Karl Denson (due on the main stage at this weekend’s Westword Music Showcase) is hard to pin down. The saxophonist and bandleader may have strong roots in the traditional jazz of giants like John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, but that hasn’t stopped him from exploring funk, R&B, hip-hop and myriad…
BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS @ RED ROCKS | 6.10.12 It didn’t take long for Todd Park Mohr to wax nostalgic for the capacity crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Saturday night. Five songs into his band’s nearly two-hour set, the frontman noted that he couldn’t remember the last…
Robin Gibb’s musical genius stood out in a crowded field of competitors. It was about taking existing musical ingredients and creating a sound that was entirely new. Gibb, the Bee Gees co-founder who lost his long battle with cancer on Sunday at the age of 62, had a key role…
Reinvention has come relatively quickly for the members of Calling Out West. In 2009, the trio of guitarist Max Comer, bassist Cody Vinton and vocalist/drummer Jake Vinton expanded the band then known as the Side Project, adding guitarist Mike Anderson and drummer Zach Armijo. Starting with 2010’s eleven-song release Short…
He was the backbone, part of the nerve center of a great rhythm and blues band that made the music of a bygone era live, breathe and jump again. But Donald “Duck” Dunn’s musical accomplishments went far beyond the scripted praise he earned from John Belushi playing the fictional Jake…
See Also: Firefall’s Jock Bartley on American Bandstand and the time Dick Clark called the band “Firefly” When Dick Clark died earlier this week from a massive heart attack at the age of 82, he left a musical legacy that’s far too comprehensive and broad to easily sum up. Clark…
LUCERO @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 3.31.12 Early in Lucero’s set for a sold-out crowd at the Bluebird on Saturday night, frontman Ben Nichols detailed the toll of the band’s latest stint in Colorado. Between the band’s appearance at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins on Friday, the pair of shows…
Redefining an instrument and creating a new genre are rare musical feats, creative accomplishments that come once in a generation, at best. The death of Earl Eugene Scruggs on Wednesday at the age of 88 marked the passing of such an innovator, an American artist who built a brand new…
Marc Broussard is happy to veer from the beaten path. The Louisiana-based singer, songwriter and bandleader just wrapped up a tour following the release of last year’s self-titled album, but he’s itching to make a detour before heading to L.A. and starting a new recording. With that in mind, Broussard…
Finding an Irish soundtrack for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration doesn’t take a lot of exhaustive research. Generic “Best of Ireland” compilations abound in outlet stores, on iTunes and even on racks in gas stations, collections that feature anonymous artists playing generic versions of traditional Celtic tunes. For those who…
It’s taken time and experience for Eric Rachmany to learn how to be comfortable in the spotlight. Rachmany, frontman for the Santa Barbara reggae outfit Rebelution, is soft-spoken and humble, a songwriter who’s uncomfortable writing lyrics about his own experiences. Rachmany says he’s dealt with the duties of fame in…
AMERICAN IDIOT @ BUELL THEATRE | 03.06.12 See also: Interview with Gabrielle McClinton (Whatsername) The first murmurs of canned news clips and talking heads began before the house lights went down and the curtain went up on the Buell stage last night. They started as hints and whispers, really –…
Gabrielle McClinton had to dismiss a good deal of formal training in preparing for her role in the touring production of Green Day’s American Idiot. McClinton, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, plays the character of Whatsername in the Broadway musical, which is set to open tonight at…
It took many years and countless headlining acts before Don Strasburg felt secure about the financial future of the Fox Theatre. Along with fellow investors Dicke Sidman, Dave MacKenzie, Jon O’Leary and James and Charles Hambleton, Strasburg had taken a big risk investing in the former movie house, dancehall and…
The Monkees started as an experiment in pop music and television, a musical outfit whose image was precisely controlled and whose music drew freely on formula. Davy Jones played a big role in the look, feel and sound of the 1960s musical act whose Saturday morning television would refine the…
BLUES TRAVELER / RUTHIE FOSTER @ BOULDER THEATER | 2.26.12 Apart from the band’s annual Fourth of July show at Red Rocks, it’s tough to imagine a better local setting for a Blues Traveler show than the eTown radio concert series on the Boulder Theatre stage. The intimate feel of…
John Popper seems stunned by the fact that Blues Traveler boasts a longer lifespan than a legal drinker. Popper, who helped launched the band as a quartet in a New Jersey garage in the mid ’80s, has seen the outfit go through fundamental changes. The commercial success of the album…
Talk about sensory overload. Touring the five venues of Artopia over the course of three hours felt overwhelming at times. Skipping from band to band and exhibit to exhibit in the clubs along Broadway was a frenetic way to take in the best of Denver’s visual and musical acts. The…
It’s been a busy sixteen months for Handsome Little Devils. In October 2011, the vaudevillian comedy troupe took its Squirm Burpee Circus act — a blend of acrobatics, juggling and juggling — to Broadway, enjoying a successful run at the New Victory Theatre and getting positive reviews in such little…
ACHILLE LAURO @ HI-DIVE | 2/10/12 Before Achille Lauro launched into a rousing rendition of “Supernatural Beings” Friday night, frontman Matthew Close spoke to the creative process behind the band’s new album, Flight or Flight. The album combines new material with singles released in the past year, but Close framed…
It’s tough to pin down a dominant sound or overarching musical theme on Flight or Fight, the new full-length release from Achille Lauro. The feel of the album’s nine tracks ranges from breezy to meditative, and the sound veers from the danceable pop of “Lightning” to the amorphous experimentation of…
FACEMAN’S WALTZ @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/3/12The sound became expansive and the stage felt crowded fairly early in FaceMan’s set at the Bluebird Theater on a snowy Friday night. After a brief introduction from the Flobots’ Stephen “Brer Rabbit” Brackett and Wheelchair Sports Camp’s Kalyn Heffernan, FaceMan’s eponymous frontman (known…
