Blogs

Betcha didn't know that Dylan played the piano for a stripper in Central City once. Okay, so maybe some of you did, but I certainly didn't. Not until I stumbled across this Times Online article touting unreleased photos of the young troubadour taken by his friend Barry Feinstein (none were actually taken in Denver, though, as it turns out). The pics are still worth checking out, as is the article, in which Feinstein briefly recounts the pair's meeting Denver, which is where they first became acquainted. -- Dave Herrera

LOCALS ONLY
The online Colorado hip-hop show Out Tha Box TV will celebrate two years on air next month and they’re beginning their third year with a bang. The online show will be heading to television sets on May 14 on the ION Network at 3 p.m.
“We were looking for a station that was on the move, and a company that we could grow with,” said the show’s director and producer, Rob G. “ION (which was previously PAX) was recently purchased by NBC/Universal , and they are in a growth process, so we figured we could help them and they can help us... It's a great fit! We were in talks with other stations but ION is much better suited to our audience because they have a broadcast signal as well as cable and satellite feeds.”

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Wilco
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Pikes Peak Center, Colorado Springs
Better Than: The last time I saw Wilco at the Fillmore.

The first time I heard the live version of Wilco’s “Handshake Drugs” from Kicking Television I was floored by the guitar solo in the middle and the pure sonic wash of three guitars at the end of the song. I thought, "OK, this version completely kicks the ass of the studio version of on A Ghost is Born." Then I thought, “Who the hell was playing that guitar solo?” Not to knock Jeff Tweedy’s guitar chops, but I was pretty damn sure it wasn’t him.

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Henry Butler
PiaNOLA Live
(Basin Street)

As noted in a 2006 Westword profile, Henry Butler once owned a house in New Orleans’ Gentilly neighborhood – but Hurricane Katrina destroyed the structure and pretty much everything else in it. Somehow, though, a number of live recordings he made over the years managed to come through the storm intact. PiaNOLA Live, whose release Butler will celebrate on Saturday, May 10, at Dazzle, contains selections from several of them, recorded at various events between the mid-‘80s and 2007. They combine to form a fine portrait of an artist whose indomitable spirit echoes through his every note.

The co-producer here is George Winston, whose work often falls into the (eeesh) new age category. Nevertheless, there’s nothing tepid about Butler’s performances, which are marked by strength and vigor. Just two originals are included: “Orleans Inspiration,” an energetic instrumental, and “Let 'Em Roll,” which Butler co-wrote with guitarist Corey Harris, another performer with Denver connections. Still, his interpretations of ditties such as the rollicking Chris Penner tune “Something You Got,” Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and, naturally, “Ol’ Man River” turn out to be just as personal as the material that flowed from his own pen, and equally inspirational.

Butler lost a great deal when Katrina hit – but thank goodness he was able to salvage PiaNOLA Live. -- Michael Roberts

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Who: The Magic Mice

Dossier: Formed last year, the Magic Mice feature Aaron Betcher and Chad Peterson, both formerly of O'er the Ramparts.

In Their Words: Wisely, these cats opt to let the music speak for itself.

Sounds Like: Breathy and languid one moment, on songs like "Body slash Soul," and vibrant and expansive the next, on tracks such as "Dreams of Reason," the Magic Mice play a brand of classic, guitar-driven indie pop that would be completely at home on labels like Merge or Barsuk. Download "Stormcoated" here.

Our Take:The Magic Mice have played only a handful of shows so far, none of which we've been able to catch. But if the live show is half as good as the few songs we've heard, this band will have absolutely no problem finding an audience -- and quickly.

-- Dave Herrera

Literally, just moments before I was getting ready to post the flier for this week's edition of Pole Position, I came across a post on the DMB praising the banner above, touting Demon Funkies' CD-release show on Thursday, May 29, at the Bluebird. After seeking it out (I use Firefox with the ad-block extension), I'd have to say that even though it wasn't strapped to a utility pole, the imagery was striking enough to edge out the one I had snagged on the way to work this morning. Nice work. Props to whoever designed the artwork (flier girl Kristy?) -- which also doubles as the cover of the new record. -- Dave Herrera

I like nice people and good music. Fortunately for all of us, Denver is absolutely brimming with both. In fact, you could spend your whole weekend stumbling from venue to venue and never run out of potential makeout partners.

As much as I love good music, the joy I take in catching some of my favorite Denver bands comes as much from who they are as what they play. Looking through this year’s Westword Music Showcase ballot, I can’t help thinking of all the great people behind all this great music.

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Just received word from Live Nation (natch) that the "world's tastiest sweetheart" will be bringing her Sticky & Sweet tour to the Pepsi Center on Saturday, November 1. Tickets for Madge's first-ever trip to the Mile High City go on sale on Saturday, May 31. Gay dudes and wistful soccer moms from the classes of 1984-1989 are reportedly stoked. -- Dave Herrera

C'mon, you didn't really think you'd make it through Thursday without a Flobots' (still numero uno at Twist & Shout and currently holding down the third slot on Billboard's Modern Rock chart, BTW) update, now, did you? On Tuesday, May 20, the outfit's label, Universal Republic, is slated to unleash Fight With Tools upon the masses. To commemorate the occasion, the new Dirty UK-directed video for "Handlebars" will make its worldwide debut. Don't want to wait that long to get a peek? Don't worry. Click here to check it out. Those outside of Denver hoping to catch a glimpse of Jonny 5 and the crew will have to look elsewhere, though, as the entire clip is animated -- not to mention a little too glacially paced (at least at the beginning; it picks up toward the end) and literal for our tastes.

-- Dave Herrera

We're knee-deep into Depression 2.0. We're running out of jobs, and we're overwhelmed with the amount of people looking for them. You're unemployed — or if you aren't, then there's a good chance that you will be, because your job can be combined with the guy in accounting and the receptionist, and so you can head home. You're not the first, though. Musicians love writing about work — or a lack thereof. With that in mind, here's a mix (in its entirety; an abbreviated list appears in the print version this week's issue) for you to listen to while you wait for that first unemployment check to roll in:

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Before Margaret Cho arrived in town for the May 3 performance of her one-woman show, Beautiful, her manager contacted once-and-future masseuse Mike Jones, who’s back in Denver after putting his one-man play, Naked B4 God: Exposing the Hypocrisy of Ted Haggard, on hiatus.

Cho wanted to meet Jones, the manager said. And so Saturday night, Jones stopped backstage at the Paramount, where he got this picture and heard Cho call him a "heroic ho." He could have lived without the "ho part," Jones reports. -- Patricia Calhoun

Photo by Stephanie Berger from laurieanderson.com

Before Laurie Anderson came to perform at the Boulder Theatre last month, she chatted at length with Michael Roberts about her new project, Homeland. But as it turns out, she was about to make a change in her own homeland's status, by marrying long-time live-in Lou Reed.

The April 12 marriage ceremony was conducted by Nick Forster, the co-host of etown who just happens to have a certificate of ordination from the Universal Life Church, which he got in order to help facilitate etown's renovation of an old church in town.

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Jemina Pearl Abegg may be the lead singer of Be Your Own Pet, a Nashville combo profiled in Westword’s May 8 edition, but she’s hardly rejected her family in favor of punk-rock mayhem. Far from it: The following conversation took place while she was riding in a car piloted by her father, photographer and guitarist Jimmy Abegg. She used his cell phone, since she’d lost hers a few days earlier, and even asked him a question to confirm her memory.

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"Hey, you guys like magic?"

It was Saturday night, and I was standing outside Scruffy Murphy's, 2030 Larimer Street, with Chris Shelby, Dave Lamoth, Braden Rauen and Andy McQueen of sixtysixdays, a local Irish-rebel-music band taking a smoke break before starting their first set of the evening. We were catching up when an older, slightly unkempt man passing by spoke the above words.

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Fresh off of an overheated performance at Coachella launching its latest tour, DeVotchKa continues to garner great national exposure. Next Friday, May 16, NPR will be broadcasting the act's Washington DC show at 9:30 Club live for its All Songs Considered program. Then, three nights later, the eve before its Terminal 5 gig in NYC, the band is slated to perform on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Complete tour dates after the jump.

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