eTown to Be Inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame

After three decades of producing outstanding programming on the radio and nearly a thousand unique live performances, eTown is ready to celebrate in style with a special live stream celebration with some of eTown’s favorite guests.

eTown’s 30th b’Earthday Celebration, a live stream video event, will include eTown’s induction into Colorado Music Hall of Fame and will then feature music and conversation with artists including Lyle Lovett, Bob Weir, Los Lobos, Sam Bush, City and Colour, The War and Treaty, interview guest Former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth, and more. The event will also include visits with some of our former guests speaking about the issues that eTown has long promoted: sustainability, energy efficiency, climate change and social responsibility.

The 90-minute virtual show will be hosted by eTown’s Nick and Helen Forster. The free virtual streaming will be available via eTown.org/30 at 6:30pm MST and will also remain available for post-event enjoyment, just in case anyone misses the party.

We hope you’ll join us and support this epic celebration.

WHAT: eTown’s 30th Birthday Celebration: a virtual live stream event

WHO: eTown Hosts Nick and Helen Forster along with all new performances from Los Lobos, The War and Treaty, Lyle Lovett, Bob Weir, Sam Bush, City and Colour, Raquel Garcia, and interview guest Tim Wirth, with more guests to be announced in the coming days.

WHEN: 6:30 pm MT on Earth Day, April 22, 2021

WHERE: eTown.org

WHY: Celebrate eTown’s 30th anniversary and induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

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Colorado Music Hall of Fame Announces
Going Back to Colorado: Class of 2019 Induction:
Tommy Bolin, Otis Taylor, Zephyr and Freddi & Henchi, with Special Guests
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at The New Mission Ballroom

DENVER – 10/22/19 – On December 3, 2019, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame will host the inductions of ‘70s rock/fusion guitarist Tommy Bolin; award-winning blues pioneer Otis Taylor; Zephyr and its dynamic lead singer, Candy Givens; Colorado legends Freddi & Henchi, “The Crown Princes of Funk;” legendary concert promoter Tony Spicola; and Colorado music journalist Wendy “Rock & Roll” Kale.

The evening will include performances by David and Anna Givens, the Otis Taylor Band, Freddi Gowdy and members of the Freddi & Henchi Band (backed by Chris Daniels & The Kings), and the Tommy Bolin Tribute Band, which will be comprised of former members of Tommy Bolin’s band including Stanley Sheldon (longtime member of the Peter Frampton Band), Johnnie Bolin (Tommy’s brother and a member of Black Oak Arkansas), Max Carl (current lead singer of Grand Funk Railroad and former singer for 38 Special), Bobby Berge (formerly of Zephyr and Buddy Miles Band), Lucas Parker and Jeff Cook, (co-writer with Tommy Bolin) with special guests Joe Bonamassa and Warren Haynes.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop Street in Denver, with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Bring your dancing shoes! (A pre-concert dinner and meet-and-greet with the performers will be part of the VIP festivities.)

The Inductees:

Tommy Bolin’s meteoric assent to fame began with his role as guitarist for Zephyr; in addition to working as a solo artist, he later replaced Joe Walsh in the James Gang, and worked with Deep Purple and such jazz-fusion icons as Billy Cobham (at the age of 22, Bolin played on Cobham’s award-winning album Spectrum). He passed away in 1976, but his music lives on.

Zephyr, with Candy and David Givens, John Farris, Robbie Chamberlin and Tommy Bolin, produced the first psychedelic-rock superstars to come out of Colorado in the 1970s. (Candy Givens has often been compared favorably to Janis Joplin, and Zephyr’s appearances with Jimi Hendrix were highlights.) The band’s song “Going Back to Colorado” inspired the title for the Colorado Music Hall of Fame Class of 2019 induction.

Boulder-based Otis Taylor is one of the world’s most prolific blues artists and the founder of the Trance Blues Festival. He’s the winner of multiple W.C. Handy awards, and has inspired young blues artists and fans alike to explore the role of race and oppression in the music.

Freddi Gowdy and Henchi Graves were part of a wave of late ‘60s soul/rock era acts like Sly and the Family Stone. They came to Colorado in 1970 as Freddi Henchi and the Soulsetters, and for thirty years the Freddi & Henchi “party” was the best soul review in the area.

Concert promoter Tony Spicola owned KDZA-AM, Pueblo’s powerhouse radio station. He brought The Who to Colorado for their first-ever appearance in the state, and subsequently booked concerts by Ike & Tina Turner, Buffalo Springfield, the Yardbirds, the Everly Brothers and so many more. In the ‘80s he sparked a music renaissance in southern Colorado, and his infamous “Val Halen Brown M&M Concert” at USC Pueblo made MTV’s Top 12 Roughest Nights in Music History.

The late Wendy “Rock & Roll” Kale started her music career as a publicist for the CU Program Council; her music writing helping ignite the careers of Big Head Todd & The Monsters, The Samples, Chris Daniels and many more.

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame:

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit created to honor individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the music scene, to preserve and protect the history of the scene, and to educate the public regarding everything that is great about Colorado music

Previous inductees include John Denver, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, five time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, Philip Bailey from Earth Wind & Fire, swing-era giant Glenn Miller, KBCO radio, Harry Tuft, promoter Barry Fey of Family Dog fame, Firefall, the Astronauts, Flash Cadillac, KIMN radio, folk legend Judy Collins, the Serendipity Singers, Bob Lind, Chris Daniels, Stephen Stills/Manassas, Poco, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and many more. All are commemorated at the Hall’s home in the world-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre Trading Post; those displays will soon be joined by exhibits devoted to the Class of 2019 inductees.

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MEDIA: https://cmhof.org/ additional images here.
CMHOF National Publicist: Phil Lobel phil@lobeline.com 310-271-1551 ext. 13
CMHOF Director: Chris Daniels Chris@CMHOF.org 720-837-4332

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DENVER, CO [November 9, 2019] – The Colorado Music Hall of Fame will host the induction of 21 women – luminaries of the folk music world known as The Mother Folkers – as well as Dick Weissman, a world-class musician, author and educator; Walt Conley, sometimes called the “godfather of the Colorado folk scene”; and Swallow Hill Music, the nation’s second-largest folk and acoustic music school, at a concert and celebration of Swallow Hill’s 40^th Anniversary at Central Presbyterian Church in Denver. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the concert starts at 6:30 p.m.

The evening will include performances by 20 current and former members of The Mother Folkers including Mary Flower, Liz Barnez, Mollie O’Brien, Carla Sciaky and a cast of the most prominent women in folk. Additional guest performers and acts will include Harry Tuft, Dick Weissman, a tribute to Walt Conley and much more.

Swallow Hill was founded in 1979 by Harry Tuft of the Denver Folklore Center and grew into the nation’s second-largest folk and acoustic music school and concert organization, attracting more than 64,000 concert-goers annually and helping 75,000 under-served children by bringing music education into area schools. Dick Weissman is an award-winning banjo player, musician, author and educator who founded the University of Colorado Denver College of Arts & Media’s music business program and worked with John Phillips (The Mamas and the Papas) and the Journeymen. Walt Conley is considered one of the founding fathers of folk music in Colorado, influencing artists like Judy Collins. Conley was also known for his social activism and an acting career that includes movies, voiceover and television appearances in such shows as The Rockford Files.

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to honor those musicians, individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions, to preserve and protect historical artifacts, and to educate the public regarding everything that is great about Colorado music.

Previous inductees include John Denver, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, five-time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, Philip Bailey from Earth Wind & Fire, swing-era giant Glenn Miller, KBCO radio, Harry Tuft, promoter Barry Fey of Family Dog fame, Firefall, the Astronauts, Flash Cadillac, KIMN radio, folk legend Judy Collins, the Serendipity Singers, Bob Lind, Chris Daniels, Stephen Stills/Manassas, Poco, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and many more.

This induction concert and 40^th Anniversary Celebration of Swallow Hill is produced by Swallow Hill and the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

CMHOF National Publicist: Phil Lobel phil@lobeline.com | 310-271-1551 ext. 13

CMHOF Director, Chris Daniels, Chris@cmhof.org | 720-837-4332

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DENVER, CO 10/15/18– The Colorado Music Hall of Fame will host its next induction event, Monday, December 3, 2018, at the historic Paramount Theatre. The induction of 97.3 KBCO and legendary concert promoter and artist manager Chuck Morris will be accompanied by a cavalcade of musical appearances from Amos Lee, Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd), Isaac Slade and Ben Wysocki of The Fray, Bill Nershi and members of The String Cheese Incident, Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt from Leftover Salmon, Jeff Hanna and some members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Leo Kottke along with backing band Chris Daniels & The Kings, plus more surprises to be announced.

This seminal evening will include a “Chuck Roast” of inductee Chuck Morris hosted by the Honorable Governor John Hickenlooper, who commented, “Chuck Morris is one of those prominent figures who helped transform the Colorado music and concert scene into one of the biggest and finest music worlds in the country.”

Inductee 97.3 KBCO went on the air in 1977 creating an alternative to standard rock and pop radio. Programmers and DJs were given freedom to go beyond the “hit singles” playing “album” tracks and music from artists as diverse as The Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Talking Heads, and Lyle Lovett. 97.3 KBCO, along with a handful of stations around the country, created a format now called “Adult-Album-Alternative” (or Triple-A) radio. The format was so successful that Billboard added a Triple-A Chart in 2005 and every year the Triple-A Radio Convention is held in Boulder hosted by KBCO.

Along with the countless awards and innovative programming like “KBCO Sunday Sunrise” and “KBCO Local Edition,” this year, the station is celebrating its 30th Anniversary with “KBCO Studio C, CD,” 30 years of live recordings benefiting the Boulder County Aids Project and Food Bank of the Rockies. Countless artists like Amos Lee, Dave Matthews, and Big Head Todd & The Monsters owe their careers to the men and women who programmed and played their music long before pop radio gave them a chance.

Inductee Chuck Morris was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Queens College at the age of 20. After graduation, Morris started a Ph.D. program in Political Science at CU Boulder in 1965. In 1968, Morris decided to drop out of graduate school to follow his love of music.

First at the Sink and then at Tulagi’s (that he co-owned) on the hill in Boulder, Morris made his mark at booking up-and-coming talent that would become the stars of tomorrow.

Hosting artists from the Eagles, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top to Linda Ronstadt, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to Muddy Waters, and hundreds more, Tulagi’s was the launching pad for Morris’s 48-year career as Colorado’s most prolific concert promoter and artist manager.

Morris opened Ebbets Field in Denver that included a New Year’s Eve performance by Steve Martin who took the entire audience out for coffee in a snowstorm. Following Ebbets Field which brought in first tours of Dan Fogelberg, Jimmy Buffet, Emmylou Harris, Tommy Bolin, and Energy among others, Chuck joined Feyline as Senior Vice President of Promotion for 10 years.

Next, Morris joined forces with the company of famed concert promoter Bill Graham to create a Morris/SFX company that re-imagined the old Mammoth Gardens into The Fillmore. Through Morris’s management work for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and their tour of Russia in support of the Anschutz Western Art Collection debut, Chuck developed a close working relationship with Colorado’s Phil Anschutz.

That friendship resulted in AEG Rocky Mountains with Morris at the helm. It has become the largest concert promotion company in our State’s history, putting on more than 800 shows per year at venues from the Pepsi Center to Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, and more than 110 shows at Red Rocks in the summer of 2018.

Morris also built one of Colorado’s most successful artist management firms with clients that included Lyle Lovett, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Leo Kottke to name only a few.

This CMHOF evening will feature video tributes, interviews, and performances. The pre-concert gala (a dinner and meet-and-greet with the performers) will also include a historic array of exhibits and archival photographs to be relocated in the CMHOF’s home at the world-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre Trading Post.

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions, to preserve and protect historical artifacts, and to educate the public regarding everything that is great about our Colorado music.

Previous inductees include John Denver and Red Rocks Amphitheatre; Harry Tuft of the Denver Folklore Center and promoter Barry Fey of Family Dog fame; the Astronauts, Sugarloaf, Flash Cadillac, and KIMN radio; folk legend Judy Collins, the Serendipity Singers, Bob Lind, and Chris Daniels; Stephen Stills/Manassas, Firefall, Poco, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and more.

This induction concert is produced by AEG Presents and the historic Paramount Theatre.

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DAN FOGELBERG

The son of Lawrence, a bandleader, and Margaret, a pianist, Fogelberg left his studies at the University of Illinois and headed for the West Coast, finding inspiration during a week in Colorado before moving on and securing a recording contract. For his second release, Souvenirs, Fogelberg enlisted producer Joe Walsh, who had recently recorded at Caribou Ranch near Nederland, Colorado, and “Part of the Plan” went to the top of the charts. While touring through Colorado in the mid-1970s, Fogelberg bought a house from Chris Hillman, situated 9,000 feet up on top of the Rocky Mountains. His time there resulted in the songs on Nether Lands, a platinum seller. He recorded part of his next venture, Phoenix, in Colorado, and the songs “Heart Hotels” and “Longer” were pop hits. The Innocent Age, released in 1981, included four of his biggest singles—“Same Old Lang Syne,” “Hard To Say,” “Leader of the Band” and “Run For the Roses.“ Fogelberg bought land in the San Juan Mountains and constructed his Mountain Bird Ranch. High Country Snows, made with some of his favorite acoustic pickers, became one of the best-selling bluegrass albums of all time. He built a home studio at his spread; The Wild Places, released in 1990, was the first album he self-produced and mostly tracked there. His rendition of the Cascades’ 1963 hit, “Rhythm of the Rain,” peaked at No. 3 on the adult contemporary chart. Fogelberg’s long career was interrupted in 2004, when he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He finally succumbed to the disease in December 2007.

JOE WALSH & BARNSTORM

Joe Walsh built a considerable reputation as lead guitarist and lead vocalist for the Cleveland-based James Gang. Such tunes as “Funk #49, “Tend My Garden,” “Walk Away” and “The Bomber” brought wide popularity and endless touring, and, as the big bucks beckoned, Walsh turned the other way. In 1971, encouraged by his friend and producer Bill Szymczyk, Walsh made the difficult decision to relocate to the open air of Colorado’s Boulder County. He formed a new group called Barnstorm with drummer Joe Vitale, a former Kent State classmate, and Colorado bassist Kenny Passarelli. Barnstorm was the first album ever recorded at the legendary Caribou Ranch studio near Nederland. Walsh freely indulged himself with beautiful choruses, country tinges and pastoral pop hooks on “Mother Says,” “Here We Go” and “Turn to Stone.” Accompanied once again by Passarelli and Vitale, Walsh officially went solo the following year with his second album, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get. The first Top 10 album of Walsh’s career, it went on to sell more than a million copies. “Rocky Mountain Way,” co-written by Passarelli and inspired by Walsh’s move to Colorado, opened up a massive audience for Walsh and his band. Barnstorm disbanded amicably in 1975, allowing Walsh to produce Dan Fogelberg’s Souvenirs album. So What, his third solo album, included “Welcome to the Club” and a remake of “Turn to Stone.” At the end of 1975, the Eagles drafted their old friend to join them; Walsh’s tenure with the popular West Coast country-rock quintet gave him enhanced visibility, and he continued his pattern of successful solo albums.

CARIBOU RANCH

Owner James William Guercio got his start producing a string of hits for the Buckinghams circa 1967; he became a staff producer for Columbia Records and began working with Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Through five albums with Chicago, he gathered up enough money to buy Caribou Ranch for a reported $1 million in 1971. Caribou, in its idyllic setting nearly 9,000 feet up near Nederland in the Rocky Mountains, had been the largest privately owned an Arabian stud farm in the country. Guercio installed the studio in 1973 and then transformed the place into an opulent retreat for pop music’s aristocracy. Caribou Ranch, the first “destination studio,” gained prominence when Elton John recorded three albums there, including the gratefully titled Caribou in the spring of 1974. The life-in-the-fast-lane ambiance that usually accompanied a recording session disappeared at Caribou. There wasn’t a nightclub down the street, and artists didn’t have to send for food or commute back and forth from a hotel or even worry about the laundry. During the studio’s glory days, an entourage got full use of the facilities for a basic rate of $1,500 a day, and record companies were only too willing to shell out the money during their boom years. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Caribou Ranch hosted the biggest names in music, including such legends as Chicago, the Beach Boys, Stephen Stills, Billy Joel, Frank Zappa, John Lennon, Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire. The studio was in operation until the control room suffered extensive fire damage in March 1985.

CMHOF AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

BILL SZYMCZYK

Famed music producer Bill Szymczyk’s first major success came when he convinced blues legend B.B. King to cut contemporary-sounding albums; the result was King’s first major pop crossover, “The Thrill Is Gone,” a hit in 1970. Szymczyk then signed and produced the James Gang, featuring Joe Walsh. He came to Colorado in 1971 and worked as a disc jockey for free-form radio station KFML and was a co-founder of Denver’s Tumbleweed Records, a small independent label based out of a funky old house just east of downtown Denver on Gilpin Street; the label folded in 1973. Szymczyk went on to have great success in the 1970s, both as an A&R man and behind the board, regarded for his great success working with Joe Walsh. When the Eagles wanted a more rock ‘n’ roll sound, they hired Szymczyk, and the unprecedented chart success of the 1974 On the Border and 1975 One of These Nights albums made both parties millions.

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Colorado Getaway Event Photos

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The Colorado Music Hall of Fame held its “20th Century Pioneers” induction event on April 16, 2016, at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the University of Colorado-Boulder campus. Singer and entertainer Lannie Garrett, who was also inducted, paid tribute to Paul Whiteman (“the King of Jazz”), Billy Murray (“the Denver Nightingale”), soprano Elizabeth Spencer and Max Morath (“Mr. Ragtime”), and the Glenn Miller Orchestra enshrined legendary bandleader Glenn Miller. The evening featured video tributes and a first look at the CMHOF “20th Century Pioneers” permanent exhibit.

Photos top to bottom—poster; Lannie Garrett and band; Glenn Miller Orchestra; Paul Whiteman and Glenn Miller exhibit panels; Billy Murray and Elizabeth Spencer exhibit panels; Max Morath and Lannie Garrett; Max Morath and CMHOF chairman G. Brown; buttons

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The Colorado Music Hall of Fame hosted an induction concert with performances from original members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Poco and Firefall, with a tribute to Stephen Stills/Manassas featuring Nathaniel Rateliff, on January 9, 2014 at Denver’s Paramount Theatre. The evening, also featured video tributes and celebrity speeches by comedian and veterinarian Kevin Fitzgerald, producer Jim Mason and CMHOF chairman Chuck Morris. The pre-concert gala (a meet-and-greet with the inductees) included a historic array of exhibits and archival photographs. Also honored were Chris Hillman, Richie Furay and comedian/banjo player Steve Martin.

Photos top to bottom—Governor John Hickenloooper; Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Jock Bartley (Firefall), Richie Furay (Poco) and Nathaniel Rateliff; Rateliff, Hanna, Bartley and Furay; Firefall’s Bartley, Rick Roberts, Mark Andes and Larry Burnett; Firefall’s Sandy Ficca, Steve Weinmeister, Andes, David Muse and Bartley; Poco’s Rusty Young, Paul Cotton, Furay and Timothy B. Schmit; Furay, Young, Cotton and Schmit; Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Hanna, Jimmy Ibbotson and John McEuen; NGDB’s Ibbotson, Jimmie Fadden, Hanna, McEuen and Bob Carpenter; t-shirt.

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