Music of Colorado

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Music of the United States
Local music
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Colorado is a state of the United States, and has a notable reputation for music. The state has a many vibrant scenes and venues, especially in the larger cities like Denver and Colorado Springs.

Colorado's orchestras include the Colorado Springs Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, Telluride Chamber Orchestra, Pikes Peak Philharmonic, Pueblo Symphony (affiliated with Colorado State University-Pueblo, Music Department) [1], Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra.

Music festivals in modern Colorado include the Strings in the Mountains Music Festival and Colorado Music Fest in Pueblo held between June-July every year, as well as the Colorado Music Festival [2], held at the Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder from June through August. There are many music festivals in modern Colorado. The CHUN People's Fair is arguably the largest local music festival, with estimated attendance over 200,000 (according to the People's Fair website). Telluride hosts three festivals a year. Planet Bluegrass in Lyons hosts three major events a year. Fort Collins plays host to Bohemian Nights @ New West Fest, at which over 50 local acts perform on multiple stages. Denver's Westword Magazine holds an annual local music festival that over 80 acts perform at, which precedes the Westword Music Awards.

Folk and traditional music in Colorado has been an intricate part of the local popular culture in the last century. Popular modern bluegrass bands include The Blue Canyon Boys and High Plains Tradition. The Colorado Bluegrass Music Society exists to promote Coloradan bluegrass music, and publishes a magazine called Pow'r Pickin'.

Today, such organizations as the Colorado Music Association, Colorado Music Company and others exists to promote Coloradan music.

Contents

[edit] Rock

Colorado's role in the history of rock music is quite intricate, and is often overlooked and argued upon by music historians. In the 1960s, the expolsive era of folk music, Denver became a folk rock epicenter for the mountain west and central plains. As decades progressed as did popular music in rock n' roll, the music scene began to mature as well, with a more broad range of styles, genres and scenes to explore within the state, especially Denver.

[edit] Punk

In the early 1970s, the band Zephyr became the hottest regional act, though they never broke in across the country. During the same period, a large number of Californian musicians, especially hippies, moved to Colorado. Coloradan punk rock began in 1976, with the formation of a Boulder group called The Ravers, who released a single for Screwball Records, the first punk recording from Colorado, before moving to New York City and becoming The Nails.

Though The Ravers had to leave Colorado for New York, the state's punk scene grew steadily more vibrant. A Wax Trax! Records store in Denver helped in this transition; store owners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher had an enormous impact on the local music scene. The store hosted weekly parties beginning in 1977, where DJs played New Wave and punk rock. By the end of the decade, local bands became well-known in cities across the state; these included The Front, Corvairs, The Young Weasels, Dancing Assholes, Defex, The Violators, The Guys and Johny Three. Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra is also originally from Boulder, Colorado.

In the 1980s, popular local bands included the funk-punk band Urban Leash, Gothic rock band The Soul Merchants, Acid Ranch, Bum Kon, The Lepers, Dead Silence, A.S.F., Eco Guerrillas, Expatriate, Electric Third Rail, Jux County, The Pink and Church and State. The Fluid was one of the most notable bands, appealing to audiences across alternative music genres, and was one of the very first to sign to the Sub Pop record label, although many of the listed bands toured locally and nationally.

Later punk bands from Colorado included Grimace the Down-N-Outs, ALL, Pinhead Circus, Wrong Approach, Minimum Wage, Qualm, and the Normal Kids.

The early to mid-90's brought in a wave of Hardcore bands, which has its roots in metal and punk. Some of the larger acts of the mid 90s included Third Degree, Kingpin, Painstake, and Inferno just to name a few.

[edit] Americana

The unexpected emergence of evolved 'roots' music in the last few years has produced a multitude of artists bubbling under the recognition line in Denver. The first to make that transition to mainstream is Ryko/Warner artist Jeff Finlin who is emerging with a heralded piece in 5280 Magazine [3]

[edit] Colorado Bands and Artists

Image:FarewellAndromeda.jpg
John Denver
Image:Dave Matthews Live At Red Rocks.jpg
Dave Matthews Band
Image:The Soft Machine-album.jpg
The Soft Machine

Local bands and musicians as well as those often associated with Colorado include:

[edit] Trivia and Facts

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • John Denver lived both in the Denver metro area and Aspen (He was born in Roswell, New Mexico), where he received inspiration for many of his songs depicting life in Colorado. Selecting the surname "Denver" for his favorite city, he rose to worldwide fame with such ballads as Rocky Mountain High , Starwood in Aspen , I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado , and Me and my Uncle , in which he lyrically declares "I'm about as honest as a Denver man can be!"
  • Bone Thugs-n-Harmony member Bizzy Bone recorded his entire The Midwest Cowboy album in Denver with rapper/producer/ceo Playalitical in only 7 days total. Only the final mastering of the album was done outside of Colorado.
  • Jeff Finlin while living in Fort Collins and gigging in Denver, was thought to be a famous British singer/songwriter until the Coloradan Pulitzer Prize winning author J.R. Moehringer tracked him down (see [http://www.5280.com/issues/2007/0707/feature.php?pageID=7911
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience broke up in Denver, after the historic and anticipated Denver Pop Festival of 1969. Hendrix both designed the cover of the Electric Ladyland album and wrote the song Room Full of Mirrors one night at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. A local favorite during their superstardom-reign, the Experience played to often over-crowded audiences at Hendrix' supposed favorite venue, Red Rocks.
  • Judy Collins, another folk singer, was raised in Denver and attended East High School. Conductor Antonia Brico was her childhood piano teacher. Several of her songs feature mentioning of Colorado.
  • Bob Dylan recorded a live album in Denver, and lived in Capitol Hill for several years, where he got his start playing local folk clubs for several dollars. Today he owns a home in Telluride, Colorado.
  • American Idol has scouted Denver on several occasions, and found Ace Young who was a finalist in the fifth season.
  • The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is one of the largest centers of its kind in the western hemisphere, and the second largest performing arts center in the world, only behind the Kennedy Center.


[edit] List of Colorado Music Venues

[edit] Denver

Swallow Hill Music Hall
Bluebird Theater
Gothic Theater
Oriental Theater
Larimer Lounge
hi-dive
Three Kings Tavern
Lion's Lair
Walnut Room
Soiled Dove Underground
Ogden Theater
The Marquis Theater
Bender's Tavern
Old Curtis Street Bar

[edit] Boulder

Fox Theater
The Laughing Goat
Boulder Theater

[edit] Colorado Springs

Blacksheep

[edit] Fort Collins

Aggie Theater
Surfside Seven

[edit] See also

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