Kneebody Says Playing With Daedelus Is “Warm Chaos”

The members of Kneebody, an avant-garde jazz collective, have been playing gigs together for so long that they don’t even live in the same parts of the country; they simply fly from their respective locations in New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Reno and jump on stage together whenever they…

Westword Music Showcase 2016 Regular-Price Tickets on Sale Friday

The presale for Westword Music Showcase 2016 ends at 11:59 p.m. tonight, Thursday. Regular-price tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, February 26, at 10 a.m. Tickets are $39.75 for general admission, and $80 for VIP.  This year’s national headliners have been announced and include Dillon Francis, Cold War Kids, Matt…

Was It a Fetty Wap Show or a Commercial for Snapchat?

The Internet is life, and life is the Internet. It’s no longer about “being online”; it’s about blurring that line between being and not being — online. And apparently, no one is ever not online anymore. At last night’s Fetty Wap show at the Fillmore, there was not a single…

Cherry Glazerr Defines Today’s L.A. Sound

“I’m thinking I want to make a Tinder for a ham and cheese sandwich, but that requires making a new email and everything. But I’m ready to go through that whole rigmarole just so I can be sandwich on Tinder,” says Clementine Creevy, guitarist, singer and founder of Cherry Glazerr…

Every New Denver Concert Announcement

Paul Simon headlines the Bellco Theatre on Friday, May 20 as part of his 31-city North American tour. Tickets ($64.50-$154.50) go on sale on Friday, February 26 at 10 a.m.  Jackson Browne returns to Red Rocks on Monday, August 22 with longtime bandmates Val McCallum (guitar), Mauricio Lewak (Drums), Jeff…

Megadeth Did It Mustaine’s Way at the Fillmore

By the time Megadeth got to the end of a super-tight and extremely well-received set, the band took a bow to the sound of Sid Vicious’ cover of Sinatra’s “My Way.” Hearing snotty Sid wail, “Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention” seemed on-the-nose appropriate. This is, after all,…

Folk Alliance International Will Make You Step Up Your Game

Last weekend dozens of musicians from Colorado, including myself, traveled to Kansas City for the 2016 Folk Alliance International. Currently in its twenty-eighth year, the conference and festival, draws more than two thousand artists and industry from all over the world. It is five days of performances, classes, lectures, panels and…

Brent Cowles Finds Solo Purpose

Brent Cowles is certain it’s going to be a big year. The singer-songwriter and former frontman of Denver’s You Me & Apollo just signed to the Greater Than Collective label. He has a solo EP in the works. And in a few weeks, he’ll be heading across the globe to…

How Jazz Guitarist Pat Martino Learned to Play Again

By the time Pat Martino underwent surgery after suffering a nearly fatal brain aneurysm in 1980, the jazz guitarist already had more than a dozen albums under his own name and two decades of playing professionally, having started his career in his mid-teens. Yet following the operations he hardly remembered…

Westword Music Showcase 2016 Presale Ticket Price Goes Up on Wednesday

The Westword Music Showcase returns Saturday, June 25! The 22nd annual festival features national headliners including DJ and moombahton/electro producer Dillon Francis, soulful indie-rock band Cold War Kids, amped-up indie-pop duo Matt & Kim, Danish rockers New Politics, L.A. noise band HEALTH, indie electro-punks Brick + Mortar, Black Pistol Fire,…

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert: Which Colorado Artist Will Win?

Chances are that you’ve heard of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series, that maybe you’ve even fallen down a video rabbit hole, watching favorite band after band cluster around the famous cluttered desk in the NPR offices and perform stripped-down versions of songs you love. For the second year in a…

Freakwater on War Stories and the Power of Memory

Throughout its long career, irreverent humor and compassion for the human condition is at the core of Freakwater’s alternative country music. On its latest record, Scheherazade, its first album of new material since 2005’s Thinking Of You, founding members Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Irwin explore modern myths and archetypes…

Westword Music Showcase 2016: Get to Know Our Headliners

The 22nd Westword Music Showcase, taking place Saturday, June 25, 2016, is designed to feature more than one hundred fantastic and innovative Denver bands — but it also showcases some kick-ass national headliners. This year the festival will expand to include two main stages in addition to more than a dozen…

Guitarist Bill Frisell Explores Film and TV Music on a New Album

On Bill Frisell’s last album, 2014’s Guitar in the Space Age, the guitarist delved into songs from the ’50s and ’60s that initially got him interested in playing guitar as a kid growing up in Denver. On brand-new disc When You Wish Upon a Star, Frisell, who’s been living in Seattle…

The Best Concerts in Denver This Week

Megadeth, fronted by Dave Mustaine whom our writer claims “isn’t a dick,” returns to the Fillmore Auditorium on Tuesday, while Fetty Wap is at the same venue on Wednesday. Meanwhile Bill Frisell brings his When You Wish Upon a Star project to the Oriental Theater. See the full list of our…

The Best Concerts in Denver This Weekend

Tonight, CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers headlines the Paramount Theatre while Vance Joy is at the 1STBANK Center and G. Love & Special Sauce is at the Ogden Theatre. Tomorrow, Galactic will be at the Fillmore Auditorium and the Budos Band is at the Gothic Theatre. See the full list of our…

How SnowBall Went Downhill

Last week, tickets went on sale for the Minus Zero Festival, which will take place April 2-3 in Winter Park, Colorado, a mountain music festival featuring the “world’s biggest electronic music acts” like Diplo and Kaskade. Upon hearing this announcement, we couldn’t help but think of Snowball, the EDM festival…