The Show(case) Must Go On!

The Colorado Springs-based quartet -- composed of guitarist/vocalist Jeff Fuller, bassist Mike Nipp, drummer Shawn Stafford and vocalist/guitarist Stephens -- was baptized by fire when its '78 Econoline van bit the dust in the middle of the desert on the band's first tour ever. "I can laugh now, but at the time it wasn't so funny," says Stephens. The group stopped for gas in Bakersfield, California, on its way from Sacramento to Anaheim. Unbeknownst to the bandmembers, the gas station had mistakenly put diesel fuel in its unleaded pumps. Had it not been for the kindness of a handful of strangers who pitched in to help out, the players might still be stuck somewhere in the middle of the Mojave. Fortunately, they made it back home. The van did not.

Sounds like enough to dissuade most bands from giving it another go, right? But this one can't wait to get back on the road.

"We've done really well in Colorado Springs. We've built up a cool little following, and we're just trying to do that everywhere else," says Stephens. "And we know that it doesn't happen overnight."

From Stephens's mouth to God's ears. The band's reputation is quickly outgrowing the confines of its home town. Formed during the summer of 2000 from the remnants of various Colorado Springs bands, Against Tomorrow's Sky was recently voted best band by its hometown paper, the Gazette, and inked a deal with Pennsylvania-based indie Universal Warning Records. The outfit's debut EP, Jump the Hedges First, recorded at 8 Houses Down by studio whiz Matt Vanleuven, was initially intended as a demo. Ultimately, the recordings were released as is. Stephens credits Vanleuven's production skills.

"We had never worked with an engineer that was really good. We were so excited with how good his production was. It sounded pro to us, so we were like, 'We'll release this as is.' Right off the board, our scratch mixes were incredible. For the quality of work they do, [8 Houses Down] could be charging four times as much. I can't see why any band in the state would record anywhere else."

Against Tomorrow's Sky won't have to worry much about where to record its next record, at least not in the near future. According to Stephens, the band wants to tour more to support the latest album before starting work on the next. Hopefully, the new van will cooperate. ­ Dave Herrera

AGGRESSIVE PERSUASION
NOMINATED IN HARD ROCK
There's something Aggressive Persuasion doesn't want its sponsor, Jägermeister, to know: Though all members of Jäger bands are supposed to be of legal drinking age, only frontman Steve Leflar is over 21. The other bandmembers aren't even close.

Drummer Richard Valdez and twins Misty and David Bryant (on bass and guitar, respectively) started the band when they were eleven, showing a fierce commitment despite their tender ages. Playing any Pueblo bar that would let them, the young musicians were chaperoned at each gig by their parents -- their biggest fans and cheerleaders. Ron Bryant, Misty and David's dad, currently handles management duties for the group.

Shredding a scorching form of nü-metal, Aggressive Persuasion's live show borders on savage. Taking full advantage of youth's limitless energy, the members drip sweat and blitzkrieg passion on each stage they play. After finding an audience in southern Colorado, the band started gigging in Denver, sharing stages with other members of the heavy-music scene. AP's sound solidified in 2002, when Leflar, who has a background as an a cappella singer, replaced longtime vocalist Mattie Baughn. Such changes helped move the band outside of the bar realm; its live schedule now includes such venues as Denver's Bluebird and Gothic theaters and Pueblo's Chief. In January, the group released its debut CD, A Sense of Reality.

"I'm a band Nazi," Leflar says, chuckling, when asked if being older than his mates foists extra responsibility onto his shoulders. Pushing the others to work even harder on practices and promotions, Leflar is also behind AP's plans to move to Denver after its regional tour ends in August -- something that's possible now that the other members have finally graduated from high school. -- Catalina Soltero

ALL NIGHT HONKY TONK ALL-STARS
NOMINATED IN COUNTRY/BLUEGRASS/ROOTS
Boulder's All Night Honky Tonk All-Stars serve up a twangy, old-timey soundscape, and as their name implies, they do it all night long: The quintet plays forty songs at an average gig.

Formed as a one-off opening act in 2001, the ensemble continued as a band because the chemistry between players was so good. "The gig felt great, the dance floor was full, so we went at it," says vocalist/rhythm guitarist Danny Shafer.

The All-Stars claim former members of Runaway Truck Ramp and the Danny Shafer Band, plus current members of Hit and Run, Greenwich Gulch and Danny Shafer and the Ramblers. Augmented by drummer Jason Pawlina and bassist Jim Sullivan, the outfit boasts not one, not two, but three capable singers in Shafer, mandolinist Rebecca Hoggan and lead guitarist Greg Schochet.

"There's nothing we can't cover in terms of vocal style," says Shafer. "[Hoggan] does all the Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Emmylou Harris stuff. I do all the Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons stuff. Greg does the Johnny Cash and Junior Brown stuff -- he's got a really low voice."

"It's nice to have that male/female front in a country group," Shafer adds. "We do all the old duets."

Beyond the covers, the All-Stars also play a number of originals primarily penned by Shafer, but all of it is true to the classic honky-tonk sound. That doesn't mean their audience is easily categorized, however. "We'll go up to Wyoming and play for a bunch of cowboys," says Shafer, "and the next night, we'll play the Fox Theatre for a room full of college students." -- Peterson

BACKBONE VELVET
NOMINATED IN BLUES
The coed blues-rock quartet Backbone Velvet first took shape at guitarist John Gonzales's wedding reception, in August 2000. The performance was a milestone for standout vocalist Marri Jo, as it marked a triumph in her twenty-year struggle with stage fright.

A classically trained opera singer who toured Europe when she was eighteen, Marri Jo gave up singing in 1985 because of burnout and anxiety. She started singing again for her circle of friends, including Gonzales, bassist Chip Fair and drummer Laura Coleman, in the late '90s. At first she would avoid their gazes by singing from a darkened kitchen, but she slowly built her confidence to the point where she could sing in front of complete strangers again. But the anxiety is not entirely gone: "I'm a puker," she says. "I throw up at every single show."

The original plan was for Backbone Velvet to play ten or fifteen covers for friends at Chip Fair's annual Christmas bash in Bailey, but the band soon mushroomed into a mainstay at Herman's Hideaway, the Soiled Dove and other Denver stages. Thank goodness: Marri Jo's re-entry into the performing world is a boon to the Denver music scene. Her raw, powerful pipes are reminiscent of Grace Slick's and Janis Joplin's, and they're backed by a band that dabbles in everything from blues to hard rock to psychedelic exploration.

Ultimately, the bandmates' longtime mutual friendships are the glue that holds Backbone Velvet together. "We all get along so well," says Fair. "It's all about the love." -- Peterson

MARCY BARUCH
NOMINATED IN SINGER/SONGWRITER
Marcy Baruch throws a mean pancake party. Every New Year's Day, the luckiest people in Denver are invited over for breakfast and mimosas. But not everything that Baruch serves up is syrupy and sweet: Rousing rockers and spare, personal pieces are nestled among the catchy pop tunes and folksy offerings on her two recent discs, Hathaway Smiles and Clearly.

In addition to penning her own compositions, Baruch has been collaborating with other artists. "I love my work as a singer/songwriter, but my other true love is in harmony work," she says. She produced fellow songstress Kate Gleason's CD, Return to Me, and performed as both an opening act and a backing vocalist on tour with Nashville artist Lynette Vantreese in 2002.

Baruch's versatility is evident in her live show. Her performance is equally compelling whether she's working as a solo act or backed by a band, whose membership varies with each gig; the only constant is her creative partner and collaborator, bassist Scott Surine. Baruch, who recently returned from a tour of the East Coast, exudes an energy that's both strong and subtle. She doesn't always generate as much fanfare as some of her local contemporaries, but her followers keep increasing in number. We suspect it's the music, not the pancakes, that keeps 'em coming back. -- Soltero

BLACK BLACK OCEAN
NOMINATED IN ROCK
When asked to expound on the aesthetic of Black Black Ocean, guitarist Stephen Till gets excited. "Hold on, hold on, let me ask somebody. I want this to be cute," he says. After a murmur of voices in the background, he replies, "My brother just said 'sucky.'"

Black Black Ocean came together in 2001 as a fairly conventional indie-rock outfit; its first demo recording came complete with sharp guitars, bleating vocals and a thin veneer of poetic sensitivity. Then something went haywire in Modest Mouseland. ¡Operación!, the band's new full-length disc, is a malfunctioning toy robot with springs and sparks popping out all over the place. The music is gnarled and garbled, a tense mess of post-punk angst that taps into the jerky, sci-fi kinesis of Milemarker, Devo and Les Savy Fav. Ryan Eason is the group's resident spaz cadet, perpetually writhing, shrieking, purring, bashing guitars and pounding away at a synthesizer strapped to his chest like a bomb. The rest of the lineup -- Till, Quintin Schermerhorn and Jared Black -- is equally as erratic, jumping around like electrocuted chimps on stage.

"How about...Black Black Ocean is like diamond dust blown into your eyes?" Till continues, almost hyperventilating. "We're like Liza Minelli and Glen Danzig's love child. We're intensely brutal, with a heart of gold."

One of the more ubiquitous bands around town, Black Black Ocean has amassed a fervent following of swooning girls and pouting boys, and it's not hard to see why: The band's atmosphere is as cool and dark as the depths of the Mariana Trench. Or, as Till sums it up: "One, we don't suck. Two, we make an indescribable sound." -- Heller

ERICA BROWN BAND
NOMINATED IN BLUES
If she's ever thought of rain a day in her life or been paralyzed by gut-wrenching heartache of Sylvia Plathian proportions, you'd never know it. Her smile brightens every corner of a room. Her laughter is more infectious than doorknobs in an elementary school. She'll have you "squirting tears out your eyes" even if you didn't hear the punchline. So what, then, is Erica Brown doing singing the blues? Dropping jaws of anyone within earshot of her stellar vocals and forging a reputation as the leader of a band no one wants to follow, that's what.

The Erica Brown Band formed in 1998 after the collective members of J.D. and the Love Bandits contacted Brown with the prospect of fronting their band. As luck would have it, the soulstress was between projects (Brown previously contributed vocals to the irreverent, critically acclaimed cult bands Foreskin 500 and Cherry Bomb Club). The subsequent name change was spurred because "I'm not a 6'3" trombone player named J.D.," says Brown, laughing.

The five-piece -- bassist Rich Sallee, guitarist Mark Lawson, keyboard and Hammond organ player Jim Ayers, and Scotty Rivera, who shares vocal duties with Brown -- released its debut long-player, Body Work, in November 2000. The band's second effort, Rough Cut Stone, was recorded and produced at FTM studios by Steve Avedis, whom Brown credits as having "the sharpest ears in the business"; the recording was released in April and is already starting to gain momentum.

As a result of its inspired performances and the accolades it has garnered in its five short years of existence - the group receives regular airplay on KUVO and KGNU and was voted number one for the month of April on KRFX's specialty show, Strictly the Blues, for the month of April - the Erica Brown Band could be thrust into the national spotlight. A record label that Brown declines to disclose so as not to "hoodoo the process" has expressed interest. Whether anything comes from it, she seems content just to be in the game.

"I'm not going to be one of those little old ladies in a home -- or, worse yet, one who doesn't have a pension who eats Little Friskies because she can't afford Fancy Feast -- wishing I had done this. Someone once said, 'Don't die with the music in you,' and I couldn't agree more." -- Herrera

BUCKNER FUNKEN JAZZ
NOMINATED IN JAZZ/SWING
Rod Buckner is a teacher by day, serving as the band and orchestra instructor at Denver's Henry Middle School. By night, as the leader and namesake of Buckner Funken Jazz, among the most popular combos working the local circuit, he's had plenty of chances to teach as well.