Dan England

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CommunityUPLIFT: FoCo – New Generation on the Rise“My thinking was, ‘Yeah, get me off this bus,’” Andy Whilden said. He decided to leave touring as a musician for a job at The Matthews House, a place for underserved youth. Starting the Uplift: FoCo festival two years ago gave Whilden more personal satisfaction than he expected. The benefit festival will feature acts that are acoustically driven. “They can play any genre,” Whilden said of the house band, though the 2021 installment will also deliver something different, and, well, a little less tenured.Dan England · Dec 2, 2021FeaturesBandWagon Expands: Tony Mason Hops On as Booking Stretches from Colorado Springs to Sheridan, WyomingAfter leaving his job as the lead talent buyer managing Lost Lake, Larimer Lounge and Globe Hall in Denver, Tony Mason saw a new position booking for the famed Gas Monkey in Dallas turn into a depressing slog of cancelling shows remotely from Denver during the pandemic. Now, Mason will put his contacts to use to work for an expanded BandWagon enterprise which will offer a full-on, regional concert promotions and event production entity from Colorado Springs to Casper, Wyoming.Dan England · Nov 30, 2021FeaturesTech N9ne: New Torment in a Faster WorldEven when he’s in bed, trying to calm his crazy mind so he can sleep, Tech N9ne keeps his phone within reach.Dan England · Oct 4, 2021MusicAlbum Review: We Are William – We Are WilliamListening to Fort Collins-based We Are William gives a refreshing perspective on just how difficult it is to play progressive metal, and the band deserves props.Dan England · Sep 7, 2021FeaturesIf You Build It: That 1 Guy on Making an Instrument and Setting Songs FreeMike Silverman – AKA That 1 Guy – knew what it would take to make it. Only his band wasn’t willing to live that hard life. So he did it himself. “I was working so hard to fill this cosmic space,” Silverman said of the bass, “and I was playing on this thing that wasn’t meant to do that.” So he built an instrument that would help him create a big sound. “It was very hard,” he said. “Some instrument builders study their whole lives to do this.”Dan England · Sep 3, 2021MusicAlbum Review: Southern Avenue – Be The Love You WantAt their best live, Southern Avenue finds enough soul, R&B and pop to please middling blues fans while maintaining enough roots and respect for the genre to satisfy hardcore blues veterans.Dan England · Aug 11, 2021CommunityBohemian Light Brings Heavy Hitters Back to Famed Fort Collins FestivalThe Bohemian Foundation will put on a music festival this summer in downtown Fort Collins, and though the headliners are big names, fans of Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest should temper their expectations somewhat. Dubbed the Bohemian Light Music Festival, free, live concerts will commence two nights instead of three, featuring psychedelic soul band Black Pumas and singer-songwriter Randy Newman, plus Shovels & Rope and dozens of Colorado’s top bands.Dan England · Aug 3, 2021FeaturesOrville Peck: Home On The Fringe“I don’t get blowback from traditional country fans,” Orville Peck said in an interview with BandWagon. “There’s always been something new introduced to that genre, whether it’s an instrument or Willie singing about weed or it’s me singing about men and wearing a mask. Everyone freaks out and says it’s not country, and then slowly it becomes part of it. I don’t mind that blowback. That means I’m doing it right. I take it as a challenge.”Dan England · Jul 19, 2021FeaturesIan Munsick Finds His Own LaneWhen he’s reminded that he will open for Dwight Yoakam, who was country before country was hip the way it is now, Ian Munsick’s reflexive response is exactly what you’d expect…Dan England · Jun 15, 2021CommunityFor Life: Emily Nelson on The DrumsEmily Nelson had a feeling the universe had something in mind for her. “The drums were just a fun way to get healthy again,” she said, “and a year later, Erica was there.” Erica, Brown, the Denver blues diva and Greeley favorite, brought Nelson in to her all-woman band the Cast Iron Queens after several life-changing events gave Nelson the strength not to be paralyzed by perfectionism.Dan England · Jun 3, 2021FeaturesPump Up The Jam: Festivals Get the OK in Vaccinated NoCo – We Break It DownJustin Watada sighed through a tired laugh. “I’ve had better years,” he said. Watada’s run 17 Greeley Stampedes and this year’s been the toughest. Yes, this year, even with the good news that there will actually be a 2021 Stampede. “We are on version 10 of our budget this year,” Watada said. “We are 50-some days away, and there’s still so much unknown.” Still, even more big events look promising, The Greeley Blues Jam, May Play, Friday Fest, The Greeley Arts Picnic and more promise to happen, but what they’ll look and sound like remains to be seen. If last year was a bummer, this year is more like chaos. Let’s Dig In.Dan England · May 3, 2021FeaturesInto The Great Wide Open: NoCo & WY Venues Hopeful for a Full-Capacity FallPresident Joe Biden believes we’ll have smaller gatherings with family and close friends by the Fourth of July.Dan England · Mar 31, 2021CommunityTurning The Dial: Radio’s Stu Haskell Passes OnStu Haskell shot rattlesnakes for fun and shot tequila with co-workers.Dan England · Mar 3, 2021FeaturesKolby Cooper’s Best, Worst YearKolby Cooper returned through single-digit temperatures and deep snow to his East Texas home on January 17 to find the hallways full of water.Dan England · Mar 2, 2021FeaturesBattle Profile: Graham Good & The PaintersGraham Good is relentlessly upbeat. Not only is that really his last name, it’s his nature, and it’s the band’s aesthetic. Even the band’s website greets you with “I believe good things are coming.” He wants people to be happy. So after a year-long delay between the semi-finals and the finals of our Battle Of The Bands, he’s ready to rock.Dan England · Feb 12, 2021FeaturesDead Amps: Where We Are Now / Harnessing the ChaosErin O’Toole isn’t Dr. Phil, but she does have a little marital advice: “If you can record an album together and remain happy,” O’Toole says, “you can survive anything.” O’Toole…Dan England · Jan 12, 2021CommunityThey Saved Our Stages: Pandemic Relief saves hundreds of stages just before the deadline[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The “SOS” in Save Our Stages was a bit of a happy accident, but it also wasn’t a coincidence. The $15 billion in grants set aside for locally owned venues, movie theaters and performance halls in the stimulus act is exactly what places such as The Moxi needed to survive. “It’s literally going to saveDan England · Dec 29, 2020FeaturesThe Thin Black Line: Venues Fight To Survive“It’s nowhere near the money I need to sustain, but I was lucky,” says Travis Ragan. Ragan was a partner in the Roxy Theater in Denver and the Mesa Theater in Grand Junction, booking shows in 15 different markets. Now he hauls equipment for his brother, a construction manager out of Colorado Springs. “I know venues are closing down, and yet, we have no leadership backing us and supporting us. We have no one telling us what we should do as opposed to what we shouldn’t do,” Ragan says. “The place is not made to be at a 250 person capacity,” Renee Jelenik says of The Lincoln Theater in Cheyenne, “and even then, it’s not like we sold out those shows. People just aren’t coming out.” “We’ve been asked to shut down, or told to shut down, for months now,” says Ely Corliss of The Moxi Theater in Greeley. “We’ve done that, and where are we now?”Dan England · Dec 3, 2020FeaturesThrough Thick and Thin: Heartsick HeroineAllen and Hannah Maddox want you to believe that their world is pain.Dan England · Nov 9, 2020FeaturesWalking The Walk: New Greeley Murals Celebrate and Beautify the way DowntownFor her new mural on the Maddie Apartments in Downtown Greeley, Betony Coons found herself challenged with how to include Union Colony’s most famous principle: temperance. Not only is “the active moderation of libation intake” hard to paint, but ironically, one of the reasons downtown Greeley continues to thrive is the world class breweries and distilleries it inspired.Dan England · Oct 14, 2020