air from now til March 31 is $1200. Donations can be made by sending to thecoloradosound@gmail.com (PayPal) or by using Fundrzr. Advertising/underwriting opportunities do exist across all my platforms.
FAN FAVORITE/BEST OF 2013
Best of show airs Dec 28-Jan 3. Best of post will be published Dec 29. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite artist, record, and video. Polls close on Dec 20th. All links take you straight to the appropriate poll. Only those records/videos released/published between Nov 1 2012 and Oct 31 2013 were considered for “fan favorite/best of” consideration.
Xiren enters 2014 with a new song and new video that will no doubt, as this past year, emerge at year’s end as one of the “best of.” In the almost 13 years since I first heard Bullets & Rainbows, Xiren has managed to stay current with contemporary music and video, and he’s definitely emerged as one of the best (if not the best) music video artist/producers in Colorado right now. This really is his strongest work to date, and with it he makes a pretty powerful statement that he’s ready for a much bigger stage to showcase his work on.
In a rare treat — just as I was getting ready to publish today, Jeremy Lawton posted a couple of new videos of BHTM at Red Rocks, that he mixed the audio on… just too damned tasty not to get one in this week. 🙂
PLAYLIST S7 EP46 DEC 2013
IN COLORADO MUSIC HISTORY…(D) the Jekylls “Mele Kalikimaka” from A Very Jekylls Christmas EP (2013) Opie Gone Bad “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (w/Jim Dalton)” from Opie Gone Christmas (2011) Rob Drabkin “Down to Fate” from Little Steps EP (2013) Wendy Woo “Hold On” from Live (2013) Toad In the Hole “FireGirl” from APT 203 (2013) Dave Preston “Shine” from Come Alive (2013) Halle Tomlinson “Falling Snow” from Falling Snow (2013) String Cheese Incident “Walk This Way” from The String Cheese Incident (1997) Fox Street Allstars “Baby Don’t Fight It” from Welcome to the Mighty Pleasin’ (2011) Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds “Good Love” from Round and Round (2013) (D) AdrienneO “Take It In” from Take It In (2014) Star Jaguar feat. Erin McKeown “The Jailer: Part 2” from The Jailer: Part 2 (2013) Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra “Beauty and the Beast” from Sharks And Manatees (2012) Dianne Reeves “Let It Snow” from Christmas Time is Here (2004) Chris Daniels & the Kings “Cool Yule” from Stealing the Covers (2008) Bad Brad & the Fat Cats “I’d Like to Stay (f/Larea Edwards)” from Eyes on the Prize (2013) OneRepublic “Counting Stars” from Native (2013) Fierce Bad Rabbit “Matter of Time” from Maestro & the Elephant (2013) (N) Matt Skinner Band “I’ll Keep Loving” from Native Stranger (2013) Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Colorado Christmas” from The Christmas Album (1997) Big Head Todd & The Monsters “Please Don’t Tell Her” from Beautiful World (1997) Cassie Taylor “No Ring Blues” from Out Of My Mind (2013) (D) Yawpers “Sister Mary” from SpokesBuzz Compilation IV (2014) Signal Path “Wolf Cry (feat Relic Secure)” from Habitats (2013) Brad Goode “All Fall Down” from Chicago Red (2013)
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 