Serendipity, Sixteen Candles & Single File

“Wake up beside you get bed head beside you sleep in if you’d like to cuz’ I just wanna know what’s on your mind we’ll stay up all night”

It was my freshman year of high school when I was first introduced to the melodic pop sound that was the Denver local band Single File. A friend invited me to see them in concert one night. It was my first concert experience without either of my parents tagging along. I remember standing in the back quietly observing what I have come to classify as “concert behavior” and “mosh pit etiquette.” I was addicted.

“So hey man, check this out, downtowns a riot and something's spreadin through the crowd”

During my high school years I saw Single File in concert twenty times at the Marquis Theater. I won free tickets to one of those shows through a Myspace contest, remember Myspace? The question which I answered correctly and also faster than any of their other Myspace fans was "What are the last names of the Single File band members?" I also saw them play once at the Fillmore Auditorium which I also won free tickets to through a Channel 93.3 text & win thing. I sent over a 100 texts hoping to win. They were my good luck band. I met them at pretty much every show I attended.

The friends that had introduced me to them freshman year came and went; I celebrated my sixteenth birthday with them at a concert they played, and they brought a smile to my face during the months that I grieved over the loss of my Great Grandma Abbott. Then the summer after my senior year of high school I again managed to win free tickets and backstage passes to see them and several other bands play at Warped Tour. I didn’t know it then but that would be the last show I would ever see them play. That show it seems was a farewell to my adolescence and a farewell to a band I had grown up with.

There music was more than just a CD that lived in my stereo. It was more than the lyrics and upbeat songs drifting through my headphones. They had been there lifting me up through all those awkward teenage moments. They were my social outlet at concerts. I have countless memorable moments shared in small local venues with a really genuine band. Sadly, I left Denver to go to away for college and the band broke up sometime after that. I have since returned to Denver for school and I still frequent the music venues that Single File used to headline. It is not the same but, their music will live on through their EP “No More Sad Face” and the only CD they ever released “Common Struggles” along with the plethora of photographs I have from their concerts and the intimate musical moments I have shared with them over the years. They were a band that radically changed my life.

So here’s to my boys Joe Ginsberg, Sloan Anderson and Chris Depew. This one’s for you.

“So let’s drive tonight race beyond the skyline”

Side note: Joe Ginsberg is currently in an awesome band called Baywood go check out their single "I can breath again".

Song and story 'Under the bridge'

In 1990 Lead singer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers Anothony Kedis was driving in his car and began saying "sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner." He eventually wrote a poem that included this line. The poem was written a few years after Kedis's friend and bandmate Hillel Slovak died of a drug over dose. He wrote this about the lonliness of losing his best frriend and the lonliness he felt as s heroin addict. Reportedly the bridge is where Kedis used to go buy drugs and get high. In his book Scar Tissue, Kiedis explained that he thought up the lyrics while he was driving from a session with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was kind of sad because John Frusciante and Flea were getting closer as friends and Anthony was set apart from that, due to the fact that he was deeply involved with drugs. That's why he wrote, "Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner." Kiedis also wrote of the song: "Under The Bridge... I started freestyling some poetry in my car and putting the words to a melody and sang all the way down the freeway. When I got home, I got out my notebook and wrote the whole thing down in a song structure, even though it was meant to be a poem to deal with my own anguish." This song was off there 'blood sugar sex magik' album and was the bands first mainstream hit and gave them a headlining spot on the 1992 Lalapalloozza tour.

Also, I remember the first time I ever heard this song it was sometime in middle school and I was driving with my brother in our old Avon that I named Floyd. I remember instantly liking the song but I was too nervous to ask who or what song it was. I knew my brother would tease me for not being up to date on good music. So I sat there trying to memorize the chorus so I could look it up online later. Since then this song has always stuck with me. To this day it is my favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers song!

PS. If your not a squeemish one Anthony Kedis's autobigography Scare Tissue is an interesting read...quite graphic and not very up beat but none the less very well written.

Song and story 'Hey Jude'

I am almost certain you have heard this song but I bet you are unaware of the story behind it. This song was written by Paul McCartney to John Lennon's son Julian Lennon. It was originally 'Hey Jules" but eventually became 'Hey Jude'. It was written as a song of comfort for Julian as it was during the time that Lennon divorced his first wife. Then in the 1980's McCartney was really good friends with Michale Jackson. He suggested to Jackson that he look at investing in song rights as that was becoming really popular for those who could afford it. Then Jackson actually out bid McCartney on all the rights to the Beatles songs. However, McCartney told Jackson that he could not own the rights to 'Hey Jude' since that was technically Julian Lennon's song. Jackson agreed and that is why to this day it is the one Beatles song that you wont hear in commercials etc.

Survey: What was the greatest year of music?

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Local acts not only local any more...

In recent years Denver has been on the forefront of the emerging music scenes. A study done by the city and county of Denver showed that Denver's Creative Vitality Index score was 2.33. You can compare that score to the national average which was at 1. We even beat out Seattle who is notorious for being at the cutting edge of the music scene. They only received a score of 2.06. The score is composed of two major factors. One is being participation or the number of community members attending art related events. This also shows how much money is being spent by the public for these art events. Two being, art related employment. How many people currently hold jobs and are being paid for a job relating to the arts. These jobs include non-profit art organizations, photography, motion picture jobs, and museum and gallery workers. The study also found that there are 2,300 music related jobs in Denver currently. This number is higher than for Seattle and New Orleans which are generally seen as more prominent on the music spectrum. Denver alone host 44 music venues and several other venues that have music performances. In one night all the music venues together average about $2.3 million in revenues. Below I have listed 10 emerging Denver talents for everyone to check out. 

3oh!3
Originated in Boulder, CO
Style: Elctro pop
          Biggest hit and personal pick : "Don't trust me"off of there second album reached no.7 on The Billboard Hot 100
http://www.3oh3music.com/

Bad Weather California
Chris Adolf who sings and play Guitar for the band was raised in Grand Junction, CO
They have been compared to "The Grateful Dead"
They have toured with numerous well known artists
Personal pick: America
http://www.badweathercalifornia.com/

Big Head Todd And The Monsters
 Majority of the band members attended Colorado University Boulder
Has played sold out shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison,CO
Toured with the likes of "The Eagles", "Allman  Brothers", "Dave Matthews Band", and "Blue Traveler" among a long list.
Personal pick: Boom Boom or Rocksteady
www.bigheadtodd.com/

DeVotchKa
The band is based out of Denver, Co
An eclectic fusion of genres ranging from punk to mariachi to folk
Many of there songs have been featured in movies, television shows and even video games like "Gears Of War 2"
Personal Pick: How it ends- yes there most well known song
www.devotchka.net/

Everything absent or distorted
Sadly this band actually called it quits back in 2009 but I thought there contrabution to the Denver music scene was worth noting.
Personal picks: The lucky ones get a break or Closer than you think

Flobots
Although I would have to say this act has already emerged out of the Denver music scene they defiantly deserve a spot on this list.
LYRICS are a major component to the Flobots music.
They also have some awesome non profit's called fight with tools
They operate a Denver community center that does a lot of workshops with Minor Disturbance (Denver's Slam poetry team). If you ever get the chance to go I highly suggest it
Personal pick: Cracks in the surface
http://flobots.com/

Hearts of palm
Indy pop sound mixed with the gospel
Personal pick:Farewell valentine
http://www.myspace.com/heartsofpalmband

One Republic
 This is another Denver band that has already gown beyond Denver success.
They have performed on MTV and had songs appear in major motion pictures like "The Scorer's Apprentice"
Personal Pick: Secrets
http://www.onerepublic.net/default.aspx

Paper Bird
Jam band/ blues/ acoustic
Composed of 7 members who all call Colorado home now
Personal pick: Colorado
http://www.paperbirdband.com/

Single File
The band members are born and raised Coloradans who played in the high school jazz band together. 
They wrote songs over the phone and across the country together throughout college and eventually became the indie/ pop/rock band that plays shows all over Denver.
Personal picks: September Skyline, Bed Head
http://www.singlefilerock.com/

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.” - Aaron Copland

 The following is actually an essay I wrote for a class a few years ago but I have updated it and modified it. I thought it was a good introductory piece for readers to get to know me the author of this music blog. I have titled my blog "The Great American Play-list" because I am your average American. I have no special music training,I am not a musician (although I once tried learning several instruments). I am humbly a music appreciator and a music lover. My hope is to share that passion with you.

I sit there legs crossed, “I want to hold your hand” blaring out of the speakers. I watch hypnotized. It spins in circles around and around. Each of the tiny lines feels bumpy across my finger tips. The more indented lines indicating a new song on the record. Each one is round and black except for each has a unique inner circle with a picture or writing on it. I set down the needle on my phonograph and suddenly all my troubles float away as each note hangs in the air slowly escaping from the speakers. I let go of everything and listen as the melodic pop sound of the Beatles echoes through my bedroom.

On my walls and ceiling half hung posters represent my favorite bands and artist. My grandpa’s old guitar sits to the left of my bed. Pictures of my recent trip to Africa cover what once was a mirror. Every time I look into those pictures I see my reflection. My CD’s are hidden amongst books in my closet sitting next to my stereo. Laying alphabetically on the floor in crisp neat rows are the 153 vinyl records I own. I have been collecting them since my freshmen year of High School- begging aunts and uncles to pass down there un-used treasures to me. I love looking through all of my album covers. Each album cover feels flat and smooth with different art work on it. You can see how the styles have changed. Some of the art work beginning to fade away with the years. Next to my music collection is my phonograph that I received for Christmas two years ago. It is modern yet, appears old because of the rustic brown covering. It not only plays my classic indulgences but it has radio and CD functions too. The most modern part however; is that it records my vinyls into CD’s to listen to during those long car rides.

Suddenly, the needle picks up off the record. The album is over. It is dead silent. I flip the record over and start again, the vibrations in the music moving all around me.