by Mark Brown

David Bromberg walked away.

After becoming one of the most in-demand guitar and multi-instrumental virtuosos of the folk/rock era, who worked with everyone – Bob Dylan, John Prine, Carly Simon, Gordon Lightfoot, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, the Eagles and Bonnie Raitt just to name a tiny fraction – Bromberg convinced himself he wasn’t a musician anymore.

He put down his instruments and virtually didn’t touch them, even for fun, for 22 years. He moved to Wilmington, Delaware, and spent the decades running a violin shop. In 2007 he put out a low-key album of traditional songs, Try Me One More Time, that quietly sank. Fans were shocked that such a talent simply quit – and were maybe more surprised when he came back this year with a superb concept album, Use Me. He covers the Bill Withers song of that name on the album, but it was more than a title, it was a concept. He called up his musician friends and literally asked them to use him – write a song that would work, then produce Bromberg’s recording of it. John Hiatt, Keb’ Mo’, Vince Gill, Los Lobos, Dr. John and more happily stepped up to the task, resulting in Bromberg’s most satisfying record since his prime years. His Dec. 30 show for Swallow Hill Music is sold out, but Bromberg happily answered questions, some submitted by Swallow Hill Music fans going to the show, about how he got here today – and his surprising picks for his two favorite female singers of the moment.

Q: Use Me – did the concept come first, or your version of the song?

A: No the song was last. I had the idea where I called up a bunch of people and with balls of brass asked each one to write a song for me then produce me doing it (laughs).

Q: You traveled to each musician in Nashville, New Orleans, etc. to get  a regional vibe, but it sounds like just an excuse for a bunch of fun road trips.

A: It was a bunch of fun road trips, but it was expensive! It took a couple of years to line up sessions with everybody. Some people we never were able to get our schedules to match, but we certainly had enough for an album so we went for it.

Q: How did it get started?

A: The first person I asked was John Hiatt. It all stemmed from a concert he and Lyle Lovett did in Wilmington. They called me up and asked me to come over and bring a guitar. I thought they wanted me to accompany them but they wanted me to do some of my tunes, which was very sweet. After the show John said ‘You know, you ought to come down to Nashville. I’ve got a studio in my house and we’ll fool around.’ That gave rise to the germ of the idea. Lyle was the guy we couldn’t get our schedules together. He did agree to do one with me, but he works more than any human should work.

Q: And those sessions are going to be in an upcoming documentary, yes? “David Bromberg, Unsung Treasure?”

A:  There’s a woman named Beth Toni Kruvant who decided to film some of it. That film is going to be out sometime in September. I can’t wait to see it myself. My wife and I saw a rough of it recently. It was kind of like the world’s greatest home movie for us, us and all our friends.

Q: You’ve always had some humor in your music, from your classic “Sharon” to the new Dr. John song, “You Don’t Want To Make Me Mad.”

A: In most cases I asked people not to send me anything humorous. It’s tough to write humor for somebody else. What works for you won’t necessarily work for me. What works for me is a little tricky. I actually rejected one humorous thing because the best line in it was something I didn’t want to say. It seemed a little saltier than I wanted to be. Mac’s tune, when he sent me a tape of it, I said ‘I can do that.’ That’s the only humorous thing on there. There are some adlibs on ‘The Old Neighborhood’ but they’re not humorous. Also some at the end of ‘Use Me.’ Bill didn’t do that.

Q: Tell me about shifting gears mid-career, leaving performing and opening a music shop.

A: They’re completely separate things, truthfully. It’s a violin shop. I stopped performing and even playing for approximately 22 years. I stopped almost completely for 22 years. I spent those 22 years studying fine old violins.

Q: How could you give up such a career?

A: I got burnt out and I was too stupid to recognize it as burnout. I never believed I could be burned out. I wasn’t practicing, I wasn’t jamming, I wasn’t writing. I concluded I was no longer a musician. I didn’t wanna be one of these guys who drags his ass on the stage and does a bitter imitation of what he used to love.  There are guys like that. I decided I had to find another way to live my life. I was living in Marin County at the time and the place I found the most inspiration was in a violin shop. It fascinated me how someone could inspect a violin and without referring to the label could tell you when and where it was made and sometimes by whom. That’s what I studied and continue to study. That’s what I do in my violin sop. I don’t do any repairs. I don’t make them. I try to identify the things people bring me and educate myself to know more makers. Like music, it’s one of these things that no one will ever know all of it.

Q: What brought you back?

A: When I moved to Wilmington, Delaware, in 2002 I had lunch with the mayor who loves music. He told me there used to be live music up and down the street that my shop and my home were on. He wanted to see that again. I thought I could start a couple of jam sessions. I started an acoustic bluegrass-based session and a Chicago blues electric jam session. I figured I’d start them then they’d live or die on their own. What happened was some very fine musicians started showing up, some traveling quite some ways to be there. I was really enjoying playing again and I decided ‘I am a musician’ and started doing gigs. But I have control of it. I don’t do so many that I know I’m going to be unhappy. I don’t do ones where I know at the end I’ll feel exhausted and terrible. I don’t want to be on the street hunting for a taxi cab at 4 a.m., you know? I won’t allow myself to be put in that position again.

Q: You turned up everywhere at the right time, from the Greenwich Village folk scene to Rick Derringer’s “Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo” to performing at “The Last Waltz.” Serendipity, or did you actively make those events happen for yourself?

A: You can’t force yourself on people. They have to ask you.

Q: Swallow Hill Music fans have some questions for you. Gary S, of Parker asks: “’Sharon’ is one of my favorites. When you say ‘She went’ and play a sexy little riff – how did you come up with that?”

A: I just felt the lick depicted a sinuous movement that a dancer might do. Later on the guitar talks in ‘Sharon,’ and I got the idea of the guitar talking from the Rev. Gary Davis. I was his seeing-eye dog for a while. He was a great, great musician and the guitar talked for him.

Q: Gary also notes that you said Jerry Jeff Walker “wasn’t in jail on a research project” when he wrote “Mr. Bojangles.” Have you ever been to jail?

A: I’ve never been jailed. I have been in a jail performing, actually a prison would be the proper term. But performing.

Q: Paul B. asks if the song “Sharon” is autobiographical.

A: Kind of. Sharon is my sister-in-law. She is past 50 now and she’s still the dirtiest dancer I’ve ever seen (laughs). The guy with the big bushy beard, red hair? That’s my brother.

Q: Harry B. of Salida said he saw you at a concert in Minneapolis and you said you always tried to find a guitarist for your band who was better than you. Who would you list as the best guitarists of all time?

A: Of all time, I don’t know. Two of the best guitar players I’ve played with – one is very famous and one is not at all famous. Vince Gill is a phenomenal guitar player. The guy I’ve played the most with who just floors me is a guy named John Lippincott. He’s from Wilmington. I met him when I was 15 years old. He played great blues. Then he went to Berkeley and learned to play jazz. Now he’s the guitar player for Little Big Town.  John is just a tremendous guitar player, really wonderful. And Jimmy Herring is wonderful. Ricky Skaggs is a great guitar player. I have a guy in my band named Mitch Corbin. And a guy named Mark Cosgrove, brilliant guitar player.

Q: Michael S. asks “As a guitar player with limited skills I’ve always been impressed with your virtuosity on guitar and other instruments. Who would you say is the finest musician you ever played with? And what obscure player could you suggest checking out?”

A: Two names come to mind immediately. The first one, Tim O’Brien. He’s such a great musician. It just flows out of him. It seems effortless. The musician who also just flows out of him and seems effortless who had the most influence on me is this guy named Jody Stecher. He’s recorded with his wife, Kate Brislin. These days he’s on the road playing with Peter Rowan. He’s a brilliant musician.

Q: Jeff L. wants to know if you’ve every played any live shows with your “Dead or Alive” compadres?

A: No, I don’t think I ever did.

Q: Kathleen C. asks if you ever get a chance to play with Corky Siegel? She saw you at Lake Forest College with him.

A: Yeah, we’ve played together a few times. Always fun. Corky’s a good guy and a nice musician. Always a pleasure to be with.

Q: Jane H. asks what are your three personal favorite songs to perform onstage?

A: It’s something new always. These days there’s a song called ’$50 Wig’.  I enjoy doing. I heard it on Sirius Radio performed by the guy who wrote it, Doug MacLeod.  I was just so floored by the tune I downloaded it and learned it. I love doing that. Then there’s a tune that I did years and years ago then completely forgot about it. There’s this guy … who sent me 14 CDs. He was one of these tape traders and got every show I ever did, I think. On these 14 CDs there were all the songs I’d ever done live. Each of these CDs is 80 minutes long, so you can imagine how many songs are in there. I can’t listen to that crap, but my son did. He pointed out a couple of tunes on there I’d forgotten. One is a great song from Mother Earth’s first album called ‘I’ll Keep Moving’ On.’  I’m really enjoying doing that one lately.

Q: Who haven’t you played with that you’d love to?

A: One person I’d have to name would be Mavis Staples. I finally got to meet her last summer. I’ve been listening to the Staple Signers for 30 years or more, since before they had their pop hits. When I was leading Rev. Gary Davis around I’d go into Sam Goody’s and buy these gospel albums. I’d just buy them by their covers, I didn’t know anything. But when I found the Staple Singers it was all over.

Q: Who do you like who’s up and coming? Keb’ Mo’ and Widespread Panic are on the new album.

A: Kevin and I go back 30 years. He used to open shows for me, then call me sometimes just to ask questions. That’s easily 30 years ago. I love Ollebelle. Buy the first album, it’s really worth it. I’ll tell you something – I started to really appreciate singers who I hadn’t really paid attention to. I started to really appreciate Christina Aguilera on the Grammys a few years ago. Commemorating James Brown, she did ‘It’s a Man’s World’ and sang the hell out of it, without any of the fantastic things she can do. My complaint with her is she did too many fantastic things on too many songs. She has these incredible licks. I’d like her to use them less. She’s a brilliant, brilliant singer, and I’m now a fan. Same with Beyonce. What won my heart with Beyonce is I was nominated for a Grammy several years ago and went to L.A. Beyonce has this performance with Tina Turner. Tina has danced a lot, but she didn’t dance that night. But Beyonce did all of her moves. And that won my heart. I thought ‘Here is a woman who knows where she comes from and is paying respect to it.’ She did that again – she was the star of a terrible movie called ‘Cadillac Records.’ It was awful, but she was great in it. She sang Etta James’ biggest hit, ‘At Last.’ And the performance you could tell how closely she had studied Etta James’ technique and style. She just did a gorgeous job with that and every part of the movie. And I became a Beyonce fan.

***

The acclaimed folk-opera will also feature locals Reed Föehl, KC Groves, and Paper Bird’s Esme Patterson, Sarah Anderson, and Genny Patterson

WHAT: Anaïs Mitchell’s Folk-Opera Hadestown debuts in Colorado, re-interpreting the Orpheus myth and starring some of Colorado’s indie-folk elite.
WHEN: Saturday, October 15th, 8pm
WHERE: L2 Arts & Culture Center, 1477 Columbine St., Denver 80206
INFO & BOX OFFICE: http://swallowhillmusic.org/, (303) 777-1003 x2
PHOTOS: For high-resolution photos, please contact Meg Ivey, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
MEDIA CONTACT: Gwen Burak, (303) 643-5816, gwen@swallowhillmusic.org or Meg Ivey, 303-765-2488, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
RSS: http://swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER – Some of Colorado’s most acclaimed indie-folkers will come together on stage for a one-night-only run of Anaïs Mitchell’s folk-opera Hadestown.

What started as a stage production in her native Vermont became in 2010 Anaïs Mitchell’s folk-opera album Hadestown, a modern interpretation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in a post-apocalyptic American depression era.

“It’s a musical opera that’s unlike any opera you’ve ever witnessed. It’s Indie rock mixed with Dixieland. It’s Homer’s Odyssey as performed by Pink Floyd.” – blogocritics.org

“When 98% of what passes as music today lacks even the remotest twinge of an idea, thought, emotion or worse–heart–Hadestown and Anaïs Mitchell deserve all the listeners and accolades we can give. Pass it on.” - Folk and Acoustic Music Review

In this Denver debut, Anaïs will lead the cast as Eurydice in what she calls “a radio novella” featuring her songwriting and collaborative work with arranger/orchestrator Michael Chorney.  This unique evening of music will also feature our Colorado talent in many of the key roles, including Boulder singer-songwriter Reed Föehl as Hades, a role sung on the album by Greg Brown.

Also joining Anaïs will be KC Groves as Persephone (originally played on the album by Ani DiFranco) and the three women of Paper Bird, Esme and Genny Patterson and Sarah Anderson, who will play the Fates.

Brooklyn-based songwriter Jefferson Hamer will also take the stage in the role, originally played on the album by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, of Orpheus.

Colorado Sings Hadestown is an event not to be missed! Full artist bios and the opera libretto are below. As always purchase tickets early to save by visiting www.swallowhillmusic.org (with no processing fees) or calling (303) 777-1003 ext. 2 to speak with a real-live human being. Additional discounts are available for Swallow Hill Music members.

Thank you for supporting live music at Swallow Hill Music!

Anaïs Mitchell – Eurydice
Anaïs Mitchell is the rare musician who is equally comfortable wielding an acoustic guitar alone onstage, sharing a disc’s worth of alt-country duets, or scripting a vast operatic journey into the underworld.  The reference points of her music may seem to come from all over the map while still interconnected: the country ballads of the Carter Family, the hard-edged cabaret of Brecht and Weill, the story-songs of Randy Newman, the vast narrative scope of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and the intricately crafted tales of her namesake, bohemian feminist Anaïs Nin, to name a few.  Her album The Brightness inspired a reviewer from the Boston Globe to praise Mitchell’s “vivid snapshots of sweetly ordinary moments,” while Acoustic Guitar called her “a songwriter of startling clarity and depth, equally skilled at turning a melody or lyrical phrase into what you didn’t know you needed until you heard it,” adding that she “weaves her stories into an effortlessly beautiful and cohesive tapestry with the skill of an artisan’s carpenter, showing no seams.”

Reed Föehl – Hades
A recent opener for Marc Cohn at the Chautauqua Summer Concert Series, Boulder singer-songwriter Reed Föehl pulls together a touch of country folk and edgy roots rock with the bold honesty intrinsic to modern songwriting. “He sings like he feels every note… Each song tells a story, all of which he relates astonishingly well.” – The Boston Globe. A Boston native based in Colorado since 1989 Reed’s lush tones and solid songs have been used many times in soundtracks including Dawson’s Creek and the movie Just Friends, and he has performed with the likes of Ray Lemontagne, Dave Matthews, and My Morning Jacket.

KC Groves – Persephone
KC Groves has always been as much of a musical instigator as she has been a talented musician.  Even before she founded the band Uncle Earl in 2000, she formed many bands, organized musical events and gatherings.  She has independently released two albums of original songs featuring Tim O’Brien, Charles Sawtelle, Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis, Sally Van Meter and other bluegrass icons.  She is best known for strong yet unadorned vocals as well as adept vocal arranging skills.  She plays the guitar, mandolin, and has graced some of the nation’s most premier stages from Telluride to Merlefest.  While not touring with Uncle Earl or her local group, The Jaspers, she proves to be a driving force behind the thriving music scene on the Front Range.  She has produced concerts, started a community radio station, and hosts countless music jams and is more recently on the Board of Directors of the Central Rockies Old Time Music Association.

Paper Bird’s Esme & Genny Patterson and Sarah Anderson – The Fates
As the voices of local favorite Paper Bird, these three women bring a unique folk-Americana sound, and their signature vocal harmonies and knack for capturing a Roaring 20′s flare in a contemporary way is always pleasing to the ears.

Jefferson Hamer – Orpheus
Jefferson Hamer is a singer and guitarist based in Brooklyn, NY. Hailed as an “appealing voice” in 2011 by the New York Times, he has performed his original and traditional music at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the High Sierra Music Festival, and the Strawberry Music Festival. His songs have been recorded by touring artists including Joy Kills Sorrow and Reed Föehl. He and acclaimed songwriter Anaïs Mitchell are currently writing and recording an album of new adaptations of the 19th century English and Scottish Popular Ballads collected by Francis James Child.

Hadestown Libretto
Hadestown begins in the open air, in a world of poverty. Eurydice asks her lover how he will provide for her in these dark times-Orpheus is sure that the world will provide {Wedding Song}. Orpheus sings, and his singing draws a crowd {Epic Part One}. An old train depot, and everyone’s talking about Hadestown, the walled city under the ground {Way Down Hadestown}. There’s Hermes, the hobo guide and messenger; Persephone, in transit, suitcases in tow; Eurydice, who is more than curious about Hadestown; and Orpheus, who wants no part. When Hades calls, Eurydice receives him {Hey, Little Songbird}. He seduces her: she should leave Orpheus and join him in the wealth and security of his underworld. Eurydice succumbs {Gone, I’m Gone}-was she pushed, or did she jump? The Fates provide an explanation {When the Chips Are Down}. Orpheus is determined to follow Eurydice, and Hermes gives directions {Wait For Me}. Meanwhile, in Hadestown, Hades indoctrinates his worker-citizens {Why We Build the Wall}. But when he turns his back, Persephone presents another side of the underworld, in a speakeasy where she plies her contraband and takes an interest in the newly arrived Orpheus {Our Lady of the Underground}. Eurydice, unaware that her lover is near, laments her decision {Flowers}. Orpheus moves toward her, but is intercepted by the Fates. The rules are the rules-there’s no going back for Eurydice-it’s better not to struggle {Nothing Changes}. Orpheus challenges the Fates {If It’s True}. A fight scene: Orpheus and the speakeasy are exposed {Papers}. In the royal bedroom, Persephone appeals to her husband on Orpheus’ behalf {How Long?}. Orpheus sings again, and this time, Hades hears him {Epic Part Two}. An uprising begins, in Hadestown and in the heart of the king {Lover’s Desire}. Hades comes up with a plan: Orpheus can have Eurydice back if he can walk out of the underworld a few paces ahead of her and not turn around to make sure she’s there {His Kiss, The Riot}. Orpheus and Eurydice begin their ascent {Doubt Comes In}. Later, Eurydice and Persephone sing a reverse elegy for Orpheus {I Raise My Cup To Him}.

Swallow Hill Music’s
2011 CONCERT SCHEDULE

All shows at 8pm @ 71 E. Yale Ave. unless otherwise indicated

Fri Aug 12         Hot Club of Cowtown
Fri Aug 12         Natalia Zukerman & Sweet Talk Radio
Sat Aug 13        Blues & Brews – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Thu Aug 18       The Be Good Tanyas @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Aug 19         Butch Hancock (of the Flatlanders)
Sat Aug 20        Iris DeMent w/ Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
Sat Aug 20        Vicki Taylor – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Aug 26         Tito Malaga – NEW RESCHEDULED DATE
Fri Aug 26         Loose Cannon Bluegrass
Sat Aug 27        Mary Flower
Thu Sep 1         Katelyn Benton – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Sept 3         Ronny Cox
Thu Sep 8         Dave Devitt – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 9           Charlie Hunter Duo
Fri Sep 9           Darden Smith
Sat Sep 10        Reed Foehl & The Haunted Windchimes
Sat Sep 10        Star Edwards – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert Series
Thu Sep 15       Crooked Still & The Bee Eaters @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Thu Sep 15       Steel Wheels – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 16         Judy Collins w/ special guest Amy Speace @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Sat Sep 17        Justin Roberts & The Not Ready for Naptime Players – 11:00am & 3:00pm
Sat Sep 17        Chris McGarry & The Insomniacs – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Sun Sep 18       Tuck & Patti @ 7:00pm
Fri Sep 23         The Wood Brothers w/ Clay Cook @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Sat Sep 24        Colin Hay @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Fri Sep 30         Horse Feathers
Fri Sep 30        Corinne West & Kelly Joe Phelps
Sat Oct 1          Harry Tuft – CD Release
Sat Oct 1          Giddyup Kitty
Sat Oct 8          Red Horse @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Thu Oct 13        Tales from the Sahel:  An Evening with Baaba Maal @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Fri Oct 14         Ryan Montbleau Band @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Fri Oct 14         Alice Peacock & Danny Myrick
Sat Oct 15        Anais Mitchell presents Colorado Sings Hadestown @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Sat Oct 15        Clay Kirkland – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Thu Oct 20        Nick Charles – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22        The Refugees
Sat Oct 22         Paul Geremia
Fri Oct 28          Bearfoot
Sat Oct 29        California Guitar Trio w/ Fareed Haque
Fri Nov 4           Karla Bonoff
Sat Nov 5          Steve Law – Album Release
Fri Nov 11         Dan Navarro
Sat Nov 12        Kindred Spirits
Sat Nov 19        Perpetual Motion – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Sat Dec 3          Cheryl Wheeler @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Dec 17        Scoundrels for Hire feat. Tom Corona – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Dec 30         David Bromberg Band @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011

Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series

All shows at 7pm @ 1007 York St., Denver 80206 unless otherwise indicated

Tickets on-sale to general public May 2, 10:00am

concerts.botanicgardens.org

Sun Aug 21      B.B. King – SOLD OUT

Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011
Shady Grove Picnic Series @ Four Mile Historic Park

All shows at 6:30pm (doors 6:00pm) @ 715 South Forest St., Glendale, 80246
Walk-up tickets only:
$10, $7 for members/cyclists/seniors, $2 for kids under 12, FREE for kids under 2.

Wed Aug 17      Wendy Woo & Angie Stevens
Wed Aug 24      Quiet American w/ Glowing House

About Swallow Hill Music:
Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music will celebrate its 32nd anniversary in 2011 as one of the largest non-profit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music.

In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through its concert, school and outreach programming.

Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent.  Additionally in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long-running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.

Swallow Hill Music offers hundreds of classes, workshops, and private lessons for instruments and interests of all kinds. A faculty of 70 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students annually, including school outreach programming that takes music and music assemblies into Colorado public schools.

A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music receives public funding and grants, and has over 2,000 members that help cover one-third of all of the organization’s operating costs.  This generosity has helped Swallow Hill Music provide a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region, in both the classroom and on stage.

# # #

Also On-Sale Now… a CD-release from Denver’s folk-godfather Harry Tuft, actor-musician Ronny Cox, Corinne West & Kelly Joe Phelps, Paul Geremia, Dan Navarro, Star Edwards, and rescheduled Tito Malaga

WHAT: Additions to the Swallow Hill Music fall concert line-up – ON SALE NOW!
WHERE: L2 Art & Culture Center, 1477 Columbine St. and Swallow Hill Music, 71 E. Yale Ave. – see specific show details for location
INFO & BOX OFFICE: http://swallowhillmusic.org/, (303) 777-1003 x2
PHOTOS: For high-resolution photos, please contact Meg Ivey,meg@swallowhillmusic.org
MEDIA CONTACT: Gwen Burak, (303) 643-5816, gwen@swallowhillmusic.org or Meg Ivey, 303-765-2488, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
RSS: http://swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER – From Africa to old-time Americana and folk, Swallow Hill Music is pleased to announce additions to its fall concert season.  Indisputably one of the African continent’s most important performers, on October 13th Baaba Maal will bring a voice to humanity’s challenges and opportunities through his West African infused music.  In contrast, September 10th will feature the Americana songwriting of Reed Foehl and the old-time folk/blues sound The Haunted Windchimes, and our local folk favorite and founder Harry Tuft will perform and release a new album on October 1st.  Round out your October on the 29th with the amazing guitar skill of the California Guitar Trio w/ Fareed Haque.

Full show highlights are below, and as always purchase tickets early to save by visitingwww.swallowhillmusic.org (with no processing fees) or calling (303) 777-1003 ext. 2 to speak with a real-live human being. Additional discounts are available for Swallow Hill Music members.

Thank you for supporting live music at Swallow Hill Music!

NEW SHOWS ON-SALE NOW!

Baaba Maal
Thursday, October 13th, 8 pm @ L2 Art & Culture Center, $34 advance
Baaba Maal is both a musician and social activist who shares his music in hope for change….. “I think the musician’s role is to give advice, to warn people, and to make them aware of what they might not have thought of themselves. We use melodies and harmonies to make songs enter your mind.”  Baaba Maal’s most recent albumTelevision, is a subtle blending of electronic dance elements and the timeless tradition of West African music.  Following in the footsteps of his 2001 Grammy-nominatedMissing You, this most recent album uses his fusion/ecletic musical style to speak to social justice and peace issues in Africa and around the world, issues he devotes time to as both a musician and as Youth Emissary for the United Nations’ Development Program.

Reed Foehl & The Haunted Windchimes
Saturday, September 10th, 8pm @ Swallow Hill Music, $15 advance
Boulder singer-songwriter Reed Foehl pulls together a touch of country folk and edgy roots rock with the bold honesty intrinsic to modern songwriting.  “He sings like he feels every note… Each song tells a story, all of which he relates astonishingly well.” – The Boston Globe.  A Boston native based in Colorado since 1989 Reed’s lush tones and solid songs have been used many times in soundtracks including Dawson’s Creek, Joan of Arcadia, and the movie Just Friends,  and he has performed with the likes of Ray Lemontagne, Dave Matthews, and My Morning Jacket.

Pueblo’s best export since steel, The Haunted Windchimes present a traditional folk sound spliced with blues and a hint of vintage quality, as if their music might have been written yesterday, or 75 years ago. Setting this group apart is their stunning three-part harmonies, which offer a contrast to the often moody and haunted tone of their music.“The Haunted Windchimes paint an evocative and compelling musical picture with familiar hues of folk, blues and Americana.” -Westword.

California Guitar Trio w/ Fareed Haque
Saturday, October 29th, 8 pm @ Swallow Hill Music, $22 advance
With a whirlwind of instrumental styles fusing classical, rock, blues, jazz, world music, progressive, as well as the quintessential California musical genre surf music, theCalifornia Guitar Trio’s stunning virtuosity and sly sense of humor have earned them an enthusiastic following and wide notoriety. Their music’s significant crossover in the progressive, acoustic and classical music scenes was recently proven again by their Best Instrumental Album of 2010 award from the Indie Acoustic Project for their latest album, Andromeda.  Guitar virtuoso Fareed Haque will open the show and be joining the Trio on stage to showcase his jazz and classical guitar prowess.

Harry Tuft- CD Release

Saturday, October 1, 8 pm @ Swallow Hill Music, $18 advance
Swallow Hill Music is proud to host Harry Tuft, Denver’s Godather of Folk, when he releases his latest CD Harry Tuft and Friends. Joining him on stage will be Rich Moore, Mollie O’Brien, and Janet Feder, plus more to be named! Harry grew up singing and playing a series of instruments from the piano to the clarinet, ukulele, baritone uke, and in college, a six-string guitar. After venturing into Philadelphia’s lively folk scene and eventually relocating to Colorado, Harry was encouraged by friends to open the Denver Folklore Center, which he did in March of 1962. He went on to promote some of the biggest shows in Denver, including Joan Baez’s first Denver show at Red Rocks in 1964. He founded Swallow Hill Music Association in 1979, and to this day the Denver Folklore Center and Harry’s music-making are still going strong!

Other Shows Newly On-Sale:

Fri Aug 26    Tito Malaga – NEW RESCHEDULED DATE
Sat Sep 3     Ronny Cox
Sat Sep 10   Star Edwards – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert Series
Fri Sep 30    Corinne West & Kelly Joe Phelps
Sat Oct 22    Paul Geremia
Fri Nov 11    Dan Navarro

Swallow Hill Music’s

2011 CONCERT SCHEDULE

All shows at 8pm @ 71 E. Yale Ave. unless otherwise indicated

Fri Jul 22           Summer Brewfest w/ BopSkizzum feat. Andy Guerrero of the Flobots @                                 Mile High Station – 2027 W. Lower Colfax Ave.

Fri Jul 29           Blame Sally w/ Susan Gibson

Fri Jul 29           Truckstop Honeymoon w/ Buster Blue
Fri Aug 5           Badi Assad
Fri Aug 5           Shawn Phillips
Sat Aug 6          George Winston
Sat Aug 6          Shannon Whitworth w/ Jami Lunde
Fri Aug 12         Hot Club of Cowtown
Fri Aug 12         Natalia Zukerman & Sweet Talk Radio
Sat Aug 13        Blues & Brews – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Thu Aug 18       The Be Good Tanyas @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Aug 19         Butch Hancock (of the Flatlanders)
Sat Aug 20        Iris DeMent w/ Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
Sat Aug 20        Vicki Taylor – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Aug 26         Tito Malaga – NEW RESCHEDULED DATE
Fri Aug 26         Loose Cannon Bluegrass
Sat Aug 27        Mary Flower
Thu Sep 1         Katelyn Benton – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Sept 3         Ronny Cox
Thu Sep 8         Dave Devitt – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 9           Charlie Hunter Duo
Fri Sep 9           Darden Smith
Sat Sep 10        Reed Foehl & The Haunted Windchimes
Sat Sep 10        Star Edwards – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert Series
Thu Sep 15       Crooked Still & The Bee Eaters @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Thu Sep 15       Steel Wheels – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 16         Judy Collins w/ special guest Amy Speace @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Sat Sep 17        Justin Roberts & The Not Ready for Naptime Players – 11:00am & 3:00pm
Sat Sep 17        Chris McGarry & The Insomniacs – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Sun Sep 18       Tuck & Patti @ 7:00pm
Fri Sep 23         Wood Brothers @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Sat Sep 24        Colin Hay @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Fri Sep 30         Horse Feathers
Fri Sep 30        Corinne West & Kelly Joe Phelps
Sat Oct 1          Harry Tuft – CD Release
Sat Oct 1          Giddyup Kitty
Sat Oct 8          Red Horse @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Thu Oct 13        Baaba Maal @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Fri Oct 14         Ryan Montbleau Band @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Fri Oct 14         Alice Peacock & Danny Myrick
Sat Oct 15        Anais Mitchell presents Colorado Sings Hadestown @ L2 Art & Culture Center
Sat Oct 15        Clay Kirkland – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Thu Oct 20        Nick Charles – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22        The Refugees
Sat Oct 22         Paul Geremia
Fri Oct 28          Bearfoot
Sat Oct 29        California Guitar Trio w/ Fareed Haque
Fri Nov 4           Karla Bonoff
Sat Nov 5          Steve Law – Album Release
Fri Nov 11         Dan Navarro
Sat Nov 12        Kindred Spirits
Sat Nov 19        Perpetual Motion – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Sat Dec 3          Cheryl Wheeler @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Dec 17        Scoundrels for Hire feat. Tom Corona – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Dec 30         David Bromberg Band @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011

Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series

All shows at 7pm @ 1007 York St., Denver 80206 unless otherwise indicated

Tickets on-sale to general public May 2, 10:00am

concerts.botanicgardens.org

Thu Jul 21        India.Arie & Idan Raichel

Fri Jul 22          Chris Botti

Sun Jul 24        Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers and Béla Fleck & the Original Flecktones @

Denver Botanic Gardens CHATFIELD location – 6:00pm

Fri Jul 29          Rosanne Cash w/ Nina Storey

Thu Aug 4        k.d. lang & The Siss Boom Bang w/ The Secret Sisters – SOLD OUT

Sun Aug 7        Keb’ Mo’ – SOLD OUT

Tue Aug 9        David Sanborn, George Duke, & Marcus Miller

Sun Aug 21      B.B. King – SOLD OUT

Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011

Shady Grove Picnic Series @ Four Mile Historic Park

All shows at 6:30pm (doors 6:00pm) @ 715 South Forest St., Glendale, 80246

Walk-up tickets only:

$10, $7 for members/cyclists/seniors, $2 for kids under 12, FREE for kids under 2.

Wed Aug 3        Omnibuds
Wed Aug 10      Rocky Mountain Jewgrass w/ special guest Tom Scharf
Wed Aug 17      Wendy Woo & Angie Stevens
Wed Aug 24      Quiet American w/ Glowing House

About Swallow Hill Music:

Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music will celebrate its 32nd anniversary in 2011 as one of the largest non-profit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music.

In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through its concert, school and outreach programming.

Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent.  Additionally in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long-running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.

Swallow Hill Music offers hundreds of classes, workshops, and private lessons for instruments and interests of all kinds. A faculty of 70 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students annually, including school outreach programming that takes music and music assemblies into Colorado public schools.

A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music receives public funding and grants, and has over 2,000 members that help cover one-third of all of the organization’s operating costs.  This generosity has helped Swallow Hill Music provide a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region, in both the classroom and on stage.

# # #

Also on-sale Wednesday, June 29th at 10am Mary Flower, Alice Peacock & Danny Myrick, and Scoundrels for Hire

WHAT: Additions to the Swallow Hill Music concert line-up
WHERE: L2 Arts & Culture Center, 1477 Columbine St. OR Swallow Hill Music, 71 E. Yale Ave. – see specific show details for location
INFO & BOX OFFICE: http://swallowhillmusic.org/, (303) 777-1003 x2
PHOTOS: For high-resolution photos, please contact Meg Ivey,meg@swallowhillmusic.org
MEDIA CONTACT: Gwen Burak, (303) 643-5816, gwen@swallowhillmusic.org or Meg Ivey, 303-765-2488, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
RSS: http://swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER – In celebration of 10 years since the release of their first album Blue Horse,The Be Good Tanyas will be making a stop in Denver as part of limited live tour, and Swallow Hill Music is thrilled to host them in this rare appearance.  Also newly announced, Crooked Still & The Bee Eaters will bring their acclaimed, and re-imagined bluegrassy sounds and the Ryan Mountbleau Band delivers their meld of Americana sounds with a jam band attitude.

Full show highlights are below, and as always purchase tickets early to save by visiting www.swallowhillmusic.org (with no processing fees) or calling (303) 777-1003 ext. 2 to speak with a real-live human being. Additional discounts are available for Swallow Hill Music members.

Thank you for supporting live music at Swallow Hill Music!

SHOWS ON-SALE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29TH, 10AM!

The Be Good Tanyas
Thursday, August 18th, 8 pm @ L2 Arts & Culture Center, $24 advance
It is amazing that a group from Vancouver, British Columbia can show Americans what their own music sounds like. The Be Good Tanyas deliver traditional American sounds that return to the Jimmie Rodgers/Carter Family era. If a person longs for sparse instrumentation along with voices that do not bellow or boast, he or she can find musical peace with these three ladies. If a person wants to hear performers who embrace the folk, country, and blues roots of American music with a little touch of the contemporary, then The Be Good Tanyas are voices that come out of the wilderness and onto center stage, performing music that transcends their birthdates and transports their listeners from the past to the present and vice-versa. Samantha Parton, Frazey Ford, and Trish Klein are an open-ended musical time capsule in suspended animation – out of the wilderness and into CD speakers and human ears – awaiting a musical feast.

Crooked Still & The Bee Eaters
Thursday, September 15th 8 pm  @ L2 Arts & Culture Center, $20 advance
Purveyors of the nu-folk, bluegrass movement, Crooked Still are equal parts ambassador and innovators as evidenced on their newest album Some Strange Country,just released May 18th. The musical prowess of this defiantly non-traditional bluegrass quintet is on display as radically re-imagined traditional fare blends seamlessly alongside four original compositions and a surprising take on the Rolling Stones’ You Got The Silver. “The music is not just ‘alternative bluegrass’ or whatever people used to call it,” Brittany Haas remarks. “It’s at another level now: artful, but still grounded in that funky, string band thing.”

The Bee Eaters trace their roots back to musical traditions as diverse as bluegrass, Celtic, jazz and old-time.  While today’s new breed often produces an amalgamation of sounds and styles based on a distant view, the Bee Eaters were raised embedded in these traditions… raised to mold, meld, shape them and carry them forward, leaving their own indelible marks in the process.  “The quartet combines chamber music’s finely calibrated arrangements with bluegrass’s playful virtuosity and pop music’s melodic resourcefulness.” - The Boston Globe.  Brother-sister duo Tristan and 2008 Grand National Fiddle Champion Tashina Clarridge are joined by hammer dulcimer virtuosoSimon Chrisman and masterful mandolinist Dominick Leslie.

Ryan Montbleau Band
Friday, October 14th, 8 pm @ L2 Arts & Culture Center, $18 advance
Don’t worry if the classic sounds the Ryan Montbleau Band bottled up remain a little hard to put a label on. “I’m not one of these people who say ‘Oh, we can’t be pigeonholed.’ I honestly wish we could, just so I could describe it quickly to people,” says Montbleau. Their latest record has “folk songs, funk songs, country tunes, a reggae tune . . . and the end is almost like prog-rock. It’s all over the map, but it’s all us, and we do it all wholeheartedly. We’ve sort of come up in the jam scene, and that’s where our hearts have been in a lot of ways, but we don’t go off on 15-minute epics. We’re actually trying to make the songs shorter as we go. So I would lean much more toward the Americana thing than the jam thing. But, more than anything, we’re definitely about the song.”

Mary Flower
Saturday, August 27, 8 pm @ Swallow Hill Music, $18 advance
Mary Flower is renowned for a uniquely personal vision of roots music that blends ragtime, acoustic blues, and folk – technically dazzling yet grounded in the down-to-earth simplicity of 20th century American music.  Flower has earned rave reviews for her unassuming vocals, but it’s her instrumental skill – a mastery of the Piedmont blues guitar – for which Flower is most celebrated.  Her fingerpicking forms the basis of a heavily-syncopated ragtime style, and she infuses songs with a supremely delicate, plaintive sound that’s hers alone while recalling the blues giants of the past.

Other Shows Newly Announced:
Fri Oct 14    Alice Peacock & Danny Myrick
Sat Dec 17  Scoundrels for Hire feat. Tom Corona- “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert

Swallow Hill Music’s

2011 CONCERT SCHEDULE

All shows at 8pm @ 71 E. Yale Ave. unless otherwise indicated
Fri Jun 17          Angie Stevens & Hayley E. Rydell w/ Sarah Slaton
Sat Jun 18         René Heredia
Sat Jun 18         Mr. Tim - “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Jun 24          O’Brien Party of 7 with Tim O’Brien of Hot Rize, Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore & families
Fri Jun 24          Katey Laurel & Stephanie Mabey
Sat Jun 25         Martin Taylor w/ Jon Wirtz
Fri Jul 1             Oakhurst & Shannon McNally
Fri Jul 1             Trinity Demask – America’s Songs
Sat Jul 2            Tito Malaga
Fri Jul 8             Dala
Sat Jul 9            Pearl Jam! – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Fri Jul 15           Danny Schmidt & Carrie Elkin
Sat Jul 16          Ernie Martinez – Album Release
Sat Jul 16          David Thomas Bailey -  “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Jul 22           Summer Brewfest w/ BopSkizzum feat. Andy Guerrero of the Flobots @
Mile High Station – 2027 W. Lower Colfax Ave.
Fri Jul 29           Blame Sally w/ Susan Gibson
Fri Jul 29           Truckstop Honeymoon w/ Buster Blue
Fri Aug 5           Badi Assad
Fri Aug 5           Shawn Phillips
Sat Aug 6          George Winston
Sat Aug 6          Shannon Whitworth
Fri Aug 12         Hot Club of Cowtown
Fri Aug 12         Natalia Zukerman & Sweet Talk Radio
Sat Aug 13        Blues & Brews – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Thu Aug 18       The Be Good Tanyas @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Aug 19         Blue Canyon Boys
Sat Aug 20        Iris DeMent w/ Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
Sat Aug 20        Vicki Taylor – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Aug 26         Loose Cannon Bluegrass
Sat Aug 27        Mary Flower
Thu Sep 1         Katelyn Benton – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Thu Sep 8         Dave Devitt – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 9           Charlie Hunter Duo
Fri Sep 9           Darden Smith
Thu Sep 15       Crooked Still & The Bee Eaters @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Thu Sep 15       Steel Wheels – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 16         Judy Collins w/ special guest Amy Speace @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Sep 17        Justin Roberts & The Not Ready for Naptime Players – 11:00am & 3:00pm
Sat Sep 17        Chris McGarry – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Sep 23         Wood Brothers @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Sep 24        Colin Hay @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Sep 30         Horse Feathers
Sat Oct 1          Giddyup Kitty
Sat Oct 8          Red Horse @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Oct 14         Ryan Montbleau Band @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Oct 14         Alice Peacock & Danny Myrick
Sat Oct 15        Clay Kirkland – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Thu Oct 20        Nick Charles – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22        The Refugees
Fri Oct 28          Bearfoot
Fri Nov 4           Karla Bonoff
Sat Nov 5          Steve Law
Sat Nov 12        Kindred Spirits
Sat Nov 19        Perpetual Motion – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Sat Dec 3          Cheryl Wheeler @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Dec 17        Scoundrels for Hire feat. Tom Corona – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Dec 30         David Bromberg Band @ L2 Arts & Culture Center

Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011
Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series

All shows at 7pm @ 1007 York St., Denver 80206 unless otherwise indicated
Tickets on-sale to general public May 2, 10:00am

concerts.botanicgardens.org
Fri Jul 8            Chris Isaak – SOLD OUT
Thu Jul 14        Natalie MacMaster & Great Big Sea
Fri Jul 15          Allen Toussaint, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, & Buckwheat Zydeco
Thu Jul 21        India.Arie & Idan Raichel
Fri Jul 22          Chris Botti
Sun Jul 24        Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers and Béla Fleck & the Original Flecktones @

Denver Botanic Gardens CHATFIELD location – 6:00pm

Fri Jul 29          Rosanne Cash w/ Nina Storey
Thu Aug 4        k.d. lang & The Siss Boom Bang w/ The Secret Sisters – SOLD OUT
Sun Aug 7        Keb’ Mo’ – SOLD OUT
Tue Aug 9        David Sanborn, George Duke, & Marcus Miller
Sun Aug 21      B.B. King – SOLD OUT
Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011

Shady Grove Picnic Series @ Four Mile Historic Park

All shows at 6:30pm (doors 6:00pm) @ 715 South Forest St., Glendale, 80246

Walk-up tickets only:

$10, $7 for members/cyclists/seniors, $2 for kids under 12, FREE for kids under 2.

Wed Jun 22       Harry Tuft & Dick Weissman
Wed Jun 29       Churchill & Wentworth Kersey
Wed Jul 6          Red Molly
Wed Jul 13        Jason Spooner Trio & Jessica Sonner
Wed Jul 20        Blackberry Bushes String Band w/ The Kentucky Street Parlor Pickers
Wed Jul 27        Dave Preston & David Rynhart
Wed Aug 3        Omnibuds
Wed Aug 10      Rocky Mountain Jewgrass w/ special guest Tom Scharf
Wed Aug 17      Wendy Woo
Wed Aug 24      Quiet American w/ Glowing House
About Swallow Hill Music:

Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music will celebrate its 32nd anniversary in 2011 as one of the largest non-profit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music.

In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through its concert, school and outreach programming.

Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent.  Additionally in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long-running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.

Swallow Hill Music offers hundreds of classes, workshops, and private lessons for instruments and interests of all kinds. A faculty of 70 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students annually, including school outreach programming that takes music and music assemblies into Colorado public schools.

A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music receives public funding and grants, and has over 2,000 members that help cover one-third of all of the organization’s operating costs.  This generosity has helped Swallow Hill Music provide a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region, in both the classroom and on stage.

# # #

Other new shows announced and on-sale include Blue Canyon Boys, Giddyup Kitty, Steve Law, and Josie Quick.

WHAT: Great Music for your Independence Day Weekend – all shows now on-sale
WHERE: Swallow Hill Music, 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver, 80210
INFO & BOX OFFICE: http://swallowhillmusic.org/, (303) 777-1003 x2
PHOTOS: For high-resolution photos, please contact Meg Ivey, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
MEDIA CONTACT: Gwen Burak, (303) 643-5816, gwen@swallowhillmusic.org or Meg Ivey, 303-765-2488, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
RSS: http://swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER – Have your barbecue and then come on over to Swallow Hill Music this Independence Day weekend to take your pick of great music.  On Friday, July 1st you can kick the weekend off with your choice of either the bluegrass, indie-rock sound of Oakhurst and the smoky voice of Shannon McNally, or embrace the holiday full-on with Trinity DeMask, Steve Jantzen, Lauren Brombert, and Andy Ard’s Celebration of American Songs. On Saturday, July 2nd celebrate our country’s rich immigrant history with the cross-cultural musical blend of the 6-member band, Tito Malaga. Make music part of your holiday!

Full show highlights are below, and as always purchase tickets early to save by visiting www.swallowhillmusic.org (with no processing fees) or calling (303) 777-1003 ext. 2 to speak with a real-live human being. Additional discounts are available for Swallow Hill Music members.

Thank you for supporting live music at Swallow Hill Music!

4TH OF JULY WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS – ALL SHOWS ON-SALE NOW!

Oakhurst & Shannon McNally
Friday, July 1st, 8 pm
Oakhurst is a Denver-based international act with deep Appalachian roots and original songs that fuse traditional bluegrass with indie-rock and a citybilly attitude. The band’s sound is more rustic and rocking, and less jazzy and jammed, than the typical hybrid bluegrass found in the Rocky Mountain region. Oakhurst’s unpretentious, go-for-it interpretation of Bluegrass and its road hardened sound has taken them far beyond the boundaries of Colorado.  Shannon McNally got her first guitar and JJ Cale album at the age of 12 and never looked back. On her most recent album, Coldwater, McNally leads her Mississippi-based band, Hot Sauce through the juncture where country and soul music meet. She “has the voice: bruised, smoky and ornery, right at home where country and soul meet.. She has the melodies and the timing….she’s irresistible.” – Jon Pareles, The New York Times.

Trinity Demask – A Celebration of American Songs
Friday, July 1st, 8 pm
Kick off your Independence Day weekend with a celebration of quintessential American songs performed by Trinity Demask, Steve Jantzen, Lauren Brombert, and Andy Ard.  America’s musical legacy is defined by the blending of our many cultures, rhythms, and experiences which has resulted in a tapestry of music that is as colorful and vibrant as the nation’s people.  Trinity and friends will share their own interpretations of folk, country, blues, and jazz tunes that are both timeless and distinctly American.

Tito Malaga
Saturday, July 2nd, 8 pm
This unique hybrid of cultures and styles was originally founded by Samir El Yesfi (TITO), born in Tetouan, Morocco. From the very first time he played the Arabic lute, he has aspired to master the musical styles from Latin America that derive from Native American, Spanish, African, Islamic and Arabic cultures and hybridize them with traditional Moroccan folk music (G’nawa) that is often combined with tastes of the Andalusian region of Southern Spain. This succulent blend is reflected in the rich cultural and musical diversities of other band members who collectively, share more than half a century of experience, and include bassist Jimmy Trujillo, fiddler Kailin Yong, percussionists Brett Bowen and Zach Del Hierro, and keyboardist Mikey Smith.

Other Shows Newly Announced:

Fri Aug 19    Blue Canyon Boys

Sat Sep 17   Chris McGarry – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert

Sat Oct 1     Giddyup Kitty

Sat Oct 15   Clay Kirkland – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert

Sat Nov 5    Steve Law

Sat Nov 19  Josie Quick – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert

Swallow Hill Music’s

2011 CONCERT SCHEDULE

All shows at 8pm @ 71 E. Yale Ave. unless otherwise indicated
Fri Jun 17          Angie Stevens & Hayley E. Rydell w/ Sarah Slaton
Sat Jun 18         René Heredia
Sat Jun 18         Mr. Tim - “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Jun 24          O’Brien Party of 7 with Tim O’Brien of Hot Rize, Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore & families
Fri Jun 24          Katey Laurel & Stephanie Mabey
Sat Jun 25         Martin Taylor w/ Jon Wirtz
Fri Jul 1             Oakhurst & Shannon McNally
Fri Jul 1             Trinity Demask – America’s Songs
Sat Jul 2            Tito Malaga
Fri Jul 8             Dala
Sat Jul 9            Pearl Jam! – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Fri Jul 15           Danny Schmidt & Carrie Elkin
Sat Jul 16          Ernie Martinez – Album Release
Sat Jul 16          David Thomas Bailey -  “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Jul 22           Summer Brewfest w/ BopSkizzum feat. Andy Guerrero of the Flobots @
Mile High Station – 2027 W. Lower Colfax Ave.
Fri Jul 29           Blame Sally w/ Susan Gibson
Fri Jul 29           Truckstop Honeymoon w/ Buster Blue
Fri Aug 5           Badi Assad
Fri Aug 5           Shawn Phillips
Sat Aug 6          George Winston
Sat Aug 6          Shannon Whitworth
Fri Aug 12         Hot Club of Cowtown
Fri Aug 12         Natalia Zukerman & Sweet Talk Radio
Sat Aug 13        Blues & Brews – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Fri Aug 19         Blue Canyon Boys
Sat Aug 20        Iris DeMent w/ Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
Sat Aug 20        Vicki Taylor – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Aug 26         Loose Cannon Bluegrass
Thu Sep 1         Katelyn Benton – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Thu Sep 8         Dave Devitt – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 9           Charlie Hunter Duo
Fri Sep 9           Darden Smith
Thu Sep 15       Steel Wheels – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 16         Judy Collins w/ special guest Amy Speace @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Sep 17        Chris McGarry – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Sep 23         Wood Brothers @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Sep 24        Colin Hay @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Sep 30         Horse Feathers
Sat Oct 1          Giddyup Kitty
Sat Oct 8          Red Horse @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Sat Oct 15        Clay Kirkland – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Thu Oct 20        Nick Charles – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22        The Refugees
Fri Oct 28          Bearfoot
Fri Nov 4           Karla Bonoff
Sat Nov 5          Steve Law
Sat Nov 12        Kindred Spirits
Sat Nov 19        Josie Quick – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Sat Dec 3          Cheryl Wheeler @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Dec 30         David Bromberg Band @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011

Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series

All shows at 7pm @ 1007 York St., Denver 80206 unless otherwise indicated

Tickets on-sale to general public May 2, 10:00am

concerts.botanicgardens.org
Fri Jul 8            Chris Isaak – SOLD OUT
Thu Jul 14        Natalie MacMaster & Great Big Sea
Fri Jul 15          Allen Toussaint, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, & Buckwheat Zydeco
Thu Jul 21        India.Arie & Idan Raichel
Fri Jul 22          Chris Botti
Sun Jul 24        Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers and Béla Fleck & the Original Flecktones @

Denver Botanic Gardens CHATFIELD location – 6:00pm

Fri Jul 29          Rosanne Cash w/ Nina Storey
Thu Aug 4        k.d. lang & The Siss Boom Bang w/ The Secret Sisters – SOLD OUT
Sun Aug 7        Keb’ Mo’ – SOLD OUT
Tue Aug 9        David Sanborn, George Duke, & Marcus Miller
Sun Aug 21      B.B. King – SOLD OUT
Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011

Shady Grove Picnic Series @ Four Mile Historic Park

All shows at 6:30pm (doors 6:00pm) @ 715 South Forest St., Glendale, 80246

Walk-up tickets only:

$10, $7 for members/cyclists/seniors, $2 for kids under 12, FREE for kids under 2.

Wed Jun 22       Harry Tuft & Dick Weissman
Wed Jun 29       Churchill & Wentworth Kersey
Wed Jul 6          Red Molly
Wed Jul 13        Jason Spooner Trio & Jessica Sonner
Wed Jul 20        Blackberry Bushes String Band w/ The Kentucky Street Parlor Pickers
Wed Jul 27        Dave Preston & David Rynhart
Wed Aug 3        Omnibuds
Wed Aug 10      Rocky Mountain Jewgrass w/ special guest Tom Scharf
Wed Aug 17      Wendy Woo
Wed Aug 24      Quiet American w/ Glowing House
About Swallow Hill Music:

Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music will celebrate its 32nd anniversary in 2011 as one of the largest non-profit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music.

In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through its concert, school and outreach programming.

Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent.  Additionally in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long-running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.

Swallow Hill Music offers hundreds of classes, workshops, and private lessons for instruments and interests of all kinds. A faculty of 70 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students annually, including school outreach programming that takes music and music assemblies into Colorado public schools.

A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music receives public funding and grants, and has over 2,000 members that help cover one-third of all of the organization’s operating costs.  This generosity has helped Swallow Hill Music provide a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region, in both the classroom and on stage.

# # #

Also added to the schedule, the great Americana music of the Flatlanders’ Butch Hancock, and the unique sound of Oakhurst & Shannon McNally.

Shows On Sale TODAY, Wednesday, June 1st, 10am

WHAT: New additions to Swallow Hill Music’s concert schedule, on sale 6/1, 10am.
WHERE: Unless otherwise noted, all concerts are at 71 East Yale Ave., Denver, CO 80210.
INFO & BOX OFFICE: http://swallowhillmusic.org/, (303) 777-1003 x2
PHOTOS: For high-resolution photos, please contact Meg Ivey, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
MEDIA CONTACT: Gwen Burak, (303) 643-5816, gwen@swallowhillmusic.org or Meg Ivey, 303-765-2488, meg@swallowhillmusic.org
RSS: http://swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER – Swallow Hill Music announces new concerts to the summer and early fall schedule which include Tuck & Patti who bring their 29 years of touring and 26 years of marriage to the intimate Daniels Hall stage to wow Denver with their fantastic guitar work and soaring vocals. Butch Hancock of the Flatlanders also makes a solo stop in Colorado. As one of contemporary music’s most entertaining raconteurs with imaginative lyrics and tunes that evoke mystical visions, Butch’s show promises to filled with great songs and great stories. Americana sound will also be on display with the Oakhurst & Shannon McNally show featuring Shannon packing a “wallop of a vocal” and Oakhurst’s go-for-it interpretation of bluegrass.

Full show highlights are below, and as always purchase tickets early to save by visiting www.swallowhillmusic.org (with no processing fees) or calling (303) 777-1003 ext. 2 to speak with a real-live human being. Additional discounts are available for Swallow Hill Music members. As a courtesy, parking is FREE but limited for all concerts at 71 E. Yale Avenue, so come early!

Thank you for supporting live music at Swallow Hill Music!

HIGHLIGHTS – On Sale Wednesday, June 1st, 10am!

Tuck & Patti
Sunday, September 18th
Onstage and off, guitarist Tuck Andress and vocalist/arranger Patti Cathcart might, at first impression, strike you as an odd couple. The obvious difference in skin color is quickly overshadowed by the contrast of their personalities. Patti exudes the soft, centered yet powerful graciousness of a gospel singer; Tuck almost wears his brain on his skin, anticipating the thousands of musical decisions he’ll have to send to his ten fingers during the course of a performance. Seeing the virtuosity and complexity of Tuck’s guitar work, most are surprised to learn that Patti is the actual writer, arranger, and producer. Without even blinking, Tuck-the-problem-solver brags, “Patti writes and arranges; I am just the orchestra.”

Oakhurst & Shannon McNally
Friday, July 1st
Oakhurst is a Denver-based international act with deep Appalachian roots and original songs that fuse traditional bluegrass with indie-rock and a citybilly attitude. The band’s sound is more rustic and rocking, and less jazzy and jammed, than the typical hybrid bluegrass found in the Rocky Mountain region. Oakhurst’s unpretentious, go-for-it interpretation of Bluegrass and its road hardened sound has taken them far beyond the boundaries of Colorado. Shannon McNally got her first guitar and JJ Cale album at the age of 12 and never looked back. On her most recent album, Coldwater, McNally leads her Mississippi-based band, Hot Sauce through the juncture where country and soul music meet. She “has the voice: bruised, smoky and ornery, right at home where country and soul meet.. She has the melodies and the timing….she’s irresistible.” – Jon Pareles, The New York Times.

Butch Hancock
Friday, August 19th
Rolling Stone magazine describes Butch Hancock as “a raspy-voiced West Texas mystic with an equal affinity for romantic border balladry and Zen paradox.” A world traveling troubadour with a long string of recorded songs and albums, Butch has been called “on of the finest songwriters of our time” and is acknowledged by his peers and critics alike as one of the premier singer-songwriters Texas has ever produced. His tunes evoke mystical visions of wind-swept dry-plains and his lyrics are profoundly imaginative, often displaying for his listeners the miracles that occur in the ordinary through creative irony and metaphors. His lyrical style has often been compared to that of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie and his record Own and Own, released in 1991, contains his “If I Were a Bluebird”, a song later covered by Emmylou Harris. Hancock is also one third of the renowned alt-country super group, The Flatlanders.

Other Shows Newly Announced:
Fri Aug 26 Loose Cannon Bluegrass
Thu Sept 1 Katelyn Benton – Discovery Series – 7:30pm – Walk-Up Tickets Only
Thu Sept 15 Steel Wheels Discovery Series – 7:30pm – Walk-Up Tickets Only

Swallow Hill Music’s
2011 CONCERT SCHEDULE

All shows at 8pm @ 71 E. Yale Ave. unless otherwise indicated

Fri Jun 3 Joy Kills Sorrow & Dixie Bee Liners
Fri Jun 3 Old Fashioned Hootenanny
Sat Jun 4 3 Generations of Klezmer: Hal Aqua & The Lost Tribe, The Bloomers, & Osi Sladek
Sat Jun 4 Jim Stricklan & Friends including Butch Haas & Ernie Martinez
Fri Jun 10 David Lindley, Peter Case, & Steve Poltz @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
presented by 97.3 KBCO
Sat Jun 11 Brewgrass – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Fri Jun 17 Angie Stevens & Hayley E. Rydell w/ Sarah Slaton
Sat Jun 18 René Heredia
Sat Jun 18 Mr. Tim – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Jun 24 O’Brien Party of 7 with Tim O’Brien of Hot Rize, Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore & families
Fri Jun 24 Katey Laurel & Stephanie Mabey
Sat Jun 25 Martin Taylor w/ Jon Wirtz
Fri Jul 1 Oakhurst & Shannon McNally
Fri Jul 8 Dala
Sat Jul 9 Pearl Jam! – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Fri Jul 15 Danny Schmidt & Carrie Elkin
Sat Jul 16 Ernie Martinez – Album Release
Sat Jul 16 David Thomas Bailey – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Jul 22 Summer Brewfest w/ BopSkizzum feat. Andy Guerrero of the Flobots – Mile High Station @ 2027 W. Lower Colfax Ave.
Fri Jul 29 Blame Sally w/ Susan Gibson
Fri Jul 29 Truckstop Honeymoon
Fri Aug 5 Badi Assad
Fri Aug 5 Shawn Phillips
Sat Aug 6 George Winston
Sat Aug 6 Shannon Whitworth
Fri Aug 12 Hot Club of Cowtown
Fri Aug 12 Natalia Zukerman & Sweet Talk Radio
Sat Aug 13 Blues & Brews – Old South Pearl St. Music Festival – Noon-10pm
Sat Aug 20 Iris DeMent w/ Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin
Sat Aug 20 Vicki Taylor – “Top of the Hill” Faculty Concert
Fri Aug 26 Loose Cannon Bluegrass
Thu Sept 1 Katelyn Benton – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Thu Sep 8 Dave Devitt – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Fri Sep 9 Charlie Hunter Duo
Fri Sep 9 Darden Smith
Thu Sept 15 Steel Wheels Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Sep 24 Colin Hay @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Sep 30 Horse Feathers
Sat Oct 8 Red Horse @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Thu Oct 20 Nick Charles – Discovery Series – 7:30pm
Sat Oct 22 The Refugees
Fri Oct 28 Bearfoot
Fri Nov 4 Karla Bonoff
Sat Nov 12 Kindred Spirits
Sat Dec 3 Cheryl Wheeler @ L2 Arts & Culture Center
Fri Dec 30 David Bromberg Band @ L2 Arts & Culture Center

Swallow Hill Music presents the 2011
Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series
All shows at 7pm @ 1007 York St., Denver 80206 unless otherwise indicated
Tickets on-sale to general public May 2, 10:00am
concerts.botanicgardens.org

Wed Jun 1 Sharon & the Dap-Kings
Tues Jun 14 Dr. John and the Lower 911 & Mavis Staples
Fri Jul 8 Chris Isaak – SOLD OUT
Thu Jul 14 Natalie MacMaster & Great Big Sea
Fri Jul 15 Allen Toussaint, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, & Buckwheat Zydeco
Thu Jul 21 India.Arie & Idan Raichel
Fri Jul 22 Chris Botti
Sun Jul 24 Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers and Béla Fleck & the Original Flecktones @

Denver Botanic Gardens CHATFIELD location – 6:00pm
Fri Jul 29 Rosanne Cash w/ Nina Storey
Thu Aug 4 k.d. lang & The Siss Boom Bang – SOLD OUT
Sun Aug 7 Keb’ Mo’ – SOLD OUT
Tue Aug 9 David Sanborn, George Duke, & Marcus Miller
Sun Aug 21 B.B. King – SOLD OUT

All shows at 6:30pm (doors 6:00pm) @ 715 South Forest St., Glendale, 80246

Walk-up tickets only:

$10, $7 for members/cyclists/seniors, $2 for kids under 12, FREE for kids under 2.

Wed Jun 22 Harry Tuft & Dick Weissman
Wed Jun 29 Churchill & Wentworth Kersey
Wed Jul 6 Red Molly
Wed Jul 13 Jason Spooner Trio & Jessica Sonner
Wed Jul 20 Blackberry Bushes String Band w/ The Kentucky Street Parlor Pickers
Wed Jul 27 Dave Preston & David Rynhart
Wed Aug 3 Omnibuds
Wed Aug 10 Rocky Mountain Jewgrass w/ special guest Tom Scharf
Wed Aug 17 Wendy Woo
Wed Aug 24 Quiet American w/ Glowing House

About Swallow Hill Music:
Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music will celebrate its 32nd anniversary in 2011 as one of the largest non-profit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music.

In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through its concert, school and outreach programming.

Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent. Additionally in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long-running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.

Swallow Hill Music offers hundreds of classes, workshops, and private lessons for instruments and interests of all kinds. A faculty of 70 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students annually, including school outreach programming that takes music and music assemblies into Colorado public schools.

A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music receives public funding and grants, and has over 2,000 members that help cover one-third of all of the organization’s operating costs. This generosity has helped Swallow Hill Music provide a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region, in both the classroom and on stage.

# # #

WHAT: Swallow Hill Music’s 2011 Denver UkeFest concert line-up changes
WHEN: Thursday, February 3rd, 7:00pm, Friday, February 4th, 8:00pm & Saturday, February 5th, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
WHERE: Friday – Swallow Hill Music | 71 E. Yale Ave, Denver, 80210, Saturday – L2 Arts & Culture Center | 1477 Columbine St., Denver, 80206
TICKETS: VIP PASSES: $125 ADV, $135 DOS; ALL-DAY FESTIVAL PASSES: $75 ADV, $85 DOS (also available in kids prices); CONCERT TICKET ONLY (Friday or Saturday): $25 ADV, $30 DOS
BOX OFFICE: 303.777.1003 x2 | 71 East Yale Avenue, Denver, 80210
MEDIA CONTACTS: Gwen Burak | gwen@swallowhillmusic.org | 303-643-5816 OR Meg Ivey | meg@swallowhillmusic.org | 303.765.2488
RSS: www.swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER - Kina Grannis, whose most recent album, Stairwells debuted #5 on iTunes’ Pop Chart will headline the Saturday, February 5^th Ukefest concert which will also now feature the sultry crooning and bittersweet lyrics of Leftover Cuties.  More information on these artists and the entire Denver Ukefest schedule is below.

Kina Grannis and Leftover Cuties are playing in place of Zee Avi and The Rescues who are no longer able to attend Ukefest due to scheduling conflicts.

NEW ARTIST HIGHLIGHTS

Kina Grannis
In 2007, Kina Grannis joined YouTube, made a music video and entered herself into a contest. A few months later, her video for “Message From Your Heart” aired during the Superbowl and its 97 million viewers, and she walked away with a record deal.

Kina has self-released three EPs, and in February of 2010, Kina independently released her debut full-length album, Stairwells, featuring her music as both sweet and melancholy, but always filled with hope.

Leftover Cuties
Imagine Billie Holiday playing ukulele under a palm-thatched hut in a 1930′s Waikiki and you’ll get a taste of the soothing sound of Leftover Cuties. A delicate mix of sultry crooning, tender melodies, and bittersweet lyrics, Leftover Cuties harkens back to a simpler age when music was as likely to come from a soup-line or a smoke filled speakeasy as it was from a recording studio.  The Cuties EP title track “Game Called Life” was very recently placed as the theme song for a new Showtime series called “The Big C” staring Laura Linney.

DENVER UKEFEST 2011:  EVENT HIGHLIGHTS & DETAILS

Thursday, February 3rd, 7pm
Wynkoop Brewery -1634 18th Street, Denver, 80202
FREE Pre-festival kickoff event – Heavy Metal Uke Open Stage/Jam
All welcome to perform with ukuleles or instrument of choice, or just come listen!

Friday, February 4th, 8pm – Friday Ukefest Concert featuring Led Kaapana
Swallow Hill Music – 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver
The legendary slack key guitar and ukulele player from Hawaii, Led Kaapana will take the stage. Led is a master of stringed instruments, particularly slack key guitar and ukulele, and has an extraordinary baritone and leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) voices. He has been thrilling audiences for more than 40 years, and recognition by his peers earned Led Grammy nominations in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Saturday, February 5th, 10am-11:30pm
L2 Arts & Culture Center – 1477 Columbine St., Denver
10:00 am – Doors Open – Instrument builders and vendors open, coffee, etc.
10:30-12:30 – Workshops for all ages, jams, sing & strum-alongs, mobile recording studio open
12:30-1:30 – Lunch with a free ukulele strum-along at the Tattered Cover & Twist and Shout esplanade (ukes available for loan)
1:30-4:30 – More all-ages workshops and jams, strum-alongs, etc. still going strong!
4:30-6:30 -Open stage & Film Screening of Mighty Uke
Doors open at 4:30 for Saturday Evening Event Pass ticketholders
7:30 Main Festival Concert
The Main Event! Featuring Kina Grannis, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Aldrine Guerrero, Leftover Cuties, Chris McGarry and The Insomniacs, The Ooks of Hazzard,  The Denver Uke Community, and all backed up by our house band Boulder Acoustic Society.

About Swallow Hill Music:
Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2009 as one of the largest nonprofit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music. In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through their concert, school and outreach programming. With more than 2,000 members, Swallow Hill provides a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region. Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent. In addition in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.  Swallow Hill Music’s Julie Davis School of Music offers classes for every interest, skill level and member of the family. A faculty of 60 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students. A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music has been named one of the Top 25 Movers & Shakers in Arts & Culture by the Rocky Mountain News, has won both the Mayor’s and Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts and countless “Best of Denver” awards, has been recognized by the North American Folk Alliance, and is one of the most sought-after venues by roots, folk and acoustic performers in the country.

###

97.3 KBCO presents this April 9^th, 2011 event that will also include Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore and Anaïs Mitchell

WHAT: Swallow Hill Music’s 5^th Annual Rootsfest featuring David Crosby & Graham Nash and presented by 97.3 KBCO

WHEN: Saturday, April 9^th, 7:00pm

WHERE: Paramount Theatre,  1621 Glenarm Place, Denver, 80202

TICKETS: $35-$100 + $4 per ticket fee for online, phone, & ticket kiosk purchases.

INFO & BOX OFFICE: - General public on-sale starts Friday, January 21^st, 10:00am (866) 461-6556, or in person at The Pepsi Center box office (1000 Chopper Circle, Denver 80204), Dick’s Sporting Goods Park box office (6000 Victory Way, Commerce City, 80022), or any Dick’s Sporting Goods in store ticket kiosk.

MEDIA CONTACT & PHOTOS: For high-resolution photos, please contact Gwen Burak, (303) 643-5816, gwen@swallowhillmusic.org or Meg Ivey, 303-765-2488, meg@SwallowHillMusic.org
RSS: http://swallowhillmusic.org/news

DENVER - Swallow Hill Music’s Rootsfest returns for its 5^th annual celebration of roots music featuring quintessential folk musicians David Crosby & Graham Nash on Saturday, April 9^th at Denver’s Paramount Theatre.  Presented by 97.3 KBCO, this year’s Rootsfest will also feature performances by local legends Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore, as well Anaïs Mitchell.

Singer-songwriters David Crosby and Graham Nash will launch a spring tour in the U.S., and while their legendary vocal harmonies will be the centerpiece of the show, they will be accompanied on the road by an ace-backing band featuring James Raymond (keyboards), Dean Parks (guitar), Kevin McCormick (bass), and Steve DiStanislao (drums).

The tour will mix acoustic and plugged-in performances. “Touring with a full band gives us the opportunity to do selections from our catalogue that Graham and I haven’t performed live together before,” says Crosby.  “We will also be introducing some brand new songs we’ve written, that have never been heard onstage or on record.”

Crosby and Nash are also launching their own record label, Blue Castle Records, with the first-ever digital and vinyl editions of the live album Another Stoney Evening, recorded forty years ago, in 1971 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.  “This album represents the very beginning of our musical relationship as a duo,” says Nash.  “Whatever David and I do well together, it’s wonderful that we’re still doing it well.  For the upcoming tour, with a rock ‘n roll band, we’ve gotten fantastic advance response.  It’s exciting to be bringing this great new show to people.”

David Crosby and Graham Nash have each been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice-once with Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a second time with the Byrds and the Hollies, respectively.

Rootsfest 2011 will also showcase Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore.  The couple met at the legendary Denver Folklore Center, married, had some kids, played in some bands and now have released their first studio cd as a duo, Saints & Sinners. Released in September, five-star reviews are starting to come in calling this a “landmark recording of Americana music” (Driftwood Magazine) and “a high water mark for the pair”

Anaïs Mitchell rounds out the 2011 Rootsfest celebration, and is the rare musician who is equally comfortable wielding an acoustic guitar alone onstage, sharing a disc’s worth of alt-country duets, or scripting a vast operatic journey into the underworld.

Her album The Brightness inspired a reviewer from the Boston Globe to praise Mitchell’s “vivid snapshots of sweetly ordinary moments,” while Acoustic Guitar called her “a songwriter of startling clarity and depth, equally skilled at turning a melody or lyrical phrase into what you didn’t know you needed until you heard it,” adding that she “weaves her stories into an effortlessly beautiful and cohesive tapestry with the skill of an artisan’s carpenter, showing no seams.”

About Rootsfest:
Started in 2007 Swallow Hill Music’s Rootsfest has showcased both seasoned and up and coming artists in the celebration of roots music. Previous Rootsfest artists have included Judy Collins, Neko Case, Taj Mahal, Nancy Griffith, Rickie Lee Jones, Bruce Cockburn, Hot Rize, Paper Bird, Trace Bundy, Jim Lauderdale, Tallest Man on Earth, Joe Pug, Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, and Boulder Acoustic Society.

About Swallow Hill Music:
Helping people make and enjoy music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music recently celebrated its 31st anniversary as one of the largest nonprofit institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for roots, folk and acoustic music. In 2010, Swallow Hill Music served more than 100,000 people through its concert, school and outreach programming. With more than 2,000 members, Swallow Hill Music provides a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region. Three concert venues house more than 200 performances a year, featuring some of the world’s great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent. In addition in 2010 Swallow Hill Music began producing the long running and esteemed Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series.  Swallow Hill’s Julie Davis School of Music offers classes for every interest, skill level and member of the family. A faculty of 60 instructors provides training to more than 4,000 students annually. A Tier II member of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Swallow Hill Music has been named one of the Top 25 Movers & Shakers in Arts & Culture by the Rocky Mountain News, has won both the Mayor’s and Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts and countless “Best of Denver” awards, has been recognized by the North American Folk Alliance, and is one of the most sought-after venues by roots, folk and acoustic performers in the country.

# # #

WHAT: The 2011 Denver UkeFest
WHEN: Friday, February 4th, 8:00 p.m. & Saturday, February 5th, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
WHERE: Friday – Swallow Hill Music | 71 E. Yale Ave, Denver, 80210, Saturday – L2 Arts & Culture Center | 1477 Columbine St.
TICKETS: VIP PASSES: $125 ADV, $135 DOS; ALL-DAY FESTIVAL PASSES: $75 ADV, $85 DOS (also available in kids prices); CONCERT TICKET ONLY (Friday or Saturday): $25 ADV, $30 DOS
BOX OFFICE: 303.777.1003 x2 | 71 East Yale Avenue, Denver, 80210
MEDIA CONTACTS: Gwen Burak | gwen@swallowhillmusic.org | 303-643-5816 OR Meg Ivey |meg@swallowhillmusic.org | 303.765.2488

DENVER — Back by popular demand, Denver Ukefest 2011 is moving to 2 days and a bigger location to accommodate all the uke-fun.

On Friday and Saturday, February 4-5, 2011, we will celebrate all things ukulele with 2 concerts featuring Led Kaapana and Zee Avi and 7 other performing acts, workshops with performing artists, jams, open stage, custom ukulele builders, master classes, sing & strum-alongs, a film screening of the international cut of Mighty Uke, a free mobile recording studio, ukes for sale, a raffle for ukes worth more than $2,500, and of course food & Colorado microbrews!

Why are we doing the Denver Ukefest for the fourth time in 2011? Because the ukulele is the instrument of the people: it’s accessible, easy to play, you can take it anywhere (on your bike or in a crowded train), it’s pretty cheap, and it’s just plain fun. And, Swallow Hill Music believes that the people should make music! In the words of Mighty Uke director Tony Coleman, “Music self made is happiness self made.”

Bring your family and friends to this family-friendly festival. Programming is offered for adults, kids, and teens, and a ukulele is not even required. If you arrive and want to partake in a more “hands-on” festival experience there will be ukuleles available as free loaners for the day.

If you are really ready for uke-mania, purchase a VIP Weekend Pass which gives you access to all Friday evening and Saturday events, plus an event poster signed by the performing artists, an opportunity to meet and greet the performing artists, your lunch, dinner, and drinks on Saturday, and a Ukefest VIP pass & lanyard.

Highlights and details are below, so please join the fun. You know you’re uke curious.

Denver Ukefest 2011: Highlights and details:

Thursday, February 3rd

Pre-festival Kickoff event – Heavy Metal Uke Competition

Stay tuned for the when and where.

Friday, February 4th, 8pm – Friday Ukefest Concert featuring Led Kaapana

Swallow Hill Music – 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver

The legendary slack key guitar and ukulele player from Hawaii, Led Kaapana will take the stage. Led is a master of stringed instruments, particularly slack key guitar and ukulele, and has an extraordinary baritone and leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) voices. He has been thrilling audiences for more than 40 years, and recognition by his peers earned Led Grammy nominations in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Saturday, February 5^th, 10am-11:30pm

L2 Arts & Culture Center – 1477 Columbine St., Denver

10:00 am – Doors Open – Instrument builders and vendors open, coffee, etc.
10:30-12:30 – Workshops for all ages, jams, sing & strum-alongs, mobile recording studio open

12:30-1:30 – Lunch with a free ukulele strum-along at the Tattered Cover & Twist and Shout esplanade (ukes available for loan)

1:30-4:30 – More all-ages workshops and jams, strum-alongs, etc. still going strong!

4:30-6:30 –Open stage & Film Screening of Mighty Uke

Doors open at 4:30 for Saturday Evening Event Pass ticketholders

7:30 Main Festival Concert

The Main Event! Featuring Zee Avi, Aldrine Guerrero, The Rescues, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Chris McGarry and The Insomniacs, The Ooks of Hazzard,  The Denver Uke Community, and all backed up by our house band Boulder Acoustic Society.

Saturday Artist Highlights:

Zee Avi started recording her songs on a webcam and posting them on YouTube for a friend to hear. But thousands of others heard her too, and several record label offers soon followed. She is now on the Brushfire Records label, owned by Jack Johnson, and is currently on tour with Jack.  “I get my melodic feel from the simplicity of classic jazz, people singing what they felt with straightforward lyrics and not too many harmonies,” Zee says. “Just a lot of honesty. I’m a girl of simple pleasures.”

Danielle Ate the Sandwich tours nationally, and Denver’s Westword described Danielle as, “cripplingly enchanting with lyrics telling the story of a generation coming of age in an age of uncertainty.” She is a Youtube star with her videos and has been featured twice on the Youtube home page.

The Rescues, a Los Angeles-based foursome, who released their full-length debut, Let Loose the Horses, in June, have made a name for themselves as a powerful live act thanks to their flawless, transcendent harmonies. “We all have very distinct, lead-singer voices,” notes vocalist/musician Kyler England. “But when we sing together it’s like there’s a fifth person in the blend that comes together.”

Boulder Acoustic Society has been with Denver Ukefest since our first year and is our festival backing band this year. They are indie-folk that draws from Appalachian roots, gritty gospel and the contemporary urban soundscapes. BAS merges tradition with innovation, producing a unique sound and an unforgettable live entertainment experience.