Non-profit presenter application deadline is July 20th!
WESTAF’s inaugural IMTour national music industry panelists curated an immensely talented list of popular artists to tour the West, and the deadline for non-profit presenters to apply to participate in the IMTour program is July 20th.
These include the Spin-approved cellist/songwriter Ian Cooke; “Band of the Year” winners (303 Magazine and Westword) Snake Rattle Rattle Snake; local hip hop luminary sharing the stage with legends like KRS-One, Mane Rok; poignant and atmospheric songwriting from the mountains, The Changing Colors; joyful roots and folk band featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, Paper Bird (pictured above); and the ever-touring dance-punk quartet, The Photo Atlas.
Please take a moment to check out these artists, and don’t hesitate to apply to host them. To apply, go to https://amp.cgweb.org/ and create a new user profile on that site to access the IMTour presenter application. Mane Rok, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake and Ian Cooke have profiles on IMTour.org, and we’ll be posting more artist profiles up until the deadline of July 20th.
IMTour Artist Profile: Mane Rok
While we are in the process of accepting applications from nonprofit presenters in the West, we would like to give some information about each artist through a series of artist profiles.
Next up is Mane Rok.
Time Tested. From having shared the stage with Hip-Hop legends like KRS-One to smashing festivals as a precursor to Gnarls Barkley (with his group ManeLine), Mane Rok’s solid foundation has never been more evident.
A student of Hip-Hop via graffiti, Mane is schooled in the art of Hip-Hop and slowly turning into a full-time career. The outspoken MC has never stopped learning, and is working harder than ever, creating the art he had always set out to make.
Recently, Mane became engrossed in the “Occupy” movement releasing the song and video “99th Problem” at an event - hosted by The Redline Gallery - entitled “Beyond Occupy: An MLK Dialogue for 2012.”
For the song, Mane approached his cohorts Bravo One as well as his most recent collaborator Dyalekt (Diamond Boiz.) Dyalekt handled the production on the track while also lending his vocals. Recognizing the idea that “99%” is a rather encompassing number, Mane then reached out to The ReMINDers stand out vocalist Aja Black to add her take, which led to the including Denver’s political and musical champions Jonny 5 of the Flobots and T Minus Katlyn of Wheelchair Sports Camp - In essence, giving a representation of who the “99” are.
Never satisfied, Mane Rok continues his quest to become a knowledgeable student of hip-hop, cultivating his career one intelligently written verse at a time.
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“Mane’s writing is on another level, and his choice of features is even more on point.” - Westword
“A well-balanced, thought-provoking project backed with neck-snapping beats.” - Boulder Weekly
IMTour Artist Profile: Snake Rattle Rattle Snake
While we are in the process of accepting applications from nonprofit presenters in the West, we would like to give some information about each artist through a series of artist profiles.
Next up is Snake Rattle Rattle Snake.
Denver’s Snake Rattle Rattle Snake’s debut album, Sineater, is a black tapestry of pulsing, macabre rock n’ roll that feels as if it is being slowly slashed apart by bright head-nodding hooks—-deconstructing the sinister underbelly only to sew it back together. At its opening, guitars weave together playfully on “Hastily,” and as the song progresses, its ominous mood is carried through to such key tracks as “NOPD” and “Break the Same,” with the help of growling bass and pounding drums. Singer Hayley Helmericks’ skilled vocals are the powerful constant, providing a seamlessness as the album moves from the dance-floor-jungle “Kafka and the Milk” to the cooing, frightening calm of “Warning”.
Sineater was written, recorded and produced by Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, and its release is a benchmark for a band that has already received several accolades. The band gained national momentum in the press with a Daytrotter session in 2011, also winning local awards for “Band of the Year” (303 Magazine and The Denver Post) and “Best Indie Rock” band (Westword). In addition to playing the historic Red Rocks Ampitheatre and multiple SXSW appearances, the band returned from a West Coast tour in October with a stint in Idaho for Treeford Music Festival, where SRRS shared the stage with Of Montreal, Built to Spill, and more. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake has played with notable national acts as The Dead Weather, The Rapture, Devotchka, Pink Mountaintops, Wovenhand, and The Fresh and Onlys.
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“There’s nothing that we like more than a singer, and a band, that dive into dark matters, into the realm of great uncertainty and crawl around in there, on their hands and knees, getting down with it and then putting it all together into a musical thought…Snake Rattle Rattle Snake makes a sound that simulates this movement of temporarily epic energy and force.” -Daytrotter
“The band’s unusual approach to rock recalls for fans of alternative rock a sexier Joy Division, a less spastic Gossip and a four-on-the-floor Hole. Its sound is very current — next- wave, even. There aren’t enough rock bands that inspire dance parties, but like a modernized (if less anthemic) Jefferson Airplane, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake makes you move. ” - Ricardo Baca, Denver Post
For more than two years, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake have been the darlings of Denver. “Best New Band” by Westword? Yep. Top finisher of the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase poll? Done. So the only question that remained of the band, who had only released an EP to date, was how Snake Rattle Rattle Snake’s debut would stack up. Not surprisingly, they’ve hit another home run. - Marquee Magazine
IMTour Artist Profile: Ian Cooke
While we are in the process of accepting applications from nonprofit presenters in the West, we would like to give some information about each artist through a series of artist profiles.
First up is cellist/pianist/singer/songwriter, Ian Cooke.
Ian Cooke released his second album, Fortitude, in January 2012. Produced by Ian O’Dougherty and mixed by Bob Ferbrache (Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Wovenhand), Fortitude showcases the wide array of musical proficiency that Cooke possesses as he switches from playful to dark and sincere at the flick of a cello bow. Splicing in elements of indie, classical, progressive rock, and more, the album builds on the foundation laid down by his previous album, The Fall I Fell, and expands it with stronger writing and loftier concepts.
Cooke’s talent coupled with his diligent work ethic has earned him several accolades, including features in SPIN, a Daytrotter session, a #1 ranking in the 2009 Denver PostMusic Poll and “Best Singer Songwriter,” “Best album,” and “Best Avant-Garde” nods by Westword. Cooke was featured alongside Billy Bragg, M. Ward, Owen Pallet, and more on a Joanna Newsom tribute.
He has toured in the US and Australia playing with The Dresden Dolls, Crooked Fingers, Built to Spill, The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips (Monolith Festival), Blonde Redhead, Devotchka, Rasputina, Wovenhand, Pedro the Lion and many more.
With packaging as engaging as the music it contains, Fortitude is a direct copy of nothing – a truly original and unique endeavor.
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“A one-man chamber ensemble, Ian Cooke specializes in forlorn folk built on cello-heavy arrangements and vocals that mimic his instrument’s mournful modulations.”-SPIN Magazine, Sept ‘08
“If Sufjan Stevens had been weaned on nothing but recordings by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Bach and “Eleanor Rigby,” his take on chamber pop might sound something like Cooke’s work. But as it stands, Cooke makes Stevens’s elaborate compositions seem almost prosaic. ” - Dave Herrera, Westword
“Cooke, his cello and his looping effects pedal are now fixtures — icons, even — in Denver’s thriving independent music community. And after years of climbing the ranks, playing clubs, galleries, living rooms and museums, the singer-songwriter-cellist-pianist was voted the top musician in the 2009 Denver Post Underground Music Poll.” - Ricardo Baca, Denver Post
2012 Awardees Announced!
WESTAF is proud to announce the recipients of the first ever Independent Music on Tour (IMTour) Program grant.
Over 50 artists applied to the inaugural IMTour Program. Our national panel selected the following artists from the Front Range of Colorado:
IAN COOKE // bio / video / music
MANE ROK // bio / video / music
PAPER BIRD // bio / video / music
SNAKE RATTLE RATTLE SNAKE // bio / video / music
THE CHANGING COLORS// bio / video / music
THE PHOTO ATLAS // bio / video / music
These musicians will receive financial and technical support for touring in the West and will be made available for performance to nonprofit music presenters in the West through additional IMTour grant funds.
The final artists were chosen by a national panel of music industry professionals, consisting of Erick Carer from Uncle Booking, Stefan Goldby from Buzzine and Craig Grossman and David Priebe from Green Room Music Source.
WESTAF is excited to begin working with this diverse and talented roster. The level of artistic talent and professionalism will ensure program success and give valuable national exposure for these great Colorado-based musicians.
Sincere thanks go to all artists who applied. WESTAF is currently reviewing additional ways we can support independent music touring in the West.
For more information on these artists and their involvement with IMTour, please contact Bryce Merrill at bryce.merrill@westaf.org or 303-629-1166.
