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FeedChick Rock
Amid the backdrop of the male-dominated world of rock and roll, Denver
is proving to be the perfect place for female musicians looking to break big.
Jessica Sonner
Perhaps you caught her when she opened for Colbie Caillat at the Fillmore in Denver. Or maybe you swooned when she played with Opie Gone Bad at Red Rocks or when she was a guest in KBCO’s Studio C. And perhaps you’ve yet to hear of 27-year-old Jessica Sonner, who is defying the stereotype of today’s typical female pop singer.
After touring the college market for two years and spending some time living in Chicago, Sonner is currently walking the line between local and mainstream. She only plays in Denver every month or so and tries to make her way to Boulder and Fort Collins on a regular basis. She’s also learning how to stand out and craft her favorite flavor of music in a town where indie musicians run wild.
“Maybe it’s just the crowd I hang with or the neighborhood I live in, but I definitely notice a lot of indie music around Denver,” she says. “I’ve always loved pop music, and writing it is where I’ve leaned. I’m all about a well-written song. Yum.”
With two albums already out, Sonner is taking some sweet summer time to focus on writing her third. In the meantime, she offers some advice to those looking to break into the industry: “I see all these musicians who are looking for a manager or a label or someone to help them grow their career, but no one will work harder for you than you will for yourself.”
Paper Bird
It all began one summer day in August 2006, when a small group of musicians — some of whom just met that day — were sitting around a campfire and decided to write a song. They didn’t ask how or why, they just went with it, crafting four songs that they took to the streets. Little did these seven friends know, performing on a street corner in Breckenridge would be the hatching of Colorado’s beloved Paper Bird.
Although their sound doesn’t fall into a specific genre, these old-timey new kids transport any audience back to the roaring ’20s with a folksy feel and graceful melodies brought together by the band’s three frontwomen: Sarah Anderson on trumpet and vocals and sisters Esmé and Genny Patterson, who weave haunting vocals into their innocent stage presence.
Shortly following their official formation, this band’s unique tone landed them opening gigs for local bands such as Rose Hill Drive, the Flobots, and DeVotchKa. After three small tours this winter and an upcoming spot in the Mile High Music Festival in July, Paper Bird is, well, continuing to spread its wings.
But with the band’s growing popularity and more exposure to an industry that still remains male-dominated, these local gals are staying grounded.
“I am so grateful for the music scene in Denver because it’s filled with so much heart and creativity,” says Anderson. “As a woman, I sometimes struggle while in the spotlight because of how focused our society is on image and beauty. Everywhere I look there are billboards or magazines or TV shows with such unrealistic, unhealthy expectations of women. But I love being a woman in the music scene because it allows me to share the deepest part of my heart with others and forces me to be strong and confident in who I am. There is nothing better than that.”
Esmé, who hopes she’s providing a positive influence, also sees that women are slowly breaking through. “If there’s a woman in a band, she’s likely a peripheral token pretty girl singer or keyboard player,” she says. “But there are so many really talented females out there, and I really do see female musicians rising to prominence in our city. I hope that continues.”
What’s next for Paper Bird? The band is hoping to drop a second album this fall, following its debut Anything Nameless and Joymaking. “We have about seven brand new songs that we won’t play until our CD release show,” says Esmé. “We’re really excited about and proud of this record.”
The Autumn Film
The lovely, Houston-born Tifah Al-Attas, who resembles a hipster version of Tina Fey, leads her young yet seasoned band with powerful piano and heartbreaking vocals. Her fiancé, Reid Phillips, rocks the guitar while Dann Stockton, the band’s programming wizard, ties it all together on the drums. The Boulder-based trio seemed to come out of nowhere in 2007 but now looks poised to become Denver’s next big thing.
Soon after the band formed in August 2006, they released their first album, Safe & Sound with songs about life’s changes, challenges, triumphs, and losses. Since taking a good portion of 2008 and 2009 to tour 14 states in North America, Al-Attas says they’ve learned a lot about who they are as a band and as individuals. “The longer we play together and get to know each other, the more we have sunk into our sound and have been able to identify what kind of music we want to make,” she says.
With Phillips doing all the booking, The Autumn Film has toured independently the entire time, playing with a different band every night, but they have plans to take the next few months to focus on their sophomore release. “There will be fewer shows as we dive into hashing out the songs for the next record and focus on creativity,” says Al-Attas. “The best part about making this record is that we’re giving ourselves the time to do it well. Playing independent music for a living is not something you step into lightly,” she adds. “The road is not glamorous; it’s easy to romanticize the traveling. But we love what we do. Breaking new scenes can be discouraging, but it’s about finding your market and going back continually.”
When it comes to women in music, Al-Attas thinks gender has nothing to do with it. Although she sees more men than women playing in bands and assumes the touring lifestyle seems more appealing to men, she doesn’t see women lacking a place or prominent voice in music.
“Regardless of your gender, there has to be a melody and a lyric that you can sink your teeth into to really connect with whomever is playing it,” she says. “The key to paving a path in music is great songs and hard work. Good music is the best vehicle to break any scene.”
Bela Karoli
Named after the world-famous gymnastics coach who helped shape many Olympic dreams, Bela Karoli is doing a little dream-shaping of their own with a dissident, acoustic vs. electronic sound, combined with lyrics influenced by Emily Dickinson and T.S. Eliot poems.
Five years ago, Julie Davis chose the stand-up bass and started writing songs. With no back-up band to support her, she created her own electronic music. It was this sound that eventually became the backbone of the band she formed in 2007 and named after her childhood icon, Béla Károlyi.
Weaving old-world acoustic with modern electronica, Bela Karoli is made up of Davis on vocals, bass, and soft instruments; Brigid McAuliffe on accordion and vocals; Carrie Beeder on violin and cello; and James Han on organ and keyboard. These three gals and one guy have no limits or musical boundaries and surely don’t care about the group’s gender makeup.
“I don’t really think of myself as a ‘woman musician,’” says Davis. “I’m just playing music because I love it. I’ve found Denver to be an incredible community of great people who are welcoming and accepting.”
Bela Karoli is deeply rooted with their fellow locals, playing and collaborating often with Paper Bird, Gregory Alan Isakov, Ian Cooke, and The Wheel.
After touring the country the past few summers, the band is performing less and focusing more on their second album, which Davis says is more lush and orchestral than their debut album, Furnished Rooms.
“It’s hard to say how it will come out in the end, but the album is already sounding really different, which is exciting,” says Davis. “I’m always ready to try something new.”
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