Jonn Hawley

JONN HAWLEY @ FUNKY BUDDHA | SAT, 4/20/13
It's extra awesome that Audio Indika is facilitating this year's 4/20 show at the Funky Buddha, and those responsible loading the decks have outdone themselves by bringing Jonn Hawley to town. The Minneapolis-based DJ/producer has more than twenty years of experience, and he's been a fixture in the underground Twin Cities scene for at least that long. No one spins house music like Hawley spins house music; his sound is a tad more insistent and robust than most house tracks you'll hear, but he retains the sassy, soulful vibe that Chicago made famous, adding a unique twist to make it all his own. Catch him with the rest of the Audio Indika crew. (9 p.m., 21+, no cover)

See also:
- Maya Jane Coles on her quick rise in America
- The best EDM shows in April
- The twelve best concerts in Denver this weekend

LUCERO @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | THURS, 4/18/13
Outside of perhaps the Hold Steady -- which shares a proclivity for Bruce Springsteen -- nobody plays straight-up rock these days as convincingly as Lucero. Led by Ben Nichols's gravelly croak, Lucero borrows liberally from the Boss and Lynyrd Skynyrd on songs with swaggering piano lines and organ flourishes that have just enough sunburned Southern-rock licks on the outfit's ditties to remind us that they're indeed from Dixie, the land of Skynyrd, and not Jersey.

See also:
- Johnny Marr on how he created the sound for "How Soon Is Now?" without effects
- Slightly Stoopid's Miles Doughty on playing at Red Rocks on 4/20 and couch-lock ganja
- Raekwon's thoughts on storytelling in hip-hop

GREEN VELVET @ BETA | SAT, 4/13/13
Curtis Alan Jones created the Green Velvet persona to head up his deejaying gigs, and in the early 1990s, his productions (including "The Stalker" and "Preacher Man") gained the attention of dance fiends all over the world. The Chicago house legend has been refining the Green Velvet sound ever since. Dabbling with bass and flirting with minimal techno in his sets and productions, he displays a versatility and selective ear that have kept him current for more than two decades -- but his tunes are also guaranteed to contain that soulful, funky, distinctive imprint that Chicago house left on dance music (and on Green Velvet) back in the day. Cognition + T-Rav and 1Boy1Girl will join the master at the decks.

See also:
- The ten best EDM shows in Denver this April
- The ten best metal shows in Denver this April
- The ten best hip-hop shows in Denver this April

CHUCK RAGAN @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | SAT, 4/13/13
Chuck Ragan first made his mark as the frontman of Hot Water Music, one of the more highly influential punk acts to emerge in the '90s. Fueled by youthful exuberance and inspired in part by the music that surrounding the skateboarding culture of the time, the band was loud and aggressive, yet there was still an undeniable vulnerability built into the band's sound that had a broader appeal than its component parts could alone. Toward the middle part of the last decade when that band went on hiatus (it has since reconvened), Ragan ventured off on his own and applied his gravelly baritone to songs with more of a country and folk flavor. Here he appears solo on the Revival Tour with Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Rocky Votolato, Dave Hause and Jenny O.

See also:
- Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music on finally being able to record at the Blasting Room
- Chuck Ragan on touring solo with Social Distortion
- Concert at Governor's Mansion to be broadcast live to benefit Mike Marchant

Eva Vermandel

SIGUR ROS @ 1STBANK CENTER | SAT, 4/6/13
The Sugarcubes and Bjork garnered tremendous exposure for Iceland as a source of significant and innovative pop music, but it was Sigur Ros that gave the island nation's music a bit of mystery. It is too simplistic to call this music post-rock, because it's also ambient, symphonic and accessibly avant-garde. The 1999 breakthrough album Ágætis byrjun quickly established the members of Sigur Ros as creators of music that both stirs and soothes the spirit. The moody yet uplifting layers of sound and ocean-wave-like rhythms the band creates lends the songs a larger-than-life expansiveness that many aim for but never quite achieve.

See also:
- Inspired by Twin Peaks, Matt Skellenger explores duality on his latest album
- The Shady Elders on their name and having a truly democratic band dynamic
- Meet Cicely O'Kain, burgeoning R&B sensation

Britt Chester

Nicole Cacciavillano of sub.mission

SUB.MISSION ANNIVERSARY @ BOPPO! | SAT, 4/6/13
Sub.mission knows dubstep, and to mark another year of its devotion to the true sound, Nicole Cacciavillano and her crew are hosting a real U.K. underground-style throwdown with V.I.V.E.K., who performed at last year's party. He's set to perform alongside the entire roster of Sub.mission residents, who will rotating throughout the night with Kaiju and Grimblee. -- Britt Chester

See also:
- The ten best EDM shows in Denver this April
- Sub.mission crew reflects on five years of bringing dubstep to Denver
- With Sub.mission, Nicole Cacciavillano brings dubstep to the masses

Alicia J. Rose

LEFTOVER SALMON @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | FRI & SAT, 3/29-3/30
Leftover Salmon has graced the the bluegrass scene with their talents for 23 years and counting. With the passing of Mark Vann in 2001, the band hasn't produced an album in eight years. The addition of Andy Thorn, carried over from Emmitt-Nershi Band, sparked a new interest in touring and inspiration is in a steady flow among the members, and the band went on to release Aquatic Hitchhikers last May.

See also:
- Leftover Salmon's Vince Herman on the string music revolution kicking dubstep's ass
- Matt Morris's music gets an extreme makeover
- Reno Divorce's Brent Loveday bets on sobriety to win

THUGFUCKER @ NORAD | SAT, 3/30/13
The duo collectively known as Thugfucker doesn't take themselves very seriously, despite collaborating to form the Life and Death brand -- a name you might remember from assorted showcases and live shows last year, including a stop at the AfterHours Anonymous anniversary party. Although some tales report the duo (Holmar Filipsson and Greg Oreck) meeting by chance atop a mountain in Iceland, odds are that the story of them encountering one another for the first time at a party in a European brothel is more likely to be true.

See also:
- Mark Farina on Chicago house, Mushroom Jazz and what's new for him in 2011
- The ten best EDM shows of 2012
- The ten best EDM songs of 2012

CONSPIRATOR @ OGDEN THEATRE | SAT, 3/23/13
Conspirator is an apt name for this supergroup of sorts, which comprises members of several well-known acts. Exploring the ethereal realms of EDM, the quartet -- Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits, KJ Sawka of Pendulum and Chris Michetti of RAQ -- incorporates numerous genres into its sound. Each player brings a necessary component to the music, implementing his own take on a specialized blend of dance and rock, from explosive keyboard solos and melodic guitar riffs to thundering bass lines and drumbeats that would make the most earnest drum-and-bass enthusiast salivate.

See also:
- Cephalic Carnage: Meet the masters of heady metal
- When Disco Biscuits moonlights, they call it Conspirator
- Lee Konitz on working in the trio format and the importance of a good drummer

RAY OKPARA @ BETA | FRI, 3/22/13
Unlike most DJs out of Germany, Ray Okpara leans more toward the house end of the tech-house spectrum -- and that's to the benefit of his legions of fans all over the world, because Okpara has polished a streamlined, minimal-leaning version that's still overflowing with house's soul and funk influence.

See also:
- Why EDM is thriving while other genres aren't
- The ten best EDM shows of 2012
- The ten best EDM songs of 2012