Some of the state's most iconic and dynamic musicians shared their stories on Colorado Matters in 2014.
Below is a collection of some of our favorite interviews in a variety of genres -- bluegrass, Americana and jazz.
For more music interviews from the past year, browse our archives here.
Bluegrass band Hot Rize releases first album in 24 years
In 2013, after playing together only occasionally over the past 25 or so years, the members of Hot Rize decided to put their solo projects aside and make a new album. Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick, Nick Forster, and Bryan Sutton convened at eTown studio in Boulder and made "When I'm Free." They recorded it in a very old-fashioned way: sitting around a circle in the studio, without headphones, and playing and singing live into several microphones. Hear the full interview.
Songstress Esme Patterson on her album giving voice to famous female song subjects
As she was learning to play the song "Loretta" by Townes Van Zandt last year, Esme Patterson had a revelation. The song says Loretta, "loves me like I want her to," which Patterson thought was unfair. She decided to write a song from Loretta's point of view, and later did the same thing with other songs like Dolly Parton's "Jolene," and the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby." Together, they became Patterson's solo album "Woman to Woman." Hear the full interview.
Cornetist Ron Miles collaborates with guitarist Bill Frisell for an album inspired by the frontier
The music of Ron Miles, the Denver cornet player, is rooted in jazz, but he’s just as comfortable playing a song by Hank Williams as he is covering Charles Mingus. Miles found a musical soul mate in Bill Frisell, the no-boundaries Seattle-based guitarist who spent his formative years in Denver. They’ve been making music together since 1994, and their latest collaboration is called, "Circuit Rider." The album, recorded in Denver, also features New Orleans drummer Brian Blade. The title of the album refers to traveling preachers who would go by horse from town to town in frontier America. Miles sees himself as a kind of musical circuit rider. Hear the full interview.
