:: Kort McCumber ::

:: Oskar Blues :: CD Release show ::

:: June 11 ::

:: Gold Hill Inn :: CD Release show ::

:: June 12 ::

:: Lefthand Brewery ::

:: June 14 ::

:: Louisville Summer Concert Series ::

:: June 25 ::

:: Draft House (Boulder) ::

:: June 28 ::

By Joe Kovack

Kort McCumber has been musically reborn. Again.

The Colorado-by-way-of-Florida based singer/songwriter has, for years, been turning out bluegrass tinged Americana, but with his latest album, Aint the Same as Before, McCumber takes a hard left from the style of his last few albums toward a more rock and blues-fueled one. But that’s just McCumber, throwing away his preconceptions of what his music should sound like, and letting his songwriting dictate its fate.

“This is my seventh record, sixth solo record and I put out a DVD in 2007,” McCumber said in a recent interview with The Marquee. “So I’ve done a lot since my start in 2000 and each one was cut a little different. The early ones, I cut everything separately, but the last three records I cut my guitars and vocals together for a more live feel. This time I wanted the rhythm section and my stuff cut live, and it was super rewarding to pull that off. Being able to work with seasoned musicians who after about two or three takes and it was done was really impressive, to be able to create that in a studio setting was really rewarding.” Read more

Dave Matthews Band

Live At Mile High Music Festival

RCA

3 out of 5

Let’s get something straight: Dave Matthews Band is not a jam band. They are a rock band and their fans mistakenly categorize them as a jam band. Their live jams are structured and there is very little real “band” improvisation going on anymore.

Ask any hardcore DMB fan and they will tell you exactly when the solos are coming and how they will end. I was a pretty big fan back in the 1990s. I saw my fair share of shows and still have a place in my heart for the group. I was at this show and it is always nice to have an official CD copy of a show you attended. However, this 3-disc set is a rock band, delivering more of the same.

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By Emily H. Lanigan

www.southparkmusictour.com

Dates: June 26-29

Location: Fairplay, CO

The South Park Music Tour is the highest festival in the country, according to its promoters, and that’s not just a nod to the fact that Fairplay is just under 10,000 feet in elevation. Hell, even the zip code ends in 420.
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Radiohead - In Rainbows
(TBD Records)

3.5 out of 5

Anyone who was even half-heartedly listening to the industry buzz last fall heard about Radiohead’s crazy idea to offer their newest album, In Rainbows, as a pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth-price download in October, months before the official release was to hit the streets.

The hype was so frantic (and loud) that we chose to wait on giving our take until the official release dropped, which it did on Jan. 1, 2008, to incredible success. It debuted at #1 in North America, and is the fifth consecutive Radiohead album to go to #1 in the U.K.

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 By Damon Ruckel

 As alt-country continues to come of age and defines its place nationally on the musical landscape, The Unknown Americans are, locally, melding traditional country melodies with rocking backbeat and beautiful harmonies, unveiling a cleaner, “poppier” side to Colorado singer/songwriter Danny Shafer’s writing and performing.

During his fifteen year tenure as a musician on the Front Range, Shafer has built a reputation as one of Colorado’s most prolific singer/songwriters, often playing several gigs a week with different line-ups under different band names. He might have been playing with The Danny Shafer Band, Danny Shafer & The Red Glory Ramblers, The All-Night Honky Tonk All-Stars or, most recently, with The Unknown Americans. 

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