:: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals ::

:: Mile High Music Festival ::

:: July 20 :: (2:45 p.m.) ::

By Timothy Dwenger

Grace Potter and The Nocturnals are one of the hottest acts to come out of Vermont since Phish. Fronted by their striking namesake, the band has stealthily clawed their way up the rungs of the music industry with a retro sound that injects their sultry jazzy blues with just the right amount of ragged glory to appeal to a huge cross section of music fans.

Seemingly unfazed by her recent surge in popularity, the songstress took some time to speak with The Marquee on the eve of her 25th birthday. As she spoke, she set the scene of her surroundings and painted a picture of the idyllic life of a New Englander. “All I see right now is leaves. I have a panoramic view of the woods and these are not dark and creepy woods, they are very beautiful. There’s lots of sunshine and there is a little river that flows right by me here. It is a nice place to be settled, I’ll probably never leave,” Potter said.

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:: Mile High Music Festival ::

:: July 19 :: (4 p.m.) ::

By Jeffrey V. Smith

Denver’s obsession with its homegrown hip-hop act Flobots is catching on outside the city’s limits, and in a big way. Recent appearances on late night television, a major-label release, national radio play, massive digital sales, and a tour of sold-out shows are indications the band’s conscious, uplifting, message-driven songs are outgrowing their roots and generating a buzz on a national scale. It is ultimately those Denver roots, however, that the band’s members credit for Flobots existence and on-going success.

“Denver has one of the most thriving music scenes in the entire country, and very few people know about it, bassist Jesse Walker told The Marquee. “The scene is ripe with amazing musicians who are not afraid to experiment. It’s not at all unusual to see a band with non-traditional instrumentation not only pushing boundaries, but also writing great songs.”
And, that’s just what the Flobots do — push boundaries, employ unusual instrumentation and write first-rate songs.

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:: Martin Sexton ::
:: Mile High Music Festival ::
:: July 20 :: (time slot tba) ::

By Timothy Dwenger

In many ways, Martin Sexton is a new breed of soul singer. His music is an amalgam of folk, pop and gospel that blends effortlessly to create a feel-good sound that immediately transports the listener to another world. While Sexton’s introspective lyrics and intricate song structure have won him the recognition of critics and fans alike, it is his delivery that truly sets him apart from other artists. Sexton sings from his heart and bares his soul onstage. He is an inspiring performer whose energy and passion are channeled through his voice.

Sexton’s laid-back style and unrushed pace are hallmarks of his lifestyle. He and his family make their home in the quaint Massachusetts town of Northampton and spend their summers on a lake in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York. “I think the Adirondack Park is the most beautiful place on earth,” he said in a recent interview with The Marquee. “I would live up there year round if I could.”

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Dan Tyminski

Friday, July 25

Dynamic onstage, down to earth off stage, Dan Tyminski has the voice, instrumental chops and charisma to be counted among the most recognizable and popular male vocalists on today’s bluegrass and country music scenes. Since 1994, his ace instrumental skill (mainly on guitar, but also on mandolin) and burnished, soulful tenor singing has been a key component of Alison Krauss and Union Station, arguably the most visible and successful bluegrass band in the modern era. Prior to that, he rose to national prominence as a member of bluegrass favorite, the Lonesome River Band. With Union Station on hiatus for most of 2008, Tyminski has formed a new incarnation of the Dan Tyminski Band, with whom he is currently recording a new album and preparing a national tour of festivals, arts centers and listening rooms. This new edition includes longtime Union Station associate Barry Bales (bass), former Union Station and Mountain Heart member Adam Steffey (mandolin), sideman extraordinaire Ron Stewart (banjo, fiddle), and newcomer Justin Moses (fiddle, Dobro).
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:: Marquee Magazine presents ::

:: Robert Earl Keen ::

:: Boulder Theater :: August 5 ::

:: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SHOW HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED

FROM ITS ORIGINAL DATE OF JULY 2 ::

By Alex Samuel

July 4th weekend is the perfect time to toss back a Budweiser and shamelessly soak in an hour-and-a-half of good ole’ American music — songs drenched in aw shucks-style storytelling with an unapologetic hint of country twang mixed with rock. Or, more simply, Robert Earl Keen’s music.

In the last 25 years, Keen defined alt-country Americana with tinny ballads, rowdy revelries, and bluesy storytelling. Now, the Houston-born icon, who talked with The Marquee just moments before taking the stage for a Texas gig, said that he is putting an album together, working on a novel, and continuing to tour.

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:: R.E.M. ::

:: Red Rocks Amphitheatre :: June 3 ::

By Chris Castaneda

In 2008, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills are finally on the same page about R.E.M.’s direction.

Since 1997, R.E.M. has been struggling to find a voice for itself, ever since the band’s drummer, Bill Berry, exchanged the spotlight for farm life. The lines of communication between the remaining members, both personal and musical, have been, at best, shaky over the course of three post-Berry albums. Now, Accelerate, the band’s fourteenth album, lays to rest the question of whether or not R.E.M. could figure out how to be a band, again.

At 49, bassist Mike Mills is enjoying R.E.M’s latest chapter. “Accelerate is R.E.M. in 2008,” said Mills in a recent interview with The Marquee. “People have been trying to say, ‘Is it a return?’ or, ‘Are you looking backwards?’ I say, no. We don’t look backwards and wouldn’t know how to if we wanted to. So, this is strictly us in this year, in this moment.”

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:: Jamie Lidell ::

:: Bluebird Theatre :: June 2 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

White singers making a mark on the traditionally black world of funk, R&B and soul is not a new concept, and from Van Morrison to Tower of Power there are many that have done it well. In recent years, however, “blue-eyed soul,” as it’s called, has been a genre that has been frequently ignored or scoffed at by younger music fans because of its connections with smooth jazz and modern Motown.

However, there is a new blue-eyed soul man on the scene and he is making the youth of the world stand up and take notice. Though Jamie Lidell has been creating music for years, his personal musical odyssey had ventured far off into the electronica realm before coming full circle and landing him squarely in the center of the soul genre with his recent Warp Records release, Jim.

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:: Railroad Earth ::

:: Ogden :: Theater :: June 13 and 14 ::

By Dustin Huth

Every place on the face of the planet has its own character. Some are powerful and impressive and people travel from all over to see them and spend time in them and take pictures to show that they’ve been to them. Other places have a character that is more subtle and intimate, but equally beautiful. Places like that don’t get traveled to much. They just go on being there quietly, lending a feeling of home to the few who happen upon them.

In the woods of rural New Jersey along the Appalachian Trail, there is a place with just such a sense of home. It is the 300-year-old colonial farmhouse of Railroad Earth’s Todd Sheaffer, and it is where the band’s fifth album, Amen Corner, was recorded.

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:: Ben Senterfit ::

:: The Oriental Theater :: June 5 ::

:: Swallow Hill :: June 6 ::

:: Mountain Sun :: June 8 ::

By Chibo Acevedo

Long time Denver resident and recent New York transplant, Ben Senterfit is coming home to the Mile High City, and he’s bringing an entourage with him.

Senterfit will be playing several Front Range shows with a host of musicians from his former home town as well as some from his new hometown, and a few others from various locales who will be meeting up with Senterfit in Colorado. In tow are David Petry, Kurt Reber, Jessica Rogalski, JT Nolan, Clay Kirkland, and special guest Zack Freeman, who will be coming up from Albuquerque.

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:: Paid Dues Festival ::

:: feat. De La Soul, Blackalicious, Sage Francis, Murs & 9th Wonder ::

:: Fillmore Auditorium :: June 13 ::

By Lisa Oshlo

Heading into its third wildly successful year, independent hip-hop festival Paid Dues has finally grown from its roots as a single-date event to include additional shows in select cities around the country.

After selling out two consecutive years in Southern California, the promoters (underground MC MURS and marketing company Guerilla Union) have expanded to include dates in New York, Fort Lauderdale, Denver, and San Francisco throughout the month of June.

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By Brian F. Johnson

Traditionally, musicians haven’t had to do much but write and perform their songs. But in these increasingly D.I.Y. times, artists are being forced into the business side of the industry and are spending more and more time off-stage and away from the studio, working on tasks that used to be taken care of by record labels.

Mark Bliesener, who has the hindsight of being a working musician as well as the experience earned from 30 years behind a desk in the biz, helps bands as ‘The Band Guru.’ Counseling everyone from solo musicians to bands to independent record labels, Bliesener has received 16 Gold and Platinum records from artists whose careers he has helped to manage, including Lyle Lovett, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

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Part I of our two-part Jammys Coverage

See “The Stanky, Sticky Air Up There: 

My Report from the Nose Bleed Seats at The Jammys” (Below)

 

Phish Appear on Stage For First Time in Four Years

Chevy Chase Accepts Award He Did Not Win

7th Jammy Awards Complete List of Winners

Phish accepts their Lifetime Achievement Award May 7, 2008 at the Jammy Awards in New York City

http://dinoperrucciphotography.blogspot.com/
Photo by Dino Perruci

(New York, NY) – The four members of Phish accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award last night at the 7th Jammy Awards. It’s the first time the band stood onstage together since their final concert in Coventry,VT in 2004. The surprise reunion followed an emotional speech from longtime Phish photographer Danny Clinch.

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