COLORADO’S TOP 40 – RIGHT NOW

Friday May 15, 2020 – WOW.  I can’t recall the last time I pulled a statewide radio airplay chart of Colorado titles, played at Colorado non-comm stations.  I know it’s been at least five or six years – and maybe longer.

Normally, I track Roots Music Report.  Only a couple of Colorado stations report to RMR, along with several US, European and Internet stations.  RMR also doesn’t filter for current year releases.  A look at their weekly spins chart shows titles that are a few years old. So, when we look at their spins, we’re getting a more global look at what CO releases are getting played.

There are over 20 non-commercial public/community & college radio stations in our state.  Twelve of those stations use playlist generator Spinitron.  They include KAFM (Grand Junction), KBUT (Crested Butte), KCSU (Fort Collins), KDNK (Carbondale), KDUR (Durango), KFFR (Winter Park), KMSA (Grand Junction), KOTO (Telluride), KRFC (Fort Collins), KRZA (Alamosa-Taos), KSJD (Mancos) and KVNF (Paonia).

    • Airplay charted April 13-May 14 2020.
    • All releases May 2019-April 2020.

1 NATHANIEL RATELIFF And It’s Still Alright LP
2 TYLER T. Wildflower LP *
3 GABRIELLE LOUISE The Unending Alteration of the Human Heart LP *
4 DOWN TIME Hurts Being Alive LP
5 DRAGONDEER Mirage a Trois SINGLE
6 CASS CLAYTON Play Nice LP *
7 REVEREND FREAKCHILD The Bodhisattva Blues LP
7 WHIPPOORWILL The Nature of Storms LP
8 KERRY PASTINE & THE CRIME SCENE City of Love LP
8 ROBERT SHREDFORD Robert Shredford LP
9 THE WOOD BROTHERS Kingdom In My Mind LP
10 MARK OBLINGER High Water Line LP *
11 THE MOVERS & SHAKERS Live at Sun Studio LP *
12 CUP-A-JO Crazy Comes Easy LP
13 LOLA RISING Moving Forward LP
13 THE 14ers Mountaintop Folk-Pop LP
14 ESME PATTERSON There Will Come Soft Rains LP
14 TIERRO BAND TIERRO BAND W/BRIDGET LAW LP
15 DAVID STARR Beauty and Ruin LP
15 THE COPPER CHILDREN Speaking In Spirits LP
16 DRESSY BESSY Fast Faster Disaster LP
17 ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N. Keep On Keepin’ On LP
17 ERIC LILLEY TRIO Joie De Vivre LP
17 SHEL Rainbow SINGLE
17 THE REMINDERS Unstoppable LP
17 WILDERMISS In My Mind LP
18 CHIMNEY CHOIR An Alternative Life LP
18 WHITEWATER RAMBLE Pseudonymous LP *
18 WOOD BELLY Man on the Radio LP
19 BIG GIGANTIC Free Your Mind LP
19 CAITLIN CANNON TrashCannon LP
19 CITRA Ocean SINGLE
19 ELDREN Still Friends SINGLE
19 JOHN STATZ Early Riser LP
19 RYAN DART Drifter’s Heart LP *
19 THE CATCALLS I Get High SINGLE
19 THE THREADBARONS Songbook for the Weary LP
19 WHITACRE Seasons LP
20 FINN O’SULLIVAN When The Power Comes Back On LP
20 JOHN COMMON The Low Wines, Vol. 1 EP EP

* serviced by Rocky Mountain Music Network, LLC

CP 2020 – THE BEST LPs SO FAR

We are just about halfway through the 2020 release year that runs December-November.  This has been a pretty interesting release year.  Overall, I’ve seen a lot more EPs and singles released that I have in prior years.  You can thank Spotify and YouTube for that I think.  Check out what I’ve been playing this year.  And please – like, follow and subscribe.  In the meantime, here are the …

…TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2020 – SO FAR (vote for your favorite below)

There’s got to be no doubt that future Colorado Music Hall of Fame member Nathaniel Rateliff‘s solo album And It’s Still Alright is the presumptive #1 album of 2020 – in every way imaginable.  It’s certainly worthy of Grammy consideration for 2021.

Boulder natives The Wood Brothers return from their Grammy nominated One Drop of Truth with Kingdom In My Mind, once again demonstrating the depth of their Americana dust-bowl sounding roots.  It’s hard enough to get one album nominated for a Grammy.  It’s like winning a Super Bowl, or World Series.  Can the Boulder brothers get there again?

Denver newcomer Andy Frasco brought with him a very nicely produced summertime album, Keep On Keeping On, that captures a bit of the rowdy R&B feel of a Nightsweats album, but doesn’t put the full weight of his considerable songwriting and arranging skills there.  Andy likes venturing off into more pop directions.

This is modern music.  On their first release in three years, Free Your Mind, Boulder’s EDM sensation Big Gigantic turns the page on what it sounds like to fuse jazz, soul, funk, EDM, house and a myriad of other  sonic colors and textures.

Reverend Freakchild is one seriously enigmatic bluesman – no doubt due to his association with Naropa University where he’s studying for a graduate degree.  The Rev’s latest, the Bodhisattva Blues, has been sparring with Nathaniel Rateliff‘s latest for the #1 position in the Colorado titles chart at RootsMusicReport.com.  Oh, and it’s all covers.

WHICH ONE IS YOUR  FAVORITE SO FAR?

CP S14 EP18 2020

Monday May 11, 2020 – I wake up every Monday morning and sit at the kitchen table to write this post.  I look out at a trio of unfinished homes from my window. I haven’t seen a single crew for weeks. And I wonder when those houses will be finished, when they’ll be sold and when I’ll see families coming in and out of them.  More than that, I wonder when I’ll be face to face with you in person from a stage.

On this particular Monday morning I grieve for one of Denver’s most loved venue owners, Sandra Holman Watts  – owner of Live at Jacks – who tearfully announced via video that she has had to close her venue permanently.

In the meantime, some local venues and rehearsal studios have figured out ways to produce live streaming events with full production.  And of course musicians are still sending out good vibes from their homes.

Colorado legacy artist Hazel Miller is hosting a House Party For Hope on the Big Head Todd & the Monsters Facebook page on May 17th. Hazel’s live show from home will benefit the Inner City Health Center and Hunger Free Colorado.

One bit of good news – besides producing this show for you weekly from my home studio, I am also an on air host at 105.5 The Colorado Sound KJAC Greeley.  I host Saturday 8AM to 12PM and Sunday 5PM-8PM.  I haven’t been on since early March.  I will return to my Saturday morning shift next Saturday, May 16.

TOP 5 Colorado Albums This Week

  • Reverend Freakchild – The Bodhisattva Blues
  • Nathaniel Rateliff – And It’s Still Alright
  • Lee Sims – A Few More Miles to Go
  • Mojomama – Red, White and Blues
  • The Lumineers – III

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK

Sweaty Greeley Soul – that’s how the Burrough’s are known.  Their spirited shows are infectious dance parties.  Their messages are socially conscious and focused on love and unity.

The Colorado Playlist may be the largest collection of curated video playlists on YouTube!  Check it out and please subscribe.

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

MONDAY MORNING MUSIC MEETING (MMMM)

You make a big difference in what gets played on the show.  Every week I share some or all of the new music played on the show with you, here in the MMMM.  Your rating gets factored into my decision in what to maintain in the show’s “for airplay” library.

A REMINDER:  Please listen to ALL of the songs and rate them.  Thanks 🙂

(D) = debut LP/EP or single
(N) = new track from previously debuted LP/EP
(P) = Colorado Playlist premier / not available online

The Samples – Close To The Fires – The Samples (1989)
(D) David Ladon – Plastic Angel – Mother Market (2020)

The Haunted Windchimes – Spring Cleaning – Sleepy Baby (2019)
Cary Morin – Lay Baby Lay – When I Rise (2018)
Blue Mesa – Straight Thru Me (2020)
John Common – You Ain’t Broken – The Low Wines, Vol. 1 EP (2020)
Big Head Todd & The Monsters – Runaway Train – Riviera (2002)
The String Cheese Incident – Sing A New Song – Outside Inside (2001)
(D) Hard Pressed – Red Rocking Chair – Magic Dime (2020)
Whitacre – Seaons – Seasons (2019)
King Cardinal – Metronome – Great Lakes (2017)
Keith Oxman – The Splashers – Caught Between the Lion and the Twins (2008)

HOUR 2

Rare Silk – Red Clay – New Weave (1983)
(D) The Lovely And Talented – Roll with the Changes – Election Day (2020)

Lucy Daydream – Awake & Dreaming – Awake & Dreaming (2019)
Moors & McCumber – La Da Da – Acrobats (2018)
Finn O’Sullivan – When The Power Comes Back On – When The Power Comes Back On (2020)
YaSi – Dreams – Unavailable (2019)
Devotchka – Along The Way – A Mad & Faithful Telling (2008)
Jack Hadley – Deeper & Deeper – Deeper (2008)
(N) Andy Frasco – I’ve Got a Long Way to Go – Keep On Keepin On (2020)

Richard Dean – Eileen – Vignettes (2017)
Mark Oblinger – Living Imitation – High Water Line (2019)
The Motet – Nachez – Breathe (1999)

THIS WEEK ON YOUTUBE

Rocky Mountain Music Relief Inc – a Colorado 501C3 non-profit with a mission to provide financial and in-kind support to those individuals, groups and organizations within our Colorado music industry that have been impacted physically, financially and/or emotionally due to the occurrence of natural disasters or unforeseen tragedies within their communities.

The Colorado Playlist is fully dependent on financial support from its sponsors as well as donations from listeners.   If you’re a small local business, I am currently offering special COVID-19 rates during the duration of this crisis.  Email me at coloradoplaylist@gmail.com