Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

For Immediate Release

July 10, 2026

Boulder, CO

What: KGNU’s Mountain Fam Jam, featuring Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius, Taylor Sims Band and Lucy Moore.

When: Sunday, July 19th   noon – 5:00 p.m., Doors open at 11:30 am

Where:  Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St, Boulder, CO 80302

Contact: Dave Ashton, Dave@kgnu.org

KGNU continues its nearly four-decade tradition on Sunday, July 19th, when yet another musical line-up extraordinaire takes the stage in the Gold Hill Inn’s side yard for its Mountain Fam Jam.

Formerly known as The Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam, the rechristened Mountain Fam Jam continues the tradition started by the beloved Hot Rize guitarist and staunch KGNU advocate Charles Sawtelle, who cofounded the event in 1989.

Now celebrating its 38th anniversary, The Mountain Fam Jam is a family-friendly mini-festival of al fresco Bluegrass and Americana music for discerning listeners who relish the experience of a picturesque mountain setting that only the rustic, former mining town can provide. Poster artist Rachel Faller captured that vibe perfectly with her folk-art poster depicting the quaint log cabin charm of the Gold Hill Inn.

This year’s lineup is unquestionably another blockbuster headlined by roots music icon Tim O’Brien, alongside his wife, Jan Fabricius. After moving to Colorado in the 70s, O’Brien immersed himself in Boulder’s acoustic music community, honing his multi-instrumentalist and songwriting skills. His biggest success came with the cofounding of Hot Rize with Sawtelle and Pete Wernick. Nick Forster joined a short time later. Bluegrass musicians often credit Hot Rize for modernizing bluegrass while respecting its time-honored tradition. Hot Rize’s contributions were honored when the band was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2025.

As a solo artist, O’Brien isn’t confined to just bluegrass. His 19 solo albums have blended traditional bluegrass, folk, Americana, Irish, and country genres with singer-songwriter material. With his fruitful career spanning over half a century, O’Brien is a revered songwriter and is cited as a major influence by artists such as Sarah Jarosz and Chris Thile.

Making it’s the Mountain Fam Jam debut will be the Taylor Sims Band, a powerful string aggregation that will play new material from Sims’s upcoming album. Helping to fuel the fire will be Dylan McCarthy (mandolin), Chris Elliott (banjo) and Bradley Moss (doghouse bass).

The Fam Jam concept couldn’t be any more evident with this year’s line-up. O’Brien’s niece, Lucy Moore, will perform’ tweener sets, spotlighting her stellar vocals, guitar and accordion playing.

Also, in line with the family theme will be kids’ activities (beanbag toss, mask-making and more!) in the tent on the south meadow area of the Gold Hill Inn.

We’ll have food, soft drinks, beer and wine available for purchase. No outside alcohol or coolers permitted. Low-backed lawn chairs recommended, please. La-Z-Boy Rockers. No pets.

This event benefits KGNU Community Radio.  KGNU is an independent community-powered, listener-supported Community Radio Station, broadcasting since 1978. Listen at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM Nederland, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, 99.1 FM in Central Denver, online at kgnu.org, and from our mobile app for Android or iPhone/iPad.

Tickets:

• $45 Advance Tickets Online until midnight, July 18 2026
• $50 at the door
• Children under 12 free

Tickets and more information available at kgnu.org

For questions: contact Dave Ashton | dave@kgnu.org – 303-825-5468

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Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Thursday, April 9, 2026

Media contacts:

Lauren Click, Office of Arts and Culture Manager

Emi Smith, Media Relations

bouldercolorado.gov

New plan sets shared direction for Boulder’s creative ecosystem over the next decade

BOULDER, Colo. – The City of Boulder is releasing the Boulder Arts Blueprint, a community-informed plan to guide and strengthen the city’s arts and cultural ecosystem over the next 10 years. Developed over 18 months with input from more than 2,000 community members, the Blueprint connects vision to action through policies, funding strategies, programs, and partnerships. It provides a clear roadmap for sustained investment while outlining practical steps to support artists, creative businesses, neighborhoods, and cultural life across Boulder.

The Boulder Arts Blueprint is intentionally aligned with the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update, serving as an implementation-focused framework that advances its long-term vision through the lens of arts, culture, and creativity. Together, the plans reflect a shared understanding that arts and culture are not standalone amenities but essential civic infrastructure that support equity, economic opportunity, community wellbeing, and regional resilience.

The Blueprint is grounded in a community-driven vision for the arts:

Creative expression is at the core of Boulder. Creativity energizes and renews Boulder’s spirit. It is central to the city’s sense of self, to its quality of life, to its global reputation. Here, the arts are supported and seen; here, culture threads the fabric of everyday life. Here, talent is nourished, cultural heritage honored, and risk-taking embraced.

The plan is organized around seven goals:

• Accessibility and Inclusion: Ensure cultural amenities and creative experiences are widely available and accessible to all Boulder communities.
• Entrepreneurship and Workforce: Make resources, programs, and training available to build pathways for creative enterprises and entrepreneurship.
• Reputation and Identity: Celebrate arts, culture, and creativity as central to Boulder’s identity, reputation, and attractiveness.
• Public Art and Public Space: Expand public art and creative expression across public spaces
• Nonprofits and Institutions: Amplify the impact of the nonprofit cultural sector to strengthen sustainability, partnerships, and collaboration.
• Experimentation and Innovation: Incentivize cutting-edge, innovative, and experimental practices.
• Scenes and Affinities: Recognize and nurture organic creative communities and “scenes.”

“Creativity is part of Boulder’s character and helps define what makes our community exceptional,” said City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde. “The Arts Blueprint reflects what we heard clearly from our community – that creativity is not a luxury, but an essential part of how we live, connect, and thrive. This plan invites us to recognize that value, invest in it, and carry it forward together.”

Community members are invited to celebrate the launch of the Boulder Arts Blueprint at a free public event on April 12, 2026, from 1 to 3 p.m. at KGNU’s new facility (1720 14th St.). Accessible parking options are available, and public transit is encouraged. The event will close out Boulder Arts Week and feature opportunities to meet artists, hear from speakers, and learn about upcoming programs from the Office of Arts and Culture.

On March 25, 2026, the Boulder Arts Commission approved the Boulder Arts Blueprint. It will go before the City Council during the April 9 study session.

To read the Boulder Arts Blueprint and learn more, visit the Arts Blueprint Hub.

–CITY–

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Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Media contacts:

Cindy Sepucha, Boulder Arts Week Manager

Lauren Click, Arts and Culture Manager

Emi Smith, Media Relations

boulderartsweek.org

bouldercolorado.gov

Boulder Arts Week celebrates the city’s creative community April 3 to 12, 2026

Artists, performers, and organizations across Boulder will host exhibitions, workshops, performances, and interactive events throughout the week

BOULDER, Colo. – Boulder Arts Week returns April 3 – 12, 2026, as an annual celebration of the artists, nonprofits, businesses, theaters and galleries that help make Boulder’s arts and culture scene vibrant. Throughout the week, community members can explore a wide range of events, including mural tours, theater performances, dance workshops, poetry readings, pottery classes and more offerings across the city.

This year’s Boulder Arts Week features more than 115 events, workshops, and creative experiences taking place across the city. Visitors can also stroll through downtown to view the Student Banner Project along the Pearl Street Mall, featuring 42 new lamp pole banners created by young artists from Columbine Elementary School, Casey Middle School, and Boulder High School. The celebration is supported by over 75 business champions across the city.

“Boulder Arts Week celebrates the creativity at the heart of our community,” said Lauren Click, Office of Arts and Culture Manager. “From neighborhood galleries to student artists and community performances, the week highlights the many ways arts and culture connect people across Boulder. This year is especially meaningful as we unveil the Boulder Arts Blueprint, a roadmap that will guide how we support artists and strengthen Boulder’s creative ecosystem over the next decade.”

The community is invited to celebrate this milestone at the Boulder Arts Blueprint Launch Party on the final day of Arts Week, April 12, from 1 to 3 p.m. at KGNU’s new facility, located at 1720 14th St. The event will feature live painting, hands-on art activities for all ages, a dance performance, temporary tattoos by a local tattoo artist, tours of KGNU’s new building, snacks and refreshments, exclusive swag and live music curated by Roots Music Project. This event will also highlight the winners of this year’s Boulder Arts Week Awards.

The city supported more than 16 events through the Boulder Arts Week Event Sponsorship Program. In addition to the Boulder Arts Blueprint Launch Party, featured events during Boulder Arts Week include:

“Strip Mall Movement” – a series of public dance performances, culminating in a community performance, in the strip mall at 7464 Arapahoe Road in East Boulder. This project is part of the city’s Experiments in Public Art Program.

The In Motion Project at the Dairy Arts Center

Downtown Boulder Mural Walking Tour with Street Wise Arts

Boulder Zine Fest 2026

Boulder Arts Week is a collaboration of the Boulder County Arts Alliance, the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Visit Boulder, CU Boulder, the City of Boulder Office of Cultural and Economic Development, Create Boulder, and other cultural leaders in our community.

Visit BoulderArtsWeek.org to view the full calendar of events.

–CITY–

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Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

For Immediate Release, October 21, 2025, Boulder, CO

Following the blockbuster first FUNKraiser in 2024, KGNU brings the event back to the Velvet Elk Lounge in Boulder on Saturday, November 8, from 7 -11:30 PM. This is a majorly funky event for the brash, independent, community-focused radio powerhouse, which is all the more necessary after this year’s dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting at the end of September, caused by the Rescission Act passed by Congress, which provided critical federal funding for KGNU’s operations.

Be ready to rock steady with Greeley based funk band The Burroughs and local KGNU DJ Duck la Rock at Boulder’s Velvet Elk Lounge while enjoying creative drink specials and a super-tempting silent auction. We look forward to partying with you at this big, funky fundraiser for KGNU community radio.

Tickets and more information available at kgnu.org or eventbrite

This event benefits KGNU Community Radio.  KGNU is an independent community-powered, listener-supported Community Radio Station, broadcasting since 1978. Listen at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM Nederland, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, 99.1 FM in Central Denver, online at kgnu.org, and from our mobile app for Android or iPhone/iPad.

Tickets:

• $40 Early Bird Price Online until midnight, February 21, 2025
• $45 at the door
  

For questions: contact Julia Mohseni at 723-859-7064 | juliadancing@kgnu.org

The post KGNU COMMUNITY RADIO Presents Second Annual “FUNKraiser” featuring The Burroughs and DJ Duck la Rock appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

KGNU’s New Downtown Boulder Project, One of Ten Community Projects Awarded the Community Revitalization Tax Credit Through Colorado Creative Industries

On June 26th, Governor Polis and the Colorado Creative Industries (CCI) division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced 10 recipients of the Community Revitalization Tax Credit (CRTC). The program supports creative sector capital projects such as studio, performance, and arts education spaces that incorporate features like housing, childcare, retail, or other community spaces.

“Colorado continues to lead the way by supporting the creative industries in our state. We know that arts and culture do more than improve our quality of life. The arts help our thriving economy, contributing nearly $20 billion per year and supporting over 120,000 jobs across the state,” said Governor Polis.

Boulder Community Broadcast Association, (KGNU Community Radio) – Boulder – $850,000
This KGNU site will feature a media training room, expanded production studios available at low or no cost for nonprofits, artists and students; a community cafe and cultural space; and a performance space accommodating 60-90 people. These spaces will be accessible to nonprofits, artists, and cultural organizations who are otherwise unable to access affordable spaces in the downtown area. Digital upgrades will improve the station’s emergency alert capabilities.

“Community Revitalization Tax Credit recipients are elevating the role of the arts and creative industries in communities across the state, from Durango to Walsenburg. Their work, which includes creating housing Coloradans can afford and additional childcare services, will support our placemaking efforts across the state and build a Colorado economy that works for everyone. We are thrilled to support their efforts,” said Eve Lieberman, OEDIT Executive Director.

Read the full Press Release from OEDIT – CCI

“The announcement of the CRTC award for KGNU is not only an important investment and opportunity for our project and community, it’s also an important recognition of the crucial role that community and public media outlets play in our state to inform, engage, educate, and amplify community, culture, music, and the arts.  This recognition comes just as the Senate prepares to vote on the White House rescission bill that is slated to revoke $1.1 Billion in previously appropriated congressional funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, impacting hundreds of community and public media outlets across the country and dozens of partner stations across Colorado.  It is great to see that Colorado not only recognizes the vital role community media plays in our communities but is willing to make investments into the future of community media projects to support a healthy democracy in our state.” said Tim Russo, KGNU Station Manager

The CRTC award announcement comes just a couple months after KGNU closed on an $8.5 million New Markets Tax Credit (NTMC) project in partnership with Colorado Housing Finance Authority’s (CHFA) Colorado Growth and Revitalization Fund (CGRF) to support the renovation and repurposing of the 1720 14th St property into KGNU’s new headquarters and community media center.  This is a first of its kind NMTC project within the City of Boulder.

“New Markets Tax Credits are a powerful tool that incentivize private investment to support economic development and revitalization in under-served communities throughout the state,” said Steve Boice, manager of business finance at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA). “We are proud to leverage this critical resource for Colorado to support KGNU’s new facility and their work to deliver news and information while also providing space to support nonprofit organizations, community events, and educational opportunities.”

Learn more about how you can support the KGNU Amplifying Community Capital Campaign

Project Background:

In Mid-September 2024, KGNU Community Radio, with support from community members, individual donors, foundations, and the City of Boulder, started the renovation of the property it acquired at 1720 14th Street in downtown Boulder.

KGNU, Boulder’s 47-year-old local Community Radio, is currently housed in a 5,900-square-foot facility, located at 4700 Walnut Street that is bulging at the seams, has older technology, and limited community space for the plethora of activities that KGNU hosts, including over 100 live in-studio artist on-air musical performances to date in 2025.  KGNU is adapting, repurpose, and upgrade their newly acquired downtown building to provide a resilient, flood-proofed, energy-efficient building equipped with a solar micro-grid rooftop and ample battery backup storage, permanent media training space, community cafe, rooftop deck, modern studios, and intimate performance space, all wrapped into this multicultural community media center.

The Amplifying Community campaign introduces an approximate $8.8 million project buoyed by a $1.25 million City of Boulder match from the Community, Culture, Safety voter ballot initiative passed by 83% of the Boulder voters.  With equity in the current building, the $1.25 million city match, the New Market Tax Credit, the City of Boulder Commercial Affordable Pilot grant, community and foundation support and now the CRTC award, the project is quickly becoming a reality in support of injecting a much-needed independent non-profit cultural space into the heart of Boulder to support the creative economy, downtown revitalization, and an engaged and informed community.

According to KGNU Station Manager, Tim Russo, “KGNU’s new home for media, arts, and culture will be a dynamic place with expanded community space for discussions and debates, lectures, community conversations, concerts, and multicultural events that serve an ever-diversifying community across Boulder County and the Front Range.  Bringing the vision to fruition is only possible thanks to thousands of community members, and dozens of amazing partners who have stepped up to invest in the future of KGNU and the community.”

By nearly doubling its space with the repurposed 10,000 sq/ft downtown building, KGNU seeks to stimulate, educate, and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals, groups, issues, and music that have been overlooked, suppressed, or underrepresented by other media.

Powered by over 200 people volunteering on-air, with another 200 plus volunteers working behind the scenes throughout the year, an inter-generational group of dedicated community members locally produces more than 85 percent of KGNU’s news and music programs.

Once the renovation is complete, the broader community will have greater programmatic access to engage in increased opportunities to explore career pathways in journalism and media, an affordable performance space, modern broadcast studios, and increased connectivity, including community and co-working spaces.  This not only benefits those in and around Boulder but also the tens of thousands of loyal listeners who tune into and stream KGNU every week.

“A multicultural community media center will enhance the lives of residents in Boulder. KGNU’s project is visionary and has great potential to become a model that stations across the country can emulate.” Sally Kane, Former CEO, National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

The list of improved amenities, heightened sustainability, and community-informed space is impressive, including but limited to:

MUSIC

A place to showcase independent eclectic music and musicians with a modernized music library and more space for local artists to share their talents via live in-studio and broadcast performances.

ARTS & CULTURE

The new facility will provide affordable event space for artist exhibitions, public art displays, and community events inside and on the rooftop deck.

MEDIA

State-of-the-art digital studios, a permanent media-makers space, and dedicated training facilities are designed to host and teach more community members to support emerging media-makers.

RESILIENCY

The new flood-proofed, energy-efficient facility will expand terrestrial and digital programming, reduce downtime, and enhance community resiliency, and emergency alerting.  Podcasting & digital studios, improved HD side channels, increased connectivity, and greater accessibility to tools and resources are paramount to supporting the best possible community-based programming, learning, and skills-building opportunities, while being prepared to support the community during times of ever-more-prevalent disasters.

The construction will continue through the fall of 2025 with operations expected to begin from the new facility in early 2026.  Hard hat tours are available.  Those interested in learning more about how to support the campaign can reach out to Tim Russo, manager@kgnu.org.

The post KGNU’s New Downtown Boulder Project, One of Ten Community Projects Awarded the Community Revitalization Tax Credit Through Colorado Creative Industries appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

For Immediate Release

February 5, 2025

Boulder, CO

What: KGNU-CFCZ’s Mardi Gras Dance Benefit Featuring StepRideau & The Zydeco Outlaws

When:  Saturday,February 22, 2025   6:30 – 11:00 p.m.

Where:  Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, CO 80303

Contact: Dan Willging, 303-870-1156, dwillging@mail.com

KGNU Community Radio and Colorado Friends of Cajun-Zydeco Music and Dance (CFCZ) celebrate Mardi Gras with an evening of revelry, music and dancing featuring Step Rideau & The Zydeco Outlaws on Saturday, February 22, 2025.

Tickets are available at kgnu.org or at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. A Zydeco dance lesson follows at 7:00 and music is at 8:00. The Avalon Ballroom’s spacious dance floor will be vibrating and shaking with enthusiasm at this annual tradition. There will be a Mardi Gras costume contest with prizes, so be sure to jest in zest in your festive best. So the gaudier and bawdier, the better! Longmont Councilwoman and KGNU Board Chair Shiquita Yarbrough will emcee the event.

Step Rideau was born in the St. Landry Parish village of LeBeau, Louisiana. Although Step was surrounded by Zydeco music and Creole culture since infancy, it wasn’t until relocating to Houston in the mid-1980’s that he began playing accordion and eventually formed his band, The Zydeco Outlaws. Today, Step is widely acknowledged as one of the living masters of the loud little box. Over the decades, he has established himself with multiple recordings and festival appearances nationwide as a passionate Zydeco performer and songwriter.

LA Kitchen will provide scrumptious Creole gumbo for purchase. Wine & beer will be available and complimentary King Cake will be served after the costume contest.

This event benefits KGNU Community Radio and CFCZ.  KGNU is an independent community-powered, listener-supported Community Radio Station, broadcasting since 1978. Listen at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM Nederland, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, 99.1 FM in Central Denver, online at kgnu.org, and from our mobile app for Android or iPhone/iPad.  The Colorado Friends of Cajun-Zydeco Music and Dance is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring Louisiana French culture, music and dance to the Front Range.

Tickets:

$40 Early Bird Price Online until midnight, February 21, 2025
$50 at the door
$20 students with a valid ID
Dance Lesson included with Admission
Kingfish Tables $300 / 8 seats

Tickets and more information available at kgnu.org or eventbrite

For questions: contact Dan Willging at 303-870-1156 | dwillging@mail.com

The post KGNU & CFCZ’s Annual Mardi Gras Benefit Bash featuring Step Rideau & The Zydeco Outlaws appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Referring to himself as “the absolute embodiment of Niwot’s Curse,” area boomeranger Mathew Klickstein moved back to Colorado this time at the beginning of 2024. For this go-around, Klickstein came armed—already set in motion over the past three years, most of which he lived outside of Colorado, are his two forthcoming books in January and February, with local live Q&A’s, guided discussions, book signings, movie screenings and other multimedia public events to follow.

After a stint in Loveland this past Spring, Klickstein ultimately ended up settling in Greeley where, over the last 11 months, he’s been acting as Publication Director for Greeley Lifestyle Magazine, essentially responsible for a variety of editorial/production and administrative needs.

“This is the first time I’ve lived in Greeley,” Klickstein says. “I lived in Lyons for a while a few years back, and my wife at the time and I would head to Greeley sometimes for a friend’s regular hip-hop shows and for the food trucks to get some of the best authentic Mexican food around. It’s definitely been an adventure living there, but I can also see why it’s become the fastest-growing community in the state.”

Originally having lived in Boulder during his first few runs at being a Coloradoan, Klickstein right from the start had become engaged in the goings-on of his adoptive home’s media and culture/arts concerns.

He was a regular contributor to many of the local outlets, including this one for which he developed a unique program: While working as an arts instructor at Imagine!, Klickstein guided young people with mental/physical disabilities in their reviewing of local hotspots for articles that this magazine and others such as Boulder Weekly would publish. Klickstein developed a similar program through partnering Imagine! with KGNU, as well.

“I really fell in love with Boulder—so much so, that I would get involved in whatever I could, whenever I could,” Klickstein says. “I’d always lend a hand to groups like BIFF and the Conference on World Affairs, as well as a lot of other things at CU and particularly at the Dairy Center, where I become passionately involved with the development and programming of the Boedecker Theater.”

Being such a self-professed gadabout during those early years in Boulder, Klickstein eventually transitioned from being a freelancer for the Daily Camera and Colorado Daily to being recruited to fill a new staffing position. Klickstein would focus his coverage on, appropriately enough, the arts/cultural goings-on of the town and surrounding area.

It was around this time that Klickstein began developing what would end up being his first book for one of the major publishers. SLIMED! An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age was put out by Penguin Random House in 2013. It celebrated a fifth anniversary with an updated edition in 2018, has become a beloved totem and resource for nostalgia/pop culture fans around the world and was recently granted the greatest honor of all: being a clue on Jeopardy!.

The book tells the full story of the creation and early years of kids cable channel Nickelodeon through more than 250 interviews Klickstein conducted with all manner of Nickelodeon cast and crew. And, of course, there’s an added foreword by none other than Nickelodeon icon and game show host Marc Summers.

SLIMED!, kickstarted Klickstein’s wider career. An eclectic array of projects followed—many of which continued to whisk the burgeoning writer-producer away to places elsewhere before he would repeatedly find himself coming back to Boulder, Louisville, Lyons … and now Greeley.

“Over the last few years, I really felt most at home in rural college towns,” Klickstein says. “Lawrence in Kansas, Iowa City, places like that and now Greeley. It’s the best of both worlds, because it’s calm and quiet, I don’t have to deal with parking or traffic issues, it’s convenient getting around … And the price of living there is still relatively more affordable. Plus, I’m still close by to places I may go to visit friends or for work stuff—Boulder, Fort Collins, Longmont and the occasional trip to Denver.”

Klickstein will certainly be getting the most out of the nearby “convenience,” as he puts it, of living in Greeley over the next few months. He’s hosting and producing a limited promotional tour of regional bookstores, comic book shops and movie theaters as part of the release of his two newest books.

Lloyd Kaufman: Interviews is the latest installment in University Press of Mississippi’s long-running “Conversations With Filmmakers” series of collections of previously published interviews with different prominent filmmakers. Each book, like Klickstein’s Kaufman collection, is also expertly fact-checked, annotated and quietly edited. Lloyd Kaufman: Interviews will be out in February.

There’s, perhaps not too coincidentally, a local connection to the subject of Klickstein’s book. Kaufman co-founded and runs the oldest still-running independent film studio, Troma, which is best known for its gorey, goofy and gratuitously gelatinous “Midnight Movie” fare like The Toxic Avenger. Kaufman and Troma were also the ones who helped launch the careers of hometown heroes Trey Parker and Matt Stone when the company put out Cannibal! The Musical, the notorious South Park creators’ first feature film, which the provocative duo developed and shot as film students at CU.

Klickstein’s second upcoming book hails from the other side of the spectrum. It’s a 96-page graphic novel, based on an old novella of his published in 2008 and illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Rick Geary. Geary is best known for his youthful work throughout the 1970s and 80s as a contributor to the likes of National Lampoon and Heavy Metal, as well as his previous solo graphic novels that tend to focus on Victorian Era serial killers, most notably his 1997 illustrated chronicle of pint-sized axe enthusiast Lizzie Borden.

Mathew Klickstein with Rick Geary, illustrator of his new graphic novel Daisy Goes to the Moon

“I met Rick while working on my podcast and later book on the origins of the San Diego Comic-Con,” Klickstein says. “We hit it off right away, I was blown away by his work—which I had heard about but had never really seen before—and right away realized he’d be a perfect illustrator to adapt my earlier novella Daisy Goes to the Moon to the graphic novel realm.”

After Geary read Klickstein’s small, strange and sci-fi/fantasy-based (by way of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the works of The Little Prince’s Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) novella, he immediately decided to work on the new iteration. Klickstein and Geary then set a deal with longtime indie bellwether Fantagraphics Books, and three years later, their collaborative version of Daisy Goes to the Moon will be out in mid-January.

“It continues to be quite a rollercoaster through all of this moving around, finding new places in the area like Greeley to explore and putting out new books and other projects,” Klickstein concluded. “But it’s nice that I can still call this whole community that connects all the local places I’ve lived home. Living here has been one of the very few consistent things in my life, even if it’s been fairly sporadic. I think, no matter what happens or where I may go next, I’ll probably keep finding my way back.”

Daisy Goes to the Moon, illustrated by Rick Geary and based on Mathew Klickstein’s novella, will be out through Fantagraphics Books in January and LLoyd Kaufman:Interviews will be out through University Press of Mississippi in February. Both books will be available wherever books are sold and pre-orders are available now. More information on Mathew Klickstein, his previous projects and where he’ll be stopping on his forthcoming tour, please visit: www.MathewKlickstein.com.

The post AS A MATTER OF FACT… Local author/filmmaker Mathew Klickstein’s double trouble of upcoming book releases appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Indra Raj, Music Director, KGNU Community Radio
303-449-4885 | indra@kgnu.org

KGNU Radio Week is an annual celebration uniting the diverse voices of our community with the power of community radio.

May 1, 2024 – Boulder, CO: KGNU Community Radio, the cornerstone of community media and broadcasting on the Front Range, is excited to announce the inaugural “KGNU Radio Week”, a citywide celebration of KGNU Community Radio’s vibrant impact on local culture. From May 19 to May 25, KGNU will host a series of engaging programs and events featuring various iconic cultural partner organizations and locations throughout the Boulder community.

This year’s Radio Week features a dynamic lineup of events, including live music performances, interactive workshops, special live broadcasts, community celebrations, and much more. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with station staff, learn about volunteer opportunities, engage with various community-oriented cultural organizations and businesses, and discover how they can play a role in shaping the future of community radio.

“Radio Week is not just an event; it’s a movement to celebrate the unique bond between KGNU and the communities we serve,” says Tim Russo, KGNU’s Station Manager. “This year’s lineup promises something for everyone, whether you’re a long-time listener or new to community radio. We invite everyone to join us for a week of connection, inspiration, and celebration.”

This year’s Radio Week event lineup includes:

• Sunday, May 19, 3-5pm – Indigenous Mobile Recording Studio at KGNU’s Future Location in Downtown Boulder – A free and public workshop hosted by the Mobile Recording Studio for Indigenous musicians to record their creative work with industry professionals.
• Tuesday, May 21, 6-9pm – Kabaret Live from Roots Music Project – A live broadcast of KGNU’s live and local music program, featuring a performance by local band The Vipers.
• Wednesday, May 22, 9:30am-noon – KGNU Birthday Party: Station Tour and Reception – A celebration of KGNU’s 46th birthday with coffee, cake, and conversation about community radio and how to get involved.
• Thursday, May 23, noon-3pm – Live Afternoon Sound Alternative Broadcast from Paradise Found Records – A live broadcast from Boulder’s iconic downtown record shop, featuring 2x Westword Best of Denver Radio DJ Iris Berkeley.
• Thursday, May 23, 5-8:30pm – Destination Freedom: Black Radio Days Live Broadcast and Performance at the Boulder Public Library – A reception and presentation of the Destination Freedom radio play series, where poignant narratives from the African-American community come to life.
• Friday, May 24, 5-9pm – Dining on Air – KGNU provides the perfect soundtrack for your dinner party, or join us at our Boulder and Denver locations for community-focused celebrations, including a public art opening featuring Boulder Open Studios artists.
• Saturday, May 25, noon-6pm – Live Broadcast from the Boulder Creek Festival – KGNU broadcasts a section of it’s legendary Saturday music programming live from the Boulder Creek Fest, including TerraSonic, Reggae Bloodlines, and African Roots.

KGNU also looks forward to partnering with The Passenger Restaurant, OZO Coffee, Joy Food Rescue, Food Truck, and Vipul!

On May 2, 2024, Boulder City Council officially declared the week of May 22nd as KGNU Radio Week, marking the station’s birthday with citywide recognition and celebration. This proclamation solidifies KGNU Radio Week as a recurring annual event, highlighting its significance in the community’s cultural calendar.

“Radio Week is set to be a landmark event, and we’re thrilled to showcase the best of KGNU in our Front Range community,” adds Kenneth Flowe, KGNU’s Underwriting Manager.

For more information about KGNU Radio Week 2024 and to view the full schedule of events, visit kgnu.org. Stay connected with KGNU Community Radio on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content throughout the week.

About KGNU Community Radio

KGNU is a volunteer-powered, listener-supported community radio station, heard locally at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM in the Nederland area, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, and online at kgnu.org. We seek to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals, groups, issues, and music that have been overlooked, suppressed, or under-represented by other media. The station seeks to expand the listening audience through the excellence of its programming without compromising the principles stated here. For more information or to get involved visit kgnu.org and follow us on social media @kgnu

The post KGNU Presents Inaugural KGNU Radio Week appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole

The Sink Releases its 100th Anniversary Documentary Film, “THE SINK: THE REST[AURANT] IS HISTORY” on YouTube

Boulder, CO – April 12, 2024 – The Sink is excited to announce the YouTube premiere of its documentary, “THE SINK: THE REST[AURANT] IS HISTORY,” this Sunday, April 14th, at 12 PM. This film marks a significant milestone, celebrating the 100th anniversary and showcasing the rich history that has made The Sink a local legend.

Produced by the talented teams at Savor Productions and Pixel Mill Studios, our documentary captures the essence of The Sink through engaging interviews with owners, staff, patrons, and local celebrities like:

Chuck Morris, who began his illustrious career as general manager of The Sink in 1968. Here, he booked his first act, Flash Cadillac, along with other bands that would gain national fame, like The Astronauts and Tommy Bolin. His knack for recognizing talent led him to become one of the country’s largest music promoters and the future CEO of AEG Live.

Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, better known as a TV veterinarian on Animal Planet and an acclaimed stand-up comic, started as a bouncer at The Sink on his second day at CU Boulder in 1969. Recalling The Hill as a “truly magical place,” Kevin was drawn to The Sink’s vibrant atmosphere, a mix of fraternity and sorority members and “long-haired hippies,” all enjoying nickel-beer specials and 35-cent burgers.

John Lehndorff, a name synonymous with Boulder’s culinary scene for decades, writes food columns for the Boulder Weekly and Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine and hosts Radio Nibbles on KGNU. His extensive career also includes roles as the food editor of the Boulder Daily Camera and the Aurora Sentinel, as well as Rocky Mountain News’s dining critic.

Tony Capozzola, another former Sink employee, took his experiences from The Sink to the courtrooms of California. After serving as a deputy district attorney, Tony became a renowned criminal defense lawyer, representing high-profile clients ranging from sports figures to entertainment industry leaders. He continues to support The Sink staff each year by giving two staff-voted winners a special award.

“We wanted to capture the long and storied history of a place that has had such a significant impact on the lives of so many people and survived so many societal changes,” said co-owner Mark Heinritz.

The documentary delves into the historical impact of The Sink and personal anecdotes, highlighting the deep connections people have made at the restaurant and on “The Hill” in Boulder. The walls of The Sink, covered in graffiti and messages from visitors, including students and celebrities, serve as a backdrop to the tales of love, laughter, and unforgettable moments shared over the years.

“Our film is a heartwarming 30-minute tribute that we felt was necessary to truly honor the memories within these walls,” comments Bruce Borowsky, producer. “It was a challenge to encapsulate such a vast history, but every story shared is a testament to the vibrant community that has grown around The Sink.”

Whether you missed the summer premiere or want to relive the magic, we invite you to join us for this online premiere.

“The Sink’s walls are a living history book, with countless stories etched into them. This documentary is your chance to hear some of the best,” added Borowsky.

To celebrate the release, The Sink invites all patrons, past and present, to watch and share this captivating documentary.

“We are immensely proud to share this documentary. It is our love song to the community that has supported us for a century,” said co-owner Chris.

The documentary will be available for viewing on The Sink’s official YouTube channel on Sunday, April 14th, at noon.

For more information or to schedule an interview with The Sink owners or the documentary creators, please contact Mark Heinritz at mark@thesink.com.

YouTube Link

About The Sink

Located on University Hill since 1923, The Sink isn’t just a Boulder staple—it’s where locals and visitors flock for the best pizza and burgers in town. But we’re more than just our menu. We’re a buzzing hub with iconic art and a vibe that’s unmistakably fun and funky. Known far and wide, The Sink is more than a restaurant—it’s a Boulder landmark.

The post The Sink Releases Its 100th Anniversary Documentary Film appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

KGNU Community Radio and Colorado Friends of Cajun-Zydeco Music and Dance (CFCZ) celebrate Mardi Gras on Saturday, February 3, 2024, with an evening of revelry, music and dancing featuring Joe Hall & The Louisiana Canecutters.

This is a benefit event for both KGNU Community Radio and CFCZ. KGNU has been broadcasting on the Front Range for over 45 years at 88.5 FM and 1390 AM in Boulder/Denver, 98.7FM in Fort Collins, 93.7 FM in Nederland, 99.1 FM in Central Denver, online at KGNU.org via our mobile app. @kgnu.org.

The Colorado Friends of Cajun-Zydeco Music and Dance is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring Louisiana French culture, music, and dance to the Front Range. More information at cfcz.org.

This annual event takes place at The Avalon Ballroom in Boulder, where the spacious dance floor has been filled with dancers for the last 35 years. This year, Longmont City Councilwoman and KGNU Vice-Chair Shiquita Yarbrough will emcee the event.

Early Bird Price

$40 until midnight, December 31, 2023.
$44 until midnight February 2, 2024.
$49/door / $20 with valid student ID. Dance Lesson Included with Admission
Reserved seating is available by purchasing a table for you and your friends. Be your own Kingfish: 8 seats for $350.00

Food & Drinks: La Rue Bayou will be selling scrumptious Cajun/Creole food onsite. Wine, beer and soft drinks are also available for purchase. Complimentary King Cake will be served after the Mardi Gras costume contest with prizes. Be sure to jest (dress) in your festive best!

BIO: Joe Hall & The Cane Cutters
Even though Joe Hall never toiled in the fields like many of his Creole sharecropper ancestors, the Southwest Louisiana native is a self-described ‘old soul.’ Through his grandfather “King” Ned, a great accordionist who was recorded by the Smithsonian Institute, Hall inherited his talent and love for playing the accordion. He used to play his grandfather’s accordion while Ned was away, and by the time the elder discovered his grandson was sneaking around to pump his loud little box, Hall was surprisingly proficient. From there, Hall regularly visited the elder statesmen of Creole music, “Bois Sec” Ardoin, Canray Fontenot, Carlton Frank, and Calvin Carrière. Carlton’s brother Paul once told him, “If you stay the way you are and don’t let anyone change you, then one day the world will know about you.” Hall admits he never aspired to be the ‘hot rod’ player but prefers to reach back as far as possible to represent the essence of Creole, Zydeco, and Cajun tradition. By following his heart and not the trendy practitioners, Hall eventually found his musical identity. “If I had played like everybody else, I would never have found myself.” To date, Hall has 10 CDs, the latest being Mélange, meaning mixture, a perfect way to describe the time-honored Southwest Louisiana indigenous styles he plays fluently.

The post Annual Mardi Gras Dance Benefit with Joe Hall & The Cane Cutters appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Boulder, CO

KGNU continues a three-decade tradition on Sunday, July 16th when another musical performance extraordinaire returns to Gold Hill for the 35th year.

The Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam, aka “The Charles,” is named for the beloved Hot Rize guitarist, Charles Sawtelle, who helped start the event in 1989. He was a great supporter of KGNU Community Radio. After his passing in 1999, the station renamed the event in his memory.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, “The Charles” is a family-friendly mini-festival of al fresco Bluegrass and Americana music aimed at music fans who enjoy the clear mountain air and dazzling acoustic music in a spectacular outdoor setting.

Featuring three Colorado bands: Jake Leg, The Pine Creek Cajun Band, and The Cody Sisters. Bring your dancing shoes and get ready for a fabulous afternoon of soulful and inspiring acoustic music.

Headliners Jake Leg create original music from where Bluegrass meets Rock ‘n Roll. Featuring Eric Wiggs (vocals and guitar) Dylan McCarthy (mandolin and vocals) Justin Hoffenberg (fiddle) and Troy Robey (bass), all hail from the Front Range of Colorado. Jake Leg creates vivid storytelling in each song.

Pine Creek Cajun Band is one of Colorado Springs fiddler Ben Guzman’s brightest ideas. For The Charles, this musician, bandleader and festival producer is bringing double fiddles and Front Range Cajun accordion whiz, Pat Carbone, to give us authentic traditional and contemporary Cajun music.

The Cody Sisters’ sound is original and heartwarming, and they are at the heart of contemporary acoustic music in Colorado and beyond. Sisters Megan and Maddie Cody share lead vocals, harmony, and are multi-instrumentalists on guitar, mandolin, and banjo.

Advance tickets are $40 at KGNU.org, $45 at the door. Children aged 12 and under are free. Rat’s Woodshack BBQ, soft-drinks, beer, and more available for purchase. No outside alcohol or coolers. Snacks are ok. Low-backed lawn chairs recommended. No pets, please. This event benefits KGNU, an independent community-powered, listener-supported community radio station, broadcasting since 1978. Listen at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM Nederland, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, 99.1 FM in Central Denver, online at kgnu.org, and from our mobile app for Android or iPhone/iPad.

• What: 35th Annual Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam, featuring Jake Leg, Pine Creek Cajun band, and The Cody Sisters.

• When: Sunday, July 16, 2023, 12:00 – 4:30 pm. Doors at 11:30 a.m.

• Where: Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St, Gold Hill – Boulder, CO

• Tickets: $40 in advance, $45 at the door.

Tickets available at kgnu.org.

For questions, contact membership@kgnu.org.

Event sponsors include:
The Boulder Arts Commission
Rat’s WoodShack BBQ
Avery Brewing Company
Stem Ciders
Redstone Meadery
Baseline Liquors
Eldorado Natural Spring Water
Ozo Coffee Company
Carpet One Floor & Home
H.B. Woodsongs
Rebecca’s Herbal Apothecary
Studio 301
The Arts HUB
Be Love Beauty

The post KGNU’s 35th Annual Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam aka “The Charles” Sunday, July 16 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

BOULDER—Boulder Walk & Bike Month (“W&BM”) organizers announced today that more than 30 sponsors have pledged to fund Boulder’s W&BM activities this June. Sponsors contribute direct financial support, in-kind donations, gear and services to support the month-long celebration of Boulder’s rich bicycle and pedestrian culture. W&BM is a partnership between the City of Boulder, Community Cycles, Boulder County, and Boulder Transportation Connections, with events coordinated by Community Cycles. Sponsor funding covers the bulk of W&BM expenses, paying for event permits, insurance, promotion and coordination of events. W&BM organizers are grateful for the support of the following key sponsors:

• Title Sponsor: Google
• Chain Ring Sponsors: City of Boulder, Daily Camera
• Spoke Sponsors: Alpine Bank, Boulder County, Boulder Transportation Connections, Conscience Bay Company
• Handlebar Sponsors: Caddis Collaborative, Coburn Partners, Hutchinson Black & Cook, Lime, Limelight Hotel Boulder, Milo Construction, SoBo Homes, Star Buds
• Wheel Sponsors: B-Cycle, Better Boulder, Boulder Chamber, Comprise Agency, CordenPharma, Eldorado Spring Water, Fox Tuttle Transportation Group, HMH Architecture & Interiors, Jeeves Drones, KGNU, People for Bikes, REI, Small Planet eBikes, Sweet Sisters Bakeshop, University of Colorado Environmental Center, Upslope Brewing Company

Key 2023 W&BM events (www.walkandbikemonth.org/events/) include:

• May 20 – W180, walk the western half of a loop around Boulder (approx 12.5 miles)
• June 3 – W180, walk the Eastern half of a loop around Boulder (approx 13 miles)
• June 3 – Big Boulder Dog Walk, great for friendly dogs & their humans
• June 4 – B360 / B180, Circle Boulder by Bicycle on Boulder’s extensive bikeway system
• June 11 – W360, complete a slow marathon walking loop around Boulder
• June 21 – Boulder Bike Show
• June 28 – Bike to Work Day with more than 50 breakfast stations serving free food and drink to the estimated 8,000 participants who will ride or walk to work
• June 28 – Bike Home Happy Hour with food & beer specials

About Walk & Bike Month (www.walkandbikemonth.org)
Nearing its 50th year, Walk and Bike Month began as a single day event in 1977. Evolving into a month-long celebration over the decades, Boulder’s Walk and Bike Month is now among the largest in the nation. This year, dozens of events have been planned for June to celebrate Boulder’s nationally recognized bicycling and pedestrian culture. Community Cycles, a local nonprofit that educates and advocates for safe bicycle use, is coordinating events and volunteers during the month.

The post Community Cycles Announces Walk & Bike Month 2023 Sponsors appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Back in 1995, I started working at a paper in Boulder. I live in Erie, so my daily commute into the city was comprised of tuning into KGNU for the drive. I would listen to Democracy Now, BBC, How on Earth, John Lehndorff’s Nibbles program, and Brigett Mars would tell us about the herb life. It was a comfortable routine that made me feel like I was at home in the community. Like I belonged.

Beyond providing in-depth news stories that the mainstream media often misses, KGNU hosts programming that impacts our communities for the greater good. From Hemispheres to Indian Voices and the Labor Exchange, KGNU provides airtime for essential members of our society that are often overlooked in the bigger picture of the news cycles. Music programming is equally important as the volunteer DJs pick the music ranging from eclectic to bluegrass. 

I still recall hearing “Volunteer-Powered” on that drive, and today, 28 years later, KGNU is still Volunteer-Powered, non-commercial, and 100% dependent on community support. Since March 22, 1978, Boulderites and beyond have supported KGNU. 

Recently, they invited us to their annual Mardi Gras fundraiser, which in addition to being a total blast, was also a reflection of the people that made Boulder cool for the last 45 years. No venture capitalists, just everyday people who care about the environment, justice, and equality. 

While the event is over, fundraising is not. As a commercial-free community resource, they will always need our support, which we are happy to give it, in exchange for 28 years of listening power. 

Please visit their website and consider making a donation to this Boulder County institution. Check out their wish list and, while there, the amazing programming.

https://www.kgnu.org

https://kgnu.org/wishlist

The post Why supporting KGNU matters appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Join us for a night of Cajun culture filled with food, music, dancing, and of course beads!

Support our local public radio and join us for night of drinks, dancing, curated entertainment and so much more!

The post Mardi Gras with Us! appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

It’s a new year and Black Talk is taking up a long-standing crisis: racialized healthcare. Our guest, Dayna Bowen Matthew, JD, Ph.D., will talk to us about the racial, ethnic, economic, and social determinants and disparities in America’s healthcare system. Dean Matthew is currently the Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School in the nation’s capital. Dean Matthew was a CU law school professor and vice dean, a member of the Center for Bioethics Humanities on the Anschutz Medical Center campus, and held a joint appointment at the Colorado School of Public Health and co-founded the Colorado Health Equity Project. We will learn how Dean Matthew’s intersectional approach to tackling racial inequalities in health, housing, and education, conspire and inspired the content of her two books, Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Healthcare (2018 and Just Health: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America (2022). Dean Matthew will be in Colorado on 21 January 2023, as the featured guest of Sister-to-Sister, an international network of professional African American women.

Please be sure to tune into the next edition of Black Talk on KGNU 88.5 FM, Thursday, 12 January 2023 at 8:32 am.

If you’ve missed any shows, look for them at, Black Talk on KGNU.  Remember: Black Talk airs on KGNU 88.5FM the second Thursday of every month at 8:32am – 9:30 am.

The post Black Talk on KGNU 88.5 FM appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

KGNU will continue a three-decade tradition on Sunday, July 24 with another musical performance extraordinaire at the Gold Hill Inn (Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St, Gold Hill, CO ).  The 34th Annual Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam, aka “The Charles,” is named for the beloved Hot Rize guitarist, Charles Sawtelle, who helped start the event in 1989 and was a great supporter of KGNU Community Radio. After his passing in 1999, the station renamed the event in his memory. Celebrating its 34th anniversary this year, The Charles is a family-friendly mini-festival of al fresco bluegrass and Americana music aimed at fans who enjoy the clear mountain air and dazzling acoustic music in a spectacular outdoor setting.

This year, we’re featuring three Colorado Bluegrass/Roots Music bands: Jake Leg, Greg Schochet & Little America, and Megan Burtt Band. Jake Leg is an acoustic band from Colorado that includes Eric Wiggs on guitar and vocals, Dylan McCarthy on mandolin and vocals, Justin Hoffenberg on fiddle, and Troy Robey on bass. Jake Leg’s music reflects a shared love of bluegrass. Drawing on their favorite elements of the genre, they focus on delivering good, original songs through the framework of bluegrass music. The vivid story-telling in each song is beautifully supported by top-notch musicianship and engaging arrangements. With a true passion for performing live, these accomplished musicians take the music to new heights with extended improvisations that take the audience on an exciting and unique journey.

Greg Schochet is a full-time performer, teacher, and producer in Boulder, Colorado. Greg Schochet & Little America may be a newly formed band, but one that has been a long time coming. Greg is twenty-plus years into a Colorado performing career, and his first foray into fronting a band is heavy on musical vision and loaded with accomplished players.  Already renowned as a first-call country and bluegrass picker, Greg has assembled a crew to funnel that experience into a Western Swing powerhouse that harkens back to Colorado’s halcyon 70s era. With pedal steel and alto sax bringing the country and swing bona fides, upright bass and drums keep it dancing. Sure there are Bob Wills, Emmylou Harris, and Red Knuckles nods, but also original songs and deep cuts from unexpected sources. The band has been warmly received in its first touring season, with appearances at the Pagosa Folk ’n Bluegrass Festival, Dairy Center for the Arts, and the Boulder Theater.

Megan Burtt is a Denver native and international touring singer/songwriter decorated with national recognition. She is the winner of the Kerrville NewFolk, Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, and Westword Music Award and a finalist in Mountain NewSong, Songwriter Serenade, and Great American Song Contest. She has played music on almost every continent, summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, and survived a gluten-free diet for a decade now. She and Oprah share the same enneagram number. She wishes she’d learned music in a Southern Gospel church and dreams of becoming an olive farmer in Spain. And, you never know, life is a long time…and longing is a great source of inspiration. Megan is currently working on her fourth and fifth full-length albums in Colorado. Somewhere between Bonnie Raitt, Kathleen Edwards, and Tom Petty you’ll find Megan’s songwriting. She, along with her roots/groove/Americana band will be closing out the night at Gold Hill.

Tickets are $35 for KGNU members, and $40 for non-members and are available online at kgnu.org. All ticket prices will be $5 higher on the day of the show. Children 12 and under are free. Beverages are available for purchase; they are not included in the price of admission. No pets, please. Food will be available for purchase by Rat’s Woodshack BBQ. We recommend low-backed lawn chairs for seating.

The event is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors including Natural Grocers, McDonald Carpet One Floor & Home, Hands & Needles Acupuncture, Z2 Entertainment, OZO Coffee Company, Hazel’s Beverage World, Sweet Cow Ice Cream, Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Avery Brewing Company, Stem Ciders, Redstone Meadery, Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha, Gold Hill Inn, and Rat’s Woodshack BBQ. General operating support provided by Boulder Arts Commission.

This event benefits KGNU, an independent volunteer-powered, listener-supported community radio station, heard locally at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM in the Nederland and Ward area, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, streaming online at kgnu.org and via our mobile app for Android or iPhone/iPad.

What: 34th Annual Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam

When: Sunday, July 24, 2022, Doors at 11:00 a.m., and the first band starts at 12 noon. The event will wrap up by 4:30 p.m.

Cost: Tickets are $35 for KGNU members, $40 for the general public, and will be $45 at the door. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/34th-annual-charles-sawtelle-memorial-mountain-jam-tickets-375249560537 and kgnu.org.

Questions? Email sarah@kgnu.org or call 303-515-4522.

The post KGNU’s 34th Annual Charles Sawtelle Memorial Mountain Jam; Sunday, July 24 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

*9/16/22 Update: Yet, another price increase for printing, bringing it to now a 33% increase since this was written in May 2022 and since prices began increasing in 2020. We have had so many price increases we are losing count. Are we on the 7th? 8th? 9th?

I woke up this morning thinking about the printing press.

This started from the 28%* increase in the cost of publishing on paper compared to 2020.

Print isn’t dead; it’s expensive.

Yet, it’s freed societies, it’s educated masses, it’s been propagandized and vilified, but most of all, throughout the history of the printing press – it has informed. Like technology of many kinds, it changed how we communicate.

Then why, in a communication-heavy world, are so many areas suffering from news deserts?

I was raised in the media rooms since the age of 21. I watched as the editors did their magic, telling stories that affected the community. It was the local pages that helped keep people connected. One thing that was drilled into my head all these years above all else — speak the truth. Even if some will hate you, speak the truth.

Some journalists have been jailed or killed for speaking out against totalitarianism and injustice. Often, the energy they spent putting in countless hours researching, checking facts and sources are reduced to the battle-cry of the ill-informed; “Fake News.” News illiteracy is raging across the country.

The pay is typically lousy, the hours are long. Stress and burn-out guaranteed. They are energized by knowing their work has helped to free innocent people from behind bars, attempts to keep politicians honest, and uplifting humanity.

I am reminded of what Jeff Fard said to me right before I published the biggest and scariest story of my life; “Just remember, it isn’t us who make the news; they do. We just report it.”

After 38 years representing journalism and media, I recently was honored to interview some of Colorado’s most respected journalists – all committed to keeping it alive. From Pulitzer Prize nominees, Hearst Fellows, prestigious universities, and lifers to newbies, this was my “meeting my favorite rock stars” moment, which turned out to be quite intimidating for this art-school drop-out, and even more intimidating to write.

Back Row l to r: Dave Flomberg, brother jeff, Michael Roberts, Amy Golden, Center l t r: John Lehndorff, Erik Maulbetsch, Tatiana Flowers, Susan Greene, Front l to r: Shay Castle, Rosanna Longo

In total, I spoke to 10 amazing journalists, Susan Green (CoLab News/The Colorado Independent), Jeff Fard (30 minutes with brother jeff), Dave Flomberg (Yellow Scene Magazine/Colorado Times Recorder), Shay Castle (Boulder Beat), Michael Roberts (Westword), John Lehndorff (5280, Boulder Weekly, KGNU)), Tatiana Flowers (The Colorado Sun), Rosanna Longo (KGNU), Erik Maulbetsch (Colorado Times Recorder), and Amy Golden (Longmont Leader).

Keeping to a word count limit became a challenge. I was enthralled.

As Dave Flomberg quipped; “You mean you talked to a bunch of journalists who waxed poetic?”

Each of these amazing talents had extraordinary things to say, not just about journalism but about the world. I didn’t want anything left out.

Susan Greene, CoLab News, The Independent

SUSAN GREENE: COLab News (Colorado News Collaborative)

Susan reported in California, Nevada, and Washington, D.C., before her 13 years as a reporter and news columnist at The Denver Post. She went on to become the editor and executive director of The Colorado Independent before it merged in 2020 with COLab. “Trashing the Truth,” a series she reported with Miles Moffeit, helped exonerate five men, prompted state and federal reforms on evidence preservation, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative journalism. Her investigation,“The Gray Box,” exposed the effects of long-term solitary confinement. Susan has been honored in recent years by the National Press Foundation, ACLU, Society of Professional Journalists, and Colorado Press Association for her First Amendment work and coverage of criminal justice, mental health, and civil rights. She was selected as a 2020-2021 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow, and is the inaugural recipient of the Benjamin von Sternenfels Rosenthal Grant for Mental Health Investigative Journalism — a partnership between The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). Susan lives in Denver with her two sons and a dog they’re pretty sure is the messiah.

Q: Tell me how and why you launched CoLabs?

Susan: For those of us who’ve been in the industry for a while, it has felt like being on the slowest sinking ship ever. After the Independent, it felt like the next thing to do was to work on these news deserts and on just this general idea of collaboration. Especially if we came up in newspapers, we’re so indoctrinated in this sort of competition, that is really just a construct. The public who really doesn’t care or notice which outlet that’s out first, there just simply aren’t enough resources to go around. I’m always getting calls, I just got off one this morning, about issues going on in local communities that will ask, “Well, can you send an investigative reporter over?”  There is no index reporter, and there might not be any reporter at all, no matter what they do in that community. And that happens so much. It just feels like the right thing to do for keeping people informed is to pool our resources rather than play in each of our own sandboxes.

Q: What are some of the stories you are most proud of?

SUSAN: I’ve always been an underdog person. I feel injustice more deeply than I feel partisan politics. But I don’t go into any story thinking I’m setting out to change policy.  You try to be as fair and balanced as you possibly can, especially when you’re covering something over years as I did with Clarence Moses, Tim Masters, Tyler Sanchez, and Marvin Booker. If you watch a man get wrongly convicted, and try and try again to get himself exonerated, only to be countered by lies from the prosecution in the public’s name, you’re bound to have personal feelings about it. It’s way more gratifying to write about people who need help having their voices amplified than about politicians, who have teams of propagandists around 24/7.

Q: Sometimes, it seems it would be easier not to care.

SUSAN: It’s easy not to care, but I don’t think you’d last very long. I think journalists are actually the most idealistic people I know. That makes it even more frustrating when our motives are under suspicion. For journalists, there’s nothing more exciting than election night. And it has nothing to do with who wins or loses. It just has to do with democracy and what’s at stake. If you don’t care then I don’t think you can do a good job and there really is no room for you in this industry.

Q: What makes you passionate?

This mental health project that I’m working on. Talking to someone who just cannot find the mental health care they need for a loved one, and helping them feel heard. Playing some role in the bureaucracy and finally paying attention to them as a person, not just a number, feels really good and meaningful.

John Lehndorff, 5280, Boulder Weekly

JOHN LEHNDORFF: 5280 | Boulder Weekly | KGNU

After graduating in English with honors from McGill University in Montreal, he moved to Boulder, where he worked in the restaurant industry, taught cooking classes, hosted The Generic Gourmet Show – a weekly food radio program, and freelanced for numerous publications. For 15 years, he was an award-winning food editor, writer, and nationally syndicated Nibbles food columnist for the Daily Camera, followed by eight years as the dining critic and columnist of the Rocky Mountain News. Most recently, he was the food and editor and columnist for the Aurora Media Group newspapers and websites: Aurora Sentinel, Buckley Guardian, and Life Science, as well as Aurora magazine. He is a freelance food writer and editor and host of Radio Nibbles, a new, weekly program focused on food, cooking, and dining on KGNU, 88.5 F, currently publishes with 5280 and Boulder Weekly, and is a recognized pie authority. Lehndorff was the executive director of the American Pie Council, spokesperson for National Pie Day, chief judge for the National Pie Championships, and organizer of the Great American Pie Festival. He is the author of Denver Dines (a restaurant guide book), and a judge for the James Beard Foundation journalism awards.

Q: Why do you stay in it? What keeps you motivated? For me at the end of the day, I love what I do. Tell me how you got started?

JOHN: That’s a good reason. All I ever said was I was going to have to work until I died. I said; ‘well, I don’t want to have to get up every day, hating it.’ When I decided to become a journalist, I said, if I’ve got to do this repeatedly then I think I’ll write about food and music, because that’s what I like. I also ended up writing obituaries and stories about cars and things, but that comes with the territory. I was going to McGill University in Montreal, and after I graduated, a friend said, “Hey, want to help me drive a car from New York to Colorado?”  I was going to help him with that because it sounded like a good time. You know, Kerouac-esque. Then I got here, and the sun was sunnier, and there was less humidity, and people seemed happier. I said I’d stay for a couple of weeks. That was 1976. Mainly I wanted to be a music critic and go to concerts for free. But I found that there was a limited need for that.

Q: Did you always want to be a writer?

JOHN: The first time I felt the buzz, so to speak, I was in the fifth grade. Most of my teachers in elementary school were smart but elderly cranky nuns, but I got a good one. I forget what I wrote about, but she was very positive about it, and sometimes that’s all it takes. I thought I was gonna go in a more literary direction, I was mainly into poetry and prose. When I got here, the streets were full of beat poets. I saw Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs eating soup at the New York Deli. I realized all the poetry jobs are taken I realized I needed to expand my writing efforts. My father, who escaped from the Nazis in Austria, was a huge fan of stand-up comedy. I learned to appreciate a good punch line, and a well-told joke, it’s like a haiku if it’s done right. I always wanted to have a punchline on my columns.

Q: When I worked at the paper in Boulder, I would listen to you on KGNU every time you aired. It was part of my morning drive.

JOHN: I just started hanging around KGNU; I proposed this show called The Generic Gourmet Show. I thought I’d do something like A Prairie Home Companion about food. As it turned out, that was rather grandiose for one guy who didn’t know how to use tape machines.

Q: How did you become the pie expert?

JOHN: I was friends with Charlie Papazian, he launched the American Home Brewers Association, which later became the Great American Beer Fest. He was actually a nuclear engineer. His birthday was coming up but he didn’t like cake, so he declared his birthday, January 23, to be National Pie Day and made up a mythical organization called the American Pie Council.  To this day, January 23 is the official National Pie Day. He asked me to be a judge and handle the calls for the day and turns out dozens of people were calling about it. I have judged over 100 pie contests, taught seminars, and ended up becoming known as the Pie Guy.

Dave Flomberg, Yellow Scene Magazine, Colorado Times Recorder

DAVE FLOMBERG: Yellow Scene Magazine | Colorado Times Recorder

Director of Content for Modus Persona, Content Strategist, Published Author, Public Speaker, Freelance Columnist, Trombonist. Attended UNC in Greeley at the music school. He has written for Vail Trail, Boulder Weekly, Rocky Mountain News, City Search, Yellow Scene Magazine (since issue #2), the Colorado Times Recorder, and wrote a book, Management for Zombies.  Dave considers himself a lucky man and attributes it to his great parents. His father was poor, she was lower-middle class; both Jewish children of immigrants from Eastern Europe. As the grandson of the Survivor generation, he believes deeply these life events helped shape who he is. 

Q: In all interviews, you refer to your parents frequently and how much they shaped you; what was their biggest influence on your life?

DAVE: The importance of education is a cultural underpinning for us. My mom made sure that I was reading and writing before I went to school. That is a privilege to have a mother who was able to take the time to do that while Pop was working. We were not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but they made sacrifices so she could stay home with us for the first few years of our lives as kids. That kind of head start is so critical for everyone to have the simple basics of reading and writing before they get to school. The world opens up to you in terms of literature. My pop was the most honest man I’ve ever known, his moral compass was always true. So even though he and I didn’t always agree on all things politics he was devoted to community and justice. He would always stand up and speak out against injustice.

In America, we tend to look at everything as good or bad. One of the reasons I write about the things I do is because we tend to be so binary in the way we evaluate life. Disney, Star Wars. It isn’t that easy. You can believe at the same time that Jews have an absolute right to exist in the land of Israel, and Palestinians have an absolute right to exist in the Palestinian territories without being morally corrupt.

Q: I lost my mom and then dad five years later, everything they tried to teach me suddenly became so much more important. I wanted to live up to it even more. 

DAVE: One of the traditions of Judaism is there isn’t really a scripted concept of what afterlife is. No one’s gone to heaven and come back to tell us what that’s about. So we don’t know. The best idea we have is that your proximity that God and whatever you envision God to be, you know I take a pretty Universalist approach is that your proximity to God is what is eternal, and what matters and the way to honor the people who have died before you your parents or siblings or whoever is when you do something good. It elevates them in God’s eyes and brings them closer to him. So by doing a mitzvah that helps keep those who came before you you know, closer to God. And, you know, whether you’re agnostic or atheist, I still like the concept of truly honoring my father and mother is to doing right by them and living the best way. You know that they tried to teach me to be so I don’t see anything wrong with that. Even if, even if I end up not believing in anything at all. It’s still a good way to live.

Q: So the ancestry that influences you so greatly and even speaking to regardless if you’re agnostic or atheist, it sounds like you take to heart the teachings.

DAVE: Culturally, if you want to look at it from the perspective of those who hate me, our oppression status depends on who’s observing and Hitler could not care less who we pray to. For him, we were an inferior race of people that need to be exterminated. Whatever I believe is kind of irrelevant at that point. It’s the fact that this is the reality of the world I live in. Is my bloodline something that damns me in the eyes of a lot of people? My cultural identity of what it is to be a Jew, what it is to have this history.

Q: Jeff Fard spoke a lot on being a Pan-Africanist, do you see any similarities in these views?

DAVE: An example is with White replacement theory and how effective the right-wing has been at helping stoke the fires of division between Jews and the black community over the years. There are definitely racist Jews; there are definitely antisemitic blacks. And that’s heartbreaking because our stories are so similar, right? In a world where Jews and the Black community came together and found a way to truly align their objectives, there will be no stopping, correcting the historic wrongs.

Q: How do you feel that that affects you as a journalist?

DAVE: I loved the idea that my job requires me to learn something new every day and then become as close to an expert as I can on the topic in order to tell other people why they should care about it. An effective journalist may have bias, and there’s no way to avoid the prejudices your perspective creates. But a good journalist will follow the evidence, like a good detective. My willingness to consistently reevaluate my position and my opinion on any topic is what’s made me a decent journalist. Keeping my eyes firmly following the evidence and looking for truth has led me to where I am today underpinning a lot of problems Americans have today – a refusal to reevaluate their own position.

Q: Do you have a favorite story or is that too hard to pin down?

DAVE: There were a lot of draconian policies in place at the border. Alma Lopez and her American husband had been married for years. They decided to apply for her citizenship resulting in her being trapped in Mexico for months after years of living in the U.S. Within two weeks after our article came out she was brought home. When I get the opportunity to tell a story that matters, that is the important thing. And not being beholden to the economics of a day job telling stories for people’s agendas is very freeing, and allows me to focus on the things that matter most.

Q: What do you think would happen if we lost journalism?

DAVE: Digital has impacted more than journalism in the sense that the death of expertise is a huge problem because the best and brightest aren’t always going into journalism.  We got fly-by-night bloggers out there, some do good work, and some do terrible work. At the beginning of broadcast journalism, the governing body had a really good approach that American broadcast media had to ensure one out of 24 hours is dedicated to news. That made news important to the culture of this nation, to why the democracy experiment was working the way it was. Where they f*cked up was by not specifying that they could not profit. Connecting capitalism to that decision is what has eventually resulted in the situation we’re in today.

brother jeff

JEFF FARD: 30 minutes with brother jeff

A native of Northeast Denver, Jeff S. Fard, better known as brother jeff, is a multimedia journalist, historian and community organizer who lectures nationally speaking to youth, students, social organizations, and professionals about subjects including cultural identity and history, diversity, self-empowerment, community building, economic development, health disparities, and the uniting power of art. In 1994 he founded brother jeff’s Cultural Center—located in the historic Five Points District in Northeast Denver—a space committed to fostering growth, strength, and voice in the community. He is also the publisher and editor of the award-winning monthly publication, 5 POINTS NEWS. brother jeff is a board member for the Center for African American Health and is a past board chair of the Denver Foundation, which is the nation’s oldest and Colorado’s largest community foundation. He has received numerous honors for his work, including being recognized by the late Steven Graham and the Community Resource Center as a “Legendary Leader of Colorado’s Nonprofit Sector.”

Q: You grew up in Denver, correct?

brother jeff: Yep, native, George Washington HS. I traveled extensively across the country, around different parts of Africa, but Denver is my birthplace. I’ve always been a part of what they call a pan-Africanist movement, so my entry point into the continent was really around anti-apartheid in South Africa. I began traveling in South Africa and became very familiar with the politics. I was there when Mandela was released from prison. Dealing with apartheid,  and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We were interested in why Black women were disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. We did a lot of work in Kenya and Ethiopia. Now I am focused on genocide in Ethiopia. My pan-Africanist perspective links me to the continent and diaspora.

Q: Pan-Africanism is not a term many caucasian Americans are familiar with. Can you describe it to our readers?

brother jeff: The reality is that Africa is the birthplace of civilization. Everyone who believes that they’re not African, they’re actually African. It’s interesting to see folks look for their DNA and talk about they’re from this part of Europe or that part of Asia, but everybody’s from Africa. There was a scramble for Africa in the 19th century. The European powers came together to split that continent up amongst themselves. You have this intense colonization and, from that standpoint forward, what they call the transatlantic enslavement, which is why 100 million Africans are buried at the bottom of the Atlantic. We are displaced and also found everywhere on the planet. So wherever you are on the planet, you’re going to find the remnants of Africa. That is the birthplace. From a pan-Africanist standpoint, it is not erasing African identity while embracing where they’re from. W.E.B. Dubois and individuals like Kwame Nkrumah, a lot of them studied in the United States before they became presidents of African nations. There’s a direct linkage and connection.

Q: What got you into media, what sparked all this?

brother jeff: Growing up in Denver, we knew that what the Black community experienced was closely aligned with the Brown community. I was raised around the Black Panthers and the Brown Berets. I was around Lauren Watson and Corky Gonzales, all of these individuals were activists when I was very young.

Q: Your mother was an activist?

brother jeff: Absolutely. This was a period of community activism. So when you talk pan-Africanism, and you think about the 70s, when Roots came out. You started seeing Blacks longing to go back beyond 1619 and the borders of North America. That’s when you start thinking about Cleo Parker Robertson’s Dance Theater, which is directly related to this movement. You think about the musicians that were putting out songs in the 70s that talked about the power of Blackness, and you start thinking about that whole movement. It was very rich right here in Northeast Denver. Five Points was wholly Black. Today, it’s wholly White. In just a generation you started seeing the shift. I was raised with Dr. Daddio, aka Jimmy Walker, who is a legend in communications and media. He owned KDKO, a black-owned radio station. We came out of music, we were doing what they call hip hop. Perhaps the first publication I had was called A New Day –  back when you used to go to the printer. I’ve done community resource guides and constantly told the stories through print, or radio. There’s probably not a facet of it that I’m not familiar with, even publishing Five Points’ Five Star News. And now utilizing this new medium, podcasting, or social media to tell the story, it’s all just telling stories. There’s probably not a time that I haven’t been doing it.

Q: Tell me about Five Star News?

brother jeff: Our mission was always to put paper in hand. I don’t know if we’re seeing the death of print, but the limiting, because we’re able to do a lot more online for less money. It’s just faster. We will do some more print, but we have to see how viable it is because our model is really about informing the community, and there are a lot of different ways to tell those stories now. If those price increases continue, I’m wondering what the future looks like. We’ll be doing it online for the foreseeable future. It’s amazing. Even radio station KDKO was so integral to the Black and Brown community and it no longer exists. There’s a big void, but fortunately, we’re able to fill it every day at two o’clock with 30 minutes with brother Jeff by telling those stories and connecting with individuals from a community standpoint, no matter the skin color. Individuals are longing for real and moving away from mainstream media, which is no longer mainstream. They’re often trying to catch up with what the community is already doing.

Q: How do we create media literacy?

brother jeff: Media literacy is important because most folks take on face value what’s given to them.  We want to believe that folks have their best interests at heart. We’re not seeing how money plays a role in politics in terms of how decisions are being made. For example, the average person doesn’t have time to spend lobbying or even watching what their politicians are doing. You can guarantee that special interest has individuals that all they do is look out for their interest. The media literacy piece to me is, why aren’t certain stories being covered? Why is there demise in terms of the ability to shine a light on things that impact the everyday life of individuals? It’s not an accident. It’s very intentional. The less you know, the better, some will say. Ignorance is bliss.

Q: How do you see journalism surviving?

brother jeff: Good journalists tell the stories that haven’t been told or are not supposed to be told.

Michael Roberts, Westword

MICHAEL ROBERTS: Westword

Michael has written for Westword since October 1990, serving stints as music editor and media columnist. He currently covers everything from breaking news and politics to sports and stories that defy categorization.

Q: Talking to everybody has made me even more inspired to pursue this new idea that is percolating for me. So, meeting all of you is exciting for me.

MICHAEL: I hope our conversation will not make you give it all up and decide to go into banking or some other profession.

Q: You have been in media a long time, you started at Westword how many years ago and when did you get started in media?

MICHAEL: I started at Westword in 1990. I grew up in Grand Junction and went to what is now called Colorado Mesa University. I am glad I did because it gave me opportunities to do a little of everything. I worked at the Criterion, the college paper, theater, and the radio station. I had written for my High School paper but originally thought I was going into film. I went to UCLA and got my Masters in screenwriting and even managed to sell one to Disney. But I found was while I am good at writing, I am terrible at pitching. So I enrolled in the Master’s Program at Northwestern in Chicago. Turns out Patty Calhoun (Westword’s editor since inception) is from Chicago and asked me to send her five stories. Patty, happened to be in Chicago and meets with me. All I own is a wool suit, it’s summer, I am sweating profusely, but somehow she hired me anyway. I submitted a story (by fax!), “Rock Stars whose careers were helped by their own death,” about Stevie Ray Vaughns’s passing. To my surprise, they put it on the cover. Someone bought an ad on the back page telling me to go kill myself. I saw this and thought, well I am fired now. But the managing editor told me, “You are bringing money in, so let’s make you the music editor.” I worked as the music editor for 9 years before moving to columnist, then to the content editor for our website-which went live in the 90s.

Q: I follow a lot of your writing, when I go to the website it’s almost always you that I read.

MICHAEL: I’m one of only three staff writers, along with our editors, Patty, and Emily Ferguson, our music editor. We use a lot of freelancers. One of the benefits for me of having broad interests is I can cover many bases. I’m interested in news, business, sports, art, and film. So it’s wonderful for me to not paint myself into a corner. Writing about a variety of things every day keeps it fresh.

Q: Since the 90s, we’ve been told print is dead. I still believe there’s a place for print, that people want an escape from their screen and to read long-form if the content is there. Is Westword looking at continuing to print or going strictly digital, like so many have?

MICHAEL: I know Patty is dedicated and believes in print. I think the strategy is to continue to do print. It’s expensive, and a pain in the neck. It’s a lot easier to write a story and then press a button and it’s out there than it is to proof pages and get them to the printer and distribute them. It’s a very costly enterprise. But it is part of the historical tradition, and that makes a statement about its permanence. People definitely like to hold an object in our hands that feels more real, feels built to last, that more care went into the creation of this product, as opposed to things that go online. So I think there is a respect that print creates and deserves.

Q: Do you think being a journalist has made you a well-rounded person?

MICHAEL: I’m very shy, so if I was in a social situation, I wouldn’t go up to a stranger and ask them a question; particularly a tough question. But in the role of a journalist, I get to call up really interesting people, notorious people, a wide variety of people, and learn more about their motivations, what they’re thinking and doing, and why. That provided a platform for me to be bolder and more opinionated than maybe I was able to handle in everyday life. What kept me with journalism all these years is to interact with the everyday world, and learn things people don’t have access to.

Amy Golden-Longmont Leader

AMY GOLDEN: Longmont Leader

Amy was born in Denver and raised in Colorado Springs and received her  journalism degree with a minor in business from the University of Northern Colorado in May 2019. She spent a semester as an intern with the Greeley Tribune, then found a job in Grand County as a reporter for Sky-Hi News. She has spent just under two and a half years there reporting on all sorts of things but especially the pandemic and the East Troublesome Fire, the second-largest fire in Colorado history that destroyed roughly 300 homes between Granby and Grand Lake. She has been with the Longmont Leader since the end of February, covering a variety of topics including education.

Q: You chose to go into journalism and studied at UNC Greeley, what made you decide to pursue journalism?

AMY: I’ve done journalism since high school when I accidentally joined the school newspaper. I didn’t really know what the elective was, but I took a shine to it and knew going into college that was what I wanted to do.

Q: You got hired right out of college at the Greeley Tribune?

AMY: I interned at the Tribune, then got hired at Sky High News.  When I  applied to the Tribune, it was going through a lot of changes and hard to get in, so I ended up working at a coffee and sandwich shop. I was feeling discouraged, so I didn’t send anything but my resume figuring I wouldn’t get hired. The editor there had also gone to UNC and worked at the Greeley Tribune and took the time to look up my clips.  I was lucky he did because I got hired.

Q: Was there something about the work you were doing in high school that attracted you to journalism? What excited you about it?

AMY: In high school, we got a new advisor who helped us revamp the newspaper. Most of the student body didn’t even know we had one, and it was the typical school newspaper with just blocks of text. After we revamped it, people started to get really excited about it. I took that philosophy with me going into college because everyone constantly is telling you “journalism is a dying industry.” People like to read about things happening near them and they are actually craving that. Just because people don’t read the newspaper so much anymore doesn’t mean they don’t crave the truth. I have always been a defiant person and so this career appealed a lot to me.

Q: Do you have any ideas for future stories you are mulling over?

AMY: I went to the Northern Water conference yesterday which got me thinking about water. Something I have a unique perspective on because I was in Grand County for two and a half years. They give all the water basically to Denver Water – like 60% is diverted to the Front Range. Add in climate change and there’s just less and less of it. We assume that there’s enough water to go around and I think that’s not going to be the case pretty soon.

Tatiana Flowers, The Colorado Sun

TATIANA FLOWERS: The Colorado Sun

Tatiana Flowers is the inequality and general assignment beat reporter for the Colorado Sun. She has covered crime and courts plus education and health in Colorado, Connecticut, Israel and Morocco. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing, Zumba, learning how to DJ, and live music events. Rabbits are her favorite animal.

Q: You said you have only been at The Colorado Sun a few months, where were you before?

TATIANA:  I was a Hearst Fellow for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Then they hired me and I worked at a paper in Greenwich, Connecticut, called Greenwich Times, for a year. Before the Hearst fellowship, I was in AP here in Denver, and before that, I was at Glenwood Springs Independent, but only for a couple of months.

Q: Wow! I have my work cut out for me because I’ve now interviewed one Pulitzer Prize nominee and one Hearst Fellow and I have to be honest I am a little intimidated.

TATIANA: Even when you do have those credentials it’s still really scary, and even people like Jen Brown, who I work with and who won a Pulitzer, says she still felt inadequate, so I don’t really think it’s something that goes away.

Q: You strike me as one of those students who devoted themselves to their studies, is that true?

TATIANA: I was able to because I was lucky enough to have a mother who could support me while I was in school, which allowed me the resources to devote myself to my studies.

Q: Which makes me think, how many Einsteins have we missed? You sound like you have a serious work ethic.

TATIANA: I think my grandmother instilled that in us, she moved from Jamaica, England, then to the U.S. She had two kids and escaped domestic violence. She laid the foundation for my mom’s success and my success here. She cared a lot about education, and that just really sunk in for us. We saw how she got this really good nursing fellowship in the U.S. and how it shaped her life. So yeah, I would agree with that statement.

Q: It looks like you started out with a serious intent to go into journalism. I mean, your Bachelor’s in Journalism, and then you went on to get your Masters. Where was it that lit that spark that made you know that was what you wanted to do?

TATIANA: I didn’t know until I was a sophomore in college. I actually was studying animal science. Since I could talk I wanted to be a veterinarian. I still love animals just as much, but I didn’t love and wasn’t good at chemistry, physics, and math. So I got a rude awakening. I felt like I was wasting my mom’s money. I was convinced that I was going to kill all the animals because I was not understanding the formulas. So I went to the Career Services Office crying, and she was like, calm down, I see this all the time. She asked me what I was good at. I told her I was terrible at math, but writing classes always came naturally. Journalism looked like the noblest, and possibly the most stable career, and one that I would feel comfortable doing for the rest of my life. At that time, I wasn’t even really reading the news, but I thought that I could possibly make a difference in people’s lives doing journalism, so that is what I went to school for and luckily it worked out.

Q: A lot of people I talked to shared similar stories, they had different aspirations at first and ended up going into journalism because they had a knack for it or a curiosity about the world.

TATIANA: I think it was my senior year of college. I started doing video journalism because it looked fun. I thought that that’s how you see life every day; visually not writing-based. I loved that class. I think part of it was my teacher was just so talented, and passionate, that I wanted to feel that way. I started to understand the power of letting people speak about their personal experiences. I interviewed one man who had schizophrenia and had co-occurring substance use disorder. Seeing him feel so validated, that someone would care about his story enough to want to tell it to the whole school, made me imagine the possibilities later on in my career. One of my favorite parts about being a journalist still, is knowing that there are a lot of people living through terrible things, but that I, terrifyingly, and also powerfully, can elevate their voice with care and compassion, and sophistication.

Q: Have you experienced some of those downers, those high-stress moments? What drives you to stay in it in spite of those?

TATIANA: I know that if something went wrong today, I always have tomorrow to start over. I know that I go into every story honest and genuine and caring and that if something goes wrong, I gave it my best shot. That helps to keep going. I know I bring something unique to the table. One thing I’m good at is connecting with people and getting them to trust me fairly quickly, especially on these sensitive stories. I work hard to show them I care about what they say by actively listening and asking deeper questions and not talking over them – ever. I also am not the typical journalist in Colorado, right? Like I rarely see other young Black women journalists and I know that these attributes allow me to tell certain stories in a way that others cannot or will not. If I leave the profession, I’m afraid that we might lose some of those really important stories or perspectives.

Q: Lose the seat at the table.

TATIANA: It’s not just about me, it’s about are those people going to feel comfortable speaking up now? I don’t know. Maybe they would, but it’s scary and urges me to continue.

Q: What ethics most shaped you in this job?

TATIANA: Since I cover sensitive things, I’m going into it honest, caring, gentle, listening. I’m not sure there’s anything I’m more terrified of than a correction, so I check over my stories to make sure that I’m accurate because otherwise, people start to not trust you. That’s what makes a reporter great in their profession is getting people to trust that they do it correctly. I try not to pit people against each other where it’s unnecessary. There are different viewpoints but I lead with the facts. There’s reality-based journalism. I think journalists care about being objective making sure that their opinion is not showing. Sometimes that can lead to them not calling out things that are the way they are. That’s something I’m becoming more comfortable with. Racist is racist, right? Look up the definition of racism. If you’re in the business of telling the truth, then you have to call it what it is, which has been really important to me.

Q: I asked you who your heroes were, but do you realize you could very well be one for other young women?

TATIANA: That is going to make me cry. Yes, I am intimidated, thankful, happy, and relieved. I feel honored. One of my heroes is Jim Clark, the bureau chief of AP, because of his talent, his grit, and his commitment to lifting people up. He’s been my number one sponsor throughout my career. Nikole Hannah Jones, she’s probably my favorite, because she’s not only sophisticated in her research, but her writing is so bulletproof that you can’t argue with it when she calls something racist. She’s very clear when something’s discriminatory or when something is wrong, and she’s unapologetic, and I respect that so much.

Shay Castle, The Boulder Beat

SHAY CASTLE: Boulder Beat

Shay Castle? is Boulder-based journalist who has been covering business, government and other issues for eight years. Her work has appeared in the Daily Camera, Denver Post and New York Times, among others. She is owner and publisher of Boulder Beat News, an independent digital publication covering local government.

Q: You have been in Boulder a while, but came from Florida?

SHAY: I’ve been in Boulder for 10 years. This June, I moved back from Orlando, where I went to school and worked my way through college. I had an academic scholarship, but then I got sick and had to take medical leave, so they yanked my scholarship. I went back to school one or two classes at a time, as I could afford, working as a bartender.

Q: Is Boulder Beat a non-profit?

SHAY: It’s just me, which takes a ton of time and resources. I’m technically a sole person LLC. But yeah, 100% reader-supported. Patron and PayPal are basically my only sources of income. Every once in a while somebody will mail me some cash, which is really nice. I thought about pursuing nonprofit status, but I just don’t have the time right now. I only pay myself $20,000 a year, but I was able to raise that through fundraising. So I’m quite grateful to the community for all the support.

Q: 85% of all platforms being owned by five or six major corporations now, the need for independent journalists like yourself is greater than ever. But finding those jobs is hard. I saw that you worked at the Daily Camera for a while; what made you branch out on your own?

SHAY: I was the business reporter, then I was the government reporter there. After six and a half years I was basically the Senior Reporter as the Camera. Everyone else had already left. That’s depressing to me that after six and a half years in a city, you’re the most knowledgeable journalist on staff, and it should not be that way.

There’s just so much turnover, and I didn’t want to lose that institutional knowledge. By the time I left, it was in continual decline. We had maybe a third of the staff. I realized, there’s no backup plan, and there’s really nothing else comparable to the Camera in Boulder. I asked  all the business leaders I knew, the important people in Boulder, and anyone who would care, “What’s the plan?” “What are we gonna do when the Camera is no longer meeting our needs or is no longer here,” and no one had a good plan. There were business people with business ideas, but you can’t just apply a business plan from another business to journalism. There are ethical considerations. You have to have a journalist at the helm, or at least consulting.  I just kept looking for the adults in the room, I realized, well, I’m an adult. Sadly, I can’t believe I was the best-qualified person. but the way I was raised if it needed to be done, and you can do it, it’s your job. So I thought, I could do this. And I did.

Q: What made you want to become a journalist in college?

SHAY: I didn’t always want to be a journalist, but I’ve always been a really good writer, winning awards and stuff, I was just really into writing. When I lost my scholarship, I had to go back to community college instead of university, and I needed to pick a major, and I thought, well, I’m good at writing. I didn’t want to be like an English major, I wanted something I could have a career in, so I picked journalism. I took one class in news reporting with a phenomenal mentor for my first assignment. After I turned it in it was immediately apparent I was made for journalism. I had talent and skill and my professor thankfully saw that immediately and said, “You’re a journalist, you need to be a journalist.” So he got me an internship at a parenting magazine, which was a little silly for a 20-something. The next semester I started writing for the college paper, then the next semester, I took over the college paper. Then I started a college study abroad magazine.

In the family I grew up in, the truth was not allowed. You had to hide a lot of things to survive.  A career where the truth was not only encouraged but required appealed so much to me because I hated the family secrets where no one was being held accountable.

Q: What is your passion for journalism today, now that you’ve got some experience under your belt?

SHAY: My passion has shifted along with how journalism has evolved and how the world has changed. I don’t think there ever was any such thing as unbiased journalism. That was something created to satisfy business interests. Just because someone has a particular bent doesn’t mean their information is not good.

My passion today is, how do we create sustainable journalism? The whole concept of journalists as heroes, as with nurses and teachers, these are all people who are being vastly overworked and people we don’t value as a society, in terms of actual money. I’m interested in how we slow it down, and how do we account for mental health? I just moderated the panel on burnout at the Conference of World Affairs. Journalists are notorious for burnout. I’m interested in new ways to make journalism better for the people doing it and the people consuming it. I think that has to involve community. There just aren’t enough journalists, and I know citizen journalism gets a bad rap, and sometimes rightfully so. People don’t necessarily follow the code of ethics that they should. But why can’t a talented editor or reporter partner with them to help them tell the stories they want to tell? That is something that I’m trying to pursue.

This may sound really trite, but I get thanked a lot for the work that I do. I was so burnt out around the election, I considered being done. Then I got this note from someone who had just earned his citizenship, and it was his first-ever election voting, and for the local stuff, he used my voter guide. You cannot beat that. I helped someone use their right as a citizen to vote. It just felt so amazing to be part of that.

Erik Maulbetsch, Colorado Times Recorder

ERIK MAULBETSCH: Colorado Times Recorder

Erik is a progressive investigative reporter. He writes largely on Colorado politics and policy, with a focus on right-wing extremists, hate groups, disinformation, and conspiracy theorists. His reporting has appeared in stories by the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Politico, ESPN, Dow Jones Wire, The Denver Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Houston Chronicle.  He has also worked as a research analyst for Freedom For All Americans, a national organization working for nondiscrimination protections for LGBT Americans, and as communications director of the ACLU of Colorado. He has also worked as a research and communications consultant and as the first magazine editor at Yellow Scene Magazine.

Q: How old were you when I hired you 21 years ago? Did you know you wanted to be in journalism then?

ERIK: Twenty-five. Yeah, I was doing real estate in Warren County and then was like alright, I’ll move with my girlfriend to Boulder then figure it out. I was briefly hired as an ad sales guy for Summit Daily. I did it for like two days and knew that was not what I wanted, what I really wanted was to write.

Q: Did you go straight to the ACLU following Yellow Scene Magazine?

ERIK: No. There were political consulting, research, and communication jobs. I was working with a lot of the progressive groups in Colorado like the Jill Foundation and other organizations including Freedom for all Americans. They did LGBTQ rights, employment, housing, and public accommodation rates – helping other states fight against bad bills because Colorado already has those rights. A lot of it was tracking conservative groups online. Pointing out if someone is calling for gay people to be fired (or whatever the issue might be).

Q: What was his goal at Colorado Times Recorder when he started it?

ERIK: To be a progressive news outlet covering politics and policy in Colorado and covering smaller stories that don’t necessarily get covered by The Post or 9News, not hiding the fact we are progressive reporters, but we still abide by basic ethics of journalism.

Q: What are some stories you are proud of?

ERIK: I was one of the first people to write about this group called FEC United, for faith, education, commerce, which is a far-right group founded by Joel Oldman that started in opposition to the lockdown, under a Facebook group called ReOpen Colorado. Joel Oldman had a militia that was part of FEC, called the United American Defence Force. They hosted public events, rallies, protesting public health departments, with the big one in Civic Center Park in October 2020, called a Patriot Buster – a Buster is when you bring soldiers together for an event. It resulted in one of their heavies getting shot and killed by a security guard for 9News. I did a story explaining the origins of this group, but also how the group has been doing political work. They were knocking on doors for Republicans, and they were meeting with Republican candidates. I did another story a few days later, where I went to a Bandimere Speedway meet and greet but was escorted off the property by an armed militia member. Oldman was mad about the story and called me an Antifa journalist. My stories showed how establishment conservatives in Colorado work with this group, and then some of the more extreme elements of the group. They become more and more conspiracist based, talking about “Plandemic,” that COVID was a hoax, etc. After the election, it moved to election conspiracies. Oldman has become a minor celebrity in the QAnon circuit. He is convinced that Dominion, out of Denver, rigged the election nationwide and has perpetuated this belief. He’s gotten a lot of money, so he’s traveling around the country pushing election conspiracy propaganda. They say they are not a militia, but a “defense force,” but their website offers discounts on ammunition, legal help if you shoot someone, tactical gear, training, militia stuff, etc.

Q: You have been following some wild people.

ERIK: I broke the story that the current chair of the Republican Party in Colorado was serving as president of FEC United. Michael Lindell pays them to fly around the country and promote the stolen election theory. They were getting volunteers together and canvassing all over the state, sometimes saying they were with the county voter verification commission, making it sound official. Random people who are convinced the election was stolen ask people, did you vote? How did you vote? Did you vote by mail? How many people registered at this address? Trying to prove the election was stolen. They put out reports showing a fundamental misunderstanding of how voter rolls work. Yes, there are names at old addresses, but federal law says that you can’t remove someone off the roll unless there has been no vote from that person for the last two cycles. That doesn’t mean that ballots are being forged. But it’s a great conspiracy, right? And people want to believe it’s true just because their guy didn’t win.

Q: You’ve come a long way, baby, from 20 years ago. Tell me how you feel like you’ve developed as a journalist in that time? What do you know, that you didn’t know, then?

ERIK: A lot. I found an area of interest in covering politics, particularly looking at extremism and conspiracies and how it’s affecting this country. A lot of it is hope or optimism that some of us will have a positive impact on the voters and policymakers, whether in Colorado or national, or even hyper-local.

Rosanna Longo, KGNU

ROSANNA LONGO: KGNU

Rossana Longo? is a Bilingual Equity Reporter at KGNU, an independent, non commercial, community radio station reaching Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins and beyond. As a multiethnic immigrant woman from Ecuador, with dual citizenship, she has been providing information with – and for – underrepresented populations in her local community.

ROSANNA: When I interview people, especially those that are Latinos or bilingual, I push to Facebook, because I know if they don’t access it through the radio, they access it there.

But when I decided to go back to school, I applied with a long letter saying I hate social media and that I think it should be banned. Instead of uniting us is really destroying us. It is so powerful that it is scary. You have to use it correctly, and you have to know where to go and what to read. I was devoted to bringing that topic to the Latinos, especially around COVID-19 because on social media there was a lot of misleading disinformation. I had to chat with my mom and said, Mama, please, don’t follow them. Critical thinking is being lost. Facebook has a responsibility, all media has a responsibility, but, you know, media literacy is really important.

Q: Was media in Ecuador heavily censored?

ROSANNA: A lot of my former colleagues have created their own platforms to continue talking against the government. Our indigenous people have created their own media, their own radio stations, and their own language. The power of this tool we have now is incredible. I think it has two sides, a lot of people can now use this tool to report things. But then again, do they have the criteria- the knowledge to use it well?

Q: It’s so hard to get honest, true coverage.

ROSANNA: It is sad. I had a scholarship to attend a bilingual school in Ecuador. My grandmother was a visionary, she made sure that of the 13 grandchildren the three girls got a bilingual education. The rest of my family do not speak English. She noticed that I was able to speak very well when I was little, English and Spanish, so she made sure that us girls got a bilingual education. It opens a huge door once you are bilingual. If you’re able to speak the language, even with a strong accent, it helps you think in different ways and changes how you’re seeing the world.

Q: Do you think that you already started there with this curiosity or found a good place for you? Or did it open up a doorway of curiosity?

ROSANNA: It opened a huge door of curiosity and a desire to understand yourself. I went to this American school and I learned that in America, everybody’s free, and everybody is equal. It doesn’t matter what color you are and, you know, freedom and liberty and all that. I had to come and live in America to really experience the sad reality. We went from being students to “I couldn’t work because I didn’t have the documentation yet.” I know exactly what it is to not have a driver’s license, not be able to open a bank account, not to be able to work because you don’t have the paperwork. Having to feel embarrassed and weird.

Many times I question my decision of coming with my husband for him to get his Ph.D. and to stay here in America to raise our kids. America has mass shootings. My son called me from Ecuador, from the rain forest, working with indigenous people. He worried, “Mom, are you okay? I just heard there’s a mass shooting, where are you?” I said, I’m here at the scene. I sent him pictures. I thought to myself, “What am I doing here? What have I done bringing my kids?” So my bubble really burst. Boulder is supposed to be the best place to live in America. So it’s really hard. And I worry about him being in Ecuador, because they rob you for a cell phone or shoes, and people are poor there.

Q: What brings you joy in the work?

I decided to cover a memorial concert honoring a beautiful singer from the group Los Chicos Milo’s Bad Boys on the Spanish show, He was like a bird when he sang, but he had decided not to get the COVID vaccine, and, like many others in the Latino community, he died.  A Latina woman had spoken at the memorial about why we need health and life insurance and I interviewed her on the show. Next, a 62-year-old woman from Pueblo who heard our interview called to tell me that she got insurance for her daughters. Now she’s telling her older friends and they’re getting coverage. I felt amazing.  I had done my work.

Q: I had to write a story that scared me a lot. I had the truth and was the only one who did. I knew I couldn’t sit on it even though it put me at risk, even knowing I would be harassed for telling the truth. But I did anyway.

ROSANNA: Wow, what you’re telling me inspires me to continue to believe in myself. I am not a hero. I’m doing the work with my accent, with my grammar mistakes, with my awkwardness. But you are inspiring me to keep going.  I remember pulling an all-nighter to produce a piece about a lack of diversity in the media. And I got these thankful messages from people. It was amazing.

The post The Heroes: The Journalists of Colorado appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

What: Connect Series: Kick-off featuring Creative Nations
When: Feb. 23, 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Where: Dairy Arts Center

On Feb. 23, BIPOC artists and Boulder County Arts Organizations are invited to join our kick-off event at the Dairy Arts Center, featuring Creative Nations. This event is free to attend. RSVP at Boulder County Arts. Founding members will share their current experiences and future plans for Boulder’s first collective and permanent onsite establishment of Indigenous Artists.

The event will start at 5:30 p.m. with an informal happy hour. At 6 p.m. the featured artists will present, followed by conversation and the opportunity to enjoy the NAACP’s Walk With Me, a selection of Civil Rights Era photographs from the Ernest C. Withers Collection. We will also share plans and get feedback for developing a Boulder County BIPOC artist directory.

Connect is a series for performance, networking, and dialogue among BIPOC artists and local arts organizations. The series is co-organized by the Antiracism Action in the Arts Initiative. The initiative was launched in 2020 as a study group composed of representatives from local arts organizations, including Boulder County Arts Alliance, Dairy Arts Center, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Jewish Community Center, KGNU, the Longmont Museum, the CU Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement, CU Theatre and Dance, CU Art Museum and the B2 Center.

Collectively, the initiative seeks to promote diversity, equity, access, inclusion and fundamental change within historically white arts institutions in Boulder County.

The post CU Boulder Outreach and Con*nect Series: Creative Nations appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

I’ve heard them called by a variety of names including “Los Mocosos”, “The Cochinos” and my favorite “Los Chicharrones”. The last one was used by a friend who knew their name yet enjoyed calling them by her favorite snack. Not many musicians are comfortable being called a “snotty-nosed kid”, yet mocos is Spanish for snot or booger. In the same way we refer to someone as a “snotty-nosed kid”, we would use the term mocoso. The last part of their name refers to a machete, known in Chicano culture as a long-bladed knife used for combat, hunting, or agricultural purposes. Combine these two terms together and you have the meaning of their band name, “snotty-nosed kids used for good”.

If you haven’t heard of them, get to know their name because they are showing up everywhere. Known for their energy and sense of humor, they have a regalo to bring people together and form a community. Unlike any other band in the Colorado music scene, they magically merge Latino, Indigenous, and Chicano cultures while also raising awareness on social issues. Their ability to bring attention to situations that matter to people of color, while also making people laugh and dance, is cosmic. The band is Los Mocochetes and they are right on time for what this world needs.

Los Mocochetes @ La Raza Park PC: M. Cedillo

The band consists of Joser “Jozer” Guerrero (lead vocals and percussion), Joshua Abeyta (guitar, vocals, and horn), Jon Rubio (drums), Elias Garcia (guitar and vocals), Diego Florez (guitar, vocals, and percussion) and Eli Bass Montoya (bass). Watching them perform, it’s obvious they are familia. Their humility and respect for each other is sacred. When asked who in the band they would switch talents with, there was no hesitation to name Eli. A graduate of the School of Denver Arts, Eli is a multi-talented instrumentalist, known for not just his talent, but also for his involvement with the community. He often uses his personal social media to promote fundraisers and other artists.

Spend enough time with them and it’s easy to see they don’t just love what they do, they love they can do it together. “I think we recognize, if we don’t see each other and play music for too long, we feel bad. Even just coming into rehearsal helps us to get ourselves straight. It’s part of our self-care program,” shares Joshua. Eli confirms, “We’re definitely blessed. And we want to give it out for all of our ancestors and all of our elders. For all the bands that came before us here in the city, years before us. We’re always humbled and thankful for the people that came before, so we always try to honor and respect that.” A good example of how they give is their personal commitments to education. Joshua is a freelance educator for private, public, and non-profit settings, Diego is an educator and works with Birdseed Collective, and Jozer is known as a mentor working with youth through Su Teatro. 

Despite their busy schedules, they welcomed an opportunity to gather for an interview. Between the infectious laugh of Diego and Josh’s claim that the Chupacabra inspires him, it’s no mystery as to why so many people love this group. When asked what makes their group so unique, Joshua begins, “When you really speak to that wide lens of assimilation and the intentional destruction of our families, people think about it as being in the past, but families are being separated today. They’re actively still tearing us apart, whether it’s through direct family separation or influencing our communities to stay in poverty. This was an intentional choice on our parts, to create, to bring our family back together. We call each other brothers because we know that any one of us would get up at three in the morning and go pick someone up from the other side of the town if they needed to. That’s really powerful. When there’s so many cards stacked against us, and you have help, that is just amplified.”

Listed in “The Top 27 Best Shows We Saw This Year at UMS” by 303 Magazine, this talented group rocked the stage with their top songs and fan favorites. Brian Loma, a resident of Colorado who runs “Cut the Plastic EMS”, is a known activist and fan, “This year’s Underground Music Showcase, the singing and performing from the mainstage, was AMAZING. If there’s five people, 500 or 5,000 in the audience, they’re going to perform with the same energy and vibrancy for the five people, as they would if there were 5,000. To bring some light into all of the struggles, that stuck with me. Because of them and their music, I danced nonstop this year.”

Los Mocochetes @ UMS 2021 PC: Ean Tafoya

Indigo Rocabado, a musician and previous student of Jozer, shares the importance of Indigenous people in the music industry. “For most of my life, I was in environments with kids that didn’t look like me. I had the cultural aspects like the foods, holidays, and famous people, but no point of reference for what that meant for me in the world. Then I found artists like the Mocochetes and everyone from their circle who gave me a historical understanding. I learned it’s necessary to be loud about your culture and something that I hope everyone in the struggle finds, because it’s so healing to your soul. Whatever release that is, for them to feel genuine and beautiful. To take up space in a world that they deserve and have been denied.”

The Mocochetes have no problem with taking up space. They have played venues all over including the Hi Dive, Raices Brewing Co., Roxy on Broadway, and Mercury Cafe Denver. They’ve also performed at the Westword Music Showcase, Sunnyside Music Festival, Cherry Creek Art Festival, Five Points Cinco de Mayo Celebration, Boulder Arts Outdoors, and Denver Does Denver. Elias shares, “Our music is for everybody, not just one race or one particular person in general. When we play shows, it lets people know that people of color are here in this city. We have a voice and we’re not going to be silenced. Every time we play, people come up to us after the show and share it was a new experience that opened their eyes. It lets them know, we’re here to stay and we’re not going anywhere.”

Los Mocochetes-Joshua & Jon @ La Raza Park PC: M. Cedillo

Los Mocochetes-Elias @ La Raza Park PC: M. Cedillo

Diego confirms, “What was done to us was exclusion. To do that back, is using that colonizers tool against them, that isn’t healing. We’re talking about medicine. How we can bring everything back together as one. That is what is powerful about when we all come together. We’re all contributing in our own way to this one song, this one vision. It’s divine to be able to get six people in the same room, consistently for five years. We all want to be here. To manufacture something that they can feel, something ancient, more powerful, and connecting with their ancestors. Using the music within us, the rhythms of the earth, we express how we think. Once we start vibing, we are all that. We’re thankful for that opportunity, the Creator makes way for that. It’s not we who are giving the shows, it’s what the Creator’s giving.”

Indigo has experienced that connection, “They always make space for me. They’re not stingy with their shine. They don’t have that ego about them where they can’t share the spotlight. They see they have a platform and now it’s time to do the work of uplifting other people with it. It’s definitely different, you don’t see that a lot. I can honestly say, they’ve never made me aware of the fact that I was a woman, in the sense that I’ve always been given the space around them to speak. To contribute and to just be a part of their creative family.”

The band is also known for its generosity. During COVID, they gave a virtual performance in “For the Love of Locals”, a fundraiser to help struggling musicians. Even more impressive was their work with the Fort Collins Musicians Association. The group participated in a sit-down discussion focusing on mental health within the music scene. Jozer explains, “I think medicine, most of the time we think about some sort of pill or injection. We forget that you can heal in many different ways. Music and sound, in the vibrations that we put off, it’s scientifically proven, that is vibration therapy. It’s similar to the energy we send with the lyrics or harmonies we’re playing. Often that can be healing on its own. Every person takes it in their own way. When we’re on, we have that ability to really impact folks and that can be considered medicine.”

Steve Abeyta, who considers Jozer a mentor and father figure, shares, “I just love how deep their music is and how much they voice their opinions on so many different topics. They really care about not only themselves, but the community that they live in.” He shared his favorite memory of the band, “They were performing and started cleaning up. I asked them if they could perform a song for me, which is my favorite song by them. They actually said yes and got everybody back on the dance floor, dancing again!” He continues, “I think all of their songs are healing. They have a message to you. Some of their songs can be goofy and some of them can be very serious. It always comes out in a positive way though and makes you want to reflect, to become a better person and help the world.“

Los Mocochetes-“Giving land acknowledgment.” PC: Hilda Nucete

A long-time friend of the band is Ean T. Tafoya, a known advocate for human rights and the environment. Ean is also a Radio DJ, known as Mr. Denver on “Colorado Culture Connection” on KGNU. He often plays the Mocochetes, “The band is involved and shows up at community events. Showing up is so much of that work! They are building a community and they give me a chance to partner with them. At the UMS, they included photos of my trip to our homeland, of our culture, sacred sites, and sacred places.” The band is known for doing a land acknowledgment before their performances, which are usually done by Ean. He explains, “That’s something that they’ve consistently asked me to do. It’s not just acknowledging the people who were here before us, it is acknowledging the people who are here now. A way of making people hear us. It is a way to educate people, to connect the past with our present in hopes for a better future.“

Brian agrees, “These musicians have a history of telling the stories, transitioning painful histories to the knowledge and mindfulness of honor. We have this big fight right now in the United States over education and about telling the truth. It is telling the true history of humans and what we have the capacity to do toward our fellow humans. You know, there’s an old saying that history forgotten will be repeated. They are a band that speaks true history. It’s paramount we have these voices lifting up the scars of our past, so we can acknowledge them for what they are and move on in a way that doesn’t repeat.”

Elias believes everyone is their own storyteller, “We’re in a place in history where we’ve been resilient and refused to be eradicated. We can tell our own story. That’s what’s at the crux of what we’re saying, that people just want the agency to live their own good life. Part of that is keeping that cultura together, it’s what feeds us. We feed the culture, we preserve it, we’re caretakers and stewards of it. We are continuing that story that was attempted to be erased. A lot of it has been lost, but we’re refining those ways.”

Jozer says their approach to storytelling is intentional, “I always think about it. I tell my students this all the time, especially if they’re writing something. What is the goal of this poem? What is the goal of the song? I often think, what are we doing with our songs? We’re trying to find a way, because we’re not sugarcoating many things. We’re pretty blunt about some of it, but it’s in the delivery, right? It’s how we present it. Like this song about tacos. The song essentially is about why you want to consume our culture but you don’t want to accept our people? We present it in the recipe of my grandmother’s tacos. The message still gets out pretty clear. Most folks are able to digest that a little bit easier and not even realize they’re digesting it until they go home and think ‘Oh, maybe I was thinking about this in the wrong way?’ That’s what art is and that’s why it’s such an important vehicle.”

Los Mocochetes @ The Roxy on Broadway PC: M. Cedillo

Considering their music to be medicine, they were asked if they see themselves as healers. Jon replied, “I’ve got called that a few times myself. People tell us it is a medicine and it does heal people. People want from the music, something they can relate to and have some sense of hope. Whatever people are going through, music is medicine, it has definitely helped me. When I was learning the songs it was very healing. I remember telling Josh, ‘Hey man, this music has healed me. The tough spot I was going through, it really is a medicine!” Music is not just art and art forms, it’s something beyond that, especially if you can reach one person. Then they reach 10 people and those 10 people reach 100 people and you build a community. It’s definitely a blessing to have that platform and to be able to do that. “

Elias adds, “Every single person on this planet has a connection to indigeneity. Every person comes from a culture that was living with and off the land. A culture that had different spiritual practices, hunting, and healing. Different ways of surviving within climates which their body’s adapted to. Culture ties us back to what makes us human. Everybody has culture, how your grandma cooked her soup, how your grandpa prepares their tea.”

“This is a revolution,” proclaims Jozer as he stands, ”I know there’s certain places and certain times where I go up there and it does feel uncomfortable to sing. That’s active evolution. Most importantly though, at the end of the day, it is our duty to continue this work. If you talk about how it used to be illegal for us to do this. Illegal for us to be who we are, then what are we doing if we’re not practicing that? If we’re not taking advantage of what our ancestors and those who came before us fought so hard to do? It doesn’t feel like an obligation, but in a positive way it is. It’s like this duty that our ancestors gave us. This is a talent that we’ve been given for a reason. We hope that it will inspire folks. We hope that impacts other people, in the same exact way that impacted me. We are the actual manifestations of our ancestors’ prayers. We are brought to do this, to be here, to do something positive in our lifetimes.”

The Mocochetes will be the first performance at the Perplexiplex Convergence Station for “La Posada IZCALLI” on December 11, 2021 at Meow Wolf Denver.

Follow Los Mocochetes on Instagram.

The post “Tacos, Rocks and Lucha Libre”: Los Mocochetes- Native American Heritage Series appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

PRESS RELEASE: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we are now publishing some press releases in whole.

Join KGNU’s ‘Post-COVID’ 2021 Spring Fund Drive: Spring Forward with KGNU, March 6-14

Boulder, CO., March 1, 2021–KGNU’s Spring 2021 Membership Drive, is scheduled for Saturday, March 6 through Sunday, March 14, with an invitation to Spring Forward with KGNU!

The spring membership campaign is one of two major fundraising drives held by the station each year and contributes to the resources that will help keep you informed.

In the year since the COVID-19 pandemic overtook the United States, we’re seeing signs of hope, yet we still have a long way to go. KGNU continues to double down on coverage, serving as your eyes and ears so you’ll know how to keep yourself and your family safe as you navigate these uncertain times. At the same time, we have served as your musical companion with the very best eclectic music from all over the world. 

During the drive, our committed hosts and DJs will feature special programming including exclusive interviews with authors like Tim Wise and his new book Dispatches from the Race War, music specials like several International Women’s Day specials like Women in Folk music, a Frank Zappa Special, The Grateful Dead Rare Tapes Special, and so much more.

All of this is being curated by our hardworking staff and volunteers for your listening enjoyment while we raise critical operating funds to sustain this vital community resource.

Make a contribution to KGNU anytime now through March 14 at 2:00 p.m. MT and we will automatically enter you into a drawing to win a two-night stay at one of two YMCA of the Rockies locations – Estes Park Center or Snow Mountain Ranch. Your stay can be redeemed at any time through March 15, 2022.

Every day KGNU Community Radio informs, enlightens, and deepens understanding of the day’s most critical events. For more than 42 years, KGNU Community Radio has been a beacon of trusted news and informed conversations upon which thousands of people rely.

KGNU works 24/7 to connect communities on and off-air highlighting overlooked or under-represented voices in the community through our diverse music and news programs and radio training programs for youth and adults.

Seventy-percent of KGNU’s funding comes from individual donors. We are currently seeking donations and community partners to participate in the Fall Membership Drive. To get involved go to “give.kgnu.org” or call 303-449-4885.

Learn more about the mission and people when your radio dial hits 88.5 FM, 1390 AM Denver/Boulder, 98.7 FM Fort Collins, or 93.7 FM in Nederland. These frequencies combined with KGNU’s digital media player enhance your listening experience on a computer or mobile device at kgnu.org, AfterFM.com, and News.kgnu.org. KGNU is community-powered radio – majority of KGNU’s programs are locally produced by 400 volunteers on-air and behind the scenes.

About KGNU Community Radio

KGNU is heard locally at 88.5 FM in Boulder and Denver, 1390 AM in Denver, 93.7 FM in the Nederland and Ward area, 98.7 FM in Fort Collins, and online at kgnu.org. We seek to stimulate, educate and entertain our audience, to reflect the diversity of the local and world community, and to provide a channel for individuals, groups, issues, and music that have been overlooked, suppressed, or under-represented by other media. The station seeks to expand the listening audience through the excellence of its programming without compromising the principles stated here. For more information or to get involved visit: kgnu.org.

The post Join KGNU’s ‘Post-COVID’ 2021 Spring Fund Drive: Spring Forward with KGNU, March 6-14 | Press Release appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

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The Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Michael Rezendes will be in conversation with KGNU on Thursday, June 13, to raise funds for the annual ZEE Jaipur Literary Festival. Michael Rezendes, you may be aware, is a Pulitzer Prize ­winning investigative reporter with the Global Investigations Desk of the Associate Press. Formerly with the The Boston Globe Spotlight Team, he was played by Mark Ruffalo in the Oscar­ winning movie, Spotlight. He is also a co­author of two books Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church, and Sin Against the Innocents: Sexual Abuse by Priests and the Role of the Catholic Church

Speaking with Maeve Conran of KGNU, Rezendes plans to share new developments from the investigation as they have unfolded over the last few years and talk indepth about the challenges and risks of reporters working internationally in present times, as well as touch on the overall crisis in the news business and how to nurture it into the future. 

“This event offers people in Colorado a chance to hear first hand from one of the country’s preeminent investigative journalists and is an example of the caliber of speakers that JLF brings to Boulder,” Maeve Conran said in a press release. 

The ZEE Jaipur Literary Festival brings together a diverse mix of some of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders and entertainers to Colorado to engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue. Now in its fifth year, the festival is looking to raise $100,000 to continue to bring diverse authors and global conversation to Boulder. 

Tickets for the event are now on sale for $100 per person or $120 the day of the event. The evening will also include poetry readings, a paddle raise and catered Indian Feast at the historic home of local author Keele Burgin. 

The post Journalist Michael Rezendes of Spotlight to speak to KGNU | ZEE Jaipur Literary Festival appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.