Features

Interviews and profiles from the Northern Colorado and Wyoming scene.

583 stories · Page 11 of 30

FeaturesGirls Just Wanna Own A Label: 17-Year-Old Maddie Hein’s Dream Cult Press Provides a Platform For DIY Musicians“I mean, what is stopping us? Why don’t we?” said Maddie Hein of Dream Cult Press. Well, she was 17, but that wasn’t enough, apparently. Nor was the fact that they met online and not in her hometown of Greeley (one of them, in fact, was from Kazakhstan). The new indie label released their first album in July 2019 and started picking up fans and followers, but quickly also decided to use their platform to benefit individuals and organizations that were helping out during protests across the country.Valerie Vampola · Sep 10, 2020FeaturesKyle Hollingsworth Band Finally Jams On A Full TankKyle Hollingsworth and his bandmates in The String Cheese Incident had been on tour for a solid decade.Kevin Johnston · Sep 7, 2020FeaturesWriting on the Wall, Festival on the Screen: FoCoMX at the Drive-In and On the WebThis weekend, in lieu of the real, re-scheduled thing, FoCoMX will offer “A Digital Retrospective” of photos taken by fans as well as rare backstage shots by FoCoMX staff on September 4-5 via the festival’s social media channels. The festival wants to celebrate the fan perspective and involvement as well as host live, in-person music to folks in their cars every Tuesday via Drive & Jive, pulling from its scheduled lineup of more than 400 acts.Dan England · Sep 2, 2020FeaturesR.W. Perkins: Small Town RemediesA comedy-drama from R.W. Perkins of Loveland, “Small Town Remedies” tells the story of two siblings (Andrea Dratch and Ty Sells; Dratch is also an executive producer) dealing with their relapsing alcoholic mother (Sally Knudsen) while juggling their own personal struggles and surprises. It’s not a prototypical film about addiction, and that was Perkin’s intent, saying he had a different take on addiction as a family dynamic. The film premieres September 10 at the Horsetooth International Film Festival.Jay Wallace · Aug 8, 2020FeaturesReunited and it Feels So Downtown – Greeley’s United Plaza and Socially Distanced DistrictDowntown Greeley’s been quiet since March, when the outbreak shuttered bars (for the second time now), restaurants and other fun places that made downtown as successful as it’s been in decades. But business owners hope to make some noise by closing 8th and 9th streets and putting open dining tables out. They also added an open container law that essentially extends the Go Cup law full-time until fall, only with loosened restrictions: Any alcohol is OK now, even if you have some from home, though the idea is to support the businesses on the blocks. The Greeley City Council approved the plan and began it July 1.Dan England · Aug 4, 2020FeaturesCan We Just Live? Devin Tremell Speaks Out with Hip Hop as a Tool of InfluenceDevin Tremell insisted to the crowd of hundreds looking up at him from the Lincoln Park gazebo in Greeley that he was just a regular Black dude.Dan England · Aug 3, 2020FeaturesOn The Road Again: Four Months Of COVID-19 Madness & One Bike Accident Later, Kosha Dillz Is On A MissionGoing from doing at least 80 live shows a year (with everyone from Mos Def to Nappy Roots) to performing for a six-year-old’s backyard birthday party in Arvada, Colorado is just one of the many ways the coronavirus pandemic has impacted his typically flourishing career, but Kosha Dillz is a rare breed. With 16 years of sobriety under his belt (to the day) he must guard his recovery like he guards his life, something that’s even more challenging when you’re immersed in the music industry.Kyle Eustice · Jul 31, 2020FeaturesA Change is Gonna Come: Robert Randolph Spreads the Message of UnityIf you ask Robert Randolph what his 2006 hit “Ain’t Nothing Wrong with That” is about, his answer would be: “It’s about what’s going on today.Valerie Vampola · Jul 22, 2020FeaturesHitting The High Notes: Diane Bolden-Taylor Helps Youths Find Their VoiceDiane Bolden-Taylor grew up in the Baptist church, where anyone with a voice would have an audience, and anyone who hit the high notes would be praised as a hero – regardless of their skin color.Valerie Vampola · Jul 5, 2020FeaturesDrum As You Are: Eric Riley Throws Down The Beat As A Black Musician In MetalEven with all the fun Eric Riley has thrashing onstage with his longtime friend Nate Valdez, there is always that one drunk person who has to point it out: a black guy in a metal band!Valerie Vampola · Jul 4, 2020FeaturesHayden Farr: Love and the March of an Angry IntrovertUntil recently, the pandemic, and our directive to stay put, wasn’t all that hard for Hayden Farr, baritone sax player for The Burroughs and Trash Cat.Dan England · Jul 3, 2020FeaturesIf You’re Listening: Greg Carroll on the Black American Art Form with an Inherent Sense of DemocracyEven though it was the music that got Greg Carroll into his jazz career, he became a champion of the art form, teaching, preserving and protecting the history of it, because it is the music of his fellow black Americans. “It excites me to see everyone play it, but jazz was created by African Americans, born out of the experiences of people forced on this land as a way to honor their culture – the only thing that couldn’t be ripped away from them. It’s a gift to the world, and it’s welcome to everyone. But it’s historically black, and the more I got into it and learned the history of it, the more I appreciated that. It made me proud.”Dan England · Jul 2, 2020FeaturesHighway To Heaven: Drive-Ins Revive The Live Music Experience“I’ve reset my expectations with everything we do in the music business,” said Adam Aijala. “The best attitude is to just roll with it.” The last time his group Yonder Mountain String Band played was March 12, 2020. Then coronavirus hit. With band members scattered across different time zones in the lower 48, they made video collaborations. But then, their agent called. They had a gig. A live one. Blue Pig Presents in Cheyenne took a chance and installed a drive-in theater set-up at Terry Bison Ranch, booking Yonder Mountain live. The idea of drive-in concerts spread almost as fast as the virus itself, with The Holiday Twin Drive-In Movie Theater in Fort Collins collaborating with FoCoMX to fill the festival void with their Drive & Jive concert series.Valerie Vampola · Jun 30, 2020FeaturesGoing For It: Live Music Returns, At A DistanceThe Mishawaka Amphitheatre’s second live show during the pandemic happens at the night before Independence Day – and it’s not for the money. For independent music venues and clubs across Colorado, July 1 is perhaps as important as the day we celebrate our independence as a nation. Governor Polis’ new guidelines take effect that day, allowing the assembly of crowds which make live music possible, if not exactly feasible.Dan England · Jun 29, 2020FeaturesThe Fate Of Festival FutureEven right after she was the sickest she’d been in her life, Alison Hamling still cried after she essentially canceled Friday Fest in Downtown Greeley.Dan England · Jun 5, 2020FeaturesIn My Room: Music Teachers Turn To Online Methods, Keeping Musical Communities TogetherWith stay-at-home orders in place, students still want to make music with their teachers and with their peers. Fairview High School students in Boulder decided to try a “virtual choir.” Virtual ensembles, including choirs, are a huge trend worldwide, allowing musicians to collaborate with their friends, bandmates, or favorite artists from home. But putting together a collaboration of 15-plus people requires a lot of time, a hefty budget, and in this case, a supportive community.Valerie Vampola · Jun 4, 2020FeaturesBand Together: National Independent Venue Association Saves Our Stages“There was no one to speak for us,” Stephen Chilton said. “Everyone was talking about the big events and festivals, and no one was talking about the mid-size venues and clubs.” Chilton heads the National Independent Venue Association which is fighting to #SaveOurStages in the fallout of coronavirus repercussions. “What is the most unsafe thing right now? It’s mass gatherings, and we produce mass gatherings,” he said. In two months time, more than 1,600 have joined NIVA, but it still pales in comparison to the thousands in the restaurant industry.Dan England · Jun 3, 2020FeaturesWith A Little Help From My Friends: Resources & Relief For Musicians During The PandemicIn 2013 and 2017, Chris “K” Kresge had what he called “crazy ass idea” to raise a million dollars for the musicians affected by natural disasters and community devastation, now called Rocky Mountain Music Relief. With live music shut down due to DOVID-19, every week, RMMR updates a spreadsheet that points musicians and music industry professionals to grants and resources. A slew of financial resources are available to musicians, but there’s more. The Music Minds Matter organization provides a platform for mental first aid as well via free, weekly online meet-ups.Valerie Vampola · Apr 30, 2020FeaturesRedefining The Industry: Could Live Streaming be the Woodstock of the COVID Era?Coronavirus continues to devastate bar and club owners, restaurants and musicians, but there may be a bright spot: the power of streaming live concerts. Some are even making good money at it. “We’ve learned how to use the tools of social media better now. We are using them rather than just placing facades online,” said Tim Coons of Giants & Pilgrims. “If I can make $100 sitting on my couch, that redefines the industry for me,” said Brandon Harris of NoCo Band Meat & Potatoes.Dan England · Apr 29, 2020FeaturesAll Together Now: The Burroughs’ Bands Give Back Initiative“The arts are a mental lifeline for kids in the public school system,” says Mary Claxton, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and singer for Trashcat and the Burroughs. “Everyone deserves to express themselves and have joy throughout the school day. It’s not a privilege.” Her band The Burroughs have launched the Bands Give Back Initiative, engaging students in music education while raising funds, constructing instrument storage and more for the Greeley, Evans School District 6.Valerie Vampola · Apr 3, 2020