Sad news emerged from Fort Collins’ yesterday. You Me & Apollo is playing their last gig at Hodi’s Halfnote on Dec 20. Drummer Tyler Kellogg will be my guest this week in hour 1 of The Colorado Sound to talk about the breakup and more … hit the station and time page for where and when you can listen. Here’s the link to the story in this week’s Westword.
NEWS NOTES & SPINS DEC 1 2014
Support Provided By
Colorado Case Company a Fort Collins based, Colorado family owned business specializing in insulated soft cases, gig bags, case covers and rigid cases for most instruments, including hard to fit instruments.
SpokesBUZZ, a Colorado non-profit with a mission to develop the professionalism of artists, promote and connect progressive cultural destinations, amplify music scenes, and grow local economies. See event calendar for Spokesbuzz band shows.
The historic Mishawaka Amphitheatre, Northern Colorado’s Musical Playground, and seriously one of the most badass music venues in the state.
Please visit my friends’ sites. They keep this thing going. Much appreciated.
NEWS & NOTES
For all intent and purposes, November concludes the year. Any music that gets released in November is labeled as the following year, so we’re already into the 2015 season. The big music news this month was the release of the new Leftover Salmon album “High Country,” featuring new permanent member Bill Payne (Little Feat). I can’t recall off the top of my head what the last album was that debuted at #2. The album was released on November 28, but the band made sure that djs around the state were serviced early enough to share the love pre-Thanksgiving. Outside of that one album the top 18 spots remained about as it was last month.
The biggest news of the month came from G. Brown at the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Richie Furay let us in on part of the secret in October, during Offstage …Beyond the Music, when he let us know that Poco and he would be inducted into the hall this year. G finally released the rest of the lineup for the Jan 9 gala: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Firefall, Manassas, Poco … with special nods to Richie Furay and Steve Martin among others. G. Brown will be my guest on Offstage …Beyond the Music in January – no doubt we’ll be talking a lot about the Hall of Fame.
VIDEO PICK OF THE MONTH
I don’t watch very much television. Most of what I watch is late night stuff like the local news, a half hour of Jimmy Kimmel, and about twenty minutes of the Daily Show, before I fall asleep. Sometimes I watch on demand episodes of shows like Gotham — but almost never do I watch talent shows – so I had no idea this summer that a local kid was on America’s Got Talent, nor did I know he made it to the TOP 5 finalists in September, before being eliminated. That’s okay; TOP 5 is enough to propel the take off of a career if played right. With that, here’s a video playlist of Miquel Dakota, from Monument, Colorado … enjoy
TOP 40 Spins November 2014
270 titles tracked
125 (46%) titles identified as played at least once in the reporting period
Stations/shows surveyed: 15
(CC) = Colorado Connection
(D) = album/ep/single debut on chart
(R) = re-enter
[date] = Date added to reporting list
(1) 1. Hot Rize – When I’m Free (Thirty Tigers) Bluegrass [Sept 6, 2014]
(D) 2. Leftover Salmon – High Country (LoS) Americana/jamband [Nov 8, 2014]
(3) 3. Tennis – Ritual in Repeat (Communion Records) Indie/New Alternative [Aug 14, 2014]
(5) 4. Ark Life– The Dream of You & Me (Greater Than Collective) Rock/AAA [June 28, 2014]
(10) 5. Reed Foehl – Lost in the West (NeverFoehl Records) Folk/singer-songwriter [Sept 13, 2014]
(9) 6.Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman(Suitcase Town Music) Folk/singer-songwriter [June 22, 2013]
(6) 7. Big Head Todd & the Monsters –Black Beehive (Shout! Factory) Rock/AAA [Jan 25, 2014]
(14) 8. Elephant Revival– These Changing Skies (Its Evolving Records) Folk [Aug 1, 2013]
(7) 9. Nathaniel Ratefliff – Falling Faster Than You Can Run (Mod y Vi Records) Folk [Sept 1, 2013]
(2) 9. The String Cheese Incident – Song in My Head(SCI Fidelity) Rock/AAA [April 12, 2014]
(30) 10. Young Ancients – Y/A (self) Americana [Feb 22, 2014]
(11) 11. You, Me and Apollo – Sweet Honey (self) Indie/alternative [April 26, 2014]
(29) 12. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore–Love Runner (Remington Road Records) Folk [Dec 21, 2013]
(22) 13. The Motet– The Motet (self) Urban Contemporary/funk [Jan 4, 2014]
(R) 14. Esme Patterson – Woman to Woman (Greater Than Collective) Indie/New Alternative [April 5, 2014]
(26) 15. Musketeer Gripweed – Floods and Fires(self) Rock/jamband [March 29, 2014]
(12) 16. A Shoreline Dream – The Silent Sunrise (self) Rock/alternative [Sept 6, 2014]
(8) 17. Euforquestra – Fire (self) Rock/funk [Feb 22, 2014]
(D) 18. Dana Landry Trio – Memphis Skyline (Artist Alliance) Jazz/Instrumental [Oct 1, 2014]
(19) 19. John Oates – Good Road to Follow (PS Records) Pop/AAA [March 18, 2014]
(30) 20. Katie Herzig – Walk Through Walls (Marion-Lorraine) Pop/adult contemporary [April 26, 2014]
(D) 21. The Longest Day of the Year – Carapace (self) Rock/AAA [Nov 1, 2014]
(16) 22. Chimney Choir – (compass) (self) Folk [June 1, 2013]
(D) 22. Fruition & Grant Farm – Meeting On the Mountain (Grant Central Records) Rock/jamband [Oct 1, 2014]
(D) 23. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake – Totem (self) Indie/New Alternative [Nov 8, 2014]
(R) 24. Strange Americans – That Kind of Luster (self) Rock [Aug 23, 2014]
(D) 25. Ark Life – Very Fine Friends (single) (Greater Than Collective) Rock/AAA [Nov 8, 2014]
(R) 26. Drag The River – Drag the River (Xtra Mile Records) Rock [Oct 1, 2013]
(R) 27. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck (self) Folk [June 1, 2013]
(4) 28. Kyle Hollingsworth – Speed of Life (SCI Fidelity) Rock [Sept 6, 2014]
(D) 29. Chimney Choir – Motion (single) (self) Indie/New Alternative [Nov 8, 2014]
(32) 30. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Living Asleep (self) Rock/AAA [July 19, 2014]
(R) 31. Moors & McCumber – Against the Grain (self) Americana/folk [Aug 1, 2013]
(36) 32. 3 Twins – De Nada (Sleeping Elephant Music) Americana [June 20, 2013]
(D) 33. Ben Markley-Clint Ashlock Quintet – The Return (Dazzle Jazz) Jazz/Instrumental [Nov 22, 2014]
(34) 33. Chain Station – Dancin’ With the Law (self) Bluegrass [March 14, 2014]
(R) 34. Drew Schofield – 150 Million (-1) EP (self) Adult Contemporary/pop [Sept 6, 2014]
(21) 34. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World (8 Minutes 20 Seconds) Urban Contemporary/EDM [July 2, 2013]
(D) 35. Lauren Brombert – Love’s Carousel (single) (self) Adult Contemporary/pop [Nov 8. 2014]
(R) 35. Sofie Reed – Red Hen (self) Blues [June 20, 2014]
DROPPED OUT OF TOP 40 / NOVEMBER
15. Analog Son – S/T
17. Richie Furay – Hand in Hand
18. Born to Wander – S/T
20. Quemando – Paradise
23. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
24. Pandas & People – S/T
25. Jeff Finlin – My Moby Dick
27. Head for the Hills – Blue Ruin
28. Wendy Woo Band – Live
31. Katie Glassman & Snapshot – Dream A Little Dream
31. Matt Skinner Band – Native Stranger
33. Andy Palmer – Storm’s Not Coming (single)
33. Paa Kow – Ask
35. Maxwell Hughes – Only in Dreams
36. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
ADDED TO TRACKING / NOVEMBER
Annie Booth – Wanderlust
Ark Life – Very Fine Friends (single)
Ben Markley/Clint Ashlock Quintet – The Return
Brad Goode – Montezuma
Chimney Choir – Motion (single)
Danielle Ate the Sandwich – Dream A Little Dream of Me (single)
Danielle Ate the Sandwich – Someone Like You (single)
Jack Hadley – Jack Hadley: The St. Louis Sessions
John Statz – Tulsa
Lauren Brombert – Love’s Carousel (single)
Leftover Salmon – High Country
Parlor Pickers – Joliet Street Shakedown
Silver & Gold – Compression
Snake Rattle Rattle Snake – Totem
The Echo Chamber – Synesthesia
Zach Heckendorf – Speed Checked by Aircraft
STATION BY STATION
[XX] = number of reported current year (2013-2014) titles
Stations monitored for spins = KAFM, KBUT, KDUR, KGNU, KOTO, KRCC, KRFC, KRZA, KSJD, KSUT, KUNC, KVNF, OPENAIR 1340, The Colorado Sound radio show and The Colorado Sound LIVE365
KAFM (Grand Junction) [20]
1. Hot Rize – When I’m Free
2. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
3. Jack Hadley – Jack Hadley: The St. Louis Sessions
3. Reed Foehl – Lost in the West
4. The Longest Day of the Year – Carapace
KDUR (Durango) [12]
1. Hot Rize – When I’m Free
2. Born to Wander – S/T
2. Reed Foehl – Lost in the West
3. Ark Life – The Dream of You and Me
3. Chain Station – Dancin’ With the Law
KGNU (Boulder) [21]
1. Hot Rize – When I’m Free
2. Ron Miles, Bill Frisell & Brian Blade – Circuit Rider
2. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake – Totem
3. Gasoline Lollipops – Death
3. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
KRCC (Colorado Springs) [11]
1. Tennis – Ritual in Repeat
2. A Shoreline Dream – The Silent Sunrise
3. Ark Life – The Dream of You and Me
3. Chimney Choir – (compass)
4. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
KRFC (Fort Collins) [100]
1. Leftover Salmon – High Country
2. Hot Rize – When I’m Free
3. Reed Foehl – Lost in the West
4. Tennis – Ritual in Repeat
5. Fruition & Grant Farm – Meeting On the Mountain
KRZA (Alamosa) [10]
1. Hot Rize – When I’m Free
1. You, Me and Apollo – Sweet Honey
2. Ark Life – The Dream of You and Me
2. Chain Station – Dancin’ With the Law
2. Steve Law Band – Old Oak Tree
KUNC (Greeley) [17]
1. Hot Rize – When I’m Free
2. Ark Life – The Dream of You and Me
2. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
3. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
4. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
OPEN AIR 1340 (Denver) [25]
1. Tennis – Ritual in Repeat
2. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake – Totem
3. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
3. Montropo – Follow Me
3. The Outfit – Station Wagon Apocalypse
The Colorado Sound [35]
1. Leftover Salmon – High Country
2. Reed Foehl – Lost in the West
3. Musketeer Gripweed – Floods and Fires
4. Ark Life – The Dream of You and Me
4. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
THE COLORADO SOUND LIVE365
TOP 5 MOST HEARD CURRENT YEAR TRACKS NOV
1. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps
1. Nathaniel Rateliff – Nothing to Show For
1. Good Gravy – Isn’t It Funny
2. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Josephina
3. Justin Roth – Rise
Goat’s Thanksgiving
Are we thankful for the music that has fueled our lives? Are we thankful for those who possess the gift that illuminates the love we feel, the pains we struggle with, the memories that bind us to our pasts and keep us moving towards our unknown future? Are we? If we’re thankful, how do we honor those whose gifts bless us?
There are those for whom music is a hobby – something to do with family and friends in thousands of garages and basements across our country, around the world. There are those for whom making music is a part-time job, something to do on weekends in any public space imaginable – for tips or for guarantees that help sustain the love of making music, or to feed families. And for others it is an occupation, a full time job, a career that pays the bills and allows for a secure future in retirement.
Music is as natural and essential as the air we breath or the water we drink. Music is part of our spiritual lives as Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Voodoo, Native American Indian, and countless other faiths employ music in praise and worship ceremonies. We have sung to the gods of our lives, and raised the specter of desire and sexuality in the humpity-hump rhythms that permeate dance clubs internationally. It tells us stories that become part of the history and heritage of our land. It speaks in languages unique to the diverse culture of cities and towns, bayous, deserts, and mountains across the land.
We, two generations now, have bemoaned the loss of art in our schools, the loss of music programs. We spend billions on music instruments and private lessons so that our children and grandchildren might appreciate the innate joy that comes from discovering that they possess the ability to sing or play a melody. We attend school concerts and recitals and cheer on our kids, praising them for the talent they display – regardless of any demonstrated skill; every child’s performance the right of passage to a future filled with stardom, fame, and monetary riches.
In eras past, from our first job in high school through graduation from college, we built and maintained large collections of albums worth of music – some that would become insanely popular globally – and some that only we and a few close friends would ever really know about. We attended bars where cover bands played the hits of the day, to concert venues of every size to enjoy our favorite bands play their biggest hits, and newest songs. And then time changed.
MP3.com promised the adventure of as yet broadly unknown songs from around the world – both great and abysmally bad – from gloriously magnificent works of pure art to gloriously bad dog farts and noise …all for free, with the promise that those who owned the work would get paid based on the number of plays – at a penny a pop. And from there, the gaming was on.
MP3.com died and Napster emerged – another promise of free music to be had and another disaster that couldn’t be sustained, both financially and legally. File sharing became a major criminal offense, as everyone from grandmothers to college kids and even universities struggled with the emergence of new tech. Congress stepped in and established a minimum standard of pay for those who owned the recording as well as the performers on the recording, but only for music “broadcast” on the Internet, not for music aired on terrestrial airwaves. The minimum far less than a penny per listen.
And then, Steve Jobs and Apple introduced us to iPods and iTunes, and physical cd sales began to decline precipitously. Pandora introduced us to free Internet radio without commercial interruption … and record sales imploded, in a relentless dive. Lastly, streaming arrived full blown via Spotify and other sources, and even download sales have felt the impact as people are inclined to stream their favorite records at far less than a penny a listen as it is no longer necessary to actually possess either a physical copy of a recording or a digital version.
The MP3 format and the Internet changed the world – and today the question has to be asked – how do we honor those whose music is so invaluable to our everyday lives?
Today anyone can play. Here in Colorado alone there are a few thousand acts – from baby bands to solo singer songwriters to hitmakers and award winners. There are several hundred recordings released a year, from singles to eps and lps – in digital, cd, and vinyl. We have hundreds of rooms for us to see live music, from DIY spaces to coffee shops, from small cap rooms to Mile High Stadium, from the world renown to the barely known about.
Music is not free. It is not free to learn. It is not free to perform. It is not free to present. It is not free to record. It is not free to distribute. Teachers need to earn a living. Instrument makers need to earn a living. Stage owners and those who own and run p.a. equipment need to earn a living. Recording studio owners, and the engineers at the studios need to earn a living. And countless thousands of our friends and family, who have spent years to perfect their talents, buy the equipment, record the songs, and present themselves on stages need to earn a living. Music is not free.
Are we thankful for the music that has fueled our lives? Are we thankful for those who possess the gift that illuminates the love we feel, the pains we struggle with, the memories that bind us to our pasts and keep us moving towards our unknown future? Are we? If we’re thankful, how do we honor those whose gifts bless us?
This season I’d like to ask a favor. Please support the local music scene, the local music industry, the local music teachers, and sound engineers, and stage owners, the instrument makers, and record makers, and the musicians without whom none of this would be possible.
Set aside a little to see a couple of shows and take a few friends with you. It doesn’t matter if you know the band – just go. Go to Albums on the Hill (Boulder) or Twist and Shout (Denver) or any other location where you can find Colorado music on sale. Don’t buy one – buy ten and spread the love.
If you need help deciding on what show to see, or what record to buy, read and support our local publications like Westword (Denver), Colorado Music Buzz (Denver), the Marquee Magazine (Boulder), Scene Magazine (Fort Collins), or Bandwagon (Greeley).
Music isn’t free. We shouldn’t treat it as if it is.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Goat
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 