IN THIS ISSUE: Arcadian Wild | Polyrhythmics | OGT | Neoma | Companion | Draghoria | Jen KorteJelie | Jay Scout | Spliff Tank | 105.5 the Colorado Sound
Continue readingJune 2022 – Arcadian Wild
Month: May 2022
Polyrhythmics and the Definition of Vibe
When the Polyrhythmics first gathered in a Seattle recording studio a decade ago, they planned to make a vinyl record and then, perhaps, go their separate ways …
“When we started, we wanted to perform the music we recorded,” Bloom said, “and now our live set is a living, breathing thing that we do every night. There is this ethos from the fans that they want to see something new, and that feedback has played into what we do live. We are still sort of trying to reach something every night. We are trying to leave room for magic.”
Continue readingAlysia Kraft: 105.5 The Colorado Sound’s Featured Artist
Alysia Kraft can keenly use nature as a metaphor in her music. But in the case of “Little River,” a song with rich layers of meaning and potential interpretations, the inspiration was frighteningly literal.
“I almost drowned in the river by my parent’s ranch in the summer of 2020,” Kraft tells BandWagon. “It was a freak accident. The railing snapped on a bridge I was standing on and I was instantly tossed into a very high, very debris-choked river raging with freshly thawed spring snow.”
She lived to tell the tale. And in turn, make some of this year’s most resonant music.
A Wyoming native, Kraft’s is known in Colorado as one third of folk-rock favorites Whippoorwill and the voice of The Patti Fiasco. With therapeutic guidance, she came to an epiphany following the river trauma.
Continue readingBlast N’ Scrap is Back on Track
Blast N’ Scrap has become the de facto community hub for underground music in Fort Collins, but the organization does far more than event production. Its projects include a 6-week theater program for school kids, weekly screen printing classes using sustainable and recycled materials and Band Blast Off, a music education program teaching professional skills to aspiring musicians ages 7 to 17.
The prolific volume of Blast N’ Scrap initiatives is due, in large part, to the scruffy 38-year old at the helm. Michael Gormley is bursting with ideas.
And though Blast N’ Scrap events now include established local bands, Gormley adamantly says they will always be there for local bands to play their first show.
Continue readingJon Wolfe Ticket Giveaway
Jon Wolfe is playing in Casper on Friday, May 27, and Cheyenne on Saturday, May 28. This is is your chance to get a free ticket to those shows, with the purchase of a ticket …
Continue readingSon Lux Scores Everything and Frees Up Their Tomorrows
If André 3000 playing a Mayan double flute for your band’s movie score isn’t proof that the multiverse exists, we don’t know what is.
But it exists. And there’s so much more. André, Moses Sumney, Randy Newman, Mitski, and David Byrne are among the guest artists Son Lux acquired for what became a 49-track film score with more musical ideas than one universe can hold.
Son Lux (Ryan Lott, Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia) have been making music from their own universes for years. In 2019, they were contacted by film directing team Daniels to score their mind bending, multiverse movie ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ It was a match made in multi-heaven.
Now on tour supporting their recent, triple album ‘Tomorrows I, II & III,’ Son Lux bring an organic approach to represent their cinematic, layered and dynamic music.
Continue readingHorse Feathers: The Endearing Nature of Justin Ringle’s Earnest Sound
Horse Feathers’ spin on traditional folk and Americana spans barn dance to backyard reverie, airy ballads to full-blooded country jigs.
Justin Ringle launched Horse Feathers shortly after moving to the Pacific Northwest at a time he says “all the cliches from Portlandia were being developed.” Rent was cheap and you just needed a shitty job to keep your creative aspirations afloat.
“It was really less preposterous for me to try to become a professional musician than it was to get a job in graphic design at the time,” he said. Though dispelling any romantic notion, Ringle points out, “There was really high unemployment in Portland and it was just kind of tough going. Everything was really close to the bone.”
Goatwhore: With a Vengeance
Even with a name like Goatwhore, there’s room for subtlety.
Yes, there are Satanic overtones in Goatwhore’s lyrics — duh — and their music reflects it, with the kind of hardcore black metal crunch you’d expect in the drums, guitars and, of course, the vocals (also duh). But the last record’s lyrics come from a concept album, Vengeful Ascension, which portray Lucifer as an underdog slighted by a God who was equally oppressive.
L. Ben Falgoust II, the band’s singer (and keeper of one of the best metal monikers in history), uses historical references to color the themes, but Zack Simmons, the drummer, likes to apply the lyrics to real life.
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