Published Writing
The two Canadians keeping classic hard rock alive
Aspen Daily News
Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen are two guys who manage to produce a lot of noise. It’s an astounding feat that their wall-to-wall sound comes from just the two, and that sorcery is what inspired the duo to make music the way they do.
The Austin-based, Toronto-raised two-piece group has found inspiration from all types of blues and rock, but they were ultimately most impressed with the two-piece dynamic. Their propensity to hold a crowd’s attention is near the level of mammoth classics before them due to their fast and hard rock ’n’ roll style…
Bells Atlas: A gospel choir meets a space station on Mars
Aspen Daily News
Not easily pigeonholed, Bells Atlas scales the neck of genres in all keys. They’re poppy and trippy, soulful and experimental. Their music is as eclectic as their home base of Oakland, Calif. Each member of the band brings a different background and culture, which is apparent through their sound.
Sandra Lawson-Ndu, the Nigerian-American lead singer and frontwoman of the show, was raised on highlife, a joyous mix of jazz, calypso and West African music…
Slow Magic: The mask behind the drum set
Aspen Daily News
A Slow Magic performance is more than a concert. It’s experiential art. It’s theatrical in a tribal fashion. It’s an absolutely killer drum circle far from the common preconception. There is a distinct ethereal manner in Slow Magic’s music that is countered by the raw energy in his live performances. Many of his tracks are light and airy, reminiscent of a fantasy. He also recounts wailing on his drums so hard during one of his first live acts that his hands were left bloody, an enthusiasm that is still present while performing today.
Slow Magic’s mysterious identity and trademark mask often precede him. Donning a neon mask of an imaginary animal in all live and studio appearances, his true identity is hidden from all but close friends…
A pirate from outer space in a large plastic bubble
Aspen Daily News
A fantastic group of weirdos from Oklahoma are back in Aspen again. Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips have returned to put on yet another performance that may leave you questioning reality and the existence of unicorns, and – if you’re like me – wondering why you didn’t follow that rock ’n’ roll dream.
Every Flaming Lips show is an oddity of its own, but a giant Wayne Coyne-filled space balloon is to be expected. Although the band is revered by fans for their attention to full-length albums, they are well known for otherworldly shows, far closer to performance art than your average rock concert…
Chris Isaak - Goin’ down to lonesome town
Aspen Daily News
No songwriter, to my knowledge, has focused more heavily on heartbreak and loneliness over the span of their career than Chris Isaak, who will be returning to the Belly Up Aspen tonight. His sound is a rarity that has been all but lost. It seems to pull heavily from a time long before it was produced, when music was more honest or, at least, felt that way. It’s not surprising to hear his influences include classics like Ricky Nelson, Duane Eddy and Elvis. His albums aren’t founded upon poppy one-liners but real experiences that make for authentic and sometimes painful vocals.
Broken and Saved in Rural Vietnam
Vaga Zine
After the chaotic rush of dodging semi-trucks and a million scooters, we’re finally out of Hanoi and in the northern mountains of Vietnam… We’re heading for the Chinese border, riding along roads that cut through limestone mountains and diverse ethnic minority villages.
It’s getting dark and the road is turning steeper. Our recently purchased $200 motorcycles are rolling along nicely. The next guesthouse is a few kilometers away, but there’s still light and we have a long way to go in the next few weeks…
Craft brewers and small-scale distilleries rejoice as the the federal excise tax on spirits, wine and beer have been cut under the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. Currently, the tax cut is only planned to last until 2020, but supporters are hopeful that it will be extended beyond its initial two years. The purpose of this act is to allow producers, especially ones working on a small-scale, to put these savings into the business and grow, ideally creating jobs and boosting local economies…