Local Music Sound Off
Blame Sally’s “Stupid Mistakes”
Friday's MP3 normally features a Colorado band, but this week we're stretching the "local" rule a bit to bring New West readers a track from Blame Sally, a polished San Francisco-based folk-pop quartet that boasts a Utah native in its lineup, keyboardist Monica Pasqual. The band has a string of Rocky Mountain shows scheduled, beginning with a headlining gig at the Swallow Hill Music Hall in Denver on Friday, June 2 (8 p.m., $10-$12), and including an appearance at the Patrick Moore Gallery in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 8 (8 p.m., $15). Blame Sally's harmony-based Americana should appeal to fans of the Indigo Girls.
Blame Sally has offered New West readers a track from its most recent CD, a self-titled 2004 album. Click here to listen to "Stupid Mistakes."The band's complete Colorado and Utah schedule is included below.
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Literary Podcasting
Denver Company Takes the Lead in Literary Podcasting
The annual BookExpo America brought a flurry of literary activity to Washington, D.C. last weekend as publishers, editors, and authors gathered at the largest book trade convention in the U.S. But the bookish fun isn't over yet: BookExpo America hired the Denver company BurstMarketing to provide podcasts of the speakers at this year's event, and average Joes and publishing industry insiders alike can listen to the free podcasts at BookExpoCast.com. The first podcast, the "Opening Night Keynote with Tim Russert," is available now, and beginning this week BurstMarketing will periodically release up to two-dozen podcasts. Those who don't want to miss any of the action can sign up to receive the podcasts as they become available. Future topics include business-focused podcasts such as "The Best Way to Leverage Podcasting" and "The Best Way to Exploit RSS Technology," and more literary recordings, such as the "Saturday Book and Author Luncheon."
BurstMarketing is also behind the Authors on Tour--Live podcast show that is regulary recorded at the Tattered Cover.
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La Tribuna hits Newsstands
Spanish Newspaper Expands its Reach on the Western SlopeTwo months ago Colorado Mountain News Media, a company that owns virtually all the newspapers between Summit County and Aspen, bought La Misión, the Roaring Fork Valley's Spanish-language newspaper.
Luis Polar, founder and editor of La Misión which started in Basalt as a nonprofit grassroots newspaper for Spanish speakers throughout the valley. Polar is still the editor but the name was changed to La Tribuna and the first issue hit the newsstands earlier this month. With the new name also comes an expansion of the paper’s distribution along the I-70 corridor from the Eisenhower Tunnel to Grand Junction.
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Local Music Sound Off
Wendy Woo’s “Before it Gets Better”
This Friday's local MP3 features singer-songwriter Wendy Woo, who has been a fixture in the Denver and Boulder music scene for a decade now, releasing six CDs since 1997 and maintaining one of the busiest live gig schedules of any local artist. The coming weeks are no exception, as Woo has shows forthcoming at the Thornton Festival this Saturday, May 20 (4 p.m.), the Fox Theatre on Friday, May 26 (9 p.m., $10-$12), and at the Boulder Bandshell during the Boulder Creek Festival on Sunday, May 28 (4:30 p.m., free). Woo's music should please a wide variety of audiences with its blend of folk, rock, blues, and funk.
Wendy Woo has offered New West readers a soulful track from her 2002 album, Gonna Wear Red. Click here to listen to "Before it Gets Better." Last year, Woo released a solo acoustic live CD, Angels Laughing, and after a busy summer schedule of local touring, she's gearing up to release a new album with her band, The Woo Crew, in the winter.
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City Still Negotiating
Movie Theater’s Fate Still Undetermined
Last week I reported that the City of Aspen is trying to buy the building that houses the only remaining movie theater in town for $8.75 million. The deal would involve the City putting a $500,000 non-refundable deposit and taking the issue to the voters. In November it would be up to them to decide if the City should buy the Isis Building with a property tax or sales tax hike or lose the $500K.
Movie theaters seem to be a dying commodity in small towns, even local video stores are suffering from the ease and low cost Netflix alternative. But the question at hand for the City is not just to buy a building and become a landlord, it’s about what the Council and ultimately the citizens want this town to be.
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Congress debates the on-air future
Community Access Television Puts You on TV—For NowMTV it’s not. Tune to channel 22 on Durango’s cable-TV lineup, and you will not see either commercials or professionally-produced programming. You could see, though, a gardening show, a talk show, a game show, a documentary on oil and gas issues, a church service, a college lecture, or a hockey game – all starring the same people you might see at the grocery store or sit next to at the bar. For the past six years, Durangoans have had a channel of their very own to watch shows of local interest. We also, though, have had tools and production facilities to make that programming ourselves, thanks to Durango Community Access Television. Now whether Durango -- or anyplace -- will continue to have those opportunities and what they will look like is being determined right now, as the city negotiates a new contract with its cable supplier, and as Congress debates sweeping legislation in how community cable and the internet are negotiated with communities nationwide.
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Local Music Sound Off
Boulder Acoustic Society’s “Morning by the River”
The Boulder Acoustic Society is a local quartet of accomplished multi-instrumentalists who delve roots music traditions in their spry arrangements. The group got its start when the first two members, Brad Jones and Kailin Yong, began jamming on the Pearl Street Mall. Aaron Keim and Scott Higgins soon joined, and BAS released its first album, So Many Stars in the Sky in 2004. This year, the group released its follow-up, 8th Color.
Boulder Acoustic Society has offered New West readers a track from the new album. Click here to listen to "Morning by the River."
Boulder Acoustic Society plans to tour extensively this summer, with several shows in Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and other states. This month you can catch them at Mary's Lake Lodge in Estes Park on May 20 (8 p.m.), and at the Boulder Outlook Hotel on May 24 (7:30 p.m.).
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City wants to keep movie theater
Aspen Wants to Reel in Movie TheaterLast night the curtain fell on the Stage 3 movie theater in Aspen. It marked the final showing of films in the three screen cinema that was recently sold to buyers who do not intend to keep it a theater.
Hours before Stage 3’s last showings, the Aspen City Council announced its intention to buy the Isis Building, what is now the last remaining movie theater in Aspen. The Council’s intent is to preserve the character of downtown Aspen and ensure that what seems so common throughout the country, movie theaters, do not become extinct in the city where real estate is king and fractional condominiums more profitable than moving pictures.
“A majority of City Council agrees that movie theaters are important in downtown Aspen,” Mayor Helen Klanderud said.
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"Crossing the Wire"
Durango Young-Adult Author Crosses into Border Dispute
Will Hobbs’ books have always dealt with challenging topics for his juvenile and teen readers – and anyone: danger, risk, adventure, death, loss, and relationships with friends and family and the land around us. In his new novel, though, Hobbs enters the realm of political controversy. Crossing the Wire, released last month, follows the harrowing adventure of a 15-year-old boy who, following the death of his father, flees his family’s hard-scrabble farm in central Mexico to find work north of the border so he can send money home to his family.
Hobbs’ book adds a new perspective into the heated and ideologically-tainted discussion of illegal immigration. Crossing the Wire provides a visceral rendering of a teen’s motivations and experiences attempting to “cross the wire,” a slang term for entering the U.S. illegally, that is accessible and meaningful to teens and adults alike.
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Local Music Sound Off
Drop Dead, Gorgeous’ “Dressed for Friend Request”
This week's Friday MP3 features Drop Dead, Gorgeous, a young Denver screamo band that released its first full-length, In Vogue, on Tuesday. The album is out now on Rise Records, an Oregon-based indie label that specializes in all things hardcore. DDG will celebrate the release of the disc at The Marquis Theater in Denver on Saturday, May 6. Doors open at 7 p.m., and Every Day At Sinai, Bless The Fall, and In Case You're Curious will open.
Drop Dead, Gorgeous has offered New West readers a track from In Vogue. Click here to listen to "Dressed for Friend Requests."
Drop Dead, Gorgeous owes at least some of its recent success to the internet--Rise Records contacted the group after listening to songs that they had posted on MySpace.com. DDG released an EP, Be Mine, Valentine, in January this year, but hasn't toured extensively as some of its members are still in high school.
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