By Tyler Grimes
“My son, Trace Bundy, who’s a professional musician, just travels the world everywhere and puts on concerts,” said Al Bundy on the inspiration that started his hobby of crafting instruments out of found objects. “He’s played in 28 countries so far. He’s had five or six sponsored guitars given to him, some of them $6,000 a piece. I was just joking and said I could make something like that for a lot less money.”
By Brian Rill
Rebecca Folsom’s new double album separates light over dark and unites good and evil. A practical portrait of modernity and a bold criticism of the technological revolution. Disk one, Extraordinary Days bravely embraces advancement of mechanical advantage that mankind has forgotten in the midst of our information superhighway. Rebecca is a heroine who rebukes the notion that because meta aspects of the inferred spectrum are not seen by human eyes, a beautiful sunset can’t be captured fully other than by photographic perfection, induced by a mega smart phone app with a million pixels.
“Why on earth would anyone leave here, except to chase some crazy dream? … Colorado personalty touches a nerve in my spine, the backbone of my livelihood, the land of my dreams: ‘Back where the rivers run wild and cold and the Rockies kiss the sky.’ … The spirituality of nature that I was raised to love is unpretentiously interpreted and straightforward, ‘If you want to go to church, just step outside.’”
By Brian Rill
On Nov. 6, legendary country artist Chuck Pyle passed away unexpectedly. His body was removed from the aquamarine waters of Palmer Lake after he went fly-fishing near his historic Colorado cabin. Mr. Pyle was later pronounced deceased at the age of 70. His 13th album was recorded in January this year. The unprecedented swan song has become a final tapestry in the long tale of an enlivening songwriting career. Two thirds of Chuck’s life had been spent writing songs and traveling, singing around the countryside and playing for packed audiences in his 100 shows a year. Chuck’s legacy includes crafting special pieces for John Denver, Chris LeDoux and Jerry Jeff Walker. Mr. Pyle has performed at the opening sessions of the Colorado State Legislature. He was hailed as the favorite musician of tech giant and philanthropist Bill Gates and also appeared as a guest on the PBS series Spirit of Colorado.
A high-and-dry land drifter from dusty Iowa roads, Chuck scours the land forms searching for evidence left from a perfectly constructed plainsong. The solidly crafted tunes on Cover Stories manage to soothingly respect a Highwaymen vibe, delivering 12 songs at just the right tempo in just the right order. It’s a classic recipe for a hit country CD, duplicating immortal vibrations from 1922 when the first fiddle song was recorded on a roll of wax to the modern twang of country hymns.
By Ericka Kastner
Some say Howard resident Bruce Hayes is the hardest working musician in Central Colorado. He sees himself as more of an opportunist, performing his rhythm and Celtgrass harmonies for a live audience whenever he gets the chance.
Hayes has proven himself to be both hardworking and opportunistic. Songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Hayes has been on the live music scene since his college days in the late 1970s. He produced both of his own albums and has recorded collections and singles for more than a dozen artists, including the first recorded single for the internationally known band String Cheese Incident.
Don Richmond has been performing in the Colorado-New Mexico area since about 1970. He has released six solo recording projects and has played with a number of bands including Tumbleweed and The Rifters. He has composed and recorded musical soundtracks for three documentary films seen nationally and internationally.
Don also owns and runs a recording studio in Alamosa, Howlin’ Dog Recording and is the author of a book, “Getting Your Music Past the Fear.” His most recent CD is called “Like Lazarus.”