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Colorado COncerts

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FeaturesBirth, Death and Time In The Sun: SUSTO’s Justin Osborne Finds new Dimesion“There were ravines growing between me and people in my life,” Justin Osborne tells BandWagon.Kevin Johnston · Sep 12, 2022

FeaturesPermission to Shine: Shinyribs’ Kevin Russell Goes BigKevin Russell was nearing age 40, and given the upheavals in his career, should have been facing the clichéd mid-life crisis.Dan England · Aug 24, 2022

FeaturesHow The Arcadian Wild was Loved Into BeingThe Arcadian Wild really listen. You can see it in their patience with fans, their gentleness with each other, and most of all in the cohesive interplay of each melodic line in their music. Like mycelium spreading nutrients throughout a forest, each individual is inseparable from the whole. The band began in an impromptu post-choir-class jam session in 2013. The lineup has shifted so often over the years that founding member Lincoln Mick refers to the band as a “revolving door,” but he remembers the band’s five-or-so departed members with much more sweetness than bitterness. “To take a turn of phrase from Fred Rogers, so many people have ‘loved this band into being’ over the years,” he told BandWagon.Gabe Allen · Jun 9, 2022

FeaturesBlast N’ Scrap is Back on TrackMichael Gormley’s scrappy nonprofit has reemerged as the centerpiece of Fort Collins’ DIY scene.Gabe Allen · May 17, 2022

FeaturesSon Lux Scores Everything and Frees Up Their TomorrowsIf 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.Kevin Johnston · May 11, 2022

FeaturesHorse Feathers: The Endearing Nature of Justin Ringle’s Earnest SoundHorse 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.”Beau Baker · May 5, 2022

FeaturesGoatwhore: With a VengeanceEven 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.Dan England · May 4, 2022

MusicAlbum Review: Anthony Ruptak – BackroomsLike Ruptak’s earlier work, Backrooms is emotionally charged, but themes of anger, regret and despair are balanced by love and connection. “The overall arc is one of evolution and healing,” Ruptak explained. Scenes that play out over fragile, haunting melodies include a funeral for a well-loved dog, an ambulance ride to a hospice center and a white-knuckle drive to the house of a suicidal family member. On “Angie,” Ruptak proposes to his wife. Literally.Gabe Allen · Apr 26, 2022

FeaturesJoshua Ray Walker: King Of The Honky-Tonk MisfitsJoshua Ray Walker’s role model for his hit “Sexy After Dark” was not Tim McGraw, Billy Ray Cyrus or Keith Urban. It was Conway Twitty. Twitty, Walker said in a phone interview with BandWagon, was sort of a goofy guy who managed to sing some of the most romantic songs in country music. It’s not like Twitty belonged on the cast of Hee Haw, but he wasn’t Elvis. One of the intentions of “Sexy After Dark,” Walker said, was to pay a backhanded but lighthearted tribute to all the people like Twitty. “There’s a history of country crooners who aren’t sexy – putting out sexy songs,” Walker said. “‘Slow Hand’ is one of my favorites. Twitty is so goofy-looking, but he sold it. He really sold it.” The other intent, Walker said, was to poke fun at himself. He knows he’s also not Elvis.Dan England · Apr 8, 2022

FeaturesMath Rock and the Immigrant Experience: ZETA “Dances It All” – from Venezuela to Miami to Fort Collins“Every song is a different rhythm that represents a region in Latin America,” Zeta’s Juan Yilo Alvarado says of Todo Bailarlo, the Venezuelan punk orchestra’s upcoming LP. “It was really liberating and really challenging at the same time.” “Our communities dance through everything: sadness, happiness, the good, the bad,” Alvarado said. “We are always dancing through life, moving and adapting and looking for better opportunities in remote places.” But Zeta has not lost its frenetic exuberance by embracing its roots. This is calypso (and salsa, samba, latin jazz…) made for moshing. “It’s still rock and it’s still progressive,” Alvarado assures. While Zeta’s sound might be aggressive, the band’s ethos is the opposite. They are compassionate, inclusive and intent on fostering community wherever they go. Dani “Debuto” Hernandez, the band’s other guitarist/vocalist in addition to Alvarado, is notorious for feeding tour mates, fans and anyone else that walks by. In keeping with the band’s shared pacifistic and environmental ethics, his cooking is vegan (with a Venezuelan flair). “We’ve connected to, not only to latinos, but also to immigrant people from other countries and ethnicities,” Alvarado explained. “We all feel very identified with the immigrant struggle. In the band and orchestra we are all either immigrants or the kids of immigrants.”Gabe Allen · Mar 7, 2022

FeaturesStill Thirsty: G. Love & The Juice Stir it UpThe band still carries his name, but G. Love is taking a step back from the spotlight.Dan England · Feb 23, 2022

FeaturesThe Collection: Better to Get Lost Than Never to Have Lived at AllOn the last day of 2021, David Wimbish, a millennial, posted a viral video on TikTok.Gabe Allen · Feb 11, 2022

FeaturesCommon Ancestor: LowDown Brass Band’s New Hotness Has Roots“LowDown Brass Band has roots in the Jazz education world,” MC Billa Camp tells BandWagon, “but the Jazz education world has the habit of treating Jazz like an island. As if – Jazz isn’t birthed from the same struggle as Hip Hop. As if they are not Black father and son, born fighting the same fight.” Lowdown Nights, the latest and most future-leaning record from LowDown Brass Band, was appropriately released during Black History Month. It takes things further out of the pigeonhole and into the pan-genre stage, using the history of the African American experience as its guide. Especially with the hit single “Be The One Tonight,” they go mainstream – and that’s a good thing. The collective has enough talent within its ranks to deliver a show with as much variety as Beyoncés 2018 Homecoming at Coachella. It’s the multi-lingual, multicultural, multi-genre kind of mainstream pop and dance music that encapsulates the musical stew of 2022.Kevin Johnston · Feb 10, 2022

FeaturesSpoke In A Wheel: Zachary Williams of The Lone Bellow Hits the Road with Dirty CamaroZachary Williams, whose powerful voice drove him out from the Brooklyn Bar4 open-mic world and onto the international stage, is best known as the belting leader of The Lone Bellow. His new solo record Dirty Camaro is indeed an escape from that band’s gravity; one that’s weird, head-turning, soulful and fresh. Williams says “I’ve wanted to do it for a long time – really, right after Jim James from My Morning Jacket released his solo record.” He says James had “graciously come out to a couple of my shows,” and the two connected. What began as a two day trial session resulted in the full length record. The album is rich with expert pedal steel guitar, orchestral strings, saxophone and a Texas-band backbone that really cooks.Kevin Johnston · Feb 9, 2022

MusicAlbum Review: Fast Eddy – Take A LookAs modern rock groups lean into synthesized productions, Denver’s Fast Eddy keeps the standard rock ‘n roll traditions alive in their new full-length album Take A Look.Valerie Vampola · Feb 3, 2022

FeaturesMom Rock Wants To Kiss You On The MouthIndie quartet of Berklee graduates is full of love for fans on their first ever national tour .Gabe Allen · Jan 7, 2022

FeaturesBreak It To Make It: Okey Dokey Hits The CoastIt’s 1 am in San Antonio, Texas and Aaron Martin wants to give you a hug.Kevin Johnston · Dec 7, 2021

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, 2021

FeaturesBandWagon 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, 2021

MusicSingle Review: Elektric Animals – “Cheers”Elektrik Animals dish up alternative rock and upbeat feelings without superficial optimism on the new single “Cheers.”Valerie Vampola · Nov 24, 2021