Tag: Denver music

News, Notes & Spins – FEB 1 2014

boninwf back stage nite 1 2012WOW … it’s Feb 5 and I am easily ten days behind schedule on everything.  That’s not good when you’re self employed LOL.  Hi guys … so, January was an explosive month – what with the weather, a family (I would say reunion, but we’ve never had a full family get-together before) Super Bowl party complete with new smart-tv … and grand-kids and grampa (new spelling courtesy of grand-kids) coming down with the “flu” (whatever that means today).  It was a pretty solid month musically speaking, as evidenced by the chart action below.   I don’t have much else to share really – I am accepting underwriting/advertising support, so if you or your business is statewide and would like to get some exposure around the state, hit me up.  Equally if you’re in an act that would like your record serviced to media and talent buyers around the state. That’s it … next month there should be plenty more news from around the state .. til then… welcome to the show 🙂

Video Picks of the Month  

TOP 40 SPINS – January 2014

1. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies (Its Evolving Records) Folk [August 1, 2013]
2. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner (Remington Road Records) Americana [December 21, 2013]
3. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman (Suitcase Town Music) Folk [June 22, 2013]
4. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive (Shout! Factory) Rock [January 25, 2014]
5. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel (self) Americana [November 1, 2013]
6. Tennis – Small Sound (Communion Records) Indie/New Alternative pop [November 1, 2013]
7. Mosey West – Bermuda (self) Rock [November 2, 2013]
8. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP (self) AAA [August 1, 2013]
9. Changing Colors – Joan & the King (Blank Tape) Folk [April 27, 2013]
10. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck (self) Folk [June 1, 2013]
11. Various – SpokesBUZZ Compilation IV (SpokesBUZZ) Rock/various [December 14, 2013]
12. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters (self) Americana [October 1, 2013]
13. Joe Johnson – New West Sound (Blank Tape) Americana/country-folk [August 1, 2013]
14. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony (Cicero Recordings) Indie/New Alternative [November 1, 2012]
15. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be (Vizztone) Blues [March 23, 2013]
16. Monocle Band – Monocle Band (self) Folk/folk-rock [September 1, 2013]
17. Nathaniel Rateliff – Falling Faster Than You Can Run (Mod y Vi Records) Folk [September 1, 2013]
18. Drag The River – Drag the River (Xtra Mile Records) Rock [October 1, 2013]
19. Motet – The Motet (self) Urban Contemporary/funk [January 4, 2014]
19. The Wild After – Lesson Learned EP (self) Rock [January 4, 2014]
20. Soul School – Chapter One (self) Urban Contemporary/soul [November 30, 2013]
20. The Patti Fiasco – Small Town Lights (self) Rock [July 23, 2013]
21. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World (8 Minutes 20 Seconds) Urban Contemporary/EDM [July 2, 2013]
22. Trout Steak Revival – Flight (self) Bluegrass [November 22, 2012]
23. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry (Swingfingers Records) Bluegrass [August 1, 2013]
24. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round (Blank Tape) Indie/New Alternative [January 19, 2013]
25. Mama Lenny & the Remedy – Time (You’re Doing Fine) (self) Blues/rhythm and blues [December 7, 2013]
26. 3 Twins – De Nada (Sleeping Elephant Music) Americana/N’Orleans funk [June 20, 2013]
27. Head for the Hills – Blue Ruin (self) Bluegrass [June 1, 2013]
28. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone (Telarc) Blues [January 20, 2013]
29. Matt Skinner Band – Native Stranger (Tapedero Productions) Americana/country [November 9, 2013]
30. Jeff Brinkman Band – Strange (self) Rock/AAA [December 1, 2012]
31. Grant Sabin – Anthromusicology (Blank Tape) Rock/blues-rock [January 10, 2013]
31. Megan Burtt & Friends – In Good Company: Vol I: The Colorado Sessions (N/A) POP/various [November 1, 2013]
32. Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams – Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk (self) Americana/alt-country-rock [July 7, 2013]
33. Katey Laurel – Periscope (self) POP/adult contemporary [August 1, 2013]
34. Chimney Choir – (compass) (self) Folk/indie [June 1, 2013]
35. Arthur Lee Land – Cracked Open (self) Rock/AAA [November 1, 2012]
35. Katie Glassman & Snapshot – Dream A Little Dream (self) Americana/western swing [November 30, 2013]
35. Land Lines – Land Lines (self) Indie/New Alternative [November 24, 2012]

ADDED DEC ’13/JAN ’14

Aspen Hourglass – S/T [EP]
Bad Brad & the Fat Cats – Take A Walk With Me
Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
Brad Fitch – Columbine Blue
David Wiatrolik – Dave and The Gin Mill Gipsies
Fierce Bad Rabbit – Do You Want Me Now? [single]
Five Iron Frenzy – Engine of a Million Plots
Jane Thatcher Band – Hunter’s Lonlieness Fool [EP]
John Runnels – Echoes
Katie Glassman & Snapshot – Dream A Little Dream
Knocean – S/T
Lissa Hanner – My Colorado
Madam Sin – Madam Sin
Mama Lenny & the Remedy – Time (You’re Doing Fine)
Medic – Wake Me Up [single]
Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
The Motet – The Motet
The Samples – America
Shatterproof – Discord Harmony
Soul School – Chapter One
Sound|Studies – Smoke and Mirrors [single]
Swim Through Frequencies – Rhythm of Complacency
Various – SpokesBUZZ Compilation IV
Vinnie Maniscalco – TaKillYa [single]
Walker Shellist – Readyset
The Wild After – Lesson Learned EP

STATION BY STATION

Honey Don't - Heart Like A WheelKAFM (Grand Junction) [21]
1. Honey Don’t – Heart Like a Wheel
2. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
3. Dan Treanor’s Afrosippi Band f/Erica Brown – Tangled Road Again
4. Monocle Band – Monocle Band
5. Kristina Murray – Unravelin’

pretty lights_color map of the sunKBUT (Crested Butte) [14]
1. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World
2. Head for the Hills – Blue Ruin
2. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
3. Chimney Choir – (compass)
3. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies

BHTM Black BeehiveKDNK (Carbondale) [27]
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
1. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
1. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
1. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World
2. Aakash Mittal Quartet – Ocean

RailsplittersKDUR (Durango) [n/a]
1. The Railsplitters – S/T
2. Thee Dang Dangs – For the People
3. Mosy West – Bermuda
4. The Hollyfelds – Title Stealers
5. Confluence – I Haven’t Really Been Living

Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore - Love RunnerKGNU (Boulder) [22]
1. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
3. 3 Twins – De Nada
4. Blue Canyon Boys – Next Go Round
5. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry

Elephant Revival_these changing skiesKRCC (Colorado Springs) [14]
1. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
2. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be
2. Changing Colors – Joan & the King
2. Joe Johnson – New West Sound
2. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck

Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore - Love RunnerKRFC (Fort Collins) [>100]
1. Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. Mama Lenny and the Remedy – Time (You’re Doing Fine)
2. Various artists – Spokesbuzz Volume 4
3. Megan Burtt & Friends – In Good Company
4. Big Head Todd & The Monsters – Black Beehive

finders and youngberg_I don't wantKRZA (Alamosa) [10]
1. Finnders & Youngberg – I Don’t Want Love You Won’t Give Until I Cry
1. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
2. Cassie Taylor – Out of My Mind
2. Dr. Izzy Band – Blind and Blues Bound
2. Gabrielle Louise – The Bird in My Chest

BHTM Black BeehiveKSUT (Ignacio) [10]
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
1. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
2. Lawn Chair Kings – Zombies Wake!
2. Yonder Mountain String Band – EP13

Gregory Alan Isakov_the weathermanKUNC (Greeley) [12]
1. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
1. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
3. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP
4. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies

Honey Don't - Heart Like A WheelKVNF (Paonia) [15]
1. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
2. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
3. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
4. Paper Bird – Rooms
4. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP

Nathaniel Rateliff - Falling Faster Than You Can RunOPEN AIR 1340 (Denver) [14]
1. Nathaniel Ratefliff – Falling Faster Than You Can Run
2. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
3. Chimney Choir – (compass)
3. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
4. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony

MotetThe Colorado Sound [42]
1. Motet – The Motet
1. The Wild After – Lesson Learned EP
2. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
3. Drag The River – Drag the River
3. Mosey West – Bermuda

GENRE/PROGRAM FORMAT

Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore - Love RunnerAmericana / Alt-country / Bluegrass
1. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore – Love Runner
2. Honey Don’t – Heart Like A Wheel
3. The Railsplitters – The Railsplitters
4. Joe Johnson – New West Sound
5. Trout Steak Revival – Flight

austin youngBlues / Rhythm & Blues
1. Austin Young & No Difference – Blue As Can Be
2. Mama Lenny & the Remedy – Time (You’re Doing Fine)
3. Otis Taylor – My World Is Gone
4. Walker Shellist – Readyset
5. Dan Treanor’s Afrosippi Band f/Erica Brown – Tangled Road Again

Elephant Revival_these changing skiesFolk / folk-rock / singer-songwriter
1. Elephant Revival – These Changing Skies
2. Gregory Alan Isakov – The Weatherman
3. Changing Colors – Joan & the King
3. Josh Dillard – The Bright Light of Shipwreck
4. Monocle Band – Monocle Band

Tennis_Small SoundIndie / New Alternative
1. Tennis – Small Sound
2. DeVotchKa – Live with the Colorado Symphony
3. Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds – Round and Round
4. Land Lines – Land Lines
5. Paper Bird – Rooms

Maxwell HughesJazz / Instrumental
1. Maxwell Hughes – Only in Dreams
2. Jon Wirtz – Tourist
3. David Wiatrolik – Dave and The Gin Mill Gipsies
4. Josh Quinlan Quartet – Open Space
5. Square Peg – Searching

Megan Burtt_In Good CompanyPop / Adult Contemporary / Crossover
1. Megan Burtt & Friends – In Good Company: Vol I: The Colorado Sessions
2. Katey Laurel – Periscope
3. Andy Hackbarth – Treadmill Horses EP
4. Justin Roth – Rise [single]
5. Katie Herzig – Secret Road As Heard On TV, Volume 1 [comp]

BHTM Black BeehiveRock / AAA / ALT / AOR
1. Big Head Todd & the Monsters – Black Beehive
2. Mosey West – Bermuda
3. Rob Drabkin – Little Steps EP
4. Various – SpokesBUZZ Compilation IV
5. Drag The River – Drag the River

MotetUrban Contemporary / EDM / Hip Hop / Soul
1. Motet – The Motet
2. Soul School – Chapter One
3. Pretty Lights – A Color Map of the World
4. Bop Skizzum – Say Something [single]
5. Whiskey Blanket – From the Dead of Dark

The Colorado Sound S8|EP03

b-day pic(Sunday, Jan 19, 2014) WOW you guys blew up my FB page yesterday wishing me happy b-day.  Thank you 🙂 I’m not really here today (I am but I’m not).  It’s my oldest daughter’s birthday.  It’s also NFL Championship Sunday – the Final Four  (yep, I’m a total NFL devotee).  “Yesterday” was my b-day (today actually), and I did two sound gigs – one for School of Rock and one for Bluezhouse.  Watching all the birthday wishes come in blows me away… I am truly blown away.

Seem’s Andy Rok is pretty serious about retiring Bop Skizzum.  Bop Skizzum will be playing it’s final show on February 14th.

And, the original Subdudes (John Magnie, Steve Amadee, Johnny Ray Allen, and Tommy Malone) have reunited.  They’ve got two Colorado shows on the books.  In the meantime, John Magnie and Steve Amadee have a new Fort Collins act going called Young Ancients that also features the incredible Cary Morin on guitar and vocals.  Cary is in Memphis this week representing Colorado in the solo/duo category at the International Blues Challenge (IBC Memphis).  Greeley’s Bad Brad & the Fat Cats is also in Memphis representing in the band category. Wow .. hellova week, huh?

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK

The Kinetix have a new album ready to release.  These guys have gone through some interesting changes over the past several years.  This is their latest incarnation.  Long way from the “jamband” I first heard of four (five) years ago now?  

PLAYLIST S8|EP03 Jan 2014

Sugarloaf “Colorado Jones” from Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You (1975)
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids “Did The Boogie (With Your Baby)” from Best of Flash Cadillac and The Continental Kids (2010)
The Belle Jar “Union Station” from Union Station (2013)
Patrick Dethlefs “The Farther You Go” from Fall & Rise (2012)
Patti Fiasco “Small Town Lights” from Small Town Lights (2013)
Soul School “I Would Do Anything” from Chapter One (2014)
The Fray “All At Once” from How to Save A Life (2005)
(D) Justin Roth “Rise” [single] (2013)(N) Drag the River “Wichita Skyline” from Drag The River (2013)
(N) Joe Johnson “Warriors Mine” from New West Sound (2013)
Mama Lenny and the Remedy “In Danger” from Time (You’re Doing Fine) (2014)
Kenny Perkins “Last Goodbye” from Wild Frontier (2011)
Jim Stranahan “Hip Street” from Free For All (2010)
Dan Fogelberg “Rhythm of the Rain” from The Very Best of Dan Fogelberg (2001)
John Oates Band “Sittin’ On Top of the World” from The Bluesville Sessions (2012)
Five Iron Frenzy “It Was A Cold and Stormy Night” from It Was A Cold and Stormy Night (2011)
My Body Sings Electric “Living Proof” from Changing Color (2011)
(N) The Motet “Rich in People” from The Motet (2014)
Bop Skizzum “Say Something” from Say Something (2013)
(N) Megan Burtt & Covenhoven “Fools Gold” from In Good Company (2013)
Bad Weather California “When You Smile” from Sunkissed (2012)
Matt Skinner Band “I’ll Keep Loving” from Native Stranger (2013)
C.W. McCall “Black Bear Road” from CW McCall’s Greatest Hits (1993)
(N) The Wild After “The Ship and the Sea” from Lesson Learned EP (2014)
Andy Hackbarth “Windmills” from Treadmill Horses (2013)
Raincheck “Boogalues” from Raincheck (2012)

The Colorado Sound S8|EP02

therealpickygrumpyoldgoat(Sunday, Jan 12, 2014) I love Sundays – especially during football season, and especially during the playoffs.  The early game is on in the background as I sit and reflect on the week and this week’s music.  Music does come before football with me LOL.

I had an interesting experience this weekend.  A fellow musician began saying that radio is dead, that no one listens to radio anymore… and that more people listen to streaming radio ala Pandora, and satellite radio via Sirius than listen to “corporate radio” broadcast via terrestrial (conventional) technology.  Oh boy … anyone who knows me at all knows how I handled this discussion LOL.

A DISCLAIMER:  I listen to Internet-radio primarily .. and really only to The Colorado Sound Live365.  I listen to it in the car via smartphone technology on an unlimited data plan from Verizon, and while I’m working out at the gym via the in-house broadband access.   I do, also, listen to terrestrial radio.  I listen to sports/talk during football season and public/community radio at other times.

It is true that ” In 2011, one-third of all Americans (34%), or 89 million people, said they listened to either streaming of AM/FM stations, Internet-only services, such as Pandora, or both in the previous month.”  (Source:  http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/audio-how-far-will-digital-go/audio-by-the-numbers/)

Digitaltrends.com noted that “…audiences aged between 13 and 35 spent roughly as much time listening to online radio and streaming music services as they did traditional AM and FM radio.  The same isn’t true for older listeners, with AM/FM radio still managing to account for 41 percent of weekly music listening…” (Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/study-younger-listeners-stream-as-much-as-listen-to-radio/#ixzz2qDSk8BTp)

So, before we declare radio dead …

a) all radio is corporate.  there are no exceptions.  Pandora is corporate.  Sirius is corporate.  All terrestrial radio stations are corporate, including public and community radio stations, which are incorporated under non-profit corporation status..  Some corporations are more centrally managed, while some have more diffuse forms of management with greater local control and/or autonomy.  I press this because the impression seems to be that Pandora and Sirius are not “corporate radio.” Sirius does not allow for independent access in programming as it is functionally a monopoly.  Pandora‘s music database is pre-screened and filtered before being made available to the public for personal mixing, and then only within the constraints of their music genealogy algorithms.

b) Radio is radio regardless of technology, but not all technologies are equal in reach.  There are three primary means of broadcasting today:  Terrestrial (conventional) AM & FM.  Satellite (a quasi-monopoly held by the Sirius Corporation).  Internet.   Terrestrial radio has the greatest share of actual listenership to available audience.  Satellite and Internet have the deepest reach in terms of geography, and therefore potential available audience.  Terrestrial radio is firmly established in car dashboards, the primary place we listen to radio of any kind.  Satellite radio is second in terms of in dash access.  Internet is just now coming online, but is years away from being ubiquitous in our transportation devices since it requires greater efficiency and availability of broadband Internet access.

c) Terrestrial radio is still #1 in technology and listenership …

We’re still years away from AM/FM technology being “dead.”  FM radio is still the dominant way we get exposed to new music, and news and local events.  We are quite far away from Internet having the kind of reach that will allow rural users efficient access.  If you live in a metro area with good data plans for your car or smartphone you’re ahead of the game…. you and your friends may be using conventional technology less than you were, or not at all anymore.  But, I’ll make the bet that even the staunchest deniers turn on the car radio more than once a week 😉

If radio is dead have I finally hit zombie status??  (where’s Maris the Great when you need a ghoul?)

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK:

What a week for video releases!  New videos were added from Katey Laurel, Matthew Moon, Fierce Bad Rabbit, Kronen, and Mama Lenny & the Remedy.   Katey Laurel comes in first with the official video for her “hit” Hurricane – which seems to the tell the story of being in the “hurricane” of emotions during an especially difficult time in a relationship between a husband and a wife.  

PLAYLIST S8|EP02 

(D) – Debut:  the first time a NEW album, ep, or single is aired.
(N) – New track from a previously debuted album or ep

Big Head Todd & The Monsters “Rosalita (f. John Popper)” [single] (2012)
Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams “All Along the Watchtower” from Live @ Hodis (2012)
Drew Emmitt “Tangled Up In Blue” from Freedom Ride (2002)
(D) Vinnie Maniscalco “TaKillYa” [single] (2013) Places “Honesty” from No More Wasted Days (2012)
Katey Laurel “Hurricane” from Periscope (2014)
Jeff Brinkman “Ordinary Day” from Strange (2012)
(D) Rachel and the Ruckus “Could Be Tonight” [single] (2013)
SHEL “On My Way” from SHEL (2012)
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra “Zen and The Art of Samba” from Sharks And Manatees (2012)
Acoustic Junction “Every Heart” from Strange Days (2000)
Reed Foehl “Wolves” from Once An Ocean (2009)
(N) Mosey West “Hurricane Eyes” from Bermuda (2014)

Monocle Band “Falling” from Monocle Band (2013)
Leftover Salmon “Sing Up To The Moon” from Aquatic Hitchhiker (2012)
Soul School “Out of Your League” from Chapter One (2014)
Flobots “White Flag Warrior” from Survival Story (2010)
Rachel & the Kings “Not Giving Up” from Tonic (2013)
Soul Merchants “Crowns of Glory” from Soul Merchants (2007)
Fierce Bad Rabbit “Do You Want Me Now?” [single] (2014)
(N) Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore “Train Home” from Love Runner (2014)
Dan Treanor & African Wind “Mercy” from Mercy (2005)
The Motet “Afro Disco Beat” from Instrumental Dissent (2007)