WATCH: Travis McNamara, “So Far Gone”

Artist: Travis McNamara
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “So Far Gone”
Album: Moon Calendar
Release Date: March 10, 2023

In Their Words: “This song came when I was feeling really stuck inside during the pandemic alone, and wanted to move some energy. I was learning some old-time clawhammer tunes, and was playing in Double C tuning a lot. I had just bought a Telecaster electric guitar and was getting some big fuzzy tones out of it that I wanted to capture. The arrangement just kept growing and growing, as I kept hearing and adding more instruments — accordion, piano, shakers, glockenspiel, drums — anything I could get my hands on. I think I just wanted to experience big sound again. Lyrically, I had just heard news of a close friend passing away during the pandemic, a former bandmate of mine whom I loved dearly. He clearly made an appearance. I still hear the desire for freedom and expansiveness in there.” — Travis McNamara


Photo Credit: Preston Utley

LISTEN: Racyne Parker, “Here in the Middle”

Artist: Racyne Parker
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Here in the Middle”
Release Date: September 30, 2022

In Their Words: “Before I play ‘Here in the Middle’ at a show, I always ask folks in the room how they’re doing. Usually, they call out with a ‘whooo!’ or a ‘great!’ And I laugh with them and say, ‘yeah, me too!’ But then, I tell them, I know that it can be easy to be doing well in a room like this one on a night like tonight, when you’re surrounded by good company. But in the case that they find themselves alone and not feeling so great tomorrow or any other day, I hope that they can find something in this song to take home with them, to know that they’re not alone in wanting more, wanting answers, wanting to feel unstuck, wanting to move forward. Then I play ‘Here in the Middle.’

“So anytime someone hears this song, through their headphones or otherwise, I hope that they feel seen. This song was meant to be listened to while in the trenches of overthinking, overanalyzing, or just feeling stuck. I’m proud of how this song turned out, from the lyrics to the production, it’s my best yet — I can’t wait for all that is to come!” — Racyne Parker


Photo Credit: Stephanie Mikuls

WATCH: Tyler Grant, “Guitars and Trains”

Artist: Tyler Grant
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Guitars and Trains”
Album: Tryin’ to Have a Good Time
Release Date: May 20, 2022
Label: Americana Vibes

In Their Words: “A few weeks after losing my Dad in July 2019, Uncle Bob approached me with an idea: ‘Tyler, what if you record an album of the songs that you and your Dad played together and call it Guitars and Trains?’ This was a fine idea, but those songs had already been done, so I decided to get to work writing an album of new songs with that subject in mind. This song materialized right away, and several others followed. The theme of the family bond is evident throughout the entire album, which took on the title, Tryin’ to Have a Good Time. One of the best pieces of advice my Dad ever gave me was, ‘No matter what the situation, the best thing you can do is try to have a good time.’ Here we present the first single, ‘Guitars and Trains,’ with a heartwarming video that tells the story well. The video was directed by Matt Loewen with my good friend Todd McMillen playing ‘Dad.’ Michael Grant was an observer and philosopher. I miss him and think about him every day. He lives on through me, and continues to observe the world through my eyes. I know for certain that he would approve of this song, the video, and especially the guitar playing.” — Tyler Grant


Photo Credit: Jessie Bell Photography

LISTEN: Micki Balder, “A Feeling I Once Knew”

Artist: Micki Balder
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “A Feeling I Once Knew”
Album: A Feeling I Once Knew
Release Date: November 4, 2021

In Their Words: “I feel like everyone has their own answer to ‘What sort of weirdness did Covid bring you this year?’ And this EP was written as my own sort of early pandemic time capsule. My ‘beginning of the pandemic’ story had me writing so feverishly, and it’s fun to look back and see the story as it unfolded through song. And to hear the ways people see their own experience through the lens of that story. The beauty of music and honest storytelling is that when we can share our vulnerability, even if it feels personal and specific, listeners resonate with that and are able to examine their own lives through shared experience.” — Micki Balder


Photo Credit: Adrienne Thomas

WATCH: Nathaniel Rateliff Adds a String Quartet to “And It’s Still Alright”

Nathaniel Rateliff’s And It’s Still Alright album is the product of a tumultuous time in the writer’s life, but such are the circumstances that yield the most compelling songs, records, and artistic expressions. In this NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert filmed at the Mercury Café in Denver, Rateliff performs several songs from the 2020 record, including the title track and “All or Nothing,” a more wistful selection. Since the Tiny Desk shows have reformatted to accommodate for safety, the features have frequently been scaled-back performances, often filmed in the homes of the artists, but in this case, Rateliff adds his band and a string quartet to the studio-like space. The surroundings may not be as iconic as the actual Tiny Desk, but we’re thankful that artists are going above and beyond to give us outstanding mini concerts. This Tiny Desk set is no different, and like the album, it crescendos gradually from an atmospheric, ponderous beginning to a triumphant, boisterous finale with the songs “Redemption” and “Mavis.”


Photo credit: Rett Rogers

The Show on the Road – Jeremiah Fraites (The Lumineers)

This week, host Z. Lupetin talks to one of the founding members of beloved folk-rock hitmakers, The Lumineers, drummer and pianist Jeremiah Fraites. After following his heart to Italy, Jeremiah dialed into the podcast from Turin, his wife’s hometown. Alongside juggling duties as co-songwriter and performer in one of the most successful acoustic groups of the last twenty years and raising his two-year-old son, Fraites released a gorgeous instrumental record called Piano Piano this January.

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Nearly fifteen years in the making, Piano Piano was created at Fraites’ former home in Denver during the height of the early COVID-19 lockdowns. His two favorite pianos lead the way, as main characters in a story that seemed to unfurl, as his wife would say in Italian, “step by step” — delicately, but with passion. First, he used a newer Steinway for the brighter, more forceful tones, and then a warmly creaky creature, that his piano teacher sarcastically named “Firewood,” for the most personal moments. Really, it’s the tiny imperfections that make this solo work shine: when you can hear the bench swaying slightly; his wife making dinner in the next room as the sustain pedal is pressed into the wood floor; when the aged instrument struggles to hammer out the final notes, but finally does; and when Fraites and the instrument seem to breathe and speak and cry out, together.

While certain smaller songs like “Departure” and “Chilly” are as intimate as fateful field recordings, other standouts like “Tokyo” and “Arrival” are more polished pieces, blooming from that same small space, but growing into masterful, orchestral, widescreen soundscapes with the help of violinist Lauren Jacobson (who often plays with The Lumineers), cellists Rubin Kodheli and Alex Waterman, and the 40-piece FAME’s Orchestra from Macedonia.

Fraites was born in New Jersey, where he grew up with Lumineers frontman Wesley Schultz. When they self-released their confessional and warm-hearted self-titled record in 2012, the two friends never imagined that they would have a chart-topping hit on their hands. Playing the scruffy bars around Denver before their fanbase expanded exponentially and their first record went triple-platinum, The Lumineers soon found themselves headlining international pop festivals, opening for U2 and Tom Petty, placing songs in The Hunger Games and Game Of Thrones, selling out Madison Square Garden (twice) and finally filling their favorite hallowed Colorado venues like Red Rocks. Before the pandemic slowed them down, The Lumineers were bringing their same acoustic spirit to a full-on arena tour coast to coast, showcasing their newest album III. If you’re reading this right now, you’ve probably found yourself singing along to their romantic, stomping ear-worms “Ho Hey” or “Ophelia” or heard them accidentally a thousand times in the last decade (both tracks have been streamed over 500 million times and counting), but all of that is paused for now.

What a perfect time for a peaceful piano record to clear our heads. As Jeremiah Fraites has gained confidence as a sought-after composer, songwriter, and unlikely pop performer, he’s given himself the space to finally create the deeply personal record he’s been hoping to share for decades.


Photo credit: Roberto Graziano Mora

WATCH: Jeff Cramer and The Wooden Sound, “Aimless Love”

Artist: Jeff Cramer and The Wooden Sound (Emma Rose, Dylan McCarthy, Dave Pailet)
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Aimless Love” (John Prine cover)
Album: The Shed Sessions
Release Date: November 20, 2020

In Their Words: “I dreamt up ‘the shed’ late last year — a backyard DIY project fueled by a desire to provide space and community within Colorado’s incredible songwriter scene — which, as luck would have it, I finished building at the end of February this year. During the pandemic, it has become my office and writing space, and it ultimately brought me to a vision for a video series of live-recorded new, old, and cover songs with my new band, The Wooden Sound. I’m excited to be releasing seven videos and tracks from the The Shed Sessions over the next two weeks, starting with a cover of John Prine’s ‘Aimless Love’ here.

Aimless Love was my first John Prine record, and while it might not be amongst his most prominent, the title track especially has become one of my favorites. Maybe it was discovering it as a teenager — as a small fry kid in a Midwestern town — that caused me to feel a special closeness to it. John Prine was able to add a sense of warmth and humor to the messiest of human conditions and somehow make it personal to everyone (including me) in the process. I also vividly remember playing Aimless Love under the full moon in my backyard in Denver the moment we learned that he had passed. It felt appropriate to release this video as my little tribute to him.” — Jeff Cramer


Photo credit: Payden Widner

WATCH: Alright Alright, “Missouri Calling”

Artist: Alright Alright (husband and wife Seth and China Kent)
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Missouri Calling”
Album: Crucible
Release Date: October 23, 2020

In Their Words: “‘Missouri Calling’ is an empathetic, compassionate vignette of a woman who leaves Missouri after being kicked out of her unhappy home. She heads to Denver with marijuana-tinted dollar signs in her eyes, and eventually finds herself out on the streets. After working with homeless women at a shelter for several years, Seth and I heard enough stories to understand that people find themselves without homes for countless reasons, and we are all closer to that line between shelter and no shelter than we would like to believe.

“This summer, the reliable network of church-led homeless shelters shut down due to COVID, and as a result, countless homeless camps began popping up all around Denver. Huge city parks and lots were filled with tents and makeshift shelters, laundry hanging on chain link fences, as pop-up bike repair stations appeared on random street corners. I wanted to capture footage of these homeless camps around the city to bring the plight of the unhoused to light in the age of COVID. Our 13-year-old son, Fender, and I took a trip to the capitol building where the largest of these camps was located, and equipped with only a GoPro and iPhones, we walked around and captured the footage that is now in the video.

“After editing the footage together, I wondered if, perhaps, the video would be made stronger by the addition of fact-based context. If, perhaps, we could find out some statistics about homelessness in Denver and maybe understand a little more about why the unhoused were so visible all of a sudden. Our kids attend an amazing school whose mission is to provide students with a racially and economically diverse educational environment, so we asked the social justice teacher at our kids’ school to help. Mx. Saleh was so excited about the prospect that they jumped right on it, and Fender’s 8th grade class researched and wrote all of the facts presented in the video.” — China Kent, Alright Alright


Photo credit: Made Shop

WATCH: James Lee Baker, “100 Summers”

Artist: James Lee Baker
Hometown: Amarillo, Texas. Currently living in Denver, Colorado.
Song: “100 Summers”
Album: 100 Summers
Release Date: September 4, 2020

In Their Words: “The last few years of my life I have been on a personal journey to discover my place in existence. In this infinitely expanding and massive, hostile universe, my perspective has changed from one of fear to one of acceptance. In all of the chaos surrounding us, we are capable through our own free will of creating our own paradise and sharing it with others. It is in this life that we should strive to find happiness, not defer such joy of existence until after our inevitable deaths.

“All the things I own are temporary — my house, the money in my bank account, my car, my guitars. All of it will cease to matter at some point and … was it ever mine to begin with anyways? I am just trading one thing for another in the end. All I really have right now is the present moment and in a flash that could be taken from me, so why should I spend that time daydreaming about being somewhere else or wanting something I don’t have?

“I could ask for so many things but I’ve been there and I know that I will not be fulfilled. ‘If I could have one wish, it would be to live a life full of meaning and wonder for 100 Summers.’ It would be a life spent investing into the most important thing in existence — being alive and enjoying the tender moments of it with those that I love.” — James Lee Baker


Photo credit: Delaney Gibson

WATCH: Wood Belly, “Gone Are the Days”

Artist: Wood Belly
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Gone Are the Days”
Album: Man on the Radio

In Their Words: “‘Gone Are the Days’ is a project we’ve been working on, well, for a lifetime. The video features some of Wood Belly’s childhood home movies interlaced with moments from the last few years playing music across the country. We wanted to pay homage to our roots and express our undying gratitude to the people that helped us get to where we are and will go. There’s a clip towards the end of a couple of our moms hugging during our set in Telluride, Colorado, which pretty much sums up the whole idea. Much love to everyone who made us who we are.” — Chris Weist, Wood Belly


Photo credit: Emily Sierra Photography