Reviews
It’s been a big year for Southern Rock greats Widespread Panic. Through adversity they prevailed and are triumphantly celebrating thirty years as a band by hitting the road hard, dusting off old favorites and clearly still enjoying the hell out of playing together.
On Friday, July 15, jamtronica pioneers Lotus released their highly anticipated 13th studio album Eat The Light with North American tour dates to follow.
The album is unique in that for the first time, the instrumental-heavy band opted to focus their efforts on cultivating a specific aspect skill set; almost like a case study. For many long term fans, the news that the 10 track album will feature vocals on every track came as an upsetting surprise.
Do you like gritty Rock n Roll Americana? National Park Radio will release its debut full length album, The Great Divide on July 29th, 2016. It seems that this band is like a steam locomotive. The tunes hold a freight’s worth of emotion as the album is chugging along the American landscape.
Progressive bluegrass wouldn’t be the same without Sam Bush. Though the mandolinist might have been slightly proceeded by the guys in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in exposing the bluegrass and rock ‘n’ roll combo on the radio, it was Bush who truly bent the sound toward unlikely use of acoustic instruments in genres thought irrelevant to country or bluegrass.
Funk-flash masters The Motet out of Denver, CO are releasing TOTEM on July 8, 2016, the 7th LP since their inception in 1998. The Motet consists of Dave Watts (drums), Garrett Sayers (bass), Joey Porter (keyboards), Ryan Jalbert (guitar), Gabriel Mervine (trumpet), and Drew Sayers (saxophone), and recently added Lyle Divinsky (vocals) with TOTEM being his first album with the group
Colorado based Americana Quintet The Drunken Hearts hosted their “Love & Thirst” album release party on a Thursday night at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. A far cry from the soulless popular music seeding festivals and stadiums, The Drunken Hearts played an intimate and emotional set.
The potentially rainy day at the nation’s most beautiful outdoor venue made the perfect backdrop to what was about to transpire. The Flaming Lips, with their elaborate stage set up for over one hundred performers, were going to play their entire album entitled The Soft Bulletin with the Colorado Symphony led by conductor Andre de Ritter.
What to say about this show? I will say it was a Phish show: not a Mike show, not a Trey show, not Page show, not a Fish show. It was a Phish show, a whole band who interacted and engaged in a musical conversation throughout. Wrigley Field provided the place for them to engage us, the audience, in their conversation.
This was a big night at the Lazy Dog Saloon in Boulder, CO for the indie rock star supergroup All Chiefs. They just finished recording a new EP “Fashion Forward” at the famous Coupe Studios Inc. in Boulder, and they were ready to show their fans and the local crowd what they were made of. After a couple of opening acts, the anticipation was building.
While iconic guitarist and bandleader Jerry Garcia passed away nearly twenty-one years ago, his influence and high-esteem continues to mount. It’s miraculous that so many fans of the beloved guitarist and Grateful Dead bandleader never actually witnessed the legend perform. The expansiveness of his covers was equally impressive as his originals. That’s why Garcia and the Dead continue to grow their fan base, much like jazz music, there’s something ethereal about simply listening and taking in.
