CO Playlist – S12 EP05 2018

Three big stories came out this past week.  Elephant Revival announced an “indefinite hiatus,” Chris Daniels made a public announcement that he’s the new executive director of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and KRFC executive James Lopez resigned.

Elephant Revival posted that “The band has been dealing with some family matters that have led us to reassess and realize that, while we’ve all been putting so much energy into Elephant Revival, we need some time to reconnect with our loved ones and focus on personal growth.”

The entire statement from the band is posted on their FB page.

Chris Daniels was inducted into the CMHOF in 2013, and also served as executive director for Swallow Hill music before becoming a professor in the music industry studies program at UC Denver.  He replaces former Denver Post music reporter and critic, and author of Colorado’s Rock Chronicles G. Brown.  No reason has been given yet for the change in leadership at the CMHOF.  

KRFC Fort Collins will be looking for a new executive director.  James Lopez announced he’s stepping down after only six months on the job.  KRFC Board Chair Kate Hawthorne-Jeracki is noted as saying that the board will be looking for someone who can get the station “to the next level with funding and things like that.”


VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK 

Trout Steak Revival – Spirit


105.5 The Colorado Sound & CP Present

Slow Caves at Lost Lake – Feb 23


MONDAY MORNING MUSIC MEETING

What you’ll find below are new songs on the show this week … listen  and let me know which ones you think I should keep in the Colorado Playlist, and which I should delete.

NOTE:  In order to be included in the MMMM poll, the band/artist must have an embeddable file available on SoundCloudBandCampReverbnation or YouTube.

PLAYLIST S12 EP05

(D) = debut of lp, ep or single
(N) = new cut from previously debuted lp or ep

HOUR 1

Dave Diamond & The Higher Elevation “The Diamond Mine” (1967)
Beast (Colorado) “Floating (Down by the River)” from “Beast” (1969)
(D) Danielle Ate the Sandwich “Never Enough” from DATS 247 (2018) (2018) 


Paper Bird “Sunday” from Paper Bird (2016)
Drag the River “Wichita Skyline” from Drag The River (2013)
(D) Instant Empire “I’m Alive” from 12×12 (2018)


The Railbenders “Lincoln’s” from The Medicine Show (2018)
Devotchka “Transliterator” from A Mad & Faithful Telling (2008)
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club “The Unballed Ballad of the New Folksinger” from Unentitled (2011)
Trout Steak Revival “Spirit” from Spirit to the Sea (2017)
Todd Adelman & The Country Mile “I’m Gonna Love You” from Time Will Tell (2017)
Silver & Gold “Pictures” from Point A – Point A (2018)
Peter Sommer “Duende” from Tremolo Canteen (2010)

The Astronauts “Little Ford Ragtop” from Competition Coupe/Astronauts Orbit Kampus (1997)
The Moonrakers “I don’t believe” from Anthology (2007)
(D) Kyle Hollingsworth “Stuff” from 50 (2018)
Great American Taxi “Dr. Feelgood’s Traveling Medicine Show” from Dr. Feelgood’s Traveling Medicine Show (2017)
Kan’nal “Myth Magic” from Myth Magic (2008)
(D) Augustus “Demons” (2018) 


Big Head Todd & The Monsters “mind” from New World Arisin’ (2017)
Monocle Band “As Fast as I Can” from Monocle Band (2013)
SHEL “When the Dragon Came Down” from SHEL (2012)
(D) Leftover Salmon “Show Me Something Higher” from Something Higher! (2018)
Grant Farm “Get in Line” from Kiss The Ground (2016)
Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams “Guess Things Happen That Way” from Missing Link (2017)
Bill Frisell “Baja” from Guitar In the Space Age (2014)

The Colorado Sound S9 EP3 2015

Goat_Logo_color_on_whiteBirthdays are funny – aren’t they?  Happy birthday to me.  There’s a line I crossed – that line that says, “dude you’re old now.”  They’re right you know — I don’t feel “old.”  I know old people — like over 80 old.  I’m not that.   Long way to 80.  Lots of music to do until then.  Will I feel “old” when I turn 80?  I’ll let you know when I get there.  Until then, this is what I got … music … Colorado music.

I did sound for Lionel Young this weekend.  He told me there’s a new album coming out late Feb/early March.  There’s also a new Wendy Woo Band album due out about the same time, if memory serves.  Also coming in two weeks, a conversation with Wendy and her husband Charles in their home on Offstage Beyond the Music.

Word on the street this weekend is that Eck’s Saloon in Denver (Lakewood) has shut down.  Unconfirmed reports suggest they “couldn’t pay the bills.” There is speculation among some that the previous owners will take it over and reopen.  Will see what I can find out Monday.

So, Open Air 1340 AM is set to move to 102.3 FM on Monday Jan 26 — this should be fun.  Look out DENVER!

(EDIT) This move is not unprecedented. In 2005, KCUV / 1510 AM, Denver’s first and only attempt at an Americana format, moved onto 102.3 FM.  The experiment lasted three years.  Better luck to Open Air, a Colorado Public Radio (CPR) station.  Also, Paris on the Platte closed.

I also spoke with John Magnie this weekend (Young Ancients/the Subdudes).  He let me know the new Y/A album will be out late Feb/early March … to tease it here’s a new video.

PLAYLIST S9 EP3

(D) = debut lp/ep or single
(N) = new cut from previously debuted lp/ep

Dusty Drapes & the Dusters “Talkin’ Boogie” from The Red Album (1981)
C.W. McCall “Wolf Creek Pass” from Best Of C W Mccall (1997)
(D) Ben Gallagher “Hungry Ghost” from Heart Shaped Rocks (2015) Zephyr “Don’t Come Back” from Heartbeat (1982)
(N) Strange Americans “The Scene” from That Kind of Luster (2014) Such (Su Charles) “Open Book” from Trial and Error (2014)
The Motet “Like We Own It” from The Motet (2014)
(N) Maxwell Hughes “Pulled One Over” from SpokesBUZZ Vol V: Band Together (2015)
(D) Danielle Ate the Sandwich “The Drawing Back of Curtains” from The Drawing Back of Curtains (2015)
Whiskey Blanket “Pound Boom” from No Object (2010)
Matt Skellenger “Momentum” from New Radio (2014)

Bob Lind “Colorado Line” from Colorado Line (1971)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Some of Shelly’s Blues” from Uncle Charlie (1970)
(D) Todd Adelman “Right Before You Said Hello” from Highways & Lowways (2015)
The Samples “Wild River” from Return to Earth (2001)
(D) Chris Daniels & the Kings with Freddi Gowdy “Funky to the Bone” from Funky To the Bone (2015)
OneRepublic “Love Runs Out” from Native (2013)
Big Head Todd & The Monsters “Resignation Superman” from Beautiful World (1997)
Jennifer Lane “I’m So Ready” from In A Magazine (2008)
Kate LeRoux “It Doesn’t Matter At All” from Phoenix (2014)
Dana Landry Trio “Frank’s Tune” from Memphis Skyline (2014)

How Do You Define…. and why does it matter?

…singer-songwriter

puzzled emotoconYou ever stop and think about how you perceive and personally define styles or genres of music?  What does AAA mean?  Americana?  Rock?  Pop?  Can you articulate the difference between Rhythm & Blues and contemporary R&B?  Neither can most people – even those we’d think might or should know …such as event talent buyers.

So, I’m on the phone this week – doing what I do – consulting on matters related to music in Colorado, and I get asked “how do you define singer-songwriter?”  My immediate off the cuff answer was “everyone in music is a singer songwriter if they sing songs they write.”  That’s true.  If you sing songs you write you are in fact a singer-songwriter.  But the definition goes well beyond that.

The question came about because the person I was consulting had gotten push back from event buyers for being a singer-songwriter.  For many people in the scene – event buyers especially – the term brings a less than likable meaning – that of solo (or duo) act that sings soft wimpy ballady acoustic “folk” type songs – the type you hear in coffee shops and many brew pubs regionally today.

folk singerAccording to Allmusic.com,  “…the term Singer/Songwriter refers to the legions of performers that followed Bob Dylan in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of the original singer/songwriters performed alone with an acoustic guitar or a piano but some had small groups for backing. Their lyrics were personal, although they were often veiled by layers of metaphors and obscure imagery. Singer/songwriters drew primarily from folk and country, although certain writers like Randy Newman and Carole King incorporated the song-craft of Tin Pan Alley pop. The main concern for any singer/songwriter was the song itself, not necessarily the performance.”

Examples of singer songwriters also include:  Simon & Garfunkle, Billy Joel, Elton John, John Lennon, Van Morrison, and James Taylor from the 70’s and from the more contemporary listings, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, and Sara Bareilles to name a few.

This point is worth repeating; The main concern for any singer/songwriter was the song itself, not necessarily the performance.”

So why does it matter?  It is the performance issue that drives many buyers away from so called singer-songwriters.  Many buyers don’t see the singer-songwriter as a performer – as an ENTERTAINER (despite the Billy Joels and Elton Johns, who few think of as singer-songwriters, but rather pop and/or rock acts).

I made a few calls to verify that my thinking was in line with realities on the ground.  I wondered why “singer-songwriters” need not apply in most cases.  The answer was “energy.”  What I took from that was not “energy” but FAMILIARITY.  Bring an Elton John or Bob Dylan tribute band to the party and you’re in.  Bring in Bob Dylan performing solo songs on an acoustic guitar that no one has yet become familiar with and he’s out.  Why?  FAMILIARITY = ENERGY and ENERGY = FAMILIARITY.

It’s not that folks expect to hire cover bands …and tribute bands fall into a different role in the scene – accepted as something more than a cover band.  It’s that folks who put on events desire music that the average attendee can “move along to” (read:  “sing along to”) even if they’ve never heard the song before.

If you avoid using the term singer-songwriter, as an artist what do you say you do musically?  Americana?  What’s that?  What’s different between pop and rock?  Is country “country” if it doesn’t sound like what’s on commercial country radio – or is that even country to begin with and when is it “too country?”  How bout the differences between Rhythm & Blues (R&B) in the classic context, and R&B in the contemporary context?

One event buyer/planner this week asked me to find them “Colorado sounding” acts.  When pressed, I came away with an answer that what was meant was acts in the bluegrass, jam-grass, jamband, reggae. jamband oriented funk and hip-hop, and “Americana” (read: non Nashville sounding country) styles of music.  At no time was I asked for singer-songwriter, folk, rock, pop, blues, soul, jazz, or country.

My best advice?  Leave the genres to those who care (uh … hello?)  and define based on comparatives, on “if you like so and so you’ll like _____________”  … choose “__________ compliments so and so in a mix,”  NOT “_________ sounds like so and so.

And even if you are, don’t call yourself a singer-songwriter … most singer songwriters I know can do solo, duo, trio, quartet, or even orchestra shows – and are not simply a gal or guy with a guitar …or Bob Dylan without a band …a “folk” singer.

When we think of great Colorado singer-songwriters, here are a few I think are definitely worth mentioning …we do love singer-songwriters in Colorado.  Turns out they’re among our most revered treasures.

 

#coloradorocks #coloradovideos #colordaosingersongwriters #leaderofthepack #localmusicmatters

 

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