The New Mastersounds celebrate a decade together with newest work, Ten Years On

:: The New Mastersounds ::

:: Fox Theatre :: March 3 ::

:: Grand Ballroom (Steamboat) :: March 4 ::

:: Agave (Avon) :: March 5 ::

:: Ogden Theatre :: March 6 ::

:: Belly Up (Aspen) :: March 8 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

Colorado is known for many things, but high on almost every list are the majestic mountains and the incredible music scene. These are two of the main features that keep Eddie Roberts and his bandmates in The New Mastersounds coming back time and time again. Though the band hails from the Northern England city of Leeds, where the highest point is a mere thousand feet above sea level and the only ski hills are housed indoors in giant warehouses, Roberts loves to hit the slopes when he can while out on the road.

“There is nothing here in England.  Just indoor slopes,” he said during a recent interview with The Marquee, before admitting that he’d spent the morning with his kids at a nearby indoor hill. “They all learned there.  I haven’t managed to get them on a mountain yet but these places are good for learning. At least it’s snow.  I think we have a day off in Aspen so the plan is to ski. We usually try to get some skiing in on the Colorado run.” Continue — Read more »

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club drops Beat The Devil’s Tattoo and hits the road again

:: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ::

:: Gothic Theater :: March 2 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

Bands often hate it when a writer makes broad claims that a new album is a “return to the band’s roots,” or a “big departure for the band.” Maybe it’s because those phrases can cheapen the artistic struggle it takes to get an album recorded and released. Maybe it’s because returns or departures just make it sound too easy.

But for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s guitarist Peter Hayes, his gripe lies with the fact that it just doesn’t make sense in his world. “When was the departure and when was the big return,” Hayes said in recent interview with The Marquee, just before setting out on tour. Days after the band piled onto the bus, their newest album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo hit the streets, but well before that, writers across the country, in an almost unified manner, were calling Tattoo a return to the band’s rootsy, dark, psychedelic sound. Most writers, in the very next sentence, then linked the new album to the band’s 2005 release, HOWL.

Continue — Read more »

TENACIOUS D’S KYLE GASS FOCUSES ON HIS REDNECK ROCK BAND, TRAINWRECK

:: Trainwreck ::

:: Larimer Lounge :: March 18 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

Kyle Gass doesn’t need to have a side project. He’s the co-founder of “the greatest band in the world,” Tenacious D. He’s starred in blockbuster films like Kung Fu Panda, Extreme Movie and, of course, the almost-true to life film The Pick of Destiny, which profiles Gass and bandmate Jack Black as they hunt for the magic to make the D, the world’s greatest band.

The problem, however, is that Gass’ prima donna cohort, Black, is so busy with his movie career, that the D (and subsequently Gass) often get put on the back burner. “Well, you know, Jack is always doing movies, and I just thought that I like to play live a lot and I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to play with the D as often as I’d like — which is kind of a big deal to me,” Gass said in a recent interview with The Marquee. “Plus, I like playing in a band, and also, Jack just steamrolls me on stage. He would just assume me not say anything.” Continue — Read more »

Mother Hips tour in support of one of their best albums to date, Pacific Dust

:: The Mother Hips ::

:: The hi-dive :: March 12 ::

:: Ghost Ranch (Steamboat) :: March 13 ::

By Jonathan Keller

The Mother Hips just won’t quit.

Having been around for the better part of 20 years, The Mother Hips have continued to endure the wave of ups and downs and founding member, vocalist and guitarist Tim Bluhm has been there through it all — their major label signing in the early 1990s by famed producer Rick Rubin to his American Recordings label (they were label mates with The Black Crowes, Johnny Cash and Tom Petty), the eventual drop from the label, a brief hiatus in 2003, and their strong comeback with the best album they have released in nearly a decade, 2009’s Pacific Dust.
Continue — Read more »

Scotland’s best export in years, We Were Promised Jetpacks, return to Colorado

:: We Were Promised Jetpacks::

:: hi-dive :: March 6 ::

By Dan Rutherford

The music industry’s outspoken critics seem unified in the complaint that “Paying your dues and following the ‘old rules’ no longer breaks a new artist.” Well, if that is indeed the case, someone forgot to send the memo to We Were Promised Jetpacks, arguably Scotland’s hottest music export in the last year.

From their origins and how they were signed to their highly acclaimed debut record, they have proven that in an age of defying the status quo, the antiquated proven path can still be fruitful.

Touted by many as the bright spot of 2009’s Monolith Festival, the band is currently zigzagging the U.S. on their first headlining tour, and took a few minutes with The Marquee to chat about their expectation

Continue — Read more »

The Devil Wears Prada bring metalcore and faith to the national scene

:: The Devil Wears Prada::

:: with Killswitch Engage and Dark Tranquility ::

:: Fillmore Auditorium :: March 13 ::

By Joe Kovack

Just because they share the same name as the title of the 2006 chick flick, The Devil Wears Prada is in no way affiliated with fashion.

In fact, the Dayton, Ohio band fashioned their name from an anti-materialistic message they heard plenty of years before the movie was released, but decided to stick with the name afterwards because, quite frankly, they had it first. As lead singer Mike Hranica explained to The Marquee in a recent interview, “It’s just this idea of not being too materialistic and it’s just something we ran with. We didn’t want anything too overly serious, just kind of fun and clever, and that’s how it came about. And when we picked the name we weren’t planning on getting signed or anything like that. We never thought about that. If we would have known that we would be putting out records and touring around the world, we probably would have thought more about it … so we ended up getting stuck with a stupid chick-flick name, but it’s too late to change it now (laughs),” Hranica said. Continue — Read more »

Denver singer/songwriter Rob Drabkin continues to grow beyond Colorado

:: Rob Drabkin ::

:: supporting Mike Doughty ::

:: Fox Theatre :: March 16 ::

By Joe Kovack

When folks talk about an artist growing, rarely are they talking about a physical change. But for Rob Drabkin, it seems that the more his career grows, the more his full-throttled afro reaches to the ceiling, as if the stage lights he plays under were actually grow lights, forcing his locks to stretch with each passing performance.

Growing up in Denver, Drabkin was like any other 11-year-old-boy just finding the awesomeness that is music. His poison was Metallica, Guns ’N Roses, Nirvana and the other rock essentials of that era that pump a kid up before a baseball game or make them want to learn to play that epic instrument that makes it all possible: the guitar. Continue — Read more »

Les Claypool’s career is constantly evolving and getting weirder every day

:: Les Claypool ::

:: Fox Theatre :: February 13 ::

:: Ogden Theatre :: February 14 ::

By Joe Kovack

For the past 20 years, Les Claypool has given America some of its most eclectic and ethereal music it could ever imagine.

Since the early days of Primus, Claypool has been warping the minds of music lovers with his infinitely intricate bass styling and strange but good natured sense of humor. Permeating the counterculture scene, Claypool has become an iconic member of music’s elite, creatively evolving every step of the way and forging a career that would rival that of imaginative wizards Tom Waits or Frank Zappa. Continue — Read more »

With new album By a Thread out, Haynes refocuses on Gov’t Mule for 2010

:: Gov’t Mule ::

:: Gothic Theatre :: February 12 ::

:: Fillmore Auditorium :: February 13 ::

By Hap Fry

The early-morning phone calls have become a thing of the past for Warren Haynes.
Now, any time the guitar-playing virtuoso ends up at a hotel, Haynes makes sure to go by an alias, not unlike many entertainers.

“One too many times, I’ve had someone call me at 5 a.m., or even 8 a.m.,” Haynes said during a recent phone interview with The Marquee from the Sheraton Riverwalk in Tampa, Fla. “My schedule’s bizarre. I go to bed late and sleep late. It’s hard to get off that rock and  roll schedule once you’re used to it.” Continue — Read more »

Stockholm Syndrome set to release live album and studio album this year

:: Stockholm Syndrome ::

:: Fox Theatre :: February 26 ::

:: Bluebird Theater :: February 27 ::

By Cornelia Kane

When Widespread Panic’s bass player, Dave Schools, and acclaimed singer/songwriter Jerry Joseph, of Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons, first decided to collaborate back in 2003, each initially thought that their new musical side project would be a fun temporary change of pace. Now, with one studio album behind them, a new studio album and a live album both set for release this year, plus a new tour on the horizon, Stockholm Syndrome has transcended being just a side project. Stockholm Syndrome is a band.

The Marquee’s recent interview with Joseph got off to a late start. The relatively-newly clean and sober vocalist was getting a tattoo that morning, and the session ran longer than expected. When Joseph’s voice finally crackled through the line, slightly muffled from the sounds of the streets of Harlem, New York, where he resides during the brief respites between touring with his two primary bands, he was in pain.

“They’re only supposed to let you go for two hours and I must have been there for five,” he said with a touch of pride.  “My arm hurts like hell right now.”

That Joseph is tougher than the average musician will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever listened to his music, whether it be a Jackmormons tune, a cover of one of his songs by legendary Southern rockers Widespread Panic, or a track from the first, and to date only, Stockholm Syndrome album, 2004’s Holy Happy Hour, released on Terminus Records.

The unusual choice for a name, Stockholm Syndrome, refers to the psychological phenomenon in which a hostage bonds with his or her kidnappers. It seems an apt moniker for Schools’ and Joseph’s somewhat convoluted relationship. Schools has produced Jackmormons records; Joseph has written songs that Widespread Panic has made so popular that some people are not even aware that the songs are actually covers. All the pair needed now was a band. Continue — Read more »

Bela Fleck brings the African Stars of Throw Down Your Heart To Boulder

:: Bela Fleck  - The Africa Project ::

:: Aggie Theatre :: February 4 ::

:: Boulder Theater :: February 8 ::

By Ryan Lappi

At first glance it may seem odd that a banjo could act as a bridge between cultures. Yet for Bela Fleck, the possibilities are always endless, especially when they are through music.

Fleck has, after all, made a career of carving out a comfortable place for the instrument in such diverse realms as classical music, jazz fusion, bluegrass, and Indian classical. The scope of his musical achievements is truly stunning (he has won 11 Grammys and holds the record for being nominated in more different categories than anyone in history) — proving the banjo remains viable in almost any 21st Century setting. Yet his most ambitious project to date may be found in his search to reconnect the instrument with its African past. Continue — Read more »

Jim Page, Elephant Revival, B.A.S. and more band together for Buffalo Heart benefit

:: Buffalo Heart Benefit ::

:: Jim Page :: Elephant Revival :: Boulder Acoustic Society :: Reed Foehl :: Laura Goldhammer and Silver Nail ::

:: Boulder Theater :: February 5 ::

:: Jim Page :: Blue Owl Books :: February 6 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

To say that the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota have it rough is an understatement beyond comprehension.

Their ancestors were part of the horrific Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 — the last armed conflict between the Great Sioux Nation and the United States of America — which left  146 men, women and children dead. Continue — Read more »