The Colorado Sound S9|EP12 MARCH 2015

There are days when all you can do is laugh to keep from crying.  Right?  LOL.  Last Sunday it was an ER trip due to a “fainting” spell.  Last Monday it was an ER trip due to me taking a header off my bicycle.  The bike and I are on a bit of a respite until my physical therapist clears me to ride again.

What saved the week, and took my mind off my sorely sprained rib muscles was the 5 hours I spent with my friend Hazel Miller, who will be April’s featured guest on Offstage …Beyond the Music – and then dinner and some honky tonk with Casey Prestwood & the Burning Angels at the Park House in Denver – John Macy, this month’s OSBTM guest on pedal steel of course.

Hazel is a vibrant, funny, passionate, and compassionate soul with a heart big enough to cover all of us in her love.  2015 marks Hazel’s 30th year of making music in Colorado and over 20 years as a de facto member of Big Head Todd and the Monsters.  That’s one hell of a legacy … and with a new album on the way before year’s end and a lot of shows it’s going to be a great year for one of our most beloved entertainers (and friends). Editing down that 5 hours is going to be a chore, I swear.

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
SHEL – PLEASE COME HOME

For all the talk around the scene that the sisters have plugged in and added some “snap crackle and pop” to their sound, they give us one of the finest acoustic cuts of their career.

PLAYLIST S9|EP12

The Czars “Paint the Moon” from Goodbye (2004)
Reed Foehl “When It Comes Around” from Spark (2004)
Cary Morin “Tiny Town” from Tiny Town (2015)
Todd Adelman “Long Arm of the Law” from Highways & Lowways (2015)
OneRepublic “Something I Need” from Native (2013)
Megan Burtt “Better (w/the Epilogues)” from In Good Company (2013)
Mercury Project “On to You” from on to you (2007)
Esme Patterson “Tumbleweed” from Woman To Woman (2014)
Petals of Spain “I Gotta Know” from Soul Canon (2013)
The Apples in Stereo “Stephen Stephen” from Electronic Projects for Musicians (2008)
The River Arkansas “A Place to Rest” from Golden Light (2015)The Mitguards “Lookin’ for Something True” from Something True (2009)
Haunted Windchimes “Wanderin’ Heart” from Out With The Crow (2012)
Bill Frisell “Telstar” from Guitar In the Space Age (2014)

HOUR 2

Rare Silk “Up From the Skies” from American Eyes (1985)
The Samples “My Town” from Samples (1990)
(D) Fox St. “Something About You” [single] (2015)Leftover Salmon “Bluegrass Pines” from High Country (2015)
Michael Martin Murphey “Wildfire” from Blue Sky Night Thunder (1975)
Jon Chandler “I’m Going Home” from Sepia Soul (2002)
(D) SHEL “Please Come Home” from The Lab Sessions (2015)
(D) Toad In the Hole “Drifting” from Wallflower (2015)Peter Sommer “The Fruit” from Crossroads (2008)

The Colorado Sound S9|EP11

7PM Sunday night.  Just got home from the ER at Longmont United Hospital.  Went for a bike ride at noon.  I wound up being taken by ambulance to the ER after passing out at a local Dairy Queen, where I stopped for a minute to go to the men’s room.  Fortunately it was something the dr called vaso vasil (?) .. not a cardiac problem (apparently the symptoms are the same?) as was told to me in the ambulance – basically it was a fainting spell.  A few hours in the ER … a nice nap .. some IV fluids and I’m back to being goat.  I’ll be trying this ride again on Monday.

Sometimes it takes awhile for a hit to emerge.  In classic rock history it was “Dream On” from Aerosmith’s first album (my favorite non-Colorado American rock and roll band from my youth). The album came out in 73.  The hit emerged in 76.

This week I debuted “Evil Eye” from Snake Rattle Rattle Snake.  Their latest album, “Totem,” came out in November.  Open Air has championed it since it was released.  It took a while for me to get it.   “Evil Eye” is one of this week’s new music shares along with Kramies’ “The Fate That Never Favored Us” produced by Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) and trending “hit” single “Now Leaving” from Rose Quartz.  Check em out below.

Andy Schneidkraut and I moved to Colorado at the same time – 1976. (I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver from SPT to DEC 1973).  In 1987, when he opened Albums on the Hill in Boulder, I was in between 99.1FM KUAD and 96.1FM KSQI in Greeley/Fort Collins.

Boulder always seemed like a different country to me.  There was never much of a reason for me to travel there from up north. The Finest Record Store in Greeley (and Fort Collins) ran a course from 1972-2008 and provided our record store fix. And we had stations like KTCL, KCSU, KYOU, and KSQI (K-Sky) when Boulder had KBCO and KGNU.  As a result, Andy and I have met only a few times in our lifetimes traveling parallel paths in our different worlds.  I admired it all from a distance.

The only thing Boulder really ever had over us was a vibrant local music scene that included many nationally famous musicians.  Tulagi and the Fox outlived venues like Sam’s Old Town Ballroom and Panama Red’s in Fort Collins, and the Library in Greeley.  .. and oh yeah, it had Caribou Ranch.  Albums On the Hill outlived the Finest … may it outlive us all.

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK

This week’s pick is the first time for a weekly co-bill:  Andy Schneidkraut & the Richie Furay Band.

“twice an orphan” by Andy Schneidkraut from the documentary about his life, “Old Man,” by his son Dan Schneidkraut.  The film premiered in Boulder at the Dairy Center’s Boedecker Theater.  Read the whole story in Westword by Adam Perry.  I look forward to seeing it.

Richie Furay’s “Hand In Hand,” hits the streets March 31.  The first official single, “We Were the Dreamers,” is the story of his life in music.  It is also the story of our lives with him.  “Hand in Hand” has to be in the discussion that it may be the most significant and important record of Richie’s solo career. Where hits like “Kind Woman,” defined his legacy with Poco and Buffalo Springfield, “We Were the Dreamers” defines the entirety of his career, as much a love song to the friends of his youth as “Kind Woman” is to his wife of over 40 years.  Congratulations Richie, you’ve brought us another tear-jerker.  Thanks brother 😉

PLAYLIST S9 EP11 

HOUR 1

Sweet Water Well “Zoeology” from Watermelon (1996)
Electric Swingset “Inebriated Witchdoctor” from Inebriated Witchdoctor (1996)
(D) Sean Curtis Band “Nowhere Road” from Kind of Like Wyoming (2015)
Stephanie Pauline and Joe Uvegas “I Don’t Dance” from When the Smoke Clears (2011)
Lionel Young Band “I Feel So Good” from On Our Way to Memphis (2011)
My Body Sings Electric “New Friends” from Part 1: the Night Ends (2014)
Safe Boating is No Accident “Lover/Undercover” from Bonus Features (2014)
Chemistry Club “Miranda” from Miranda (2014)
Jeff Austin “What the Night Brings” from The Simple Truth (2015)
Big Gigantic “The Night Is Young” from The Night Is Young (2014)
Beats Noir! “Hypnotic” from 13 Tracks From the Dark Side of The Beat (2011)
(D) H2 Big Band “Lynda B” from It Could Happen (2015)

HOUR2

Leftover Salmon “Baby Hold On” from Euphoria (1997)
Subdudes “Papa Dukie & the Mud People” from Behind the Levee (2006)
(D) Kramies “The Fate That Never Favored Us” from The Fate That Never Favored Us (2015)
(D) Snake Rattle Rattle Snake “Evil Eye” from Totem (2014)
The Congress “Minutes” from The Congress (2010)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Make A Little Magic” from Certified Hits (2001)
Richard Dean “Blue Coal Miner” from Accidental Human (2015)
(N) Rose Quartz “Leaving Now” from Axis of Love (2015)

Xiren “Ship of Fools” from Trip-R (2008)
Brad Goode “All Fall Down” from Chicago Red (2013)

The Colorado Sound S9|EP10 March 2015

broken-computer-hiIt’s that season when flu and colds hit out of the blue .. kinda like operating system failures that cannot be restored.  My main pc went down last week this time, and my laptop appeared to on Sunday when Jesse Elliott (Ark Life) and Bryce Merrill were sitting with me in my dining room discussing the music scene here regionally.  Fortunately, that blip was just that – just a minor heart attack; my pc, not so much.

Ok, so I did save 99% of my music collection on an external hard drive, and two of my 1TB cloud accounts .. but noooooo .. not a lick of five years of business files.  Live and learn, at least the music is safe.

I live to discover new music, new songs, new voices – it’s the voices I crave, the unique, the inviting, the telling … live or recorded.  I crave new musical experiences. So when the sickening feeling hit me as Windows crashed in front of me, I momentarily felt like my life was swirling along with the rest of my files – far too much music to have to think about trying to put back together. I’m happy I didn’t lose my music collection.  I really do enjoy sharing it with you on the radio here in Colorado.

New Offstage …Beyond the Music this week with award winning producer/engineer/pedal steel player John Macy.

PLAYLIST S9 EP10

HOUR 1

Gary Stites “Hey, Hey” from Lonely for You (1960)
Soul Survivors (Denver) “Have It All Your Way” from Have It All Your Way (1969)
(N) Todd Adelman “Ghost Train” from Highways & Lowways (2015)
Strange Americans “Engine” from A Royal Battle (2012)
Papa Juke “When Flood Waters Came” from When Flood Waters Came (2013)
AdrienneO “Take It In” from Lines EP (2014)
Foxfield Four “Weatherman” from Weatherman EP (2013)
Pandas & People “Out to Sea” from SpokesBUZZ Vol V: Band Together (2015)
(D) Juno What?! “Stranger” from Stranger (2015)(D) Modern Suspects “Told You So” from Modern Suspects (2015)
You Me and Apollo “Ghosts” from Sweet Honey (2014)
John Oates “Stone Cold Love” from Good Road to Follow (2014)
John Gunther’s Safari Trio “Sisters” from Surrender (2013)

HOUR 2

The Samples “Heaven” from Rehearsing for Life (2005)
Acoustic Junction “Think About It” from Acoustic Junction (1995)
(D) John Statz “Any Town Will Do” from Tulsa (2015)
Leftover Salmon “Walkin’ Shoes” from Aquatic Hitchhiker (2012)
Houses “Me & Mr Kelly” from Summer (2009)
Danielle Ate the Sandwich “Faith In a Man” from Like A King (2012)
Richie Furay “We Were the Dreamers” from Hand In Hand (2015)
(D) Analog Son “What It Is?!” from Stomp and Shout (2015) Rob Roper “Me” from Misfit (2011)
Josh Quinlan Quintet “Left Then Right” from Mountain Time Standards (2011)