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FeaturesCorb Lund: Country Muse, Clean Water and Frontier JusticeCorb Lund is the son of a ranching family that goes back eight generations in Southern Alberta. If he can tell you something in three words, he won’t use 20. “Pretty country,” was all he needed to say in an interview with BandWagon to evoke the rolling sage brush on his family’s ancestral homestead. While Lund may be conversationally economical, he is lyrically verbose. Over the course of twelve full length LPs, he has become one of Amercana’s most beloved songwriters; lyrically and sonically a modern embodiment of life on the range. Last May, the Alberta provincial government rescinded a 1976 ban on open-pit coal mining on the slopes of the Canadian Rockies which threatened to scar the landscape and taint the water of nearby communities. “It pissed off everybody up here, not just the lefties — ranchers, hunters and the first nations people,” Lund said. “It affects the water I drink. This was too egregious to let go.” Lund collaborated with other Canadian musicians to re-record his 2009 song “This Is My Prairie,” in protest. A few months later, the government backed down and even introduced new protections.Gabe Allen · Mar 11, 2022MusicAlbum Review: Thom LaFond – The Moon Leans InNederland, Colorado’s Thom LaFond is most well known as the guitarist and singer in Denver’s four-piece gypsy jam rock outfit Banshee Tree. But on this, his debut full-length, he lets his inner voice shine. Close, acoustic and intimate speckles of piano, pizzicato violin and nimble upright bass frame his hushed, masculine baritone with gorgeous minimalism; a composition on par with a Kandinsky. “Did they take the moon you were after and give it back piece by piece?” the record’s first lyric asks, initiating a song and an album dense with gorgeous prose, artful arrangements and beautiful music.Kevin Johnston · Mar 8, 2022MusicSingle Review: Isadora Eden f. Duke Justice – “Glycerine” [Bush Cover]Eden’s reimagining of the Bush classic fits the song’s mystical and mysterious feelings of being in love by surrounding the listener with ambient synths and heavy reverbs. Justice’s vocals have a grungy texture reminiscent of Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, a nice call-back to the original.Valerie Vampola · Feb 22, 2022FeaturesYou Can’t Bullshit Metal Fans: Soulfly’s Max Cavalera“Little by little, my own tastes came through for Soulfly,” Max Calverra tells BandWagon. “As I get older, you’d think I’d get more mellow. But I like the heavier and heavier stuff. When you get older, you play what you like. You play what you feel.” “Riffs are my church,” he said. “That’s my paradise. I will spend hours riffing on the guitar and just chugging on the guitar. I call it Chug Life. When you finally find a killer riff, man, it’s like you’ve won the lottery.Dan England · Feb 18, 2022MusicAlbum Review: One Peace – A GLORIOUS ONEA GLORIOUS ONE from rapper One Peace finds itself at the crossroads of trunk-knocking production, emotion-soaked sampling, and vivid, unapologetic songwriting. Released on independent Fort Collins-based record label Lion League Music, it’s a nostalgic yet relevant album that feels as diverse as it does cohesive. Sonically, it could stand in as the score to a Tarantino flick or the tracklist for a forthcoming Grand Theft Auto radio station with OP’s speaking voice alone commanding more presence than the average MC yelling full volume into the mic.Diego Felix · Feb 8, 2022MusicSingle Review: The Burroughs – “My House My Car”The Burroughs continue to progress their sound while retaining some of the retro vibe that first captured the hearts of Northern Colorado: 70’s and 80’s musical tropes, a…Valerie Vampola · Feb 4, 2022105.5 The Colorado Sound's Featured ArtistsGeorge Cessna: 105.5 The Colorado Sound Featured Artist, January 2022Hundreds of hours spent in the basements of dive bars don’t often yield respectable accolades, but for George Cessna, that’s arguably how he came to be this month’s Colorado Sound featured artist. Cessna and his close friend Brian Buck literally clocked as much time in the basement of Denver’s beloved Hi-Dive, recording and eventually emerging with Lucky Rider, a twangy, dark and lo-fi album released in December.Kevin Johnston · Jan 14, 2022FeaturesTX2: A Punk with Pull“There was a point where I was trying to end my whole life,” Evan Thomas – aka TX2 – tells BandWagon. “I felt worthless. And I had friends help me out. Once people feel like they’re alone, they need someone to talk to. I feel like that helps save lives.” In addition to putting on cathartic, high energy pop-punk shows, Thomas is the founder of The X Movement, an online safe space for his fans (and anyone struggling) after battling with his own mental health.Dan England · Jan 12, 2022MusicSingle Review: Branson Hoog – “No Vacancy”Intimate and sexy, Branson Hoog’s nimble, close-up vocals evoke an alluring darkness. The NOT A TOY (fka Shatterproof) frontman employs deep and minimalistic beats on “No Vacancy,” the second release under his own name.Kevin Johnston · Jan 11, 2022MusicAlbum Review: Crescent City Connection – Yeah You Right!Fort Collins based Crescent City Connection brings New Orleans flavor to the Colorado funk-rock scene with their new album Yeah You Right!Valerie Vampola · Jan 6, 2022FeaturesPecos & The Rooftops: More Than One Damn SongThe night Pecos & the Rooftops wrote the song that gave them their breakout success, they really weren’t even a working band yet – just a bunch of friends who liked to hang out and jam to cover songs. The quintet’s frontman, Pecos Hurley, had just begun writing songs, and he was playing the chords to one when magic struck: One of the other guys began singing a chorus to it. “Damn, that’s good,” Hurley recalled saying during a phone interview for BandWagon. “Do you care if I try to finish it?” Finish it he did, and the result, “This Damn Song,” was a smash hit.Dan England · Jan 3, 2022MusicAlbum Review: Magpie the Band – Under The Maple TreeFolk trio Magpie the Band emerges into the Northern Colorado scene with their debut ‘Under The Maple Tree,’ featuring more Celtic and Eastern European sounds than the western…Valerie Vampola · Dec 10, 2021MusicSingle Review: Emma Griffin – Sell My Soul“Sell My Soul” is a breakthrough for Emma Griffin, allowing her to keep the Lorde and Billie Eilish sound she’s established while introducing a blues touch.Valerie Vampola · Dec 9, 2021MusicSingle Review: Poinciana – Focus“Focus” features tender vocals by lead singer Sawyer Davis and beautiful acoustic guitar picking, but Poinciana doesn’t abandon high-energy rock.Valerie Vampola · Dec 6, 2021FeaturesINTHEWHALE Gets Real on Vanishing PointWhat sets Eric Riley and Nate Valdez apart from other heavy acts isn’t their musicianship (though it is excellent) but their ability to translate unflinchingly raw moments into music. Starting with INTHEWHALE’s last EP, Dopamine, the band’s tone shifted from the sophomoric humor of their earlier releases to brutally honest explorations of the darker moments of life. These explorations continue on Vanishing Point. The band wrestles with pharmaceutical addiction, suicidal ideation and gentrification. The pain and anger is palpable.Gabe Allen · Dec 4, 2021105.5 The Colorado Sound's Featured ArtistsLos Mocochetes: 105.5 The Colorado Sound Featured Artist, December 2021Los Moccochetes, Denver’s award-winning latin funk band, springs from a group of highschool friends and acquaintances from the music and poetry scene. The raw, “la famiglia” vibe is potent both on stage and in their new, multi-lingual, socially conscious EP Mucho Gusto. Los Moccochetes are here to party for the right to fight.Kevin Johnston · Dec 3, 2021CommunityUPLIFT: 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, 2021FeaturesThe Velveteers: Nightmare Dream-Team Graduates from the GarageWhen The Velveteers (Demi Demitro, Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig) pulled up to a hip, all-ages venue in Detroit, they didn’t expect anyone to recognize them. “Most of the last two years we’ve just been doing the same thing we always do, which is the three of us practicing music alone in a tiny garage,” Pottersmith tells BandWagon. As soon as they stepped out of the tour van that day, the illusion of isolation was shattered. Maybe shattered is the wrong word. A fan, sporting Adidas flip flops, a Johnny Cash t-shirt and playing air guitar on a squash racket, was pacing outside of the venue and screaming the lyrics to the lead single “Charmer And The Snake” from their deliciously sinister hard rock album Nightmare Daydream.Gabe Allen · Nov 15, 2021FeaturesTrash Cat and the Absurdity of the Human Experience~ Greeley’s silliest band takes making good music seriously ~Gabe Allen · Nov 12, 2021MusicAlbum Review: Mr. Fredo – MovementFort Collins-based Fredo The Rapper brings intricate layerings in his new EP Movement, featuring his long-time collaborator, producer (and step-brother) Suburb based in Chicago, IL. The movement is chill, and his relaxed tone glides over the complex trap and lo-fi beats.Valerie Vampola · Nov 10, 2021