Right up front I want to thank Oskar Blues Brewery for becoming a major sponsor of this show. Oskar Blues has been part of my family for a decade and I’m ecstatic that they believe enough in the show to support it.
OB is celebrating 20 years in Lyons this coming weekend with a killer lineup that includes Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Gasoline Lollipops, Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams and many others. Of special note – Sunday will be a legends of Colorado blues artist showcase I intend to be present for.
It’s been a very very long time since I stayed up until 4AM. I managed to land a room to mix for the FoCOMX weekend, and we landed a prime 9:15PM Friday night slot for the band at the Mainline Ale House – one of the nicer restaurants and music venues in Old Town Fort Collins. What was planned to be outside on the rooftop, fortunately was moved indoors into a room that was more than adequate for live music.
Stationed for sound duties at East Coast on Linden St, for both nights, I enjoyed the juxtaposition of singer-songwriters and folk singers, and DJs creating often unique mixes of various styles of appropriate music made for dancing.
I spent 16 years mixing music in dance clubs in the 70s and 80s. Several of those years were here in Northern Colorado, in Fort Collins and Greeley. I was thrust back to those years as I watched the lineup of local mix masters employ their craft.
I marveled at how other than technology, nothing much has changed in the art of mixing music for a dance crowd – and how the “hit” still matters most when you want to get people on the floor. One dj did not employ that knowledge, and paid the price of a near empty room that lacked energy.
Festivals like FoCOMX are motivated by allowing space for a diversity of people who make music – from neophyte stage performers to unequivocally well rehearsed, polished, and professional legends of music along the Front Range.
Two acoustic acts I thought showed a lot of promise were the Michelle Petrie Trio and PoorBoy, who will undoubtedly be changing their name. PoorBoy is recording their second EP with Justin Roth in Fort Collins.
String Theory on Friday was one of the most creative acts of the weekend – featuring electric bass with harp (not harmonica – a real harp; a small laptop version).
Jinx Jones – In Colorado Music History
Support for the Colorado Playlist comes courtesy of The Historic Mishawaka Amphitheatre — Celebrating over 100 yrs of music and dancing in the Poudre Canyon.
Pickin’ on the Poudre with Head For The Hills and Paper Bird – Buy Tickets Saturday, May 13 Show at 8 PM (Doors at 6 PM)
VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
David Starr lives in Cedaridge CO, where he owns a guitar store and hangs out with the likes of John Oates, who produced David’s new album. One of Colorado’s best country-folk / Americana songwriters.
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 SoundCloud, BandCamp, Reverbnation or YouTube.
PLAYLIST S11 EP16
(D) = debut of lp, ep or single
(N) = new cut from previously debuted lp or ep
HOUR 1
Poco “Heart of the Night” from The Essential Poco (2005)
(D) Kyle Emerson “Wise Blood” from Worth It EP (2017)
Leftover Salmon “Western Sky” from High Country (2015)
Big Head Todd & The Monsters “Happiness Is” from Rocksteady (2010)
(D) Avifauna “Olive Ridley” from The Gyre (2017)
The Blue Rider “Rattlesnake” from Year Of The Horse (2016)
Young Ancients “Cheap Guitar” from Fishstory (2015)
Kerry Pastine & the Crime Scene “The Other Side” from The Other Side (2014)
(D) Tyller Gummersall “Rocky Mountain Man” from Long Ride Home (2016)
Pandas & People “Watch it Burn” from SpokesBUZZ Vol VI: Band Together (2015)
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club “This Is How We Do Things in the Country” from Blovdy Tenent Trvth Peace (2004)
(D) SVC DVK “Jazz” from Aubrey (2017)
HOUR 2
Dan Fogelberg “As the Raven Flies” from Souvenirs (1974)
(D) The Coteries “Reason in the Road” from Reason In The Road (2017)
Todd Adelman “Cold Mississippi Blues” from Highways & Lowways (2015)
Tennis “Needle and a Knife” from Ritual In Repeat (2014)
(N) The String Cheese Incident “Sweet Spot” from Believe (2017)
(N) OneRepublic “Future Looks Good” from Oh My My (2016)
Chris Daniels & the Kings “Nobody Knows” from Funky To the Bone (2015)
Jeff Finlin “Sugar Blue” from Alive and Retrospective Volume 1 (2006)
(D) Bison Bone “Anymore” from History of Falling (2017)
iZCALLI “A New Lie” from SpokesBUZZ Vol VI: Band Together (2015)
Lionel Young Band “Knock These Blues Around” from On Our Way to Memphis (2011)
Jim Stranahan “Blues and a Half” from Migration to a Higher Ground (2014)
My Blue Sky is best known as one of the top tribute bands in the region, winner of two Leftapalooza Mile High Tribute Band Competition events, in 2014 and 2015, before deciding themselves to not participate in 2016… instead taking the time to record an album of originals and covers that demonstrate their skill at interpreting some of the most well known southern blues rock from bands like the Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule, and Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie). Their self titled debut shows they’re capable of writing jams worthy of the bands they pay tribute to. ***personal bias = I spent the 90s playing in a band that covered a LOT of ABB and Gov’t Mule***
The Drunken Hearts is another band shaped in the southern rock jam band tradition with a decidedly more country rock flair on “Want You Back” from their debut EP called Love & Thirst. Other songs on the ep carry the same vibe – and there are even a couple of nods to the twin guitars you might have heard from the ABB or the Outlaws or Marshall Tucker Band …nicely produced and mixed, their harmonies and tight playing are a direct complement to the influences they most emulate. ***same personal bias as above***
A HUGE THANK YOU to 
I learned that like skiing, which I tried a couple of times as a younger man, I’m not much of one for such activities. I’m more the casual hike, bike ride, fishing kinda guy … that and music events in the summer are the limits of my desire. And now that the summer is almost over, it’s time for some early fall fishing and a couple of nice long drives to see the fall colors – which were breaking out nicely at higher elevations yesterday.
I got the entire new self titled album from Paper Bird last week. Immediately I posted that it was in consideration for Best Album of 2016. I’ll leave it for you to decide. No longer a straight-up folk-rock band, Paper Bird dives straight into the sound enunciated best by the likes of Fleetwood Mac on the classic rock side of the dial, with enough modern overtures to satisfy the most ardent lover of modern adult rock, all while paying incredible homage to the past.
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 