Elephant Revival comes to the ACT on Wed., Oct. 9

Elephant Revival, Chili Chase and bagpipes

by Chris Aaland

Want to help out the Front Range flood victims? Two bands that play the Animas City Theatre this week – Elephant Revival and Head for the Hills – contributed tracks to “River’s Rising: Front Range Flood Relief” to benefit United Way Foothills. Twenty-eight artists participated in this jam-heavy project, including Further, Widespread Panic, the Original Meters, Big Head Todd & the Monsters and nearly every significant Colorado band toting mandolins and banjos. It’s available exclusively through livedownloads.com.

Elephant Revival plays the ACT at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. This Nederland-based quintet has become the darlings of the Colorado jam scene, though pigeonholing them into a tidy, single genre is impossible. Elements of folk, bluegrass, jazz, Gypsy, Celtic and rock all influence them. While hard-driving instrumentalists strut around like peacocks in other progressive acoustic acts, it’s subtlety that sets Elephant Revival apart. Percussionist Bonnie Paine is tough not to fall instantly in love with. Her soft, aching vocals simply steal the show, demanding listener attention over the din of festival tarps. Meanwhile, fiddler Bridget Law weaves lovely melodies and multi-instrumentalists Sage Cook, Daniel Rodriguez and Dango Rose swap instruments and songs while bringing the whole thing together.

Head for the Hills is back at the ACT at 8:30 p.m. Friday. This Fort Collins-based quartet has followed in the footsteps of Colorado bluegrass and newgrass pioneers like Hot Rize, Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident and the Yonder Mountain String Band and are reaping the benefits. They’ve won three straight Westword magazine Reader’s Poll awards for best bluegrass band; were tabbed as a SxSW Critics Pick by the Austin Statesman; were featured on NPR; and appeared onstage at Wakarusa, Telluride Bluegrass and South by Southwest. This fall marks the release of their third studio record, “Blue Ruin,” on the heels of last year’s well-received live album.

Kilts, caber tossing and plenty of Celtic music are the order of the day at the Aztec Highland Games & Celtic Festival, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Riverside Park. Musical headliners Celtica takes the stage for a two-hour show at 8 p.m. Saturday. This sextet features a pair of bagpipes, drums, electric bass and guitar (one of which shoots flames). They’ll bring punk and metal energy augmented with traditional Celtic instruments. Rest assured, they ain’t no Chieftains. A host of local acts rounds out the two-day bill. Visit aztechighlandgames.com for more information on what’s surely one of the region’s most unique festivals. Tune in to KSUT at 11 a.m. Friday for an in-studio appearance of a stripped-down version of Celtica.

The Chris Pureka Trio folks up the Millwood Junction in Mancos at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Pureka’s third studio album, “How I Learned to See in the Dark,” adds bold new elements to the base she has built over her six-year career.

Be a superhero and pledge your support to KDUR. Their fall membership drive kicks off Friday and runs through Sat., Oct. 11. KDUR made its poster based on classic comic book art … KDUR “Saving the World One Song at a Time” and doing what Pandora did long before the internet (and long before Pandora started supporting fracking). Look for the superhero image on the T-shirt and LP-sized tote bag, two of the many premiums the station has to thank its donors.

Backcountry Experience presents its third annual Chili Chase 5K & Chili Cook-Off, benefitting the San Juan Mountains Association, on Saturday morning. The 5k starts at 10 a.m., while chili time is 11.

It’s Firkin Friday! For the October firkin, brewmaster Ken Martin kicked the brewery’s seasonal Diablo Negro (on tap throughout the fall) up a notch to create a devilishly good elixir. “Diablo Negro is the base beer,” Martin said of the dark Belgian specialty ale. “It already has a rich, caramel-like malt character with a tart fish and tropical fruit aromas. The ale is then re-fermented with black currants and dark sweet cherries, plus I’ve added a spice bag of coriander and allspice and an oak wood spiral to enhance the impression of being barrel-aged.”

The acoustic Lawn Chair Kings play Brew Pub & Kitchen at 6 p.m. Friday. There’s no confirmation, yet, if Brew will pair its famous pork belly with beer-braised Dan Leeks (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

For this week’s Top Shelf list, I spotlight 10 essential albums from 10 Colorado jam bands:

1. Hot Rize, self-titled, 1979. While Tim O’Brien hadn’t yet fully found his songwriting stride, his “Nellie Kane” became a standard of sorts and they pulled from the bluegrass canon to set the standard for future acts to follow.

2. Loose Ties, “Up & Down the Highway,” 1991. Ben Winship’s old band plucked nuggets from John Ims and Sting on this long-lost classic.

3. Left Hand String Band, “Get Me Outta This City,” 1991. Before Drew Emmitt, Mark Vann and future Durangoan Glenn Keefe formed Leftover Salmon, they managed to put this collection of songs onto vinyl.

4. String Cheese Incident, “Born on the Wrong Planet,” 1997. Johnny Cash don’t smoke hash!

5. Leftover Salmon, “Euphoria,” 1997. Arguments will surely break out over which Salmon album is the best, but for my money, I’ll take their third effort.

6. Runaway Truck Ramp, “Yellow,” 1998. Before he was a honky tonker, Halden Wofford & the Hi Beams guitarist Greg Schochet plucked the mandolin and bouzouki with the Runaway Boys.

7. Yonder Mountain String Band, “Town by Town,” 2001. All four members contributed songs that remain staples of their live show on this Tim O’Brien-produced gem.

8. Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band, “Cabin in the Hills,” 2004. The group that sprung Anders Beck, Travis Book, Robin Davis, Jon Stickley and Andy Thorn to bigger and better things put out one strong, independent release of original tunes and a pair of burly Benny Galloway songs.

9. Wayword Sons, “Poor Boy’s Delight,” 2006. Benny, Robin, Anders and keyboardist Greg Andrulis emerged from the ashes of Broke Mountain and “Poor Boy’s Delight” and “How Far I’d Fall For You” would become favorites of bands like Greensky Bluegrass and the Infamous Stringdusters.

10. Spring Creek, “Way Up on a Mountain,” 2009. The third release from this former Lyons quartet stands out in a short-but-strong catalog. The title track alone is worth the price of admission.

Floatin’ around on a Belladonna cloud? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.