MMMM – #1 – July 1, 2011 — Finnders & Youngberg – FY5

Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
Bluegrass/country
http://findersandyoungberg.com/

“I’ve been sold on you since day one.”  The heartbreak is palpable; the yearning in Mike Finders’ voice implicitly crying.  A bevy of beautific singers swing some joy as the full band join in the very feel good gospel infused “Give A Little Back.”  There’s old timey ..  and at times a sense that it all does somehow remind me a bit of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks circa somewhere in the 70s… but really that’s a very fleeting thing.  Erin Youngberg grabs hold of her own “For Old Time’s Sake” and with the fellas swinging and singing behind her the sashay is all flapper and tease…. and then turns around in the next song and rails against loneliness as a women left “out on the open plains, all alone in the cold dry winds” in the Mike Finders penned “Nebraska.”  “Driftwood” is by far my favorite of the Mike Finders penned and sung tracks on the album. It’s one of those songs that makes you want to push the repeat button … repeatedly even — it’s got one of the most kick ass and tightest vocal harmony arrangements I’ve ever heard.  And at the end, Mike’s palpable yearning in the love song “Just A Friend” is a performance that truly would rival anything heard on the radio in the 50s, 60s, or 70s … or on one of Colorado’s great public/community radio stations today.

Finders & Youngberg a few years ago released the very excellent debut “Keep Your Suitcase Packed.”  It was one of the most spun records in 2009 at public/community radio around the state.  In its first month out at radio around the state in April “FY5” debuted at #2, before landing at #1 for most spins in June 2010.  I expect it will be near the #1 position by the time we get to the year end charts in December… and to be a serious contender for best bluegrass/country album of the year.

The Colorado Sound – Vol 3, Episode 27 2011

The Apples in Stereo “Energy” from New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
Beast “Spaceman” from “Beast” (1969)
Rene Marie “White Rabbit” from Voice of My Beautiful Country (2011)
Devotchka “100 Other Lovers” from 100 Lovers (2011)
(D) Zach Heckendorf “Tye Dye March” from The Cool Down (2011)
(NT) Dave Sonner “Come Clean” from The American Campus (2011)
(D) The Patti Fiasco “Nobody’s Girl” from Patti Fiasco (2011)
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club “Cranston” from Blovdy Tenent Trvth Peace (2004)
Monroe Monroe “Engines Will Come” [single] (2011)
David Williams and the Flatirons “The Missouir Queen” from Joplin, MO (2005)
Julie Hoest “Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight” from Where I’m Standing (1996)
Bonnie and The Clydes “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” from Bonnie And The Clydes (2011)
(D) Jim Stranahan “When the Funk Hits the Fan” from Free For All (2011)
The String Cheese Incident “One Step Closer” from One Step Closer (2005)
Kyle Hollingsworth “Let’s Go Outside” [single] (2010)
Jon Snodgrass “Remember My Name” from Visitor’s Band (2009)
(NT) Jami Lunde “Time Will Tell” from Big Black Birds (2011)
John Common “Same Scar” from Beautiful Empty (2011)
(NT) Wendy Woo Band “Unwind” from Austerity (2011)
Nathen Maxwell & the Original Bunny Gang “Stick To My Guns” from White Rabbit (2009)
12 Cents for Marvin “Russian Roulette (Tragedy Version)” from Change (2006)
(NT) Rorey Carroll “Northern Bred” from Roadside Lullabies (2010)
(NT) Rob Roper “Me” from Misfit (2011)
(D) Three Twins Broadband “How Could You Not” [single] (2011)
(D) Three Twins Broadband “I Always Cry at the Movies” [single] (2011)
Ricky Sweum “Pulling Your Own Strings” from Pulling Your Own Strings (2009)

News Notes & Spins – July 1, 2011

Happy 4th of July.  I hope you’re heading out to some festivals this summer, some place where you’ll see lots of great Colorado music.  If you’re a fan, call the local public / community and/or college station wherever you are and request something from Colorado, and thank them for the records they are playing.  It’s great to see the results come in every month from stations around the state and I’m sure that some of it comes from requests.

Bit goat hugs to RMCR (Rocky Mountain Community Radio) cap-cov (capitol coverage) reporter Bente Birkland who gave birth to a boy, Christian Thomas de Booy, born Sunday June 19th 10:33AM, 7lbs 2oz.

The biggest radio story of the month is the impending transformation of 1340AM KCFR Denver into a modern alternative music station with a tech focus on mobile and internet, and a music focus on Colorado.  At least so say the reports filed this month in the Denver Post and elsewhere regionally.  Radio 1190 GM Mike Flanagan will be running the show beginning late July / early August with an anticipated format flip sometime in September.

The hottest record of the month OTB (out of the box) was Rob Roper’s “Misfit.”  A very quirky record produced by John McVey at Coupe Studios in Boulder.  The HOTTEST TO WATCH FOR record is “Americana” from Rose Hill Drive.  I broke tracks for that this past month and it is a far different sound than we’ve heard before.  It’s still a pure rock band for sure, but instead of the hyper-zep influence of the first couple of records, this one has a number of much more modern sounding tracks suitable for airplay in any day-part by just about every public station in the state today (unless they’re jazz or classical of course).  It’s also another album recorded at Coupe Studios.

Also coming out in July — the new Spring Creek record … so watch for that one, as well as the new album from the Three Twins Broadband from Fort Collins featuring Subdudes members John Magnie, Steve Amedée, and Tim Cook with several friends from the Fort Collins area, including the old 12 Cents for Marvin horn section.  BREAKING as I type this month’s report — new music just hit my desk from the Adam Bodine Trio (Up ‘N Hear) and from Chimney Choir (S/T)…. so July’s looking HOT (bad pun, I know LOL).

I haven’t really had much of a chance yet to tabulate the hottest spins of the year statewide, but I can tell you that the TOP TEN Colorado Sound spins from Jan-June looks like this:

1.  Kenny Perkins – Wild Frontier*
2.  Broken Everlys – Stoned In Juarez
3.  Peter Sommer – Tremolo Canteen
4.  Carmen Sandim Sextet – Brand New*
5.  Fox Street Allstars – Welcome to the Mighty Pleasin’
6.  Ego vs Id – Taste
7.  Devotchka – 100 Lovers
8.  Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Unentitled
9.  John-Alex Mason – Jook Joint Thunderclap
10. Katey Laurel – From Here

I’m really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the year brings in.  Have a great July!

Please sign up and be a subscriber, and I won’t turn down donations.  The show does have a cost to produce and distribute.  The stations that air this program receive it for free.  Tips are always deeply appreciated.

TOP 40 ALBUM SPINS – June 2011
(141 titles reported / 326 titles listed)
(LM) TM
(D) = debut, first time on chart)
(R) = re-entered chart)

(5) 1.  Finnders & Youngberg – FY5 (self) bluegrass
(3) 2.  Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Big Head Blues Club: 100 Years of Robert Johnson (Ryko) blues
(2) 3.  Devotchka – 100 Lovers (Anti-) adult alternative
(1) 4.  Elephant Revival – Break in the Clouds (Ruff Shod Records) folk
(7) 5.  John Oates – Mississippi Mile (PS Records) americana/blues
(15) 6.  Tennis – Cape Dory (Fat Possum) indie pop
(D) 7.  Rob Roper – Misfit (self) adult contemporary pop/rock
(4) 8.  Gary Bragg – High Plains Storm (Q&B Records) * americana/country
(10) 9.  Carmen Sandim Sextet – Brand New (Dazzle Jazz) * jazz
(21) 10. Peter Sommer – Tremolo Canteen (Dazzle Jazz) jazz
(R) 11. Bop Skizzum – Beauty Queen (self) funk
(D) 12. Hazel Miller Band – Coming to You Live… From KUVO (self) rhythm & blues/jazz
(R) 12. Otis Taylor – Clovis People, Vol. 3 (Telarc) blues
(16) 13. John-Alex Mason – Jook Joint Thunderclap (Naked Jaybird) blues
(21) 13. Tyler Gilmore’s Ninth and Lincoln w/ Cuong Vu – Static Line (Dazzle Jazz) jazz
(9) 14. Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams – Sinners & Saints (self) americana/country
(17) 14. John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty (Free School) adult alternative rock/pop
(8) 14. The Quiet American – Vol. II (self) americana/folk
(D) 15. The Chain Gang of 1974 – Wayward Fire (Modern Art) electronic/dance
(D) 15. Wendy Woo Band – Austerity (Woomusic) adult alternative pop/rock
(D) 16. Dotsero – Storyhouse (Cinderblock Records) contemporary jazz
(R) 16. Eric Forsyth – The Thin of Thick Things (self) americana/folk
(24) 16. Katey Laurel – From Here (Roaring Twenties Records) americana/pop
(15) 16. The Blue Canyon Boys – Mountain Bound (BCB) bluegrass
(20) 17. Kenny Perkins – Wild Frontier (self) * adult alternative rock/pop
(R) 17. Mohammed Alidu and the Bizung Family – Land of Fire (Black Eye Watching) world/african
(17) 17. The Haunted Windchimes – Live at the Western Jubilee (Blank Tape) americana
(R) 17. Veronica – Emerging from Troubled Days (self) rock
(12) 18. Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed The Man – Joie De Vivre (self) indie pop/rock
(R) 18. Molly Cottrell – Molly Cottrell (self) neo-soul
(R) 19. Chuck Pyle – The Spaces In Between (zen cowboy) folk/pop
(17) 20. Fierce Bad Rabbit – Spools of Thread (self) alternative/indie rock/pop
(D) 20. Kevin Dooley – Moonlight Highway (self) americana/alt-country
(R) 20. The Heyday – Till We See the Sun (self) rock
(D) 21. Adam Stern – High Country Gentleman (self) instrumental/jazz/rock
(D) 21. Dave Sonner – the American Campus (self) rock/pop
(R) 21. Signal Path – The Prosaic Fades (self) electronic/dance
(28) 22. Bobby Walker – Way Back When (self) * rhythm & blues
(R) 22. Danielle Ate the Sandwich – Two Bedroom Apartment (self) folk/modern/pop
(21) 22. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Unentitled (Alternative Tentacles) adult alternative rock/pop
 

Fell Out of Top 40 in June
6.  Rene Marie – Voice Of My Beautiful Country
11. FaceMan – FaceMan
13. Air Dubai – Soul & Body [single]
14. Musketeer Gripweed – Dyin’ Day
16. Take to the Oars – American Volume
18. Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore – Saints & Sinners
19. Kinetix – Let Me In
20. Justin Roth – Now You Know
22. Kal Cahoone – Saints and Stars
23. Adam Bodine Trio – Blue Mud
23. Cahalen Morrison & Eli West – Holy Coming of the Storm
24. Beth Quist – New Moon
25. My Body Sings Electric – Changing Color
26. Mesita – Here’s to Nowhere
26. Sandra Wong and Dominick Leslie – Sunny Side Up
27. Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
27. Paper Bird – When the River Took Flight
29. Fingers of the Sun – Fingers of the Sun
 
Added June 2011
Adam Stern – High Country Gentleman
Hazel Miller Band – Coming to You Live… From KUVO
I’m With Her – I’m With Her [ep]
Jami Lunde – Big Black Birds
Kevin Dooley – Moonlight Highway
Radical Knitting Circle – When Bees No Longer Fly We’re All Going To Die and Oh What a Death It Will Be
Reverend Hooch – Gray Skies [single]
Roger Green – Harder to Tell
Selina Albright – You and I [single]
The Chain Gang of 1974 – Wayward Fire
The Foot. – The Hangman EP
The Resonatorz – Dead Pawn
Thomas Hine – Into the Bottomlands
Tony Resario – Mexican Train
Tyson Ailshie – The Send Off
Wendy Woo Band – Austerity

REPORTING STATION CHARTS

KAFM (Grand Junction)
1.  Elephant Revival – Break in the Clouds
2.  Chuck Pyle – The Spaces In Between
3.  Devotchka – 100 Lovers
3.  The Blue Canyon Boys – Mountain Bound
4.  Kenny Perkins – Wild Frontier
4.  Tennis – Cape Dory
4.  The Whiskey Bottles – Ain’t No Crime
4.  Tony Resario – Mexican Train

KBUT (Crested Butte)
1.  Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
2.  Elephant Revival – Break in the Clouds
2.  Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Unentitled
2.  Tennis – Cape Dory
3.  Devotchka – 100 Lovers
3.  Fingers of the Sun – Fingers of the Sun
3.  Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams – Sinners & Saints
3.  Juno What?! – Shameless
3.  Lawn Chair Kings – II
3.  Loose Cannon Bluegrass – Loose Cannon Bluegrass
3.  Pretty Lights – Making Up a Changing Mind
3.  The Whiskey Bottles – Ain’t No Crime
3.  Veronica – Emerging from Troubled Days

KDNK (Carbondale)
1.  John Oates – Mississippi Mile
2.  Beth Quist – New Moon
2.  Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Big Head Blues Club: 100 Years of Robert Johnson
2.  Bobby Walker – Way Back When
2.  Carmen Sandim Sextet – Brand New
2.  Devotchka – 100 Lovers
2.  Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
2.  John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
2.  Matt Morris – When Everything Breaks Open

KRCC (Colorado Springs)
1.  The Chain Gang of 1974 – Wayward Fire
2.  Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
3.  Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Big Head Blues Club: 100 Years of Robert Johnson
3.  Broken Spoke – Before There Were Easy Riders
3.  Danielle Ate the Sandwich – Two Bedroom Apartment
3.  Elephant Revival – Break in the Clouds
3.  Joe Johnson – A Time to Dance

KRFC (Fort Collins)
1.  Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
2.  John Oates – Mississippi Mile
3.  Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Big Head Blues Club: 100 Years of Robert Johnson
3.  The Haunted Windchimes – Live at the Western Jubilee
4.  Devotchka – 100 Lovers
4.  Grant Gordy – Grant Gordy
4.  Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams – Sinners & Saints
4.  Paper Bird – When the River Took Flight
4.  The Quiet American – Vol. II

KUNC (Greeley)
1. Eric Forsyth – The Thin of Thick Things
1. John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light – Beautiful Empty
1. Justin Roth – Now You Know
1. Katey Laurel – From Here
2. Andy Hackbarth – The Last Love Song
2. Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Big Head Blues Club: 100 Years of Robert Johnson
2. Devotchka – 100 Lovers

KUVO (Denver)
1. Rene Marie – Voice Of My Beautiful Country
2. Jim Stranahan – Free For All
3. Tyler Gilmore’s Ninth and Lincoln w/ Cuong Vu – Static Line
4. Dotsero – Storyhouse
5. Carmen Sandim Sextet – Brand New
5. Greg Harris Vibe Quintet – Glass Gold
5. Hazel Miller Band – Coming to You Live… From KUVO
5. Peter Sommer – Tremolo Canteen

KVNF (Paonia)
1.  Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Big Head Blues Club: 100 Years of Robert Johnson
2.  Chuck Pyle – The Spaces In Between
3.  Great American Taxi – Reckless Habits
4.  Beth Quist – New Moon
4.  Danielle Ate the Sandwich – Two Bedroom Apartment
4.  Elephant Revival – Break in the Clouds
4.  Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
4.  Paper Bird – When the River Took Flight
4.  The Blue Canyon Boys – Mountain Bound
4.  The Haunted Windchimes – Live at the Western Jubilee

The Colorado Sound
1. Rob Roper – Misfit
2. Gary Bragg – High Plains Storm*
3. Finnders & Youngberg – FY5
3. Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed The Man – Joie De Vivre
3. John Oates – Mississippi Mile
3. Molly Cottrell – Molly Cottrell
3. Peter Sommer – Tremolo Canteen
3. Rose Hill Drive – Americana
4. Bop Skizzum – Beauty Queen
4. Kevin Dooley – Moonlight Highway
4. Selina Albright – You and I [single]

* serviced to Colorado radio and press by Rocky Mountain Music Network