5 Questions for 5 Bands at Westword Music Showcase, Part 1
I am very excited to be a promotional partner for Westword Music Showcase again this year. We are taking it up a notch with Scavenger Safari and hosting the Vybe stage. But there are so many local Denver and Colorado bands who play earlier in the day that I didn’t know – and I go out and see local bands all the time. I thought it would be fun to get to know them with a series of quick and easy questions before the festival on June 23rd. Now that we have released Scavenger Safari, I bet the animal question will make so much more sense to them. 😄
I’m adding these in the order I receive them and there are more posts to come – so check back! Hope to see you early in the day for all our local talent. Use my promo code below to get a discount on your WMS tickets!
The SIR band // VYBE 1:50pm
Band Members: Sarah Angela, Luke Mehrens, and Kim O’Hara
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
1. Describe your music.
We call it Sexy Emotional Rock Pop.
2. Why should people come see you at Westword Music Showcase?
Because we are something different than most.
3. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
We’d be Old Gregg, the scaly man fish. He can sing, and dance.
4. List your favorite Colorado bands.
The Hollow, Holdfast, Crl Crrll, and SF1 are some of our favorites.
5. Best interaction with a fan?
Any time we get to play at Children’s Hospital, it reminds us why we do what we do.
Mr. David Booker // Stoney’s South 12:00pm
Band Members: I work mainly solo, but I have an all star band lined up for the showcase. Eugene Smith friend and drummer in many of my bands is visiting from Wyoming, so I put him in the line-up, he was Jr.Browns Drummer a few years ago. On bass, we have new comer Aaron Lewis and on Congas Ben Makinen, who is a session guy and studio owner. Keyboards is Prof Moses New Orleans piano stylist extraordinaire – he really IS a professor! … and myself on vocals and guitar.
1. Describe your music.
Americana and Blues and originals
2. Why should people come see you at Westword Music Showcase?
Well, they’d better be quick because I only have a 40 minute set!
3. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
Hmmm. Too weird! … actually I AM an animal!
4. List your favorite Colorado bands.
Scott Grove
5. Best interaction with a fan?
Last week at Sloans, Bob. Really nice conversation, bought me 2 shots of single malt scotch. I’ll probably never see him again! LOL.
Slow Caves // VYBE 5:30pm
Band Members: Jakob Mueller, Oliver Mueller, David Dugan, Jackson Lamperes
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
1. Describe your music.
90s style indie pop mixed with some shoegaze.
2. Why should people come see you at Westword Music Showcase?
We will definitely bring a lot of energy and play some catchy songs for everyone to vibe out to. If you like big guitars and drums, be there.
3. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
I’d be a Bear because they’re super fuzzy, and also you get to sleep for half of the year. That sounds nice.
4. List your favorite Colorado bands.
That’s a loaded question but right now I’d say Flaural, Gleemer, Kyle Emerson and Panther Martin.
5. Best interaction with a fan?
At our 7″ release show the entire crowd sang our song “Glares” back at us and that was really freakin’ cool.
Chella & The Charm // Stoney’s South 1:50pm
Band Members: Chella Negro (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Jason Leija (Bass Guitar), Tony Piscotti (Lead Guitar), Logan Barrier (Drums)
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
1. Describe your music.
Trains, whiskey, cheap beer, and an existential crisis in song.
2. Why should people come see you at Westword Music Showcase?
Because we’d come and see YOUR band…
3. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
Collectively, as a band, we’d be a bevy of otters. They are, by far, the most charming and entertaining animals. I mean, have you seen the video of the otters chasing a butterfly? That’s so us.
4. List your favorite Colorado bands.
Right now, I’m pretty passionate about Los Mocochetes, Ned Garthe Explosion (forever and always), Ryann & Lee, Jennifer Jane Nicely, and The Milk Blossoms.
5. Best interaction with a fan?
Really, I’m just excited when anyone talks to me. Though, there was this one time when I was feeling particularly sorry for myself and a woman came up to me to tell me how much she enjoyed The Charm and how much it meant to her to have a strong female voice in Denver music. I stopped sobbing in my eggs to hug her face off right then and there. It was definitely one of those moments where I was pondering walking away from the music scene and the Universe intervened just in the nick of time.
Tivoli Club Brass Band // Stoney’s Main 3:25pm
Band Members: Dean Hirschfield, Rachel Hargroder, Dustin Arndt, Zachary Simms, Troy Thill, Steve Illich, Michael Gates, David Dinsmore, Dave Flomberg, Joe Walsh
1. Describe your music.
It’s like a little bit o’ green chile on yo’ boudin… like My Brother’s Bar meets Cooter Brown’s. So, like, My Brother Cooter Brown’s Bar. In other words, it’s a sweet-ass Brass Band that’s uniquely Colorado in nature.
2. Why should people come see you at Westword Music Showcase?
The band’s a bit of a local supergroup — we’ve got music professors and players from Judge Roughneck, FaceMan, Alpha Schoolmarm Orchestra, Money Plays 8, Sammy Mayfield Blues Revue, Oxycontin, MLIMA, and Future Joy, just to name a few. The musicianship is off the charts. But even better is the wicked cool arrangements we’re doing of some stuff you’d never expect a Second Line-influenced Brass Band to do. And we’re probably having more fun on stage even than the audience, because we never stop laughing. It’s a great time, and everyone who’s seen us loves us — like the time we brass-mobbed the Breckenridge Brewery down south. I mean, sure, the management was all like, “What the fuck are you doing?! Why are there 10 people randomly playing an Alice Merton song in my bar!?! GET OUT!” but the patrons were all like, “Fuck yeah, you guys rule!”
3. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
A rhinoceros. Or maybe a Stegosaurus! Oooh, no, a Unicorn! OH, or maybe the majestic Narwhal! Basically, we just really like horns.
4. List your favorite Colorado bands.
All of the ones we mentioned above. We loved Denver Joe (may he Rest In Peace). We’re fans of a bunch of other bands too, and anything with Ron Miles in it.
5. Best interaction with a fan?
It’s impossible to limit it to just one. Our bari player is really hot and all the women love him, so that creates some problems on occasion, because they keep throwing themselves at him. On the other hand, Dean’s mustache scares them away, which helps. Both our tromboners are named David, so that’s led to all sorts of “Three’s Company” hijinks with fans who want to meet one or the other. Troy, our tenor player, once stopped an armed robbery by serenading the would-be criminals with “Careless Whisper,” which he played topless, and saved the bar from losing all its profits that night. The list goes on. How long you got?
There you have it: the first 5 questions for 5 Colorado bands. I wonder who will be next!?!
I love how we have all kinds of music here, and at Westword Music Showcase. I think Tivoli Brass Band’s rhinoceros’ will be able to take on our Godzilla and King Kong … but you never know about those sneaky otters. See you online with the #WMSLocal hashtag and let us know what you think!