The near-death of the Circle Jerks’ Keith Morris

The Circle Jerks’ Keith Morris. The Circle Jerks won’t appear as scheduled at Punk Rocks 2008, an August 22 Red Rocks concert also featuring NOFX, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bouncing Souls, Street Dogs and Frontside Five — but they’ve got a very good reason. Keith Morris, the Jerks’ longtime frontman…

Rearview: The Week in Review (8/9/08-8/15/08)

Jackson Browne thinks McCain is a dick (ed. note: this is pure conjecture) Here’s a friendly one-stop guide to all the great content you might have missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were wondering how the hell John McCain thought he could get away with using a song…

Rearview: The Week in Review (8/2/08-8/8/08)

Call me daddy. No, really. Here’s a convenient and useful guide to all the wonderful content you might have missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were reeling from the shock and disbelief of discovering that Clay Aiken, of American Idol fame, has somehow managed to spawn, and is…

Q&A With Former Eagles Guitarist Don Felder

Don Felder, who’ll appear at the Highlands Ranch Tattered Cover on Tuesday, August 12 (click here to learn more), is one of the lesser-known members of the Eagles, but hardly an inconsequential one. He wrote the lion’s share of a little ditty called “Hotel California,” for instance. But he was…

Q&A With Git Some

Westword’s August 7 profile on Git Some touched on the band’s history and its new album, Cosmic Rock, but in this extended Q&A, Chuck French and bassist Neil Keener (both former members of Planes Mistaken for Stars), singer Luke Fairchild and drummer Andrew Lindstrom talk about wanting to release Cosmic…

Rearview: The Week in Review (7/26/08-8/01/08)

Ludacris thinks about what he’s done Here’s a handy one-stop guide to all the great content you might have missed this week while you were busy pondering the political implications of Obama’s rejection of the new Ludacris track written to support him…..

Rearview: The Week in Review (7/19/08-7/25/08)

Here’s a guide to all the great content you might have missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were busy shaking your head in disgust and amazement at the announcement that mall-punk heroes My Chemical Romance will be covering a Bob Dylan song for the Watchmen soundtrack…..

Q&A with James Lumb of Electric Skychurch

Electric Skychurch, appearing July 24 at the Church, is one of the seminal live electronic outfits to rise from American soil in the ‘90s. Inspiring vocals, funky bass lines, and smooth, flowing, trance-like textures are staples of the sound created by Skychurch founder James Lumb and his rotating lineup of…

Rearview: The Week in Review (7/12/08-7/18/08)

Here’s a convenient one-stop guide to all the great content you might have missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were anxiously exercising your fingers in anticipation of Jimi Hendrix’s announced contributions to an upcoming installment of the Guitar Hero series…..

Q&A With Marc Cohn

Following an August 2005 concert at Denver’s Botanic Gardens, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Marc Cohn was shot in the head in an attempted carjacking. Almost three years later, on Friday, July 11, he returns to the venue to perform on a bill that also features Aimee Mann — a gig that will…

Q&A With Nels Cline

Except for Nels Cline occasionally singing through a tiny toy megaphone into his guitar pick-up, there aren’t any singers in the Nels Cline Singers. Rather the instrumental trio, which also features bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott Amendola have been traversing the lines of jazz, free improvisation and rock the…

Q&A With Feist

Leslie Feist, who’s profiled in the July 10 edition of Westword, has a way with words that can’t be duplicated. As a result, the following Q&A stands as a virtual adventure in lexicon, with Feist herself serving as your winsome guide…

Rearview: The Week in Review (6/28/08-7/4/08)

Here’s a wrap up of all the great coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were busy preparing your plans for the Fourth of July and fuming with patriotic outrage at Rene Marie’s decision to hijack the national anthem at the state of the city speech…..

Q&A With Constantines’ Bryan Webb

Bryan Webb, the singer and guitarist for Canada’s Constantines, profiled in Westword’s July 3 edition, is a naturally introspective fellow – but he opens up in his songs, and in the Q&A below…

Rearview: The Week in Review (6/21/08-6/27/08)

Here’s a wrap-up of all the great coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were digesting the news that Amy Winehouse’s emphysema may end her singing career (and, eventually, her junkie career as well…)…

Q&A With Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley

In 2006, Gnarls Barkley, the subject of a June 26 Westword profile, scored with what to most ears was the song of the year – a little single called “Crazy.” Although lead singer Cee-Lo Green makes it clear in the Q&A below that he never attempted to repeat this feat,…

Q&A With Ryland Blackinton of Cobra Starship

Cobra Starship, a June 26 Westword profile subject, is among the more unlikely passengers on the runaway train known as the 2008 Warped Tour – a band whose members didn’t truly come together until after a song released under its name was already well on its way to becoming a…

Rearview: The Week in Review (6/14/08-6/20/08)

Here’s a wrap-up of all the spectacular coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were transfixed by Ice T’s calling out Soulja Boy for ruining hip-hop and telling the young star to “eat a dick” …..

Rearview: The Week in Review (6/7/08-6/13/08)

Here’s a wrap-up of all the great stuff you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were busy speculating what kind of family dust-up could lead Madonna’s younger brother to write an unauthorized, tell-all biography. We’re betting he didn’t get what he asked for last Christmas…..

Q&A with Metalocalypse and Dethklok Creator Brendon Small

Metalocalypse, which is in its second season as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim program slate, chronicles the misadventures of Dethklok, a death-metal band that sprang from the imagination of Brendon Small and cohort Tommy Blacha. However, the group comes to life, sort of, during a Thursday, June 12 gig…

Q&A With Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot

Ra Ra Riot, one of the national acts joining the local talent at the Westword Music Showcase on Saturday, June 14 (click here for more details), is a band on the upswing. Wes Miles, the outfit’s frontman, traces the road to its rise in the funny and revealing Q&A that…