The Czars were one of the more popular bands from Denver in the 1990s and early 2000s. Theirs was a style of music could never be limited. It wasn’t dream pop or shoegaze or slowcore. It wasn’t even really just moody post-punk. It was all of that, and its dynamic…
Dan Briechle’s first drum set is small and old. It’s a shiny silver and would look more at home at a jazz club then a five-year-old’s bedroom, but it worked. His father made him take it a part and clean it every month, much to Briechle’s chagrin. But something in…
Barber shop Roosters of Parker dedicated last month to local high school band programs. Jesse Shapiro, the shop’s owner, donated five percent of all sales between October 28 and November 28 to band programs at Legend, Ponderosa, and Chaparral High School. See also: Denver’s Newest All-Ages Venue Is Inside a…
Joe Bonner was a brilliant jazz pianist who collaborated with some of the genre’s legends and developed a worldwide reputation for his moving style. He passed away in his sleep on November 20 from heart disease. Bonner moved to Colorado in 1976, when he was 28 years old. By then,…
By Gabriel San Roman It was no coincidence that Rage Against the Machine released The Battle of Los Angeles in 1999 on what is traditionally observed as Election Day in the United States. The 2000 election season was already in gear, with Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore…
Whenever an artist covers a song they take a risk, particularly if the song they are covering is a classic or at least already burned into everyone’s minds a certain way. Some covers don’t feel right because it’s a classic is getting mangled, other times it’s uncomfortable because a song…
What sets Seth Evans apart from most local bandleaders is that he understands the importance of making personal connections through marketing. Since his band Rossonian formed in 2012, Evans has used physical “thank you” notes and cards to not only grab attention, but to connect with fans. Before Rossonian left…
Shara Worden, the artistic force behind My Brightest Diamond, makes smart music for smart people. But if her descriptions of creating This Is My Hand, her mind-expanding new recording, can seem academic at times (she talks about searching for the album’s “thesis statement”), she’s hardly anti-populist, as the key inspiration…
House venues are unofficial by nature. There are no real rules at a house show other than to respect each other and the space. There are no tickets, only donations. There’s no promotion, no bar, no third-party marketing team. What is created right then and there at each show is…
Isaiah “Ikey” Owens would have turned forty on December 1, but heart failure on October 14, 2014 took him from us before that could happen. Those who knew him best have already offered their memories and condolences. He was a great mentor and friend to various musicians around the country,…
Tyler Jacobson is best known for his involvement in some of the most popular parties in Denver in the 21st century with Lipgloss, Casual and Mile High Soul Club. Today, Jacobson is offering a free download of the first song he was involved in writing in more than twenty years:…
After Toad the Wet Sprocket (due at the Ogden Theatre on Saturday, November 22) started 25 years ago, the guys in the band eventually became reluctant rock stars, partly thanks to 1991’s Fear, which included the singles “Walk on the Water” and “All I Want.” But front man Glen Phillips…
Amanda Palmer is known for her crazy antics as the leader of the Dresden Dolls and the Grand Theft Orchestra. But Palmer started her career doing something a little more stationary. She worked as a living statue, painted all in white, wearing a wedding dress and giving people flowers. In…
JJ Grey, Anders Osborne, Marc Broussard and Luther Dickinson are currently touring as Southern Soul Assembly — but Dickinson notes that the emphasis should be on the “soul” rather than the “Southern” part of the name. The reason, he explains, is because everyone in the group draws from their wide-ranging…
Coyote Poets of the Universe has cultivated a unique songwriting style over the years in order to accommodate the disparate voices of its nine-piece membership — the results will be on display during a show this Saturday at the Oriental Theater. But the band did not have ambitious beginnings; in…
Judas Priest (due tonight, November 19, at the 1STBANK Center) is one of the most influential heavy metal bands in the history of the genre. From Birmingham, England (the same city that produced Black Sabbath), Priest basically created the blueprint for the sound and look of most of the heavy…
The streets of Denver are safe now that Maris the Great, king of the gay undead, has returned to his crypt for winter hibernation. For those unfamiliar with Denver’s resident revenant royalty, Maris can be seen at rock and metal concerts throughout spring and summer clad in elaborate royal attire…
From 1963 until March 15, 2008 The Cricket On The Hill (located at 1209 East 13th Avenue) was a dive bar that hosted bands of pretty much every conceivable genre and level of notoriety. Denver’s godfathers of noise Page 27 played there — so did nearly every other band in…
Bright Channel was one of the most widely respected bands in the Denver underground scene during its relatively short existence. From February 2002 through the fall of 2007, the trio flooded small bars and large venues with its colossal sound. Though it would probably today be called a shoegaze band,…
On November 15, Austin Wintory will return home to conduct the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in a program devoted to “Comic-Con”-themed music, including his own compositions for the universe of video-games, where he’s found his greatest success. At 30, Wintory is already an accomplished veteran and trailblazing composer. He received the…
As Banshee Tree, Kalyn Pembridge and Thomas LaFond make a surprisingly original and enticing mix of gypsy jazz, folk pop and swing. They moved to Colorado from upstate New York four years ago, and can be seen seemingly every night of the week along the Front Range, playing a mix…
This weekend, the hi-dive is celebrating eleven years of existence, with two years under its current ownership. When the club opened for business in the old location of 7 South and Quixote’s True Blue, it represented a sea change in places where one could see original, underground music. In its…
