Rose Hill Drive hits the nitro boosters on its cruise to the top

By Cornelia Kane and Brian F. Johnson

Rose Hill Drive is a name that is quickly becoming synonymous with the resurgence of raw, garage-style rock and roll in a record industry that has become stagnant with bloated pop stars.

The trio from Boulder that features brothers Jake and Daniel Sproul (on bass and guitar, respectively) and their high school buddy Nate Barnes (drums) doesn’t have to play in garages anymore, but their sound is still pure, unfiltered rock and roll. Continue — Read more »

Alice Cooper takes on the ‘roll’ of the happiest man in rock

By Brandon Daviet

You wouldn’t guess by looking at him, but Alice Cooper is quite possibly one of the happiest men in rock and roll — the reigning godfather of shock rock is currently in the midst of a world tour to support one of his best albums in years, the recently released Dirty Diamonds.

In fact, Dirty Diamonds is quite possibly one of Cooper’s best ever. Dirty Diamonds is a strong, rocking record that could easily stand alongside classics like Billion Dollar Babies and Trash.  As if that’s not enough to keep Cooper busy, he is also enjoying smashing success as a DJ. Cooper’s open rock and roll format, coupled with descriptive and often-sordid tales of Cooper’s legendary career, has proved just what the struggling classic rock radio format has been looking for. Continue — Read more »

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s prepare to blow up South Park Fest

Margot and the Nuclear So-So’s is the band you want to tell your friends about before they start dripping down some radio station’s countdown. The band seems to have dropped out of a Bob Dylan documentary and started playing painfully beautiful indy rock music reminiscent of, ‘the way [the band] feels when [they] watch Woody Allen movies.’

The delicate melodies blend with stories thought up by 21-year-old Richard Edwards and are delivered by an orchestra of simplicity. “We just try and arrange things in an interesting way as much as we can so that it sounds different to us. It’s definitely better or worse or equal to what else is going on,” says Margot and the Nuclear So-So’s singer/songwriter Edwards on claims that the band is inventing the genre “scarf rock.” Continue — Read more »

Cat Empire claws its way into the states with Two Shoes

By Jonathan Keller

In the fifth line of the opening track off Cat Empire’s second album Two Shoes, the sophomore effort that is supposed to break the band stateside, the group shouts in glorious unison, “‘Show us the money’ was the call of the night.”  Having already had two double-platinum albums in Australia, the band’s formula of danceable sing-alongs with the right amount of jam will show this Melbourne sextet quite a bit of U.S. green in the coming year. Continue — Read more »

Maceo Parker brings funk-laden sounds to Telluride Blues and Brews and Boulder

By Tim Dwenger

“Two percent jazz, 98 percent funky stuff” is how Maceo Parker describes his music. He has been a landmark on the funk landscape since he had the opportunity to honk on a big baritone sax for James Brown in 1965. The addition of Parker to the Godfather of Soul’s big band helped to lay the groundwork for the new wave of funk that dominated the urban musical scene for the better part of the ’70s. Continue — Read more »

Kan’nal channels primal screams into recent success

By Brian Kenney

Fire, Air, Earth, Water: the four elements that pertain to human existence. It is upon these elements, these entities, along with the echoes of Mayan tribal lore, a taste of Guatemalan culture and the hint of the literary style of magical realism, that Boulder’s Kan’nal seems poised to take their performance art to the next level. Continue — Read more »

South Park Festival

In his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman writes that music conferences are best at doing one thing: bringing the über-geeks of music together (usually in a very un-rock and roll setting). Those dweebs spend hours discussing the merits of highly obscure albums and droning on about why their favorite esoteric artists are part of the vast conspiracy that will never allow them to be heard by people other than their fellow music nerds. Continue — Read more »

XM program director says that there is a home for indie music on satellite

By Ryan Williams for Indianapolismusic.net

Thanks to its ability to provide dozens of channels of programming and the decision to largely replace commercials with subscription fees, satellite radio has put itself in a position to offer more diverse and adventurous programming. XM Unsigned Channel program director Billy Zero takes that ability and extends national airplay to those who wouldn’t ordinarily have a chance to see it — the unsigned independent artist.

Zero said the channel “appeals to so many different people,” which can be a blessing and a curse. While it means that his channel enjoys a wider listenership than most of XM’s other offerings, it does make the channel hard to program. There is no set genre Zero sticks with, so anything is fair game. Zero adds that the audience “needs to spend some time with the channel to understand what’s going on.”

With the genre restrictions gone, Zero says it’s ultimately the quality of the music that makes the difference as to whether it gets played or not. “The music has to be there first. If it’s good, it’ll find its way on.” He notes that artists like Trevor Hall and Halestorm have received label attention and deals after being featured on the channel, and he feels the channel is being successful if such occurrences happen monthly.

:: South Park Music Festival ::

Panel Discussion ::  Current and Future State of Indie Music  :: Friday, Sept. 9 ::

E! music director lends advice to indie bands on how to get their music heard

By Ryan Williams for Indianapolismusic.net

There’s no such thing as a typical day for Chris Jackson, music director for the E! Entertainment network.

Jackson says his normal day’s activities can range from getting clearance from Suge Knight for a track to be played on “True Hollywood Stories” to contracting a composition for the network’s “Wild On!” series. Most of these tracks do come from major label bands, although Jackson says that independent artists are starting to see a larger share of the time. He estimates that ten to twenty percent of E!’s music comes from indie labels and artists, and he sees that time increasing.

Jackson said the key to getting noticed is to “Be very, very good. If you’re good, if you pay attention to your craft, you will get noticed.” Jackson recommends comparing your work to major label releases and notable indie labels like Saddle Creek, Victory and Merge. “If you can’t be objective, get someone who can be.” He adds that indie artists shouldn’t worry about using tricks to get noticed. Jackson keeps music on file, and he says that music directors and supervisors do keep in touch and share information, so it’s important to network and build relationships. Something one director can’t use might get passed on to another.

Once the song is chosen, there is the question of how to license the music and what the artist gets paid. Jackson said, “There is no standard for licensing agreements,” but that there are consistencies among peer groups of artists.

:: South Park Music Festival ::  Panel Discussion ::  Licensing Your Music in TV and Films  :: Friday, Sept. 9 ::

Blackout Pact pulsates with raw excitement

The Blackout Pact
Hello Sailor
Astro Magnetics
3.5 out of 5

Somewhere between heroine, chic glam rocker and self-loathing, shampoo-less indie kids, sits The Blackout Pact. Recently living in a New Jersey practice space has left the six musicians to throw their balls to the wall, play until they are inside out, and somehow look good doing it.

The darkly sexy “punk-n-roll” is a raspy spew of melody and energy that leaves the listener to assume these guys have dealt with a lot of shit.  When they formed in the summer of 2003, most of the members had just been kicked out of their former bands (included MxPx’s Mike Herrera) and somehow ended up in Denver, and eventually, New York. After being crushed by a major label, the boys met Tony-nominated Geoff Rickly of Thursday in a crappy hot dog dive.

Once Rickly was through pouring praise on The Blackout Pact, he offered to produce the debut album, Hello Sailor, set to release on October 18. Songs like “If You Dress Up Like Halloween, Ghouls Will Try and Get In Your Pants” and “Hey Babes, I’m A Zombie, Give Me Brains,” show off a vigorous chest pumping playfulness in the increasingly jaded band, while “Playing Dead Don’t Take The Ring Off Your Finger Baby” can shift you to solitude in three minutes flat. The almost nostalgic songs are reminiscent of your buddies’ high school garage band that was actually good and the pride you felt when they actually released a CD. From the album to the stage, The Blackout Pact is pulsating with raw excitement, reality and non-stop touring.

— Alex Samuel Continue — Read more »

From the barstool of the publisher

May I have the envelope please …

I know it sounds trite, but it truly does bring us great pleasure to present this issue of The Marquee to you.

This is our biggest issue ever, due mostly to the fact that for the first time, The Marquee has taken the opportunity to acknowledge the best, brightest, loudest and coolest entities in the local music scene, with our inaugural Front-Row-Center Awards.

It’s an issue that has been a long time in coming, and one that pitted us against each other, with all of us arguing for who we personally thought should have been chosen for each category. From bands to venues to other music-related establishments, the staff of The Marquee left no stone un-turned to reveal those businesses and bands that go above and beyond to be part of the music scene, or simply to be good at their jobs.

It was a fun and sometimes brutal selection process, and we had a friggin’ blast putting it together.

Speaking of putting it all together, we must now take the time to acknowledge a few folks who did not receive awards but should have — our most amazing staff.

This issue was grueling for them, and they all rose to the challenge to deliver it to you. In particular, our interns Alex Samuel, Yvette Rebik and Page Bayless worked overtime on this month’s Marquee. Without their help, this issue would still be just a bunch of crummy files on a computer. Additionally, our copy editor Bruce Lish read and re-read all of this until his eyes nearly popped out.  To them, and to our writers, we owe a huge thank you.

This month is also exciting for us, as it marks our involvement with Telluride Blues and Brews and The South Park Music Festival.

Working with the folks at both festivals has been an awesome experience. It’s gotten us pumped and reaffirmed our belief that the Front Range is truly the best place in the world for a music fan.

In addition, our multiple ‘liquid meetings’ with South Park executive director Matt Fecher got us so excited that it’s no wonder we dedicated so much time to covering his festival. (We’ll forget about the fact that Fecher never got us that helicopter to fly into South Park during the festival. Hey, there’s always next year.)

So, if you’re new to the Front Range, back for another year of school, or if you never left, let The Marquee be your guide to get you through rest of the year.

See you at the shows.

This Month in music history

September 2

•            1995: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio

September 3

•            1977: Elvis Presley has 27 albums and 9 singles on the UK chart simultaneously

•            1967: Folk singer Woodie Guthrie dies in New York City at the age of 52

September 5

•            1987: After 30 years, the television show “American Bandstand” is cancelled

•            1946: Freddie Mercury of Queen is born Frederick Farookh Bulsara

September 6

•            1989: Neil Young wins Best Video at the MTV Music Awards for “This Note’s For You,” which was originally banned by the station

•            1985: After Paul McCartney suggests he invest in publishing rights, Michael Jackson outbids the surviving Beatles and purchases the ATV music catalog, which contains the rights to over 250 John Lennon/Paul McCartney songs, for $47 million, thus ending his friendship with McCartney

•            1961: Bob Dylan makes his live performance debut at The Gaslight Café in New York City

•            1944: Roger Waters of Pink Floyd is born

September 7

•            1996: Tupac Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight are shot while driving in Knight’s Mercedes following a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas; Shakur will die six days later

•            1978: The Who’s Keith Moon dies of a drug overdose

•            1936: Buddy Holly is born Charles Hardin Holley

September 8

•            1932: Patsy Cline is born Virginia Patterson Hensley

September 9

•            1941: Otis Redding is born

September 10

•            1988: Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” hits #1 on the singles charts

•            1950: Joe Perry of Aerosmith is born

September 11

•            1987: Peter Tosh is murdered in his Jamaican home

•            1965: Moby is born Richard Melville Hall

September 12

•            1944: Barry White is born

September 13

•            1976: Fiona Apple is born

September 14

•            1984: The first MTV Music Awards takes place, with Herbie Hancock winning multiple categories

•            1968: Pete Townshend of The Who tells Rolling Stone magazine that he has an idea of creating a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy

September 16

•            1970: Jimi Hendrix makes his final public appearance when he joins Eric Burdon and WAR at a London club

•            1925: B.B. King is born Riley B. King

September 17

•            1967: Ed Sullivan requests that Jim Morrison change the lyrics “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” to “Girl we couldn’t get much better” during their performance; Morrison agrees but performs the original lyrics

September 18

•            1983: KISS appear on MTV without their makeup

•            1970: Jimi Hendrix dies in London

September 19:

•            1981: Simon and Garfunkel reunite to perform in New York City’s Central Park for over 400,000 fans

September 20

•            1970: Jim Morrison of The Doors is found guilty of indecent exposure during a Miami concert

September 21

•            1968: Trugoy of De La Soul is born David Jude Jolicoeur

September 22

•            1960: Joan Jett is born Joan Larkin

September 23

•            1974: Robbie McIntosh of The Average White Band dies when he mistakenly snorts pure heroin, thinking it was cocaine

•            1949: Bruce Springsteen is born

September 24

•            1993: Drummer Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses is awarded $2.5 million from the band for being kicked out due to an ongoing heroin addiction

September 25

•            1980: Led Zeppelin’s John “Bonzo” Bonham dies of alcohol abuse

•            1976: Boston’s debut album enters the charts and will become the fastest selling debut album in history

September 26

•            1969: San Francisco’s concert hall, The Fillmore West opens

September 27

•            1947: Meat Loaf is born Marvin Lee Aday

September 28

•            1991: Jazz legend Miles Davis dies in New York at the age of 65

September 29

•            1935: Jerry Lee Lewis is born

September 30

•            1964: Trey Anastasio of Phish is born

•            1963: Jim Croce dies when his plane crashes into a tree upon takeoff

Complied from the archives of Rock & Roll Library www.rocklibrary.com