I’d been anticipating this Saturday night show at Cervantes’ for quite a while. The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio has been making some noise for a while now, and I had to find out what all the fuss was about. Sure, I’ve listened to their albums and checked out some online videos, but seeing these guys live is where it’s at. Color me impressed.
Earlier this week we published a feature article on how Listen Up Denver! is teaming up with Denver Writes and Amp The Cause for a series of interviews profiling several of the artists scheduled to perform at the Denver Day of Rock on Saturday, May 23rd. For the first piece in this series, ten year old Clary Reichley got to sit down with local Blues guitarist Austin Young to talk about his sound, his influences, and his heroes.
Robert Randolph and The Family Band are nothing short of extraordinary. True to their name, Robert has employed his real family members to create the soulful, upbeat Rock, Soul, Jam, Funk fusion he is known for. There aren’t many other bands that come together and produce such outstanding guitar riffs and unique Blues and Soul melodies. Though the Family Band is great, the main event all evening was Robert with his pedal steel guitar and unique gruff and falsetto singing. He engaged the crowd and kept them dancing.
Last Friday night Red Rocks was the nexus of the universe for Blues lovers. With both Gary Clark Jr. and the Tedeschi Trucks Band on the bill, the hallowed Morrison venue rang with slide and echoed with deep bluesy riffs late into the night. Early on it wasn’t the Blues, but rather the sweet vintage alt-country stylings of Nicki Bluhm and the Grambers that kicked things off as showers moved in and out of the area.
One of the world’s most recognizable bands, ZZ Top, brought their long red beards and some Texas flavored, Blues infused Rock to Denver’s Paramount Theatre on Saturday night. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house as people came from far and near to hear classic ZZ Top songs like “Jesus just left Chicago,” “Cheap Sunglasses” & “Legs.” Guitarist Billy Gibbons, Bass player Dusty Hill, and Drummer Frank Beard all sounded tight and had the crowd singing and dancing the entire set.
A line of casually dressed baby boomers wrapped around the corner of 14th & Spruce Tuesday in anticipation of blues legend Buddy Guy at a near capacity Boulder Theater. It was Buddy’s second Colorado visit in three months and aside from swapping red rocks for salmon and turquoise walls, the show was quite a bit similar. It was night of beer drinking, gospel style audience affirmation, stories, and dirty overdriven blues.
Day two of the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival features The Grand Tasting, where thousands of concert goers swill free craft beer for hours, in order to determine the best beer in the box canyon that Saturday. Mud splattered and squished as festival goers wet their whistles with the wares of over 50 craft Breweries. We are excited to say that our buddies over at Telluride Brewing Company were the “Best of Fest-Grand Tasting Champions” this year!!!
The 20th Annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival was a wet one, but the heavy downpours followed by strong sunshine yielded some awe inspiring rainbows. It seemed like from Thursday till Monday, the skies were telling us they were in charge, but reminding us to smile about that fact. We were at the whim of the weather. We were not in control. Giving in to the music and the mud, we approached the weekend humbled by both and decided to rage along with the rain as hard as we could.
Baby boomers slowly strolled into Red Rocks last Wednesday night for a co-headliner of classics with Buddy Guy & George Thorogood. It was a beautiful summer evening complete with a gorgeous Red Rocks sunset and in the end it was a great opportunity to see a Blues legend dazzle the crowd before a classic rock n’ roller went through the motions on the same stage.
This year’s Rocky Mountain Folks Festival featured marquee names like John Butler Trio, Patty Griffin and John Prine but it was the lesser known acts like Seryn, Foy Vance, Nathaniel Rateliff and Charles Bradley that really wow’d the faithful crowd. Word on the street months before the festival was that the organizers and staff of Planet Bluegrass were more excited by the acts this year than they had been at any time in recent memory, and they just may have been right on!