Music

Rural Northeast Colorado has fewer employed artists than any other region in the state, according to a 2020 report. While musicians, dancers and fashion designers may sell a lot less out there, they are still creating. KUNC asked two musicians, one very young and one much older, to meet and discuss their craft.

Colorado has a thriving music scene with thousands of artists and hundreds of music venues, along with artist development firms and recording studios to support the industry. Now a new music nonprofit has officially launched to help up-and-coming musicians with mentorship and financial support. Black Fret began in Austin in 2013, opened a chapter in Seattle a few years later, and is now coming to Colorado.

The documentary about blues music in Mississippi, Deep Blues, is not a new film. It was made by Robert Mugge in 1992 and it looks at musicians who performed some of the most rugged blues that still existed at the time. It’s been restored, and for KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU Denver, Deep Blues is still a revelation.

In the aftermath of the Me Too movement and a long period of self-reflection during the pandemic, artists and arts groups are changing how they work.

In February of 1981, six months before MTV hit the airwaves, FM-TV launched in Colorado on public television’s KBDI Channel 12. A year later, the music video showcase became “Teletunes” and for almost two decades, it helped shape the way many saw and heard music. Among fans, its impact can still be felt today.

Last summer, due to the pandemic, Chautauqua Auditorium’s Silent Film Series largely went, well, silent. For the first time since it began in 1984, a virtual event was held in place of the live screenings. But it wasn't the same. Now the live event — and live music from a pit orchestra — are returning, with a little something extra.

Mask mandates are dropping around the state and at various stores and restaurants, and capacity restrictions on crowds at outdoor places are being loosened. As live music events continue their steady return, KUNC arts reporter Stacy Nick stopped at one venue in Lyons to find out how the return to "normal" feels and sounds.

With the return of spring weather and the arrival of large-scale vaccinations, we’re finally able to turn our attention to something we haven’t had in a while: live music, in small clubs, outdoor venues and at festivals.

One of the first reported cases of a superspreader event during the earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic was a choir rehearsal in Washington state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since deemed group singing in an indoor setting to be one of the most dangerous things people can do right now. But that hasn’t silenced many of Colorado’s choral groups.

The day Stephen Brackett was to be announced as Colorado’s new Music Ambassador back in March, the state’s stay-at-home order went into effect, and the event was postponed. On Thursday, the Flobots emcee was finally, formally, named to the role.