The National Parks Tell Their Story

November 1, 2017

Brady Parks, vocalist and songwriter of The National Parks, was drawn to folk music by the storytelling aspect of the genre. “There is something about telling a whole life story in a three minute song,” he said in a recent interview with BandWagon Magazine. It’s this love for folk music and conveying himself artistically that eventually led him to form The National Parks in 2013 and there was no turning back.

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Album Review: Pandas & People – Out to Sea

Pandas & People’s debut album, Out To Sea, is good. And, frankly, it should be. Pandas & People have been together since 2013, putting out EP’s and singles, opening for the likes of the Doobie Brothers and Twenty- One Pilots, and placing in the top three of 93.3‘s “Hometown for the Holidays” twice over the last couple years. Not bad for a folk/alternative band formed in Greeley only four years ago.

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Album Review: Ian Mahan – Rockford

September 1, 2017

Ian Mahan, based out of Denver, says he blends together pop, blues, folk, “and old-time entertainment,” and his latest album, Rockford, particularly leans toward an acoustic indie/pop blend with gentle, relaxing lyrics. The album could be called sweet, or in less generous terms, sappy. But for an independent singer-songwriter, Rockford is a good step forward.

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Album Review: Edison– Familiar Spirit

January 9, 2017

Denver-based folk/rock outfit Edison, consisting of singer/guitarist Sarah Slaton, multi-instrumentalist Dustin Morris and former Lumineers guitarist Maxwell Hughes gave been around since late 2014, and spent most of that time on the road. The hustling paid off as the trio signed with Rhyme & Reason Records in late 2016 and soon after released their first album, Familiar Spirit.

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Blues Jam Spotlight: Davy Knowles

June 6, 2016

Growing up in the Isle of Man, 29-year-old blues musician Davy Knowles learned to play guitar by listening to records he’d find in his father’s collection, which included artists like Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher, Oasis and Eric Clapton. At 19, after sharpening his skills in the local music circuit, he opted to split for America, where he toured with his band, Back Door Slam.

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New Music Monday: Mac Demarco — “The Way You’d Love Her”

May 18, 2015

“The Way You’d Love Her” is the lead single from Another One, the mini-LP scheduled for an August 7th release. The track doesn’t do much to push outside Demarco’s wobbly-kneed stoner yodels, but I’m not sure anyone wanted him to. I know I didn’t. “The Way You’d Love Her” features the same smiley strumming and light keyboard work we have come to expect, though the vocal ventures closer to earlier works from Rock and Rock Night Club. Demarco creates a lazy river with his melodies, which the listeners glide abidingly down. The author has an unusual knack for writing melodies that feel upbeat, while creating a sneaking feeling that the content doesn’t echo the sentiment.

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New Music Monday: Mumford & Sons — Wilder Mind

May 11, 2015

Mumford may have gained their fame riding (some say starting) the wave of popularity for pop-folk music, but Wilder Mind finds the band ditching almost all of their familiarly twangy tunes for a fairly straight laced alternative rock sound. In place of fever pitched banjos come shining, sometimes dry guitars. The resulting sound places them closer to War on Drugs, Ryan Adams, or Ben Howard than any of their pop-folk contemporaries.

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