Tom Murphy
Westword
Aurora, CO, United States
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Past articles by Tom:
Remembering Denver Musician Kat Ellinger
When Kat Ellinger passed away on June 5, grief rippled through Denver’s music community. → Read More
MF Ruckus to Release a Graphic Novel About an Optimistic Apocalypse
Denver-based hard-rock band MF Ruckus is about to release the first part of The Front Lines of Good Times, a twelve-part graphic novel and album. Working with comic artist and illustrator Josh Finley, MF Ruckus vocalist Aaron Howell tells the story of a plucky band of musicians and adventurers, who come to be known as, well, MF Ruckus, struggling to survive in a futuristic setting, dogged by... → Read More
The Melvins Break the Mold With A Walk With Love and Death
For the last thirty-three years, the L.A.-based/Montesano, Washington-spawned band the Melvins has consistently found new ways to keep its music interesting for itself and fans while maintaining a coherent sound and an unpredictable, quality live show that has made the group among the most influential active rock bands today. → Read More
Zola Jesus Talks New Album Okovi Ahead of Denver's Underground Music Showcase
The world has changed fast since the release of the 2014 Zola Jesus album Taiga. That record was the only one Nicole Hummel, aka Zola Jesus, has put... → Read More
Violent Femmes Found Inspiration in Sun Ra and his Akrestra
The Violent Femmes may be best known for college and mainstream radio hits like "Blister in the Sun," "Add It Up," and "American Music." But at heart, the act is fundamentally experimental. → Read More
Modern English Plays Retro Futura at Denver's Bellco Theatre
Modern English is best known for its hit single “I Melt With You,” from the 1982 album After the Snow. The song was in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV and served as an anthem for those struggling to find joy and hope in the dismal age of Thatcher and Reagan. → Read More
The Coathangers Refuse to Bottle Up Rage, Laughter or Mistakes
The Coathangers started as a joke between friends. They had all protested George W. Bush in Washington D.C., in 2006. “On the way back home we were like, 'Wouldn't it be funny if we started a band?'” says guitarist Julia Kugel. → Read More
Shuttered DIY Venue Opens New Space With the Pikes Peak Library District
Colorado Springs-based DIY space Flux Capacitor, in partnership with Pikes Peak Library District, re-opened to the public on July 15 in the Knights of Columbus building at the Penrose Branch complex in downtown Colorado Springs. → Read More
Blondie's Eclectic Sound Helped Introduce Hip-Hop and Reggae Into the Mainstream
Blondie emerged in the mid-'70s underground rock scene, hitting mainstream airwaves with its third album, 1978's Parallel Lines. → Read More
Mitski Doesn't Bother With Labels. She Prefers Excellence
Mitski Miyawaki, who performs with her band under her first name, grew up in a biracial, multicultural household. During her childhood, Mitski lived in... → Read More
The Photographs of Music Scene Chronicler Extraordinaire John Koontz
John Koontz, who passed away earlier this year, spent his last years documenting Colorado's Front Range music scene through photos and videos. In our... → Read More
Eleven of Denver's Best Weekly Club Nights and Music Events
Keeping up a weekly music event or club night takes a lot of work. Fortunately, Denver isn't short on DJs and musicians hustling for the city's nightlife. Here are eleven of the best weekly music events in the Mile High City. → Read More
Denver Band Roommates Finds Inspiration in Spice Girls and Victoria Beckham
Roommates may be an experimental rock band, but its members are unabashed pop-music fans. Guitarist Alex Goldsmith says the title of the group’s debut full-length, Victoria, is a nod to Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. → Read More
Hot Apostles Release WTF is rock N roll at 3 Kings Tavern
WTF is rock 'N' roll? is the latest album from Denver's Hot Apostles. The record's title is a fitting question for the band's guitarist Tay Hamilton, who has been asking what constitutes rock-and-roll from a young age. → Read More
Plume Varia Recorded With Bauhaus Member, Release Album at Syntax Physic Opera
Shon and Cherie Cobbs, the husband-wife duo behind the dream-pop trip-hop band Plume Varia, grew up with military parents, married early and didn’t start playing music together until their thirties. → Read More
Rotten Reputation's Headless Mascot Nancy Wards Away and Attracts Sexism
A group of near-strangers formed the punk band Rotten Reputation in January 2016 after a mutual friend had posted on social media about the lack of women in bands in Denver's music scene. → Read More
Down Time Drops Good Luck! Album at Lost Lake Friday, June 30
Denver based rock trio Down Time is releasing its debut EP, Good Luck!, on GROUPHUG. The five-song offering has its origins in songs singer/guitarist Alyssa Maunders was writing while she was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. → Read More
Grindhouse Inspires BANDITS' New Music Video for "Enough"
The Colorado band BANDITS, which will be releasing its latest 7-inch record at Lost Lake on July 1, is teasing the show with a new music video for the... → Read More
Musicians Remember John Koontz, Underground-Music "Chronicler Extraordinaire"
Mathematician by day and rock-and-roll photographer by night John Koontz, 63, was at the Larimer Lounge catching the Hot Apostles, one of his favorite bands, the evening he died. → Read More
Church Fire Brings Brooding EDM to Westword Music Showcase
Brooding electronic-dance-music duo Church Fire, which will play the main stage at the Westword Music Showcase, isn’t widely known outside of Denver’s underground music circles — at least not yet. → Read More