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Greater Than Collective's
end-of-the-year transmission
 | | This photo of A. Tom Collins gettin' crunk at Greater Than Social Club was taken by John Moore, Reverb |
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Greetings!
2013 has been a wonderful year for Denver music and comedy. This year's Denver Music Summit was incredibly well attended and inspiring for all; and the same folks responsible for the Summit, WESTAF, also successfully executed the IMTour grant, which helps Colorado bands tour the West. Our music scene was talked about in the New York Times, and even on MTV. Our local coverage in Reverb and on OpenAir just gets better and better. And our comedy scene is experiencing a Renaissance right now, with more local talent than ever, the smashing success of the inaugural High Plains Comedy Festival, and a stable of quality comedy nights. Speaking of which, we launched Greater Than Social Club in February of 2013, a cabaret night of the region's finest comedians and bands, all in the glitzy Lannie's Clocktower. It's only getting bigger and better in 2014. We wanted to take a look back at our year to see how much we've grown, and yes, maybe boast a little. But we can't take all the credit - we owe it to all of you, too, Denver. If you haven't yet, sign up for our damn newsletter so you can see what we're up to in 2014 - it only comes once a week. Happy New Year! Pete, Virgil, Erin, 'n Amy Greater Than Collective
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Ben Roy
Ben Roy performed at a slew of festivals (Crom Comedy Fest, High Plains, Bridgetown, New York, Just for Laughs, Chicago Festival), and eight one-hour shows at the Just for Laughs Toronto Festival. His band SPELLS released their first '45 and the single 'Slice Away' earned a nod from Top 10 Release of the Month by Maximum Rock N' Roll and appeared on the Nerdist podcast 'Jonah Raydio'. The Grawlix sold out their show at the New York Comedy Festival. Ben also recorded his 2nd album, the follow- up to "I Got Demons", out on Greater Than /Grawlix just after the New Year. | |
Adam Cayton-Holland
Adam started the year off right with a standup appearance on Conan. As part of the Grawlix trio, he made the pilot 'Those Who Can't' as part of the Amazon original content initiative. After receiving the highest fan ratings and being backed by outlets like the Nerdist, it was commissioned for six episodes to be made. He released I Don't Know if I Happy in May, which got rave reviews from sites like The Spit Take, but not so much from himself. In August, Adam co-curated the High Plains Comedy Festival with Andy Juett, Denver's first comedy fest devoted to pairing amazing local talent with national headliners like Reggie Watts. It was incredibly successful.
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Andrew Orvedahl
Andrew has has a great year. As part of the Grawlix, he was involved in the aforementioned TV pilot and New York Comedy Festival. He also released Hit the Dick Lights at the same time as Adam Cayton-Holland released I Don't Know if I Happy via Greater Than Collective. He hosted our monthly Greater Than Social Club cabaret night, and continued with the Narrators storytelling series/podcast at Deer Pile. In July, he was chosen as one of the Just For Laughs festival's New Faces. Just recently, Time Out New York featured his album Hit the Dick Lights as one of the Best Comedy Specials of 2013, along with Mike Birbiglia, Maria Bamford, Bill Cosby and more.
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A. Tom Collins
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Ian Cooke
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The Epilogues
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Having recently returned from a West Coast tour, released a video for their single "Hospital," and launched a commercial specialty campaign with U.N.C.L.E., A. Tom were picked up by Atomic Music Group, who also work with Agent Orange, Dick Dale, Reverend Horton Heat, Supersuckers, Ha Ha Tonka, and more. They released Stick &Poke with two local release parties at the Hi-Dive in April, then nationally in July. They've toured Europe and the West Coast, including support for Slim Cessna. Their performance at the Underground Music Showcase was filled to capacity with lines around the block. They're playing two shows at the Oriental Theatre in Denver 12/30 and 12/31.
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Esm� Patterson has continued creating and performing her solo work, as well as with her band Paper Bird, in 2013. She released the video for "My Young Man" featuring Nathaniel Rateliff in January, shot by Rett Rogers, which was featured in the Starz Denver Film Festival in November. She released "The Swimmer" video in March, shot by Isaac Ravishankara. She's performed at a number of festivals including the UMS and Bohemian Nights in Fort Collins. She has begun a new songwriting project, writing responses to famous songs about women - from the woman's perspective (like "Loretta" from Townes Van Zandt). She recently became a TED talks alumni in November with this brilliant performance at TEDxMileHigh | Women. |
Ian Cooke had a fun and successful East Coast solo tour in May, and a West Coast tour in August culminating in a great show in Seattle in conjunction with WESTAF/the IMTour grant. May 30th saw a Limited Edition Record Release at Deer Pile (Seven artists covered Cooke songs), and on July 23, Cooke premiered the " Cassowary & Fruit Bat" animated short at Red Rocks for Film On The Rocks. In October, he released the book / DVD / CD of "Cassowary" at Sie Film Center. This short film was later featured at Starz Film Festival in November. Cooke collaborated with Eaglecrest High School in October and December, and performed to 4,500 people at ThesCon on December 6th. "Cassowary &Fruit Bat" would make a splendid holiday gift, order it here! |
AbsolutePunk.net said "they may be the band to watch in 2013," and the Epilogues have spent the year playing all manner of shows across the country. They've embarked on two West Coast tours, played SXSW, CMJ in Brooklyn, played exciting local venues like the Pepsi Center, and they're heading back to the West Coast in February of 2014. Their video for "The Fallout" by Dillon Novak was chosen to be featured at Starz Denver Film Festival in November. And their late-2012 album, Cinematics, continues to be great listening, so buy it for someone you love. See them Dec 20 at the Marquis w/ Wiredogs, We Like Monsters, and Viretta. |
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