CP S17 EP32 2023

Gore Range & the Milky Way – Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park – courtesy of Clear Vistas Photography

MONDAY AUG 28, 2023 – What a weekend for new music in my in-box! If you missed it, check out the review I did for the new release by Bryce Menchaca. I also gave the upcoming new album from Jenny Shawhan a listen – country sweetness and a direct opening show with Big Head Todd & the Monsters in November at Washington’s Fort Collins.

When was the last time you stopped by gave a listen to Colorado 2023 on Spotify? New adds this past week from: Birds of Play, Bonnie & Taylor Sims, Broken Record, Bryce Menchaca, Eddie Roberts/The Luck Strokes, Izcalli, Giant Walking Robots, Lewis Turner, The Motet, and Wildermiss.

MONDAY MORNING MUSIC MEETINS (MMMM)

www.starrsguitars.com

The Monday Morning Music Meeting (MMMM) is a way for you to let me know what you think of new music emerging from around the state. Results enter into which cuts stay in rotation, and which cuts make the final “best of” list.

Jill Sobule – Too Cool To Fall In Love – Things Here Are Different (1990)
Dianne Reeves – You’re Driving Me Crazy – Good Night, and Good Luck Soundtrack (2005)
(N) Gregory Alan Isakov – Before the Sun – Appaloosa Bones (2023)

New Family Dog – 6 Feet Under – Halo (2022)
David William’s Trickster Carousel – Freak – Snake Oil (2021)
Angela Heart – Red (2023)
The Still Tide – Change of Address – Between Skies (2019)
Earth Wind & Fire – That’s the Way of the World – That’s The Way Of The World (1975)
Julian Fulco Perron – All the Lights (2023)
Inside the Mind – Feel You’ve Gone Away (2022)
Big Head Todd and The Monsters – Spanish Highway – All The Love You Need (2007)
LVDY – Begin Again – The Woods (2022)
Steve Denny Trio – Standard Steve – Life in New York (2020)

Dan Fogelberg – Part Of The Plan – Souvenirs (1974)
Poco – You Better Think Twice – Poco (1970)
(D) Darling – You Me More – You Me More EP (2023)

Elektric Animals – Come Clean – Channels EP (2022)
Reno Divorce – Hopeless and Dopeless (2021)
White Rose Motor Oil – Trouble Or Nothing – The Gift Of Poison (2023)
Leftover Salmon – Places – Something Higher (2018)
Porlolo – I Don’t Wanna Lose – Porlolo (2018)
Andy Sydow – Keep on Drivin’ – Little Crown EP (2023)
(D) Little Trips – Too Hot to Hold (2023)

Claire Heywood – Letter Day (2020)
Euforquestra – Arizona to Georgia – While We Still Got Time (2022)
Gabriel Mervine – Sunlight – Say Somethin’ (2021)

THIS WEEK ON YOUTUBE

#CO MUSIC TOP 5 WEEK AUG 20-26 2023

Spin data pulled from the Colorado Playlist, 105.5 The Colorado Sound, Indie 102.3, 88.9 KRFC  and ten other stations that use playlist generator Spinitron, offering search functions for artists and agents to track airplay.

(D) Debuted in TOP 5
(R) Re-entered TOP 5
LP = album (5 or more songs)
EP = extended play (3-5 songs)
SP = single play (1-2 songs)
* = Colorado expats, as long as they were born and/or raised here, or got their career started here or there is some other reason to include them.
** = serviced to Colorado media by Rocky Mountain Music Network, LLC.

(1) 1. GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV – Appaloosa Bones LP May-23
(2) 2. KILTRO – Underbelly LP Apr-23
(5) 3. THE BURROUGHS – Honey Imastar LP Jun-23
(R) 3. *THE WOOD BROTHERS – Heart Is the Hero LP (Apr-23)
(D) 4. BIRDS OF PLAY – Birdsongs of the American West LP (Aug-23)

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Bryce Menchaca – Salt or SALT? Or Both? A Review

It takes a LOT to compel me to sit down and hammer out a review. “Salt,” the new EP from Denver by way of Texas singer-songwriter Bryce Menchaca did just that.

It’s Saturday morning. I’m busy following up on emails and reading my morning news and newsfeeds. I put on Spotify’s Release Radar, which for me will be 99% Colorado based music. Bryce Menchaca‘s “Flower Painted Black” starts playing. I know his name. I’ve listened to earlier releases. His voice immediately draws me into his world.

Last February, I was given access to an as yet unfinished version of “Cleaning Up,” the first single and video that came out in May. As I’ve been since first hearing about Bryce, I was impressed. The song fuses classic pop sensibilities and nuances from the do-wop and early rock and roll eras to modern indie folk pop and neo-country-soul.

The CU DENVER Music & Entertainment Industry Studies (MEIS) student comes to Denver by way of San Antonio, Texas, where his seventh generation roots extend to the founding of his home state. Over the past couple of years he’s put out a few singles that have showcased his considerably smooth voice and emerging skills as a songwriter and arranger.

His songwriting prowess is undoubtedly due to studying Commercial Songwriting as part of his college curriculum, something he says “doesn’t necessarily represent my own experiences or perspectives, it strengthens me as a songwriter.  …it forces me into a position of empathy which enhances my own songwriting.” It’s abundantly clear to me that he deserves an A for what is one of the best of 2023.

“Salt” settles in with the second cut, “Flower Painted Black,” the single that showed up in my Release Radar. Bryce’s style drops subtle hints of the acoustic pop songwriting and harmonies of Lennon & McCartney and other purveyors of the style in the sixties, along with some very nicely played acoustic guitar. The Beatles are an obvious though beautifully and thoughtfully subdued influence throughout the EP.

In it, Bryce wonders fully: “Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m to blame. Hypocrisy the cork of champagne, holding onto every little thing.“

Two hours later the final cut, “Ghost,” resonates one last time through my headphones, where I went from my studio monitors after three listens. Bryce sees himself in the image of a ghost “living inside my home, and he’s going broke.” The ghost informs him of the things he hasn’t been able to pray for or realize.

Bryce Menchaca’s voice throughout resonates emotionally, not with anguish but with near resignation. His expressiveness is subtle and clear. He is, undeniably, going through something in his life – either personally or as an outside looking in songwriter, that position of empathy.

“Salt” as a title brings two things into play. Online, SALT stands for Single and Loving It.” Salt is also a mineral, one that stings when applied to wounds, such as those embodied in the songs on this nicely paced five song, nineteen minute release – and one that can make an unpleasant situation even worse by amplifying one’s failures and faults. I’ll leave the final meaning up to you to discern.

WHAT #COMUSIC IS GETTING SPINS

Top of Trailridge Road Thursday Aug 17 courtesy of Clear Vistas Photography

MONDAY AUG 21 – Well, that road trip to SW Colorado last week meant I didn’t get a regular episode of the show produced. Stations were free to choose two from the nine special episodes of the show I have archived: Colorado In the 80s. Colorado In the 90s PT1 and PT2. Colorado Music Hall of Fame 2011-2022, Colorado Women of the 20th Century. Colorado Women of the 21st Century. Colorado Award Winners and Superstars PT1. Best of Caribou Ranch. Songs for and About Colorado.

Don’t forget – many (most) of the stations the Colorado Playlist is broadcast from archive up to two weeks worth of shows. Check links at stations and times to find out.

www.starrsguitars.com

The Monday Morning Music Meeting (MMMM) is a way for you to let me know what you think of new music emerging from around the state. Results enter into which cuts stay in rotation, and which cuts make the final “best of” list.

This weekend I put together some new Spotify playlists.
COLORADO MUSIC HALL OF FAME – 79 songs, 5 hr 16 min.
COLORADO 1990s: 20 songs, 1 hr 20 min.
COLORADO 2000s: 30 songs, 2 hr 1 min.
COLORADO 2010s: 40 songs, 2 hr 42 min.

WHAT #COMUSIC IS GETTING SPINS

SUNDAY AUGUST 20 was National Radio Day. As you undoubtedly know by now, I track Colorado music from over a dozen community/public and college stations around the state, including what I play on the Colorado Playlist.

Here’s what received at least one spin on one radio station somewhere in Colorado over the past three weeks. There are seventy-nine titles listed.

LP = album (5 or more songs)
EP = extended play (3-5 songs)
SP = single play (1-2 songs)
* = Colorado expats, as long as they were born and/or raised here, or got their career started here or there is some other reason to include them.
** = serviced to Colorado media by Rocky Mountain Music Network, LLC.

2MX2 – Arriba y Abajo SP Jun-23
2MX2 – El Desmadre SP Feb-23
ADDIE TONIC – Brutal SP Jun-23
ALYSIA KRAFT – Electric Blooms SP Jun-23
ALYSIA KRAFT – Killer Bees SP Jul-23
*ANDY SYDOW – Little Crown EP Jun-23
ANGELA HEART – Red SP Jun-23
ANTONIO LOPEZ – The Future Is Now SP Apr-23
BABAUX & THE PEACEMAKERS – Moments in Time LP May-23
BELLHOSS – Better Now SP Jul-23
*BILL FRISELL – Four LP Nov-22
BLEAK MYSTIQUE – Less Of You SP Jul-23
BLEAK MYSTIQUE – Only ‘Cause I Wanted To SP Feb-23
BLOOD BROTHERS 303 – The Moon Is My Mistress SP Jun-23
BONNIE & TAYLOR SIMS – Devil and the Deep Blue SP Jun-23
BRAD GOODE – The Unknown LP Feb-23
BRITT DEVENS – Goodbye LA SP Jul-23
BROKEN RECORD – Blueprinting SP Jun-23
BROTHERS KEEPER – He Left You (f. John Popper) SP Jan-23
BROTHERS OF BRASS – Mile High SP Mar-23
BTTRFLY QUINTET – Coast LP Nov-22
BURROUGHS, the – Honey Imastar LP Jun-23
CALAMITY – Chiromanc LP Jul-23
CATCALLS, the – Muddy Waters SP Apr-23
CLAIRE HEYWOOD – Does My Heart Seem Broken? SP Aug-23
CROOKED RUGS, the – Metropolis LP Mar-23
DANIEL RODRIGUEZ – Vast Nothing LP Mar-23**
DRAGONDEER – New Dawn Get Down SP Jun-23**
EL JAVI – I Am SP Apr-23
ELEKTRIC ANIMALS – Feel Something SP Jul-23
FREE DRACULA – Oh, Cupid SP Jul-23
GIANT WALKING ROBOTS – Tonight SP Apr-23
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS – Congratulations and Condolences SP May-23
GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV – Appaloosa Bones LP May-23
INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS, the – As It Was SP Jul-23
JESUS CHRIST TAXI DRIVER – Lick My Soul LP Mar-23
JOHNNY & THE MONGRELS – Magnolia and Pine LP Dec-22
JULIAN FULCO PERRON – About Love SP Aug-23**
JULIAN FULCO PERRON – All the Lights SP Mar-23
KILTRO – Underbelly LP Apr-23
LAST CALL ROMANCE – One Step Too Close SP Apr-23**
LEFTOVER SALMON – Grass Roots LP May-23
MATT SKELLENGER GROUP – Subspace Transmission LP Feb-23
MIRANDA FLING – Interstate Name Calling SP May-23
MUSKETEER GRIPWEED – Long Past Time LP Sep-22
N3PTUNE & RUSTY STEVE – Shadow SP Jun-23
NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS – What If I/Buy My Round SP May-23
NATHANIEL RILEY – Bird Songs LP Jun-23
NIC CLARK – Everybody’s Buddy LP Jun-23
NOVA KICKS, the – Metallic Hips/Records SP Aug-23
POUDRE VALLEY PLAYBOYS – Shooting for the Stars LP Jun-23
REVEREND FREAKCHILD – Songs of Beauty for Ashes of Realization LP Jul-23
ROBOT TENNIS CLUB – If These Walls Could Talk, You Wouldn’t Listen LP Jan-23
RODNEY RICE – Rodney Rice LP May-23
sashiBOOM – Work In Progress SP Dec-22
sashiBOOM – Tell Me About Her SP Jun-23
SID SRIRAM – Do the Dance SP Jun-23
SOUND OF HONEY – Dozens of Colors LP Mar-23
STILLHOUSE JUNKIES – Small Towns LP Sep-22
STONE JACKALS – Chemical Canopy EP Nov-22
STRANGEBYRDS – Highway Islands LP Feb-23
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, the – Lend Me a Hand LP Jun-23
SUGAR NOVA – Halogen LP Mar-23
TELLER – Make Me Hate U SP May-23
TIERRO BAND W BRIDGET LAW – Everlasting Dance LP Dec-22
TRAVIS MCNAMARA – Moon Calendar LP Mar-23
TWO FACES WEST – Postcards From Lonely Places LP Jun-23
*VINCE HERMAN – Enjoy the Ride LP Nov-22
VOLORES – Ages LP Mar-23
WHITE ROSE MOTOR OIL – The Gift of Poison EP Mar-23
WILDERMISS – Getting’ Old Rock &Roll SP Jul-23
WILDERMISS – Identify! AUG-23
WOOD BELLY – Play Me Out SP Jul-23
*WOOD BROTHERS, the– Heart Is the Hero LP Apr-23

TOP 5 #COMUSIC SPINS AUG 13-19

Spin data pulled from the Colorado Playlist, 105.5 The Colorado Sound, Indie 102.3, 88.9 KRFC  and ten other stations that use playlist generator Spinitron, offering search functions for artists and agents to track airplay.

(D) Debuted in TOP 5
(R) Re-entered TOP 5
LP = album (5 or more songs)
EP = extended play (3-5 songs)
SP = single play (1-2 songs)
* = Colorado expats, as long as they were born and/or raised here, or got their career started here or there is some other reason to include them.
** = serviced to Colorado media by Rocky Mountain Music Network, LLC.

(1) 1. GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV – Appaloosa Bones LP May-23
(3) 2. KILTRO – Underbelly LP Apr-23
(D) 3. JESUS CHRIST TAXI DRIVER – Lick My Soul LP (Mar-23)
(2) 4. DRAGONDEER – New Dawn Get Down SP Jun-23**
(5) 5. THE BURROUGHS – Honey Imastar LP Jun-23

COLORADO 2023 ON SPOTIFY