Jews generally don’t have much to do on Christmas Eve, which is why Jim Bailey and Lost Tribe vocalist/guitarist Hal Aqua started Klezfest two years ago at the Mercury Cafe. This year’s edition will showcase three groups, each with a different approach to klezmer, which is a kind of Jewish…
It’s pretty easy to get a feel for what the Lawn Chair Kings are all about from “Zombies,” the opening cut on the Durango-based act’s third release, Zombies Wake! While the band injects a fair amount of Midwest gritty rock à la the Replacements into the song’s chorus, the verses…
A. Tom Collins recently submitted its music to be considered for a support slot for Reverend Horton Heat’s show at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs on Saturday, December 28. Not only did the act land the gig, but it ended up getting picked up by the Atomic Music Group,…
Nearly four years after Matt LaBarge took over the former Bulldog Bar at 3602 East Colfax and transformed it into the Lost Lake Lounge, he has sold it to Larimer Lounge owner and AEG talent buyer Scott Campbell. Campbell, who officially took over the space yesterday, says one of the…
Master luthier Scott Baxendale (once long-time owner of the Colfax Guitar Shop and now has his own shop and lutherie academy in Athens, Georgia) has repaired or restored guitars for a ton of legendary players over the last four decades, including Billy Gibbons, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Jr., Steve Howe…
Soul School, one of the busier acts in town, has dozens of covers in its repertoire, everything from Motown and R&B tunes to soul and funk to disco and hip-hop. On Chapter One, Soul School’s ten-song debut of original material, the group draws from the same genres it covers, opening…
Music is in the Larson brothers’ blood. “It’s what we’ve known the longest,” declares Seth Larson. “I feel as comfortable on stage, maybe more comfortable on stage, then I do just walking around in life.” Seth and his brother Josh, two-thirds of Something Underground, were born to musical parents. A…
After more than two decades of being in the local music scene, from playing in Rubber Planet to booking places like the Cricket on the Hill to owning the Toad Tavern for the last five years, Brice Hancock is selling the venue and moving on. On Friday, December 13, a…
SUN | MILE HIGH SPIRITS JAZZ FEST at MILE HIGH SPIRITS | 12/8/13 Mile High Spirits and the Gift of Jazz have teamed up to put on this free daylong festival, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and runs until 10: 30 p.m. Each of the six local acts on…
JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO at THE SOILED DOVE | 11/27/13 After opening with “The Real Thing,” a Concrete Blonde limited edition, single, Johnette Napolitano looked down at a woman sitting in front of her next to the stage and asked if she was okay. The singer, playing her last show of the…
In what’s become an annual tradition for us, we ask a few members of Team Backbeat to reflect on an album they’re thankful for in honor of Thanksgiving. The first time I remember hearing Tom Waits was when his video for “Downtown Train” was played on Teletunes. It was sometime…
The title of Dr. Izzy Band’s debut, Blind & Blues Bound, perfectly encapsulates this group’s sound. Throughout the twelve-song disc, frontwoman Dr. Izzy, who was born in Texas with full vision but began to go blind at the age of nine, clearly has a strong affinity for the blues. On…
You might’ve seen a picture floating around Facebook this morning in which it looks like part of the ceiling caved in at Sancho’s Broken Arrow at Colfax and Clarkson. Turns out, the soffit around the bar indeed slipped. But according to Jay Bianchi, folks worked through the night repairing it,…
In jazz discussions, the saxophonists and the trumpeters generally dominate the conversation, and rightly so. Equally as integral to the music, though, is the rest of the band. While we’ve already listed the top guitarists, pianists and bassists, today we focus on the female vocalists. Although there are a number…
A few years ago, while she was touring, Megan Burtt came up with her ‘In Good Company’ concept. The idea was pretty straightforward: With so many songwriting friends in various places, Burtt decided she’d get together with each one, write a song in a day, learn one of their songs…
After reading a book about prostitutes in the Old West and how they basically ran things in places like Colorado, Johnette Napolitano (due at the Soiled Dove Underground this Wednesday, November 27) began working on a project a few years ago with a friend from England. That particular collaboration resulted…
For a guy who grew up learning to play Elton John songs on his autoharp while listening to the radio, Clay Cabe has quite an affinity for funk. Although his debut, 2003’s December, was an acoustic-driven folk-rock album, The Underworld is more of an eclectic effort. There are still a…
In 2009, a study commissioned by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs introduced Creative Vitality Index (CVI), a metric created by Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) to measure our city’s cultural viability. Based on Denver’s CVI, the study determined that the Mile High City was an emerging national cultural hub,…
In jazz discussions, the saxophonists and the trumpeters generally dominate the conversation, and rightly so. Equally as integral to the music, though, is the rest of the band. While we’ve already listed the top guitarists and pianists, today we focus on those holding down the low-end. Although there are a…
THE BLACK CROWES at THE OGDEN THEATRE 11/13/13 While the crowd on Wednesday night seemed completely receptive to first of the Black Crowes’ three nights at the Ogden Theatre, the place pretty much exploded with energy once the band launched into “Remedy” about an hour and a half into its…
Over the past decade or so, Broadways Sports Tavern, a pool and dart bar at 3978 South Broadway, was open one day a week for a pool league. But in September, Danielle Jurnisky, who was an owner of the Aussie Pub down the street, and Chel Johnson, who was a…
If the ThreadBarons’ moniker is a play on the word “threadbare,” it fits the weathered Americana made by the Denver quartet. On this self-titled disc, the act takes a well-worn, no-bullshit approach, injecting a mid-tempo country shuffle on tunes like “Window in the Winter” and “West Virginia” — the latter…
