(not quite) ROUTES & BRANCHES

January 4, 2012

Scott Foley

As I've mentioned here frequently, Routes & Branches is one of two radio shows I construct on a weekly basis.  The other, the creatively titled Thursday Morning Mix, tends to play more indie and rock music.  As an addict of music of all stripes, TMM gives me a welcome outlet for stuff other than the americana, alt.country and roots music of R&B.

On this week's Episode of TMM, I played music from my favorite Colorado albums for 2012.  When I first arrived here from Oregon about 6 years ago, I was somewhat reluctant to tangle with the local music of which so many spoke so fondly.  At KRVM, the previous home of R&B, I tended to leave the music from Oregon artists to other programmers.  There were exceptions for great bands like Richmond Fontaine who just happened to be from Portland, but I never figured geographical proximity to be a real determinant of musical quality.

My loss.  I'm sure if I returned to Oregon I'd find enough talent to satisfy my musical wanderings.  Here in Colorado, I'll never play something simply because it's from an artist down the street.  But I've found it's hard to ignore bands like Fort Collins' own Arliss Nancy or Boulder's Yawpers whose music could easily make inroads on a national level with the right publicist.  Of course, from the list below the Lumineers did quite well for themselves in 2012, as did Tennis and Leftover Salmon.  Other fine efforts like Esme Patterson and Jeff Brinkman could easily catch on with bloggers and programmers given the chance. The variety represented in the list below overflows even the generous boundaries of R&B, which is why I chose to air the show on TMM instead.

After an entire month of favorites shows (4) and holiday shows (1+) and retrospective glances, I'm eagerly looking forward to this Saturday's Episode of Routes & Branches, where I plan to catch up on everything I've had to hold in reserve over the past few weeks.  I look forward to commencing to build my favorites lists for 2013.


FAVORITE COLORADO MUSiC of 2012

1)  Arliss Nancy, Simple Machines  (Suburban Home, 11/27)
2)  Yawpers, Capon Crusade  (Self, 10/16)
3)  Lumineers, Lumineers  (Dualtone, 4/03)
4)  Esme Patterson, All Princes I  (Greater Than Collective, 9/19)
5)  Bad Weather California, Sunkissed  (Family Tree, 2/21)
6)  Tennis, Young & Old  (Fat Possum, 2/14)
7)  DeVotchKa, Live With the Colorado Symphony Orchestra  (Cicero, 11/13)
8)  Calder's Revolvers, Steady By Your Side  (Self, 10/?)
9)  Jeff Brinkman Band, Strange  (Self, 10/16)
10) Glowing House, Days Run Out  (Self, 6/09)
11) Tin Horn Prayer, Grapple the Rails  (Paper + Plastick, 10/31)
12) John Statz, Old-Fashioned  (Yer Bird, 1/24)
13) Johnny Hickman, Tilting  (Self, 6/03)
14) Longest Day of the Year, Turn Into the Ground  (Self, 1/28)
15) Leftover Salmon, Aquatic Hitchhiker  (LoS, 5/22)
16) Joe Sampson, Kill Our Friends  (Self, 5/01)
17) Wovenhand, Long Horn  (Sounds Familyre, 9/11)
18) 4H Royalty, Where UFOs Go To Die  (Self, 5/26)
19) Patrick Dethlefs, Fall & Rise  (Self, 6/08)
20) Jekylls, Sweet Factory  (Self, 4/20)