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Best Colorado Music

10 stories

Two men pose outside a weathered brick building, one in a doorway and one seated on a chair in a cowboy hat.

105.5 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, 2022

Five men in hats and casual clothing pose playfully against a white wall outdoors, one lying on the pavement.

105.5 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, 2021

The Velveteers: three members pose against a dark green backdrop, one in a satin top with red fringe.

FeaturesThe 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, 2021

Kiltro poses among leafy potted plants in a greenhouse, three men standing in a narrow aisle.

105.5 The Colorado Sound's Featured ArtistsKiltro: 105.5 The Colorado Sound Featured Artist, November 2021“‘Cuchito’ is a song about a cat. It’s kind of about my cat,” Christopher Castillo Bowers says.Kevin Johnston · Nov 8, 2021

Black and white portrait of a man in a dark coat and sunglasses standing in an open field under a cloudy sky.

MusicAlbum Review: Covenhoven – IVFor Coloradans, the name Covenhoven has become synonymous with intimate and heartfelt yet cinematic and powerful folk music.Kevin Johnston · Oct 8, 2021

Photo for “Single Review: Griffith James – “Market and Black” (feat. Tennis)”

MusicSingle Review: Griffith James – “Market and Black” (feat. Tennis)Griffith James has released his most noteworthy song yet, “Market and Black,” which features Colorado legends Tennis on backup vocals. This folky groove, with James’s almost Simon and Garfunkel vocal, feels removed from the modern era in an off putting yet infectious way.Laura Giagos · Aug 26, 2021

The Burroughs pose on stage in matching blue tracksuits, a man in a navy hat crouching center under bright lights.

105.5 The Colorado Sound's Featured ArtistsColorado Sound Spotlight Artist: The BurroughsStarting now, 105.5 The Colorado Sound and BandWagon will bring you a Colorado Spotlight Artist of the Month!Kevin Johnston · Aug 4, 2021

Four men pose on a white salt flat in front of a flowing purple, blue, and green flag with mountains behind them.

MusicSingle Review: Lady Denim – “Old & New”Bright, energetic and bursting with pop polish has been the name of the game for Fort Collins indie rockers Lady Denim and it’s paying off.Laura Giagos · Jul 8, 2021

Black and white portrait of three men posing between library bookshelves, one wearing sunglasses.

MusicSingle Review: Slow Caves – “Before I Leave”When Slow Caves puts out a track, the Colorado music scene collectively gazes on in awe.Laura Giagos · Jul 6, 2021

Photo for “105.5 The Colorado Sound – Top Picks for June, 2018”

105.5 The Colorado Sound's Featured Artists105.5 The Colorado Sound – Top Picks for June, 2018If you’re going to be born Alejandro Rose-Garcia, and want to stand out in the music world, it makes sense you’d adopt a stage moniker given to you by friends at a campfire when you’re all coming up with Indian guide names. Whether he liked the name or not, Alejandro became firmly attached to Shakey Graves after the massive success of “Dearly Departed” with former Paper Bird member Esmé Patterson singing along. On this 5th full-length CD, I got the feeling Shakey opened his mind to aural possibilities. In December he Tweeted “Next album. New sound. Sell your suspenders.”BandWagon Magazine · Jun 1, 2018