AltWeeklies Wire
Steff Mahan's Musical Path Produces a Soulful Serenadenew
Without resorting to artifice or clichés, the Nashville singer-songwriter has a gift for writing songs that sneak up on you and, before you know it, get you all teary-eyed.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
04-15-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Antique Scream Gets Back on the Road to Glorious Ruinnew

It's easy to pick up traces of Nirvana, Hendrix and Queens of the Stone Age in Antique Scream's music, although the guitarist says it's really Black Sabbath that everyone in the band listens to.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
04-08-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Mayer Hawthorne Thrives on Mix of Smokey Robinson, J Dilla and ELOnew

Hawthorne, whose favorite soul artists include Isaac Hayes and Leroy Hutson, spun records long before he started making them. So how did his soul inclinations fit into the rest of his deejay set?
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
04-01-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
VNV Nation Returns to its Roots for a Scaled-Down Club Tournew

"We really do everything we can to put on a good live show, whether it be 150 people or 25,000 people," says VNV frontman Ronan Harris.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
04-01-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
With Jack Clement's Help, Marley's Ghost Keeps Wolves at Baynew

When Marley's Ghost made its pilgrimage to Nashville last year to record with "Cowboy" Jack Clement, the band wasn't entirely sure what to expect.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
03-25-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Johnny Whitney, Cody Votolato Jam Electro With Their New Band, Jaguar Lovenew

Jaguar Love, the latest electroclash/art-rock/whatever project from former Blood Brothers Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato, is one of the stranger beasts in contemporary music.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
03-11-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Change is Coming, Says Mr. Lif — Just Not in Politicsnew

As the promise of health care reform sinks into the political morass, the hip-hop hero's cautionary stance seems well ahead of the curve.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
03-11-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Midlake Respectfully Makes its Way Forward Though Art-Rock's Pastnew
"I think one reason why we're so drawn to the '70s is that it's sort of the last time we had a big crossroads — where music could have gone in a lot of different directions."
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
03-04-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Live Through This: Ten Years On, Otep Shamaya Still Rages Against the Machinenew

What really sets the singer and her band apart from their legion of metal brethren is Otep Shamaya's lyrical bent, which is light years away from good old mythology, misogyny and unrequited hate.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
02-11-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Doomtree Emcee Gets Philosophical About Hip-Hopnew

From an artistic standpoint, it's hard not to be impressed by Dessa's debut album, which was released two weeks ago to widespread acclaim. The title gets it half right: A Badly Broken Code surely deconstructs the tropes of hip-hop and recombines them in unexpected ways, but it's more than competently done.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
02-04-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Anvil's Frontman Keeps on Rocking and Reelingnew

Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the film, sometimes characterized as a real-life This Is Spinal Tap, premiered at Sundance and served as the catalyst for rock's most unlikely comeback.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-28-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
John Hammond Recalls His Meetings With Clapton, Hendrix, Dylan and Waitsnew

John Hammond's latest Grammy nomination is for last year's Rough & Tough album, which he recorded at the landmark St. Peter's Church in New York City. Were he not so talented and accomplished in his own right, it would be easy to dismiss Hammond as the music world's version of Woody Allen's Leonard Zelig.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-21-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: John Hammond, Rough & Tough, The Band, Tom Waits, Satan, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Grammy
Cedric Burnside Carries On His Grandfather's Country Blues Traditionnew

At 13, Cedric Burnside began touring as a drummer with his grandfather R.L. Burnside, the famed country blues singer who experienced an unexpected career resurgence after his unlikely 1996 collaboration with Pussy Galore/Blues Explosion frontman Jon Spencer.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-14-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Born Under a Blues Signnew

Lurrie Bell's nomination for a Grammy Award earlier this month was the latest confirmation of the blues inheritance that sustained his career and even saved his life.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-07-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Austin's Band of Heathens Offer Up Alt-Country for Catholic Tastesnew

Texans twang differently than their Tennessee counterparts, and rightly so. Blame it on outlaws like Waylon and Willie, Lubbock lunatics like Terry Allen and Joe Ely, or any number of insurgent country artists who get started on Austin's 6th Street and radiate outward from there.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
01-07-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews