The Colorado Sound is supported by SpokesBUZZ, a Colorado 501C3 with a mission to AMPLIFY THE COLORADO MUSIC SCENE, DEVELOP OUR PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS, PROMOTE COLORADO AS A PROGRESSIVE CULTURAL DESTINATION, and GROW LOCAL ECONOMIES. Please visit the website for information on bands that SpokesBUZZ supports, as well as shows and more. www.spokesbuzz.org.
THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS
The Colorado Sound is also supported by the Mishawaka Amphitheatre … where on April 3 The Colorado Sound presents the Garrett Sayers Trio. Tickets at www.themishawaka.com
NEWS & NOTES
Sunday morning … time has been adjusted – all feels right in my universe. I am consumed with one objective – to elevate Colorado music to statewide recognition. Thank you to all who have aided and abetted this crazy old goat’s insanity. I began my radio career in Northern Colorado in September 1977. I got a job doing mid-days on 1310 KFKA (Greeley). I could have never imagined The Colorado Sound. I could never have imagined I’d be doing the things I’m doing today in support of some of the most incredible music I’ve ever heard – in now my 5th decade of being involved in music here in Colorado.
Most weekends you’ll find me doing sound at either one of the two Oskar Blues locations in Lyons or Longmont. Here beginning in June I will once again be emceeing events in Old Town Square Fort Collins for the Bohemian Foundation, the Fort Collins Downtown Business Association, and new this year I’ll be making a few trips up the Poudre for The Colorado Presents at the Mishawaka shows. I hope you’ll be able to make plans to join me for some great shows.
I get asked fairly often about show bookings. What I can say is the buying season more or less comes to a fast slow down by the beginning of May for all shows in June thru early September. Promo for June shows begins in mid-April and already many of the biggest events regionally have already begun promoting and advertising summer events. Artists/bands that want to get in on the buying season for the 2014 outdoor festival event season only have a few weeks here to get things sent out for consideration.
VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
Musketeer Gripweed is on their 3rd album now. It comes out in April. They have a rack of videos they’re about to break open over the next few months. Here’s the first video …
PLAYLIST S8 EP9 MARCH 2014
Joe Walsh “Mother Says” from Barnstorm (1972) Firefall “You Are the Woman” from Firefall (1976) (N) Tallgrass “Dirt Farm” from Better Than Medicine (2014) The Wild After “Meant for You” from Lesson Learned EP (2014) Jeff Brinkman “Halo” from Strange (2012) (N) Euforquestra “Solutions” from Fire (2014) Mosey West “Old Stone” from Bermuda (2014) Patti Fiasco “Oil” from Small Town Lights (2013) Zach Heckendorf “Invisible Ink” from The Cool Down (2012) (N) Dianne Reeves “32 Flavors” from Beautiful Life (2014) Spoke In Wordz “Sugar Pills” from Sugar Pills (2012) H2 Big Band “You’re It!” from You’re It! (2011) Sixteen Horsepower “Black Soul Choir” from Sackcloth ‘n’ Ashes (1996) Slim Cessna’s Auto Club “Cranston” from Blovdy Tenent Trvth Peace (2004) Railsplitters “My World” from The Railsplitters (2013) Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore “Love Runner” from Love Runner (2014) Bad Brad & the Fat Cats “Take A Walk With Me” from Take A Walk With Me (2014) (N) Five Iron Frenzy “Into Your Veins” from Engine of a Million Plots (2013) El Toro de la Muerte “Things In My Head” from Dancer These Days (2011) Kinetix “One Life to Live” from One Life (2014) (D) Ryan D White “Love Story” from Something Brilliant Is About to Happen (2014) (D) Drew Schofield “Stars” from Away We Go (2012) Le Divorce “Under the Boxcars” from The Sting and The Light (2011) Andy Palmer “Grrr” from Hazard of the Die (2013) The Dominant 7 “South Corea” from 14 Channels (2010)
The Colorado Sound is supported by SpokesBUZZ, a Colorado 501C3 with a mission to AMPLIFY THE COLORADO MUSIC SCENE, DEVELOP OUR PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS, PROMOTE COLORADO AS A PROGRESSIVE CULTURAL DESTINATION, and GROW LOCAL ECONOMIES. Please visit the website for information on bands that SpokesBUZZ supports, as well as shows and more. www.spokesbuzz.org.
THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS
The Colorado Sound is also supported by the Mishawaka Amphitheatre … where on April 3 The Colorado Sound presents the Garrett Sayers Trio. Tickets at www.themishawaka.com
NEWS & NOTES
MARCH 3 UPDATE – Today is the 4th year anniversary of this blog site. Wordpress was nice enough to send me that notice – or I would have spaced it out.
When you scroll down to the TOP 40 for the month you will notice one very significant “improvement.” After a few years of procrastination I went ahead and provided links to the artists’ online site. Please visit those artists you are unfamiliar with.
I’m pretty pleased to announce new records for page views and page views per day for the month of February .. the old record was set in 2012. Stream-starts at The Colorado Sound Live365 have been okay, and all things considered I think for the first year it’s been pretty good. Folks are hitting the station page in numbers that match up well with the visits here, but stream-starts still proves to be a low percentage.
I think maybe some folks are looking at the top five most recently played, to see if they know it, and then moving on pretty quickly .. that’s just a guess though. When folks do start a stream they listen an average of 20 minutes – so about five songs on average.
THE CONDITIONAL TOP 3 – The stations I track airplay at are among the state’s top non-commercial public/community and/or college stations. I only track one commercial station, Radio 94.9 Colorado (NoCo). It is not easy to track commercial radio spins. Commercial radio plays music from here in Colorado. Stations like KBCO, KBPI, KTCL, and others over the years have been incredibly supportive of Colorado music. That’s what fuels two of the CONDITIONAL TOP 3. The third link is a 1/5 member Colorado Connection (CC).
The Fray and OneRepublic are two bands that non-comm radio largely ignores. Every once in a while I’ll see an isolated jock play a track from either/or, but it’s never enough to really make it to the top of the charts as measured here. Commercial radio/media however blasts both bands all over the airwaves and Internet. Based on the commercial media exposure alone, both of the new/recent albums from these bands are #1 and #2 among Colorado releases in the state. That’s not to say that Big Head Todd doesn’t receive their share of commercial radio airplay – but it’s much more limited than what the Fray or OneRepublic receive.
The #3 Conditional TOP 3 pick is Hard Working Americans, which features keyboardist Chad Steahly, also one of the founding members of Great American Taxi. While I was pulling spins from around the state, I was blown away at the love this band is getting right now. Truth is, among the non-comms there were enough plays to make it #1 (disallowing the Fray and OneRepublic).
FEATURED VIDEOS FEB 2014
The six song video playlist for February (in no particular order) includes Red Devil Magic, H*Wood, Katie Herzig, Safe Boating is No Accident, In the Whale, and Devan Blake Jones … this is one of those month’s where I got my closet dance freak happening. (no kids, you do not want to see that) 😉
TOP 40 SPINS FEBRUARY 2014
294 titles tracked
167 (57%) titles were reported as played at least once.
(CC) = Colorado Connection
(D) = album/ep debut on chart
(R) = reenter
[date] = Date added to reporting list
(4) 1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters– Black Beehive (Shout! Factory) Rock/AAA [Jan 25, 2014]
(21) 2. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the Sun (8 Minutes 20 Seconds) Urban Contemporary/EDM [July 2, 2013]
(3) 3. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman (Suitcase Town Music) Folk [June 22, 2013]
(1) 4. Elephant Revival– These Changing Skies (Its Evolving Records) Folk [Aug 1, 2013]
(2) 5. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner (Remington Road Records) Americana [Dec 21, 2013]
(14) 6. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony (Cicero Recordings) Indie/New Alternative [Nov 1, 2012]
(12) 7.The Railsplitters– The Railsplitters (self) Americana/bluegrass [Oct 1, 2013]
(5) 8. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel (self) Americana/alt-country [Nov 1, 2013]
(R) 9. Paper Bird – Rooms (self) Indie/New Alternative [Feb 16, 2013]
(19) 10. The Motet – The Motet (self) Urban Contemporary/funk [Jan 4, 2014]
(6) 11. Tennis – Small Sound (Communion Records) Indie/New Alternative [Nov 1, 2013]
(24) 12. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round (Blank Tape) Indie/New Alternative [Jan 19, 2013]
(7) 13. Mosey West– Bermuda (self) Rock/AAA [Nov 2, 2013]
(D) 14. Dianne Reeves – Beautiful Life (Concord) Urban Contemporary/soul/jazz [Feb 11, 2014]
(23) 15. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry (Swingfingers Records)
Americana/bluegrass [Aug 1, 2013]
(32) 16. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk (self) Americana/alt-country-rock [July 7, 2013]
(35) 17. Land Lines – Land Lines (self) Indie/New Alternative [Nov 24, 2012]
(16) 18. Monocle Band – Monocle Band (self) Folk/folk-rock [Sept 1, 2013]
(9) 19. Changing Colors – Joan & the King (Blank Tape) Folk [April 27, 2013]
(26) 20. 3 Twins – De Nada (Sleeping Elephant Music) Americana [June 20, 2013]
(R) 21. The ReMinders – Born Champions (self) Urban Contemporary/hip-hop [Nov 1, 2012]
(29) 22. Matt Skinner Band – Native Stranger (Tapedero Productions) Americana/country [Nov 9, 2013]
(8) 23. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP (self) Rock/AAA [Aug 1, 2013]
(R) 24. P-Nuckle – The System (self) Urban Contemporary [Jan 31, 2013]
(R) 25. Cassie Taylor– Out of My Mind (Yellow Dog) Blues [May 18, 2013]
(R) 25. Churchill – The War Within EP (A&M/Octone) Rock/AAA [April 27, 2013]
(31) 25. Megan Burtt & Friends – In Good Company: Vol I (N/A) Pop/adult [Nov 1, 2013]
(R) 26.Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck (self) Folk [June 1, 2013]
(27) 27. Head for the Hills – Blue Ruin (self) Americana/bluegrass [June 1, 2013]
(15) 28. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be (Vizztone) Blues [Mar 23, 2013]
(D) 29. Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies – Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies (Dazzle Recordings) Jazz/Americana [Jan 20, 2014]
(35) 30. Arthur Lee Land – Cracked Open (self) Rock/AAA [Nov 1, 2012]
(31) 30. Grant Sabin – Anthromusicology (Blank Tape) Rock/blues [Jan 10, 2013]
(13) 31.Joe Johnson – New West Sound (Blank Tape) Americana/country-folk [Aug 1, 2013]
(28) 31. Otis Taylor– My World Is Gone (Telarc) Blues [Jan 20, 2013]
(20) 32. The Patti Fiasco – Small Town Lights (self) Rock [July 23, 2013]
(11) 32. Various – SpokesBUZZ Vol. IV Band Together(SpokesBUZZ) Rock [Dec 14, 2013]
(R) 33. Kristina Murray – Unravelin’ (self) Americana/country [Nov 2, 2013]
(R) 34. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round (self) Americana/bluegrass [Jan 16, 2013]
(25) 35. Mama Lenny & the Remedy– Time (You’re Doing Fine) (self) Blues/rythm & blues [Dec 7, 2013]
DROPPED OUT OF TOP 40 IN FEB
(17) Nathaniel Rateliff – Falling Faster Than You Can Run
(18) Drag The River – Drag the River
(19) The Wild After – Lesson Learned EP
(20) Soul School – Chapter One
(22) Trout Steak Revival – Flight
(30) Jeff Brinkman Band – Strange
(33) Katey Laurel – Periscope
(34) Chimney Choir – (compass)
(35) Katie Glassman & Snapshot – Dream A Little Dream
ADDED TO AIRPLAY TRACKING IN FEB
a. Tom Collins – Negative Nancy [single]
Adam Bodine Trio – Plays Nirvana
Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Take A Walk With Me
Cowboy Dave – Driven Men
Dave Perron – Foot to the Pedal
Dianne Reeves – Beautiful Life
Eurforquestra – Fire
Glitta Kings – Girls in High Heels Shouldn’t Dance On Glass Tables
Isa and JoeAlan – Lifelines
John Harlan Hutchison – Postcards From the State of Mind
Katie Herzig – Walk Through Walls [single]
Kinetix – One Life
My Body Sings Electric – Pt I The Night Ends
Reed Philip Weimer – Resultant Motion
Ryan D White – Something Brillian Is About To Happen [EP]
Safe Boating is No Accident – Bonus Features
The Fray – Helios
You, Me and Apollo – I Don’t Want to Be Loved [single]
Young Ancients – Y/A
STATION BY STATION
KAFM (Grand Junction) [21]
1. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
2. Various – SpokesBUZZ Vol. IV Band Together
3. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
4. Monocle Band – Monocle Band
5. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
KDNK (Carbondale) [24]
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
2. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round
2. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
2. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
2. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
KDUR (Durango) [15]
1. Rossonian – You Are Your Own Dentist
2. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the Sun
2, Yonder Mountain String Band – EP13
3. Mosey West – Bermuda
4. Casey James Prestwood & the Burning Angels – Honky Tonk Bastard World
KGNU (Boulder) [20]
1. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
1. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
3. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
4. Blue Grama – Dust Bowl Blues
KRCC(Colorado Springs) [15]
1. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the Sun
2. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round
3. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be
3. Paper Bird – Rooms
4. Changing Colors – Joan & the King
KRFC(Fort Collins) [>100]
1. Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies – Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies
2. Various – SpokesBUZZ Vol. IV Band Together
3. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Eyes on the Prize
4. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
5. Mama Lenny & the Remedy – Time (You’re Doing Fine)
KSUT (Ignacio) [10]
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
2. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. The Motet – The Motet
3. Yonder Mountain String Band – EP13
4. Jeff Scroggins & Colorado – Western Branches
KUNC (Greeley) [13]
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
2. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
3. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
4. 3 Twins – De Nada
4. Land Lines – Land Lines
OPENAIR 1340 (Denver) [51]
1. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
2. Candy Claws – Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time
2. Land Lines – Land Lines
3. a. Tom Collins – Stick & Poke
3. Eye and the Arrow – If By Fire
The Colorado Sound [41]
1. Dianne Reeves – Beautiful Life
1. Matt Skinner Band – Native Stranger
2. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
3. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Take A Walk With Me
3. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
GENRE/PROGRAM FORMAT
Americana / Alt-country / Bluegrass
1. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
3. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
4. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry
5. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk
Blues / Rhythm & Blues
1. Cassie Taylor – Out of My Mind
2. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be
3. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
4. Mama Lenny & the Remedy – Time (You’re Doing Fine)
5. Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Take A Walk With Me
Folk / folk-rock / singer-songwriter
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
2. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
3. Monocle Band – Monocle Band
4. Changing Colors – Joan & the King
5. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck
Indie / New Alternative
1. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
2. Paper Bird – Rooms
3. Tennis – Small Sound
4. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round
5. Land Lines – Land Lines
Jazz / Instrumental
1. Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies – Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies
2. gogoLab – Border Patrol
3. Adam Bodine Trio – Plays Nirvana
4. Josh Quinlan Quartet – Open Space
4. Maxwell Hughes – Only in Dreams
Pop / Adult Contemporary / Crossover
1. Megan Burtt & Friends – In Good Company: Vol I: The Colorado Sessions
2. The Fray – Helios
3. Jane Thatcher Band – Hunter’s Lonlieness Fool [EP]
3. Katie Herzig – Walk Through Walls [single]
3. OneRepublic – Native
Rock / AAA / ALT
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
2. Mosey West – Bermuda
3. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP
4. Churchill – The War Within EP
5. Arthur Lee Land – Cracked Open
Urban Contemporary / EDM / Hip Hop / Soul
1. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the Sun
2. The Motet – The Motet
3. Dianne Reeves – Beautiful Life
4. The ReMinders – Born Champions
5. P-Nuckle – The System
The Colorado Sound is supported by SpokesBUZZ, a Colorado 501C3 with a mission to AMPLIFY THE COLORADO MUSIC SCENE, DEVELOP OUR PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS, PROMOTE COLORADO AS A PROGRESSIVE CULTURAL DESTINATION, and GROW LOCAL ECONOMIES. Please visit the website for information on bands that SpokesBUZZ supports, as well as shows and more. www.spokesbuzz.org.
THE COLORADO SOUND PRESENTS
The Colorado Sound is also supported by the Mishawaka Amphitheatre … where on April 3 The Colorado Sound presents the Garrett Sayers Trio. Tickets at www.themishawaka.com
This is one of those weeks when both the weekly post and the monthly News Notes & Spins column are on the same weekend .. .and the truth is, I should have had the News Notes and Spins done already, but other more pressing business slowed me down a day or two …. or three…..
This week’s show features two brand new releases from Euforquestra and Tallgrass. Both bands are originally from Iowa, as is Mike Finders from Finnders & Youngberg bluegrass band, and Jeff Brinkman and his cellist Ben Davis. I’m not sure what that says about Iowa. The guys in Tallgrass are friends with Mike Tallman and other members of Euforquestra, who moved to Fort Collins several years ago now.
Sorry, no new music shares this week. None of the acts with new music have Bandcamp pages set up for those releases yet. 😦
Video Pick of the Week:
I can’t wait to hear a full length with this incredible voice.
PLAYLIST S8 EP8 MARCH 2014
The Apples in Stereo “Ruby” from Her Wallpaper Reverie (1999) Martha’s Wake “Razor Blade Girl” from Time & Elements (1998) (N) Jane Thatcher Band “Twister In the Dark” from Hunter’s Loneliest Fool (2014) The Wild After “Lesson Learned” from Lesson Learned EP (2014) Andy Palmer “Good Son” from Hazard of the Die (2013) Ryan Chrys “The Road Never Ends” from A Lick & A Promise (2013) (N) Cowboy Dave “Driven Man” from Driven Man (2014) (N) Dave and the Gin Mill Gypsies “Honey Do List” from Dave and The Gin Mill Gypsies (2014) Congress “Loretta” from The Congress (2010) Cassie Taylor “Out of My Mind” from Out Of My Mind (2013) Bad Weather California “I’ll Reach Out My Hand” from Sunkissed (2012) The Belle Jar “Big Black World” from Fall Systems Go (2010) Jim Stranahan “I’ve Got No Rhythm In My Feet” from Free For All (2010) the Subdudes “Any Cure” from The Subdudes (1989) Rick Roberts “In My Own Small Way” from Windmills / She is a Song (2010) (D) Tallgrass “Old Town” from Better Than Medicine (2014) Toad In the Hole “FireGirl” from APT 203 (2013) Matthew Moon “Silver Lining” from I Am the Wind (2013) (D) Euforquestra “Fire” from Fire (2014) Robert Marcey & Familyman Barrett “Love Grows” from Wailin for Justice (2010) Mama Lenny and the Remedy “Dangerous To Touch” from Punches & Hugs (2012) The Samples “Boulder” from America (2014) Megan Burtt “Sweet Mystery (feat. SHEL)” from In Good Company (2013) The Fray “Love Don’t Die” from Helios (2014) Rose Hill Drive “Baby Doncha Know Your Man” from Americana (2011) Aakash Mittal Quartet “Monsoon Blues” from Ocean (featuring Ron Miles) (2013)
The Colorado Sound is supported by SpokesBUZZ, a Colorado 501C3 with a mission to AMPLIFY THE COLORADO MUSIC SCENE, DEVELOP OUR PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS, PROMOTE COLORADO AS A PROGRESSIVE CULTURAL DESTINATION, and GROW LOCAL ECONOMIES. Please visit the website for information on bands that SpokesBUZZ supports, as well as shows and more. www.spokesbuzz.org.
The Colorado Sound is also supported by the Mishawaka Amphitheatre … where on April 3 The Colorado Sound presents the Garrett Sayers Trio. Tickets at www.themishawaka.com 
Sunday morning … time has been adjusted – all feels right in my universe. I am consumed with one objective – to elevate Colorado music to statewide recognition. Thank you to all who have aided and abetted this crazy old goat’s insanity. I began my radio career in Northern Colorado in September 1977. I got a job doing mid-days on 1310 KFKA (Greeley). I could have never imagined The Colorado Sound. I could never have imagined I’d be doing the things I’m doing today in support of some of the most incredible music I’ve ever heard – in now my 5th decade of being involved in music here in Colorado.
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 