Khalid The Future Of R&B

One of the hottest acts in music today spend back to back nights in our fair city with two sold out shows. The 19 year old phenom known simply as Khalid has been skyrocketing up the charts within the last year on the heels of his debut album American Teen. The 19 year old from El Paso, Texas has been busy with his current our as well as guest appearances on tracks with Calvin Harris, Marshmello, Goldlink and more. A fresh face on the R&B scene Khalid delivers with a unique voice and amazing energy on stage. It was only a few months ago he was playing to a packed Larimer Lounge to this weeks sold out shows at The Ogden and Fillmore. The kid is on his way.

10 Must See Bands at This Year's SXSW

On the eve of SXSW we have gone through all of the hundred of press releases that have flooded our inbox the last two weeks and have narrowed down 10 bands you must see at this year's SXSW. From country to r&b, we have a feeling some of these will be household names in no time at all.

Sad13

Sad13 is the side project of Sadie Dupuis of the grunge pop outfit Speedy Ortiz. She toured most of last fall including a stop here in Denver at Larimer Lounge. Her solo project is a fun filled discography of pop goodness while still maintaing that street cred grunge we have come to love.

Mint Field

Hailing from Tijuana, Mexico, Mint Field is making its way to SXSW this year riding the wave of their 2015 LP "Primeras Salidas". The trio manages to blend the catchy goth like tones subtly layered with shoegaze distortion giving us a perfect mix of sound. Reminiscent of early sounds of Nada Surf and Sonic Youth the trio got a rousing welcome during their performance at Coachella last year.

Salt Cathedral

Big Waves / Small Waves, the debut record from NY based Colombian-born pop outfit Salt Cathedral is set for release in 2017. Heavily influenced by Brooklyn's Jamaican dancehall scene, the album features collaborations with dancehall legend Assassin (best known for his recent appearances on Kendrick Lamar's 'The Blacker The Berry') dub pioneer Lee Scratch Perry and Matisyahu. Set to perform at SXSW and Firefly Festival this year and with over 9 million streams on Spotify, Salt Cathedral is poised to be one of the most exciting emerging acts of 2017

The Regrettes

Describes as cupcake punk, The Regrettes have been solidifying their fan base in the Southern California area playing with some of the best in their respected genre. Lead by outspoken frontwoman, Lydia Night, and comprised of Genessa Gariano on guitar, Sage Nicole on bass and drummer Maxx Morando, the group have left the LA rock scene floored, managing to capture the hearts of jaded rock critics while opening for acts like Kate Nash, Jack Off Jill, Bleached, Pins, Deep Vally and more. With nothing but demos available online, the group are already beginning to generate hype, from outlets like NPR, and with NYLON already heralding them them as a “punk act you should be listening to”.

Sigrid

Fair comparisons to Lorde are just the tip of the iceberg for the singer from Norway. Displaying remarkable songwriting ability as a skilled lyricist, with hard-hitting and empowering words laced over unexpected and expansive melodies, Sigrid wrote her first song at 16-years-old and in just two weeks – when Sigrid’s older brother challenged her to write an original song and perform it at a local gig with him. 

Jain

It didn't take us long to fall in love with Jain. It takes just a few seconds of listening to Jain to know that you’ve stumbled on someone special. Pick a song – any song – from the Parisian’s glorious, globe-trotting debut album, Zanaka, and the effect is the same. Instantly, you’ll be startled, smitten and smiling.

Middle Kids

These guys just played Denver a few weeks ago to a warm reception, we have had them on repeat for the latter part of the year. Take our advise on this one. The three-piece, led by vocalist / guitarist Hannah Joy, and producer / multi-instrumentalist Tim Fitz, with Harry Day on drums, first came to public attention with the release of their debut single 'Edge Of Town' in May last year. Sir Elton John declared himself a fan of the song, added it to his Apple Music playlist and aired it on his Beats 1 radio show.  Triple J placed the song on high rotation, while in the US, the song has had airplay support on over 30 AAA/Alt stations. To date, 'Edge Of Town'has accumulated over 3 million streams on Spotify. Not bad for a band that, when they recorded the single, hadn't played a single show.

WEAVES

Weaves are Jasmyn Burke and Morgan Waters. Burke and Waters met by chance, quickly taking advantage of their immediate chemistry to collaborate by recording demos based on the former's iPhone voice memos. The tracks were reworked and the pair did not shy away from hooks, noise or bombast. An experiment of sound that transformed into their own unique brand of soul sludge, held together by Jasmyn's distinctive voice and melodies.

Lillie Mae

Having proved her immense talent in her years touring alongside Jack White as a member of his band, Lillie Mae is ready to strike out on her own. With Forever and Then Some, her Third Man Records debut and produced by White himself, there's no stopping Lillie Mae from claiming the country world as her own.

Khalid

Khalid is an up-and-coming R&B artist out of El Paso, Texas, who burst onto the scene after Kylie Jenner featured “Location” in one of her snaps. His previously released singles, such as “Coaster”, “Saved”, and “Let’s Go,” made it into his debut album, American Teen on March 3rd 2017.

Jason Pendleton