Opener FattyDL rolled out some kicked back electronics. His laid-back DJ-ing would be perfect for a chill house party, but still served as an enjoyable and capable opening act.

Since appearing on the scene in 2009 Blake has been one of those artists who continually find a way to escape from every genre cage people attempt to place him in. This characteristic was on full display at the Ogden as flashed dubstep, R&B, and folk sounds both as combinations and in isolations.

Many have forgotten the days when James was the dubstep posterboy, but on cuts like ‘Voyeur’ he laid claim to his sizeable subfrequency kingdom. Live it was especially apparent how no one else controls the robotic horsepower of dubstep with blood and bone vulnerability quite like James Blake. Many times dubstep suffers from a lack of heart, brains, and artistic courage, but James is the Wizard showing us how these elements were inherent in the genre all along.

Though it’s often costumed in a panoply of effects, the strength of Blake’s voice is harder to hide in person. Throughout his set James peeled all manner of notes from his throat that could whip many a mainstream hit in shape if he were given a FT prefix to his name . On “Our Love Comes Back” and doubly with his self-harmonizing on “I Never Learnt to Share,” Blake loosed his gorgeous, soulful vocal lines to the pleasure of his enthusiastic audience.

In addition to his producing and crooning abilities, James Blake is an honest to goodness songwriter. Perhaps the live construction of his tracks made it easier to see the classic song structure lurking underneath the uber-modern musical veneer. His performance of ‘Retrograde’ left no doubt that the single is a complete song; one that would work even without the technological wizardry. As James closed out his encore with the Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’ he made perhaps the strongest case for his musical talent. Not only was he able to pull off the double feat of injecting his personality into the cover while also providing an apt homage to the original. Additionally, he was able to close out a night that flowed with dazzling lights and sounds with only himself, a keyboard, a spotlight, and someone else’s words. It was a statement that drew its immense strength from its gentleness.

The only knock one could make on the show, can’t even be assigned to James. At times the crowd forgot that it wasn’t at a Skrillex show, or a high school pep rally, or their friend’s open mic performance where any dead air needs to be buffered with shrieks of encouragement. Obviously it was better than an unresponsive audience, but it’s still a shame when people taint tender moments in Blake’s songs with anachronistic reactions. Plus James gave us plenty of other opportunities to bleed out our energy. However, nothing could take away from what was one of the more unique, yet satisfactory concert experiences I’ve had in some time.

James Blake’s music isn’t meant to exist simply as pristine headphone sculptures. It’s just as moving when it’s sewn together on the spot and sent out into the ether and ears of audience. Touring in support of his sophomore LP Overgrown, James stopped here in Denver for the first time, playing the Ogden Sunday night, the 28^th. Playing a set that nodded at his entire catalogue, James put on a compelling and captivating show.

Opener FattyDL rolled out some kicked back electronics. His laid-back DJ-ing would be perfect for a chill house party, but still served as an enjoyable and capable opening act.

Since appearing on the scene in 2009 Blake has been one of those artists who continually find a way to escape from every genre cage people attempt to place him in. This characteristic was on full display at the Ogden as flashed dubstep, R&B, and folk sounds both as combinations and in isolations.

Many have forgotten the days when James was the dubstep posterboy, but on cuts like ‘Voyeur’ he laid claim to his sizeable subfrequency kingdom. Live it was especially apparent how no one else controls the robotic horsepower of dubstep with blood and bone vulnerability quite like James Blake. Many times dubstep suffers from a lack of heart, brains, and artistic courage, but James is the Wizard showing us how these elements were inherent in the genre all along.

Though it’s often costumed in a panoply of effects, the strength of Blake’s voice is harder to hide in person. Throughout his set James peeled all manner of notes from his throat that could whip many a mainstream hit in shape if he were given a FT prefix to his name . On “Our Love Comes Back” and doubly with his self-harmonizing on “I Never Learnt to Share,” Blake loosed his gorgeous, soulful vocal lines to the pleasure of his enthusiastic audience.

In addition to his producing and crooning abilities, James Blake is an honest to goodness songwriter. Perhaps the live construction of his tracks made it easier to see the classic song structure lurking underneath the uber-modern musical veneer. His performance of ‘Retrograde’ left no doubt that the single is a complete song; one that would work even without the technological wizardry. As James closed out his encore with the Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’ he made perhaps the strongest case for his musical talent. Not only was he able to pull off the double feat of injecting his personality into the cover while also providing an apt homage to the original. Additionally, he was able to close out a night that flowed with dazzling lights and sounds with only himself, a keyboard, a spotlight, and someone else’s words. It was a statement that drew its immense strength from its gentleness.

The only knock one could make on the show, can’t even be assigned to James. At times the crowd forgot that it wasn’t at a Skrillex show, or a high school pep rally, or their friend’s open mic performance where any dead air needs to be buffered with shrieks of encouragement. Obviously it was better than an unresponsive audience, but it’s still a shame when people taint tender moments in Blake’s songs with anachronistic reactions. Plus James gave us plenty of other opportunities to bleed out our energy. However, nothing could take away from what was one of the more unique, yet satisfactory concert experiences I’ve had in some time.

UK producer-songwriter James Blake will be dropping into Denver this Sunday night, April 28^th, to play the Ogden. The production prodigy is touring in support of his second LP ‘Overgrown,’ an album which pulled off the critical sophomore feat of keeping a tight grip on the reins of what made people originally love James, while also exploring new territory. It’s like a snow angel you can see footprints walking away from. Joining him is electronic producer and DJ FattyDL. For those of you who think dubstep is synonymous with Skrillex, make a point to head to this show which will showcase a more soulful, tunier take on sub-bass frequencies. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the day of with doors opening at 7.

April 15, 2013—Boston, MA: Boston-area musician Ethan Brosh will embark on a 25-city tour of North America and Canada opening for guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen.

Brosh, also a Bon Jovi tribute artist, will be performing with his solo act during the first shows and will be appearing with his original band Burning Heat during the second half of the tour.

The first of several dates are scheduled to kick-off on April, 24 2013, in Cleveland, OH at the House of Blues and will include stops in Detroit, Toronto, Hartford, CT at the Webster Theatre on April 27, 2013 and The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, MA on April 29, 2013.

For tickets and additional information, visit www.ethanbrosh.com

Austin, Texas – The 2013 South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival was another crazy week full of meetings, showcases, panels, day-parties, all-nighters, networking, food trucks and most importantly discovering new music!

SXSW Music – is a massive week-long music festival spread across the heart of downtown Austin, Texas, where music fans, musicians and industry heads come together from all over the world to experience music in all shapes and forms. You can not turn around a single corner of downtown Austin without running into music. There are hordes of people everywhere continually rushing from one venue to another hoping to catch their favorite band or artist. Even on the actual streets of downtown Austin, where there is little room move because of the sheer volume of people, you can find musicians walking or at times riding a petty cab and performing their craft. Truly, there is something interesting to experience around every corner!

This man was driving down the streets of Austin performing his craft out of a truck, amazing!

As this was our second year in attendance of South By, we had a learned our lessons from years past and stuck to our shooting schedule. There is far too much stuff going on to experience it all… Even if you had a team of 20 people it would be tough to cover it all. Luckily, many of the larger acts perform multiple times during the week, so catching your favorite artist isn’t out of the question. However, there are a few lottery based acts that few people got to experience. These included, Green Day, Justin Timberlake and Prince! Unfortunately, these shows were so tough to get into that even press had a hard time getting in to cover these shows (boo..) However, we were luckily enough to catch a surprise/secret appearance by Wyclef Jean at the Source’s & 2DopeBoyz showcase at Club 119. Wyclef performance was amazing! Wyclef was incredibly passionate about giving every single person in the venue a small piece of him. Wyclef performed old tracks from his Fugees days and even showcased his newest track “911″ which included him singing and playing the guitar. The only downside of his performance was the fact that Wyclef really took over the venue, literally, unfortunately eating away time from some of the other headliners at venue and the rumored surprise appearance of Kendrick Lamar, in the fairly small and intimate venue. Personally, I think it was worth it! Check performance video below (Courtesy of Gowherehiphop.com)

Getting a lineup at the Fader Fort barbershop!

Make sure to check out the photo slideshow below to see some of great acts we covered in Austin:

Kendrick Lamar speaking at one of the Panels at the Austin Convention Center.

SXSW, isn’t all about just going to venues and experience new music. A big part of the festival is actually targeted at musicians as creative professionals. In reality SXSW is just as big for musicians from a educational/networking stand point as it is from a performing stand point. Yes, if you happen to perform in-front of the right person, you just might get “discovered” but realistically hundreds of acts perform every single day at SXSW, many performing multiple times each day and still many go unnoticed. Hence, some artists try and diversify their experience by attending some of the educational opportunities SXSW offers. These include panels, mentor sessions and even demo listening session! All of these are organized by SXSW and provide an abundance of information that many artist should know, but unfortunately many don’t know about these opportunities…

Overall, our experience at the 2013 SXSW music festival was nothing less of incredible. However, by the end of the week our team was completely wiped out; our hearing was deafened, our throats and heads were throbbing, our leg muscles were terribly sore but as we rolled into our taxi for our ride to the Austin airport we were all smiles. SXSW 2013 was another successful year full of memorable performances, new emerging acts and many, many new leads to follow.

Thank you Austin!

Photo by: Micah Gummel of newhampshirephotographers.com

March 17, 2013—Boston, MA: Boston-area music legend Charlie Farren, (Joe Perry Project, Farrenheit, Farren-Butcher Inc.,) will be officially releasing his newest CD, Tuesday at a solo performance on Friday April 5, 2013 at The Center for Arts in Natick, MA.

Tuesday is a collection of Farren’s works which includes the title track “Tuesday,” a song written, but never released, by the late Brad Delp, Farren’s friend, and legendary front man of the group Boston.

Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a wonderful and enjoyable evening with one of Boston’s greatest.

For further information, visit CharlieFarren.com or TCAN’s Web site: NatickArts.org