Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice team up as Jenny and Johnny for new album

:: Jenny and Johnny ::

:: Supporting Pavement ::

::  Ogden Theatre :: September 9 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

When your career resumé reads like a list of some of the most pivotal pop culture TV shows, bands, brands and moments, you’d expect a sort of been-there, done-that swagger. But for Jenny Lewis, who started her career in a Jell-O commercial at age three, acted on shows like “The Golden Girls,” “Baywatch” and “Growing Pains” (mostly in small roles, but who cares?), and went on to front the band Rilo Kiley, perform with The Postal Service and Elvis Costello and now fronts a new band with her boyfriend, a swagger would just be too much bullshit to try to pull off. Lewis is more content to focus on content than she is on frilly nonsense like self-importance.

That, precisely, is what makes her, as Bust magazine put it, “one of the best-loved and most respected female solo acts in the indie scene, a rare example of true talent in the hype-heavy music world.” Continue — Read more »

Jamie Lidell leaves no eclectic influence untapped on his latest album Compass

:: Jamie Lidell ::

:: Bluebird Theater :: September 7 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

In 2008, Jamie Lidell burst out of the shadows of the underground music world with the release of his critically acclaimed soul record, Jim. The album transported listeners back to the early ’70s and had many people comparing him to ‘Blue Eyed Soul’ singers like Van Morrison or Steve Winwood. While the album was a relatively big success and has allowed him to share the stage with Prince and headline European festivals over the likes of Elvis Costello, his new record, Compass, proves that it was only a small step in the musical evolution of an extremely talented artist.

As he discussed the genesis of Compass in a recent interview with The Marquee, Lidell revealed that much of the album was born out of a more personal place than any of his previous work. “As things wound down after Jim I had a lot on my mind and I had been through some crazy changes in my life. I thought it was time to talk about some of that stuff more openly in my music and to try and find out what kind of artist I wanted to be,” he explained. As these kinds of thoughts were going through his mind, and some of the songs that eventually made their way onto the album were beginning to take shape, he got a very exciting phone call from a like-minded artist. Continue — Read more »

Dead Confederate finds a new way of recording with latest album Sugar

:: Dead Confederate ::

:: with Alberta Cross ::

::  Larimer Lounge :: September 18 ::

:: Fox Theatre :: September 19  ::

By Brian F. Johnson

Sometimes it doesn’t matter what equipment you use. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what studio you’re in. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter who wrote the song. Because, when it comes down to it, sometimes it’s weather that influences the feel of an album more than anything.

When the Athens, Ga., quintet Dead Confederate left the South last winter to travel to the highly revered Water Music Recording Studios in Hoboken, N.J., they had a loose idea of how they wanted their new songs to sound. But after days upon days of being stuck in a studio due to a blinding nor’easter, the southern grunge rockers emerged with their sophomore album Sugar and a whole new idea of how their songs could sound. Continue — Read more »

Rose Hill Drive comes out of hibernation with a new lineup and new tracks

:: Rose Hill Drive ::

:: Fox Theatre :: September 25 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

From 2003 through 2008, Boulder’s own Rose Hill Drive was riding high on a wave of success. They toured the world and opened for some of the biggest names in rock and roll, like The Who, The Black Crowes, and Van Halen. They drove two tour vans into the ground criss-crossing the country, and released two albums.

But when the reverb faded from their amps following their annual New Year’s Eve show at the Boulder Theater on December 31, 2008 — a show in which they covered Led Zeppelin II in its entirety — it looked like the band was done. Continue — Read more »

This festival is almost as if someone opened the doors during a soldout show at Cervante’s Masterpeice Ballroom, spilling hippies out into the street. With a two-day lineup that looks a bit like a killer month of shows at the historic venue, the club will essentially move operations and three stages outdoors for the weekend. And after sundown and curfew have come and gone, late-night acts back inside will feature some of the bigger acts of the weekend.

Promoters are adamantly encouraging attendees to use public transportation, as a light rail stop is right across the street from the festivities. Electric Avenue takes place September 4 and 5 on Welton Street between 25th and 26th streets.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

:: Saturday, September 4 – 9 pm —  Welton Street Stage ::

Five years after Karl Denson and his mates created The Greyboy Allstars, the former Lenny Kravitz horn player branched out on his own with the desire to emphasize vocals while blending funk, R&B and hip-hop sounds into a jazzy, jammy melting pot. In 2009 KDTU released its first CD in seven years, Brother’s Keeper. Miles away from his work with Greyboy and with his jazz-funk trio KD3, Denson’s newest focus is a retro-soul sound that bears influences of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye.

Kyle Hollingsworth Band

:: Sunday, September 5 – 5 pm — Five Points Stage ::

Last year, right around this time, Kyle Hollingsworth, keyboardist for the jam giants String Cheese Incident, released his second solo album Then There’s Now — a tight, concise, non-jammy, but very groove-oriented album. That same month, the musician/homebrewer also unveiled his Hoppingsworth IPA at the Southern Sun Brewery in Boulder. Following Cheese’s three-night soldout Red Rocks run this summer, Hollingsworth returns to his solo band for the Electric Avenue Festival.

Anders Osborne

:: Saturday, September 4 – 5:15 pm — Five Points Stage ::

Swedish-born Anders Osborne rose to popularity in 1995 with his release Which Way to Here. The traveling troubador, who toured recently with Robert Walter and Stanton Moore on a double-bill tour, is a sought-after songwriter who has penned tracks for Tab Benoit, Jonny Lang and Jimmy Thackery. But his song “Watch the Wind Blow By” is his most well known, having been recorded by country superstar Tim McGraw. The song went to number one on the country charts and stayed there for two weeks, selling over three million albums.

MTHDS

:: Saturday, September 4 – 4:30 pm — Welton Street Stage ::

MTHDS stands for “Music That Heightens Different Senses.” Based out of Denver, the band combines the fury of punk, the street-wise soul of hip-hop and funk with an over-the-top bombastic roots party groove. MTHDS have played alongside a whole host of heavy hitters and they also rocked the Honda Sessions ’08 snowboard competition in Vail and the Mountain Dew Tour ’09 in Breckenridge — a good fit for the musician/snowboarders. The band’s name is even a nod to their slope addiction, as a “method” is a snowboarding trick where a rider grabs the heel edge of their board with their leading hand.

Washboard Chaz

:: Sunday, September 5 – 6:30 pm — The Other Side Stage ::

A New York native who spent nearly two decades living in Boulder, Colo., Washboard Chaz Leary moved to New Orleans in 2000. After only a short time in New Orleans, Leary established himself as the go-to guy, and developed a sound that was so Louisiana Bayou, it’s still shocking that he’s not originally from there. In addition to teaching percussion workshops around the country, he’s played on Grammy nominated songs with a list of musicians that reads like a dream lineup to the city’s annual Jazz Fest.

:: The Black Crowes ::

:: Fillmore Auditorium :: August 29, 2010 ::

:: By Brian F. Johnson ::  Photos by Mike Hardaker / www.mtnweekly.com

I’ve seen a LOT of Black Crowes shows over the years. I’ll spare you the actual number — mostly because I’m lazy enough that I don’t want to dig out the old tour books and count them all — but rest assured I’m a bit of an expert on the band.

Back in the day the Crowes billed themselves as “The world’s most rock and roll, rock and roll band,” but recent years have shown them to be a bit more like “the world’s mot rock and roll jam band.” Sunday night at the Fillmore however saw the Crowes at their rocking finest. Yeah, there were some jams, but it wasn’t the show’s focus.

Sunday night may be the best Black Crowes show I’ve seen since 1996. It was an awesome set list that was superbly executed, and appropriately appreciated by the crowd.

Now remember, this tour for The Black Crowes could be one of their last ever. The band is currently on its Say Good Night To The Bad Guys Tour, which is scheduled to be followed by a “lengthy hiatus.” The shows are being billed as “Acoustic Hor D’oeuvres followed by an Electric Reception With The Black Crowes,” and each stop on the tour consists of a full hour-and-a-half acoustic set followed by a full hour-and-a-half electric set

In a press release, leading up to the tour, founding drummer Steve Gorman had written, “We are all in agreement (no, seriously, we are!) that this is the right time to spend time with our families, friends, outside musical and non-musical projects, and of course, our personal lives. So, we’re going out swinging with all we got.” What would you have expected him to say; that they were going to phone-in one more tour, before calling it quits? It almost sounded like the words of a person not expecting to give it 100 percent.

Not the case.

The show started off with the acoustic stage looking like a less rustic, and larger version of the Crowe’s 2009 DVD “Cabin Fever” — recorded at Levon Helms’ famed studio in Woodstock, N.Y. The five-night recording process shown on the DVD eventually became the band’s 2010 releases Before the Frost and Until the Freeze.

The band is somewhat divided these days on stage, with sound bafflers between each musician. Luckily, though, the stage at The Fillmore is much larger than the one at Levon’s barn, so the dividers were only prevalent in the sound quality and not in the performance itself.

The show began in somewhat standard fashion, at least for an acoustic set, with “Soul Singing” and “Hotel Illness.” They were solid performances for sure, but nothing mind-blowing quite yet.  The band followed those openers with a great version of “The Last Place That Love Lives,” from their most recent album Before the Frost, but it was their return to their 1994 Amorica material that really began to show that the concert was going to be way above average. “Ballad In Urgency” directly morphing into “Wiser Time” was a phenomenal jam. Though the jammiest part of the show, it was what good jamming should be — building up tension and paying the audience off with cosmic releases. It wasn’t jamming just to make the set longer, it was jamming that told a story and went somewhere.

“She,” a beautiful song by Gram Parsons came next. I still remember exactly where I was the first time I ever heard this song. It was July 20, 1996 Asbury Park, N.J. at the Stone Pony, the famed venue where Bruce Springsteen used to play, and the Crowes were finishing a backyard BBQ style party when Chris Robinson said, “If you don’t know who Gram Parsons is, go listen. Trust me.” I did and 14 years later, I’m still a huge Parsons fan.

The rest of the set built and built with each song outdoing the other.

Set break was fast and furious, and when the band came out with “Remedy” — usually a show closer — it threw everyone for a loop. Normally, any time I get a “Jealous Again” during a set I hate it and think of all the other good non-hit songs that could have gone in there, but this one was appreciated and powerful.

The “Thorn’s Progress > Thorn in My Pride” was heavy and heady. But a cover of Velvet Underground’s great track “Oh Sweet Nuthin’” was phenomenal. The song is a great choice for a cover by The Crowes. Every time I hear them doing it, I think of what a perfect song it is for them. “High Head Blue” was standard, but not bad, at all.

As the band started down the backward slide toward the end of the show they launched into “Sometimes Salvation,” one of the most blistering songs in their repertoire. The song takes Robinson to the outskirts of his vocal range — like watching a pro driver take a car to its limits on the track. He has to be in top form to pull the song off well, and I’ve seen nights where it’s been too taxing on him. For this performance, he nailed it.

“Halfway to Everywhere” and a super solid “No Speak, No Slave” ended the second set.

Then it really happened. “Title Song” started the encore. The track, which has only appeared on the band’s Live release, but never on a studio album, is a gorgeous rocker — a great love song with a heavy drive.

They finished out the night with their second Gram Parsons song of the show “Hot Burrito #2.” Two Gram songs in one night? Perfect!

Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys Tour could have been a wash. It could have been a ho-hum tour and a sad goodbye to the band after 20 years of rock and roll. But the power and execution of their sets thus far, and especially Sunday night in Denver, seem to hint at the fact, that this is just the start of a hiatus, and not an official good bye, by any means. At least I hope so.

One gripe: The Black Crowes should learn a lesson from their hippie counterparts, Phish. The Crowes have always had a dedicated taper base, but the fact that they’re not doing instant live is a pisser. I would have easily plunked down the cash to immediately hear this show again in soundboard, or matrix quality. No band should be without that option these days, especially one that is playing so damn well.

- acoustic set -

SOUL SINGING

HOTEL ILLNES

LAST PLACE THAT LOVE LIVES

BALLAD IN URGENCY ->

WISER TIME

SHE

UNDER A MOUNTAIN

WHOA MULE

MY MORNING SONG

SHE TALKS TO ANGELS

- electric set -

REMEDY

SEEING THINGS

JEALOUS AGAIN

THORNS PROGRESS ->

THORN IN MY PRIDE

OH SWEET NUTHIN

HI HEAD BLUES

SOMETIMES SALVATION

(ONLY) HALFWAY TO EVERYWHERE

NO SPEAK NO SLAVE

- encore -

TITLE SONG

HOT BURRITO #2

Thank you to Mike Hardaker of the Mountain Weekly News for photos.

From the barstool of the publisher

Just when we all thought our country’s space program was as dull as life in a nursing home, NASA has proven that it not only has a pulse, but that the pulse has rhythm.

NASA announced last month that they are hosting a songwriting contest to help pick wake-up music for its astronauts in space. Yes, that’s right — NASA is actually soliciting songs that will, if chosen, be played beyond the scope of our atmosphere. Call me a total dork, but I think that’s awesome!

Anyone can submit a track for the contest and the winner’s track will be played via mission control to the space shuttle on a mission sometime next year. And while I’m not certain about this, I’m pretty sure that if they play your song, you can boast that your music has been played “around the world.”

In the spirit of “Rocket Man,” “Space Oddity,” “Spirit in the Sky” and many others, NASA is looking for songs that, of course, relate in one way or another to human spaceflight.

I want a Colorado band to win this! I’m personally calling on all Colorado musicians to flood NASA with submissions. I don’t care what kind of music you play, or how you play it, but damn it, I want you to enter something into the contest.

For those who aren’t musically inclined, NASA is also offering the chance to vote from a list of 40 songs for the wake-up music of a flight later this year. Their list has some of the aforementioned tracks on it, but what’s really interesting are some of the other songs that have already been played in space: Cake’s “The Distance,” Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” even Colorado’s own Big Head Todd and the Monsters’ “Blue Sky” has been played for the astronauts.

NASA’s website lets viewers go through and hear not only the clip of music that was played, but the conversation between ground control and the astronauts, right afterwards. Each mission kind of has a theme, or at least a likeness in the musical selections.

Apparently, they have been doing this since the days of the Apollo program, but the music has always been chosen by friends and family of the crew, or by mission control. This is the first time that they are opening up either submissions or suggestions to the public.

So please, for all of the details, go visit www.songcontest.nasa.gov — the site even has a fun intro that’s a spinoff from the opening of Star Wars and ends with the quote, “Help us everyone. You’re our only hope.” I’d love to see someone from Colorado bring home that ultimate prize. Good luck.

See you at the shows.

The Derek Trucks Band

Roadsongs

Sony Legacy

4.5 out of 5 stars

Some bands are better in the live experience than on studio efforts and The Derek Trucks Band is no exception. Led by the 31-year-old slide guitar master, Derek Trucks, the band has quietly become the elder statesmen for the blues-rock movement over the past 16 years — keeping blues tradition alive through aggressive touring while gracefully merging that blues with elements of jazz and rock. And for those of you not familiar with Trucks, who are trying to figure out that math, yes, Trucks, whose musical pedigree is as shining as stage lights, has been shredding for that long.

Currently on extended hiatus, The Derek Trucks Band’s latest live release, Roadsongs, is a proud reminder that on a good night the band can put on one of the best live shows, period.

Recorded in April, 2009 over a two-night stand at Chicago’s Park West, the double CD features the classic Derek Trucks Band lineup of Trucks (guitar), Kofi Burbridge (keyboards, flute), Todd Smallie (bass), Yonrico Scott (drums), Mike Mattison (lead vocal) and Count M’Butu (percussion). A highlight of this latest release is the presence of the stellar horn section made up of Paul Garrett (trumpet), Mace Hibbard (saxophone) and Kevin Hyde (trombone), who joined the band for the Chicago shows from which this live album was compiled. The result is the most exciting and well-crafted Derek Trucks Band live release to date.

The Derek Trucks Band has always been smart in their selection of cover songs. For a band that relies more on instrumental prowess and improvisation than on writing original material, cover songs have become a very exciting part of their live show and they have always tried to stay away from the obvious.

Roadsongs does a great job of documenting some newer cover choices for the first time on a Derek Trucks Band official release, including a scorching take on Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out My Life Woman,” and an awe-inspiring, 14-minute run through “Afro Blue,” a song popularized by John Coltrane.

“Afro Blue” is simply magnificent. Based on a funky, laid-back bass groove, the instrumental structure of the song allows the entire band to shine as they transition through various solos, including three staggered guitar solos from Trucks with flute, saxophone and keyboard solos sandwiched in between them. This one track alone would be a show highlight for most touring bands and is definitely a highpoint on the album.

The band also pays tribute to other artists as well, through an 11-minute take on Bob Marley’s “Rastaman Chant,” Bob Dylan’s “Down in the Flood,” Toots and the Maytals’ “Sailing On,” and their 9-minute Derek and the Dominoes closing tribute “Anyday,” which is another album highlight and features a scorching outtro solo by Trucks.

The few Trucks Band compositions on the album are also strong and include the album opener “I’ll Find My Way,” the shuffling “Already Free,” and the high energy romp “Get What You Deserve.”

For a group that got together because of a shared passion for improvisation and musical exploration, Roadsongs is a perfect summary of a band firing on all cylinders.

It’s a damn fine live album by any standard and a reminder that the live setting is where most good bands thrive.          — Jonathan Keller

STS9

Axe The Cables

1320 Records

4.5 out of 5 stars

On December 29 of last year, STS9 did something that many of their fans didn’t think was possible:  they stripped their music down to its bare bones and played an acoustic show in an opera hall on the campus of Denver University. Fans and critics alike approached the night with some trepidation, but if the thunderous applause that explodes between each track on their recent Axe the Cables album is any indication, the performance exceeded most people’s wildest dreams.

Throughout the record, the band flirts with jazz, classical, and rock and roll as they interpret songs that have stood the test of time in their catalog alongside songs that are brand new to most listeners. Of the 19 songs that were performed that evening (and included in their entirety on this album), only five were interpretations of songs that had been previously released on an STS9 album. While the acoustic renditions of old favorites like “Satori,” “Equinox,” and “Lo Swaga” are enthralling, a stand-out moment of the collection comes when the band welcomed sax player Dominic Lalli, of The Motet, Juno What?! and Big Gigantic, to the stage for a smooth and jazzy take on “Between 6th & 7th.”

With fewer effects and less electronic wizardry than their past releases, the essence of the music comes through clean and pure. The argument that this wasn’t the way the music was intended to sound is sure to surface, but David Murphy counters that early on in the performance when he says, “We thought we would just invite you into our studio, we thought we would be candid tonight … this is how we write music, we sit around and play like this, contrary to popular belief.”

On that evening, the band invited their fans into their inner sanctum to give them a peek “behind the curtain” and see where the magic happens, and as this recording illustrates, it was indeed a magical night.

Simply put, STS9 took a chance, went out on a limb, and defied the odds with an incredible performance that redefined the depths of their talents as a band.  Best of all, they captured it in pristine audio and have released it for anyone to hear.

While it’s no wonder the band has been booking more of these so-called “Axe The Cables” shows, there may never be one that replicates the raw energy and focus of the very first.

— Timothy Dwenger

Leonard Cohen

Bird On A Wire (DVD)

MVD Visual

5 out of 5 stars

I feel like I just discovered and fell in love with Leonard Cohen all over again for the first time.

The re-issue of this 1972 classic European tour film is a long overdue homage to Cohen, who still stands as one of this country’s greatest songwriters, ever.

But what makes this release extra special is the fact that it almost never happened. The film was originally released in 1974, had a limited run and then seemingly disappeared. But in 2009, British filmmaker Tony Palmer received 294 cans of film — some so poorly weathered that they needed to be hammered open — after Frank Zappa’s manager found them in a Hollywood warehouse and shipped them to Palmer. The cans did not contain the negative (still lost), some of the prints were in black and white, and much of it had been cut to pieces or scratched beyond use. But the original sound dubbing tracks were there and so with the help of digital technology, Palmer painstakingly pieced the film back together, very close to its original form.

It’s an unbelievably up close and personal portrait of Cohen at one of the heights of his career, and a testament to the poetry he’s created.

— Brian F. Johnson

Michael Adam

The Maybe EP

Independent

4 out of 5 stars

This album would be good for a seasoned vet, so it’s amazing that this is Michael Adam’s debut.

The offspring of missionary workers, Adam was born in Guatemala and lived there until he was a teenager, when his family moved to Denver. He spent time away from Colorado attending school in Boston, before returning to the state to complete his masters’ in Spanish literature. On the day of his first PhD course this summer, Adam decided instead to roll the dice with music.

It must be all that worldly knowledge that gives Adam’s music such a full and rich tone, that feels so far beyond an up and comer.  Take the first single “NYC,” which starts off sounding like a soft almost Death Cab for Cutie kind of tune, and transforms into a Ryan Adams and the Cardinals rocker just when the song reaches the one minute mark. It’s catchy, country, poppy, folky and rocking all at the same time.

This EP is just meant to be a taste of things to come, as Adam has a full length he’s working on for release early next year, and if this is any indicator, that album may be awesome.

— Brian F. Johnson