“Everyone should start a band.
You’ll begin by gathering some friends to meet in a dingy classroom and start practice on a drum set with busted heads and an amp with crunchy outputs.
You’ll be bad at first. Or maybe not terrible, but awkward and too loud. But it will be fun to make noise and write songs that aren’t so serious, and maybe a few that are. You’ll laugh harder than you have in years. You’ll leave practice looking forward to the next one.
You’ll play a show …”
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Colorado mainstay metallers Draghoria have long been a force to be reckoned with. Their latest effort, Dangerous Species, has not only maintaineed their place on the mountain but have effectively secured their territory at the top.
Draghoria is known in the Colorado community for sheer, sonic brutality, creating an amalgamation of old-school thrash and modern metal held together by forceful melodies, unmatched musicianship, and nods to a plethora of styles that scream (pun intended) pure metal.
J.R.’s life as a touring bluesman came later than some. In his late 20’s, he was living in Brooklyn, bartending and teaching at a pre-school. He had a masters degree in printmaking, but the medium was quickly being usurped by digital alternatives. Still, he needed a creative outlet.
A few years before, J.R.’s college roommate had introduced him to a song that made him fall in love with the blues. It was Blind Lemon Jefferson, a 1920’s singer and guitarist who is sometimes credited as the “Father of the Texas Blues.”
“I had never heard that raw, gritty passion in anything else,” he said. “It just kind of leveled me.”
From then on, J.R. spent his in-between time — in between work, school, relationships and everything else — playing the blues.
“There were a lot of DIY venues that popped up in loft spaces or garages. They were perfect for the type of music I was playing,” he explained. “All you needed was a condenser microphone, a picnic table and a cooler of PBR.”
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The Greeley Stampede’s new stage was built with Brad Paisley in mind.
The last time he played here, in 2007, Paisley had 10 semi-trailers full of equipment, said Justin Watada, executive director of the Stampede. Way back then, three “up and coming” acts performed with Paisley, including a young lady named Taylor Swift.
The brand new stage is bigger and much better, with all the fixins you’d expect from a show at Red Rocks, including a platform that will allow the artists to walk 50 feet out into the crowd. And Paisley is back as the Stampede’s biggest act in a lineup that includes Stone Temple Pilots, Jon Pardi, Cole Swindell and Jordan Davis.
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During the pandemic, Joy Scout’s Paul Beverage brought home a tabby named Josie, wrote a punk-infused 12-bar blues about her and he wants you to know about it. Mee-ow!
Continue reading Colorado mainstay metallers Draghoria have long been a force to be reckoned with. Their latest effort, Dangerous Species, has not only maintaineed their place on the mountain but have effectively secured their territory at the top.
Draghoria is known in the Colorado community for sheer, sonic brutality, creating an amalgamation of old-school thrash and modern metal held together by forceful melodies, unmatched musicianship, and nods to a plethora of styles that scream (pun intended) pure metal.
Fort Collins-based Dead Man’s Alibi keeps a post-grunge metal sound while tossing in some blues on their debut. They have a classic early 2000’s sound, with some Alice in Chains mixed in on tracks like “Hole In A Hat,” and “Lowly Saint” which feature roaring guitars and rowdy drum grooves.
The vocals show some grit but shy away from the screaming and growling most bands these days employ. Epic guitar solos call up Judas Priest, but what makes Dead Man’s Alibi cool is the blues influence in their sound.
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At the end of most of his gigs, and in conversations with other musicians or friends, Ben Puchalski gets the question: “Dude, why aren’t you bigger?”
Puchalski, these days, answers with a shrug, and that’s not because he’s a little tired of answering it, even though, truth be told, he kinda is.
“You always try to increase your fan base no matter how long you’ve been doing it.”
“I’ve had a lot of good fans, especially through the pandemic,” he said. “They really kept me afloat. They still come out. It’s unfathomable.”
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