Round 'em up for the Cowboy Curse show

I’ve heard from reliable sources that this’ll be Cowboy Curse's last show for many a month as they take time to tend to other creative endeavors… so you might should get up and go. I’ll be there.


That's at Bender's this very Friday evening.

It's all about me, really.

I admit being partial.

This is one of my privileges of remaining at an unpaid fanzine level of writing. I can exclusively write about only the stuff I like, or feel like writing about. Even if it seems I only write about my friends’ bands, (which incidentally isn’t completely accurate,) I think it’s an honest way to write. I don’t write about a band simply because I read about them in some music magazine from somewhere, saw on a list, or that someone else already told me was pretty good. Don’t get me wrong, this is how I find out about a lot of good stuff out there too. But if I’ve heard about it this way, unless it’s made some unique impact on me, I probably don’t have a lot to add to the conversation. I feel I’d just be tatting off a rewording of what I already heard. There are places for that, spreading the word and all, but I rarely do it.

Go to the source.

I far prefer to write about things where I have first-hand knowledge. It's my opinion that if you’ve seen something first hand, and on more than one occasion, you’ve got more depth of perception and more likely that you’ve got something of substance to say. If I know the environment and the other people in that scene, I’m going to have a greater perspective than some performer or band I’ve only seen once. And if some of the musicians I write about are my friends too, well it isn’t odd to become friends with people whose work you admire. Is it?

It is impossible.

“The heart of a melody can never be put down on paper.” I read this quote somewhere and I don’t know who to credit, but it sounds right to me. One can never get in words to the places where music can easily reach. Some people can write technically about music, and that can be useful, but it comes about as close to the heart of a melody as a list of ingredients describes what it’s like to eat your favorite meal. Though you might try to be objective, bringing music that matters to you in a review to other people really is never objective, but always personal.

It is love.

I think many times the better review turns out to be slightly more about the receiver of the music than the giver or the music itself. Even so, the attempt and the struggle to describe the heart of a melody in words, with some luck, compels fellow music lovers to find that melody and give it a listen for themselves. I’m grateful when I read something that makes me want to listen. And that is why I keep trying to describe the music I love.

Planes Mistaken For Stars Final Show

Yet another chunk of marble is being carved

For the illustrious Denver Music Scene Graveyard.

What could be the epitaph for Planes Mistaken for Stars?

Perhaps, "We're glad for all that time spent in bars."

If they've been a part of your personal music history too

Stop by and tell the boys, "Hey" and "Thank you"

looking forward to this

I'm admittedly a little partial, but this should be a very good show. I am totally looking forward to it. Also, I've seen the new Overcasters t-shirts and stickers and they are awesome. As of this writing there is no other way to hear this band than to get yourself out to the show and hear them. I know it's cold outside but if you love it when the music is so huge you forget everything else, you should get out for this one. And as you see, the vast and enchanting sounds of Blue Million Miles and Sonnenblume will also be there for your musical pleasure. Click on the links for a listen. Friends, I hope to see you there. Rock!

CD review: Bela Karoli, Furnished Rooms

Double-posted at The Donnybrook Writing Academy



Bela Karoli is complicated simplicity, a paradox. But this is a band that makes songs out of Emily Dickinson and T.S. Eliot poems for goodness sake. So complicated simplicity makes a kind of perfect sense.

Furnished Rooms, Bela Karoli’s debut release, will make you pay attention and listen to familiar sounds like they were new.

In the first track, “Snow,” the rich and warm signature upright bass sound of Julie Davis is followed by the artful bow strokes of Carrie Beeder’s violin and then by the recognizable airy tones of Brigid McAuliffe’s accordion. The music is as inventive and playful as you might suspect with that admittedly unusual orchestration.

The sense of warmth and palpable life that reside in these twelve songs will make you feel the air passing through vocal cords, in and out of accordion bellows, bringing oxygen to blood pumping through arms that move bows, fingers that pluck strings. I could wax on in this vein but then paradox arises again. There in the background is a machined rhythm of programmed drum tracks. Like in the song “Invertebrate” where the lyrics, “we are soft cells; we have metal shells” suggest a duality, the songs themselves also feel as if existing as a cellular life of their own though encased in that hard and cold shell. It’s a compelling contrast, though I have to admit I miss the presence of a human drummer.

Bela Karoli is like nothing you’ve heard before. Not exactly. Like their version of “Summertime” you’ll recognize it as familiar, sort of, but it’s not an instantaneous recognition. Like no other, this is a furnished room you’ll find yourself glad to be sitting in.

Oh! It's like that Falcon

All of a sudden the spaceship styled bar stools and the moonscape murals made sense. The Falcon is not just yet another Denver music venue named after a bird. (Bluebird, Meadowlark, et al.)

Somebody told me that they heard owner talking about wanting to have a model of Han Solo's famed spacecraft crashing through the front of the building. That would be cool. But, alas, to run a business, priorities must be made, and undoubtedly to use anything Star Wars, royalties would have to be paid. Fortunately The Falcon made good choices in its priorities for opening night. Bowling was not operating, but the brand spankin' new sound system was set up so musicians on stage could hear each other and the audience got a refreshingly clean clear sound as well. Cowboy Curse broke in the new stage with an energetic and tight performance, a pleasure, as usual.

There didn't appear to be food yet, but the bar was stocked and the tenders of it were nice. My main complaints? Way too much light at the bar, it's like Denver Diner bright, and that's just very unsettling. The stage area was acceptably dim, but it's got the Larimer Lounge set up of being way at the back and I've noticed that setup seems to keep the timid away from the music. Though by the time the second band, Dirty Sweet, hit the stage a number of people who'd spent a bit of time at the bar were lured to the back with some familiar-ish 70s rock sounds.

It'll be interesting to see how this venue develops and what sort of niche it carves out for itself. One thing I'm sure of, if they keep good music on the stage they won't go too far wrong.

Hooray for new venues!

There really are never enough all ages shows or even 16+ shows around. It has always been the case as far as I can recollect from all those shows I snuck into when I was underage. But I sure hope this new venue is a good one for music and sticks around. Music, bowling, food...sounds promising for fun times. I'm interested to see what it's like and mean to check out their debut show tonight. One thing I'm certain of, I do love hearing them Cowboy Curse songs.

The Falcon is just a few doors down from the Gothic on S. Broadway.