Denver Music Blog

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Mama mia!: Mama, the outfit led by frontman Jeff Leonetti and Jonny Barber (aka Chris Barber, frontman of Spiv and the Velvet Elvis), has signed a distribution deal with Steve Vai's Digital Nations imprint. The label, an offshoot of Vai's Favored Nations, will handle worldwide distribution of Bayoutopia, the act's excellent debut, previously released on Barber's Pop Sweatshop imprint. Digital-Nations will also distribute Toxikinesis, the much anticipated follow-up to Bayoutopia, which is still being recorded at Church of Rock.

Promotion in motion: DJ Trajikk, on behalf of Triad Dragons Entertainment, the folks behind such wildly popular dance events such as Caffiene, Frostbite and Candybeats, has put out a call to all fellow Denver area dance promoters to meet at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 9, at Beta. The meeting, he stresses, is open strictly to promoters.

Beep if you're a bassist: The Legendary Beep Beeps, a promising outfit led by Frankie Abbatecola, is in the hunt for a new bassist. The band, which has a new album in the works that it's been recording at Rocky Mountain Recorders, urges interested four stringers reach out to the band directly.

Most Wanted, still wanted:  Police have evidently determined the identity of Gorilla, the 25-year-old Denver-based rapper they've been seeking since last week. His name, according to DPD spokesman Sonny Jackson, is Daniel Montoya and he is reportedly armed and dangerous and still at large.

​In response to an overwhelming demand from fans looking to pitch in after yesterday's news that the annual fall Festival is struggling financially, Monolith organizers have set up a Kickstarter account and have set an initial two-week goal of raising $38,000 in donations towards an overall goal of $200,000 to keep the festival going. Check back later today for a full, in-depth interview with Josh Baker.

​Just received word from Josh Baker, co-curator of Monolith, that the future of the indie-centric festival is uncertain. (Read Baker's full statement after the jump.) Although the turnout for this year's festival seemed to increase slightly from year's past and the lineup itself seemed more solid than ever, with headliners like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Mars Volta, the picturesque annual two-day outing at Red Rocks is now finding itself in the precarious position of having to seek new investors to keep the festival going after its third year.

Despite the well wishes of many music fans, ourselves included, and the gracious underwriting of corporate sponsors such as Esurance, who fully embraced the festival for the same reason as fans, namely the festival's knack for landing forward thinking acts -- the prescient booking of a number of buzz bands such as Vampire Weekend and Phoenix, for instance, who went on to make huge inroads -- this outcome, unfortunately, seemed foreseeable, especially when organizers parted ways with AEG Live, the promoter who produced the 2008 installment of the festival and who opted out this year.

Talent aside, fact is, the annual fall festival, although affordable and appealing to astute music fans, faced an uphill climb from the beginning and endured its share of obstacles, not the least of which was the elements. Although there's nothing quite like a September afternoon in Colorado, the evenings can be more than a little unforgiving. Monolith also seemed to be undermined by the very thing that made the it so appealing to so many of us, the fact that it catered to passionate music fans by creating exposure for talented emerging acts at the exclusion of appealing to mainstream interlopers by booking artists that had already broken on a massive scale otherwise.

All hope is not lost, however. If Baker and company can manage to align themselves with an accommodating benefactor, there's still a glimmer of hope that Monolith will continue. In the absence of that, though, it looks like Red Rocks will seem a little less magical for music fans at the end of next year's summer concert season.

Brother, can you spare a couple hundred thousand dollars?

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Kevin Geraghty is back in LoDo. After being out of the game for a number of years running his own software company, the former owner of Brendan's Blues Pub is back to doing what he does best, bringing in and spotlighting the best blues music to town. "We're putting the band back together," says Geraghty of stepping in over Blues On Blake Supper Club (1925 Blake Street) and tapping some familar faces from his former staff to pitch in, including fomer barkeep Brian Handlos and former GM of Brendan's Geno Cherenzia. During the mid to late '90s at its original location on 16th and Market, Brendan's was a hub for the blues -- or home of the blues, as it called itself. In the early part of this decade, Geraghty and company moved down the block to an old pawn shop on the corner of 20th and Larimer that it subsequently renovated and re-opened under the Brendan's moniker. Geraghty eventually closed up shop and the space was rechristened as the Marquis Theater, its current name. Stop by Blues On Blake this Friday at 8 p.m. to say hello to Geraghty and gang and then stick around to catch a 90-minute set from Samuel James.

​Update: Suspicions partially confirmed. We just heard back from Young Coyotes frontman Zach Tipton, and he shed a little more light on the future of the band. Tipton assures us first and foremost that he and drummer Adam Halferty are still friends and on good terms. Just the same, they have decided to take a "hiatus while we both do what's exciting to us at the moment." For Tipton, that means he's going to focus on I Am the Dot and will be working on some other artsy projects, including some documentaries and soundtracking. He's also planning on doing some traveling and spending some time with his family, all while being, "continuously poor," as he puts it. Halferty, meanwhile, has embarked on a solo project of his own called American Tomhawk, which should be making its debut soon. "This year was crazy and brought unexpected opportunities to both of our plates," says Tipton. "So we're doing what we've always done, which is go with whatever happens naturally. We do have a few songs we never recorded; we might put out another EP, but no one knows for sure."

​The vast and seemingly boundless creativity of the artists in this town never ceases to impress nor inspire us, from the Stand By Your Band series to Mike Marchant's new songwriter workshops over at the Meadowlark. Recently, we came across another thing that folks are doing that we thought was pretty neat, the Denver Show and Tell Project. With a new set of guidelines posted every month, Show and Tell is basically a project in which various artists -- the project is open to anyone interested in participating -- take a month to write a song within specific guidelines, could be a theme, a song to cover or a style in which to work from. For instance, the most recent November challenge involves getting your parents to perform on the song. Once the songs are finished they are then posted for consumption. The whole process is intended to be fun and spark creativity. A ton of acts have already participated including nervesandgel, BDRMPPL, Littles Paia, Married in Berdichev, I Am the Dot and Weed Diamond, among others. Better get your going. The deadline to participate in this month's assignment is Sunday, November 29.

​Over the years, I've had the chance to put up a number of touring bands for the night. Most were friends, while some were merely friends of friends who rolled into town unexpectedly and reached out in hopes of scoring a place to crash and maybe do some laundry. Almost invariably, all of these acts brought along a friend from back home, who wasn't officially in the band but you'd never know it from seeing the way they all interacted with one another. Generally, the extra guy was usually someone from back home who minded the merch, helped load gear or, most importantly, helped pitch in with the driving. Way back when my old band toured, our buddy Trevor filled that role for us. Even though we were out for just a short time, the value of having another friendly face from home among us cannot be overstated. Trent Jacobi sounds exactly like that sort of selfless friend.

Nat Motte (left) is the ticket master.

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Planning on going to the 3OH!3 show next month at the Fillmore? Have you picked up your tickets yet? No? Slackers. Lucky for you, they're still available. Even better, this Sunday afternoon from noon to 2 p.m. at the Fillmore box office, you can purchase your tickets directly from Nat Motte himself, minus the service fees. Can't remember the last time we heard about [insert any random rock star's name here] taking such a hands-on approach. Not sure what that's all about, but how often does something like this happen? If this goes well, word has it Motte will also valet your car outside the Fillmore on the night of the show. (Yes, we made that last part up. You're on your own for parking.)

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Update 11/05/09: Just received word that Dent will be filming part of the "Sunshowers" video at the Shoppe (3103 E. Colfax) this Saturday night and is looking for local peeps to appear in the clip. Owing to the fact that hardly any locals will make the trip out to Gotham for the shoot mentioned below, Dent is making a point to give his hometown fans some shine. Hit up @MarzMacchio on Twitter for more info.

[orig. post: 09/24/09] Dent is preparing to head to New York in early November for a five-day video shoot with Sunsaytional, Jaysun Loushin's production company. Loushin, who has previously worked on videos for Joe Budden and Charles Hamilton, is planning to film the video for "Sunshowers" on location throughout Brooklyn, culminating with a loft party on the last night of the shoot. Dent and Loushin are currently seeking extras. If you'll be in Gotham anytime from Monday, November 9 through Saturday, November 14, and would like to be onset, feel free to reach out to Loushin directly. In the meantime, check out "Sunshowers" after the jump and catch Dent at the B-Boy benefit for Chunkroc this weekend at Guerilla Garden.

​A while back, Paul Riola gave up his post as program director and treasurer at Creative Music Works to focus on making music with his Bottesini Project. With as passionate as Riola clearly was about the organization during his time there, the decision must've been made with much consideration. Before departing from CMW, the music he was creating with the Bottesini Project was well enough received, both locally and in places like San Francisco, where Riola and company played an impromptu set this past May, that he saw great potential to cultivate the project even further and embark on even more intriguing improvisational collaborations. Over the past few months, the Bottesini Project has made some great strides, from issuing another great album, Naima's Grass Pajamas, which features Nels Cline, Janet Feder, CacheFlowe and Keenan Wayne, to pulling together another compelling live outting at Notably Fine Audio last month. Capitalizing on this momentum in an effort to gain some national traction, Riola is taking the show back on the road and setting up shop in Chicago at the Hungry Brain in Chicago on Sunday, November 15. This time around, the perpetually shifting lineup will feature Riola leading the group on saxophone, with Josh Berman on trumpet, Jeff Parker of Tortoise on guitars, Mark Clifford on vibes, Josh Abrams on bass and Antwon Owens on drums. Sounds like Riola's creativity is at its peak right now. Creative Music Works indeed.

Jeremy Cowart

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Just heard about an sweet opportunity for cello players that we thought we'd let you know about: Imogen Heap is evidently looking for someone local to play the "slightly mad cello part" for "Aha!" with her on stage on Sunday, November 15, at the Boulder Theater during her Etown appearance. While we'd like to tell you that this is a special gesture just for her Colorado fans, truth is, she's actually inviting a different cellist in each city to perform with her. Even so, sounds like a cool, once-in-a-lifetime type experience. Heap will be auditioning players remotely from her hotel room via Vokle a few days prior to each gig. In our case, this means next week. Download the sheet music for "Aha!" and get more information on her website. Have strings, will travel? Let your fingers do the walking.

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Update 11/03/09: Just received word that I Am the Dot's self-titled debut EP will be available tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4, from Brother Bear Records at the online music retailer of your choice. The EP, mixed and mastered by Matt Wilcox in his home studio, contains four tracks, "Love Song for Camus," "Middle of April," "Detroit, MI" and "Oranges."

What to do when your drummer hits the road for the entire summer as a touring member of one of the country's hottest bands at the moment? Easy. If you're Zach Tipton from Young Coyotes, you busy yourself doing what you do best -- writing songs. And then tap Matt Wilcox to co-produce, mix and master your debut EP. The result: I Am the Dot, Tipton's excellent solo endeavor. So what's it sound like? Quite a bit like minimalist indie pop of Young Coyotes (natch) but with slightly more texture thanks to programmed beats and burly bass lines, particularly on tunes such as "Middle of April." Don't take our word for it, though. By all means, give it a listen for yourself. You'll be glad you did. [original post: 07.29.09]

Pamela Littky

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Update 11/02: Just received word that Dashboard Confessional has postponed its upcoming tour due to "a family situation that is beyond our control," including a scheduled appearance at the Fillmore on Monday, November 9. No word on when the dates will be rescheduled or how this new development will impact Single File's touring plans. We'll keep you posted as more information becomes available.

[posted: 10/27/09] Been a while since we've heard anything from Single File, but it looks like the act is getting ready to get back on the road in earnest with two back-to-back tours slated to take up the bulk of the next two months. On Tuesday, November 10, the band heads out on the AbsolutePunk.net tour for more than a dozen dates with Mercy Mercedes, The Dangerous Summer and Between the Trees. Almost immediately after that tour finishes at the end of November, Single File will then provide support for the upcoming Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory and Never Shout Never tour, which kicks off in Columbia, South Carolina on Monday, November 30. In the meantime, the act is getting ready to premier "Miss Cherry Lipgloss," the forthcoming single from the outfit's latest effort, Common Struggles. See full tour dates after the jump.

​Just a bit ago, Blackhearts, the thus far super secret collaboration between Yonnas Abraham of the Pirate Signal, F.O.E. and Karma, made its online debut with a track called "Bloodlines of That Gangsta Shhh." According to Abraham, the still burgeoning outfit will expand to include collaborations with other artists such as Catch Lungs, Whygee, Naeem Oba, Haven, 800, Sunkenstate, ManeRok, DJ Cavem, Swaun Blaze, Isis, Acezi, Bianca Mckahn, Deca and Adam Halferty of Young Coyotes and Brandon from the Chain Gang of 1974. The debut track, recorded at W.A.R. studios in Boulder, is as incendiary as you expect from this trio of MCs, who are each forceful and compelling in their own right. A full-length is expected at some point, though right now Abraham's primary focus is on his own album, No Weak Heart Shall Prosper, which he's set to being recording next week. In the meantime, Blackhearts members, which have already been making cameos in each other's sets, will continue to sit in as the opportunity presents itself.

​A group of engineering students who are passionate about music? The mere notion seems incongruous, like, say, a group of accountants forming an art appreciation club and then getting together periodically to discuss the works of Van Gogh and Michaelangelo. Nonetheless, that's exactly the basis for Something Like Sound, a blog launched by the staff of the Colorado School of Mines newspaper, the Oredigger. Frequently updated, Something Like Sound has steadily become a trusted resource when it comes to local music. Bolstering its coverage even further, the blog has put together a local-centric music comp that will be available for download beginning tomorrow. The eleven-track collection, titled Colorado Sounds, features previously released songs from The Photo Atlas, Young Coyotes, Houses and Hello Kavita, among others. Beyond the digital comp, the blog also plans to handcraft more than 200 cassette mixtape versions of the comp. See the artwork and full track list after the jump.

Jordana Sturaro

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It's with more than a tinge of sadness that we report this next item: yet another promising Denver-based outfit has hit the skids. Mustangs & Madras, a post-hardcore act that unabashedly wore its heart on its sleeve like the best emo bands that inspired it, has decided to part ways. After three records and multiple tours, the members have succumbed to burnout. "There came a point where we felt we couldn't out-do ourselves on the last record we made," says guitarist Eddie Maestas-Vigil, of the band's forthcoming album, which is slated for release in the next month or two, "and a couple of us weren't willing to do another tour on it." As with most breakups, there were some personal issues that contributed to the decision to call it quits, issues that have since been resolved, says Maestas-Vigil, who assures us that all the members are still best friends and still plan to continue making music. Some, in fact, have already embarked on new projects. A final show, which is still in the planning stages, will likely take place after the first of the year at 3 Kings Tavern. Godspeed, fellas.

​Gotta love record companies, especially the majors. What moxie, eh? Even in the midst of steadily declining record sales, that get progressively worse each year, and despite the fact that we're smack dab in a recession with record unemployment, they're still trying to squeeze every penny out of us with these deluxe editions. Hoping to entice us to repurchase music we already own, they ply us with rarities, outtakes and alternate takes. How about giving that to us in the first place? While we're no experts, it seems the secret to turning this whole thing around is so simple a third grader would understand. It begins with quality control, only putting out music that's timeless, and then front loading the first edition with as much value as possible. If this became the new paradigm, we're convinced that the music industry would be revitalized. Too bad nobody's listening. In the meantime, here's another deluxe edition for you to buy, just in time for Christmas. On Tuesday, November 10, Epic Records is releasing a two-disc deluxe edition of the Fray's self-titled sophomore effort, featuring live tracks and outtakes (natch), "Heartless," the Kayne West cover, and "Be the One," the song written as a Valentine's Day challenge issued by Q Magazine. See the full track listing after the jump.

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We're not big sportos around here. We know, right? Hard to imagine. Folks who spend all of their time writing about, talking about, listening to, thinking about and making music, you'd think we'd all be big jocks, especially since we live in such a huge sports town. That in mind, we're not sure how big of a deal this is, but we just heard that Mayne Street, a show hosted by ESPN Sports Center's Kenny Mayne, has reupped with the Boulder Acoustic Society to continue providing music for the show. New episodes begin airing tonight. On a related note, the band has also added a new member. Bassist Neil McCormick, who's played with Andrea Ball and the Claim Jumpers, among others, will now be holding down the lowend for the Society. Violinist Kailin Yong, meanwhile, will be parting ways with the act at the end of the year to focus on the Peace Project Orchestra.

​The Slippery Nipple -- isn't that a great name for the space soon-to-be formally known as Quixotes? Whaddya think? No? How about the Almighty Righteous Room? Not so much? What, you have a better idea? Then let your fingers do the walking, bigshot, and drop the new owners a line with what you think they should rename the joint. From the sounds of it, it will be worth your while. As you've undoubtedly heard by now, Cervantes and Quixotes were sold last month, and the new folks who will be running the place are giving it a facelift and looking for a new name for the latter. If they end up going with the handle you suggest, you'll win a free pass to Cervantes and whatever Quixotes becomes for a year. The new moniker is set to be in place by January 1.

Photo by Ned Radinksy

​Tyler Gilmore, who's been booking shows at Dazzle for the last four and a half years, is leaving the jazz club to focus more on composing for Ninth+Lincoln Orchestra, which he heads up. He's also plans to write for local groups, as well as college and high school jazz programs. Tonight's show with the extraordinary guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is the last gig he booked, and next month, Gilmore will head to Nebraska for a six-week composer's residency, where he'll work on material for the next Ninth+Lincoln album, which will feature the innovative trumpeter Cuong Vu. During the same week they're in the studio the album, Vu will also perform with the orchestra at Dazzle on December 27 and 28.

Tim Griffin (via Brooklyn Vegan)

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Evidently, Nathaniel Rateliff's trip to the Big Apple for CMJ has proven to be very fruitful. According to Brooklyn Vegan, who covered the show, Rateliff wowed the crowd last night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The showing should give Rateliff and his Wheel bandmates, who have reportedly inked a deal with Rounder Records, a great deal of momentum as they return to Denver and prepare to release their self-titled national debut next spring. About time the rest of the country gets a taste of the sheer goodness we've enjoyed for years. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel is slated to perform three more times at CMJ before return home for a pair of dates at the Fox Theater in Boulder on Thursday, November 12, and at the Bluebird on Friday, November 13.

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After six weeks off the road spent working on new music and revamping its live show, Meese is back on tour. The outfit is kicking off its upcoming series of shows tonight with a gig at the Theater of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, followed by nearly two dozen dates across the country -- including a Halloween date at the Gothic with tour mates, the New Heathers and Ha Ha Tonka, and the Northern Way and DJ Hot to Death providing local support. During the time off, the act has undergone a minor lineup change. Longtime drummer Ben Haley has parted ways with the group. On the upcoming tour, his slot will be filled by Joe Richmond, a friend of the unit who also keeps time for the band Churchill and was previously running front of the house sound for Meese. The reason for Haley's exodus is unclear and the outfit won't get into specifics, Patrick Meese assures us that Haley and the rest of the band split ways very amicably, and Ben will continue to pursue music on his own. Although Broadcast, the act's major label debut, was well received locally and is seemingly stocked with a number of potential singles, Meese doesn't really seem to have gained major traction yet, so the continued road work will certainly help create greater exposure. Follow the jump for a full list of dates.

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Drag the River has always been about giving fans the biggest bang for their hard-earned buck. If you ever stumbled into a bar that has a Drag record in the jukebox, for instance, you've probably noticed that if you select the last track on the album, you're treated to the entire album. Genius, right? So it's not hard to believe Suburban Home Records honcho Virgil Dickerson when he says that Jon Snodgrass probably isn't going to be too stoked about Primer, a new limited edition Drag the River anthology, being considered as a "Best Of" collection. Snodgrass and company, says Dickerson, have always made it a point to avoid having fans buy the same record again. Nonetheless, in advance of an upcoming European tour, the label has partnered with Viva Hate Records to release Primer, which is essentially a compilation of the outfit's best songs, handpicked by Snodgrass and Chad Price. Sounds like a greatest hits record to us, and we're cool with that. To prevent an inevitable import markup, Suburban Home is pressing and making available a 1,000 copies of the disc for folks on this side of the pond, with the caveat that once those discs are sold, they will not be repressed. See the full track list after the jump and then feel free to pre-order a copy of your own.

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Sounds like everything's turning up roses these days for el broski with the froski. For those in the cheap seats, we're referring to Mr. Rob Drabkin, the proud owner of Denver's most distinctive do. The singer-songwriter was just tapped to open seventeen dates on Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam's upcoming tour, which kicks off on Friday, November 20 in Indianapolis. Drabkin, who's also slated to perform at the Upland Music Festival alongside Soul Asylum and Jason Reeves next month, warmed up some dates for Knowles and company earlier this year. Clearly he made quite the impression with his chill guy acoustic rock to be invited back out. Although his music doesn't do much for us, evidently it's a hit with just about everybody else with ears. Go figure. Before the tour begins, Drabkin is playing a few local gigs including one tonight at Jonesy's Eat Bar and another this Saturday, October 17 at Everyday Joes in Fort Collins. See Drabkin's full itenerary after the jump.

With frontman Duncan Barlow currently residing in Florida, d.biddle doesn't play very often. And so when it does, needless to say, it's something of an event, particularly when one of the shows happens to fall on Halloween and rolls into El Día de los Muertos. With Barlow looking like an undead undertaker and the rest of the band dressed in black and masked in grease paint, playing some of the most sublime music to be heard on the front range, it's a beautifully shambolic experience. Well, as if we needed any more incentive to make it out to this show, we've just learned that the band will be releasing a new album that night. The disc, Beds and Monsters, was originally slated to be released in 2006, but was scrapped after multiple lineup changes. Now an odds and sods compilation featuring alternate demos from Rabbit and the Moon, songs from the original Beds and Monsters sessions, the disc also contains a few other rarities, including a song from the first d.biddle 7-inch, which has been remastered.

Otem Rellik

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Wonder if the MySpace page belonging to Candy Claws has seen a significant spike in the past two days. We're guessing that it has. Around this time yesterday, "Catamaran," a track from the outfit's latest effort, In the Dream of Sea Life, which has been remastered and is slated to be reissued on Indiecater Records, was featured on the site's Forkcast. Although there wasn't much in the way of a write-up ("The acquatic inspiration is clear from the opening seconds of "Catamaran", as sounds of the ocean tide mix with toy piano, clattering percussion, and boy/girl harmonies -- a warm, sunlit sound."), the exposure is undoubtedly welcomed. I mean, you never know where it might lead. Take Pictureplane, for example, who was brought to the attention of Pitchfork by HEALTH, who mentioned the act in an interview. Pictureplane went from being highlighted as a rising artist to being featured in Forkcast twice to receiving a glowing review for Dark Rift, its Lovepump United debut -- a nod that's worth its weight in gold in terms of cachet.

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Remember back when we didn't really have too many high-profile bands, before the Fray and all the other members of the Neo Denver Invasion were even a gleam in their daddy's eye? Then you probably remember Five Iron Frenzy, the ridiculously popular ska-core outfit fronted by Reese Roper whose members went on to play in nearly a half-dozen offshoots, including Roper, Brave Saint Saturn (another outfit fronted by Roper, whose album Anti-Meridian reflected on the Five Iron Years), Yellow Second, Hearts of Palm (who's getting back together long enough for a pair of proper farewell shows) and the Hollyfelds. They were a pretty big deal back then. In fact, they played their farewell show at the Fillmore almost six years ago, when such a notion kind of seemed inconceivable -- a local band headlining that big of a room. While we wish we could add the act to our list of recent reunions, it looks like FIF will have to remain on the wish list for now. In the meantime, the outfit is looking for any live footage that you may have to complement a long-overdue DVD currently in the works. Enough from us. Follow the jump, and Mr. Roper will tell you all about the endeavor himself in his inimitable way and then you can watch the teaser trailer.

​Ah, now here's an idea we can co-sign. Just received word from Mike Marchant (Widowers, Houses) alerting us to a rad new idea he's about to execute, a songwriter's workshop at the Meadowlark. Dubbed as "Dissecting and Perfecting the Pop Song - A Songwriter's Workshop," the sessions are slated to take place on the first and third Mondays of the month, beginning Monday, October 19, and will be moderated by the Widowers frontman, a guy who, without question, knows his way around a tune. (Don't just take our word for it. Listen for yourself below)

MP3: Mike Marchant, "Lower Downtown Curses"
MP3: Mike Marchant, "Icicle Lifestyle"

Cervantes will keep the same name

​The leaves in the trees aren't the only thing changing in Denver. We received late confirmation that Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom and Quixotes True Blue next door have indeed been sold. Rumors have been swirling for a few weeks that a deal was in the works, and last night it was finalized between the Bianchi brothers and a group of partners consisting of Duncan Goodman, Josh Sonnenburg, Jeff Howell and Scott Morrill, who currently owns a stake in both places. You may remember the name Duncan Goodman from an item we ran back in July about the Phamily Reunion Festival in Idaho Springs that coincided with the four nights of Phish at Red Rocks.

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Tap, tap, tap. Ahem, attention: We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this important message about free beer. We've just received word that the band Synthetic Elements is shooting a music video this evening at LoDos in, well, uh, LoDo. And evidently, the shoot, which is happening at 6 p.m., is going to feature free beer! Best part: You and your friends are invited. We're not sure which song the video is for, but chrissakes, you saw that part about free beer, right? Get on it. As you can see from the last video ( taken from the song "How Far" from Trashed Out Paradise), posted after the jump, these dudes do not fuck around when it comes to making videos. Oh and one more little FYI: if you skip the shoot tonight, Sythetic is playing some gigs this weekend. At 7 p.m. on Friday, October 2, dudes will be Hot Topic at Flatirons for an acoustic in-store. Then at 6 p.m. the following night, Saturday, October 3, they'll be at Hot Top in Northfield, followed by a show at the Toad Tavern later that night.