Indie 102.3 Sessions

Fantastic Negrito is the performing moniker of blues musician Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz. Since winning NPR Music's first Tiny Desk Contest in 2015, he's found widespread acclaim. Fantastic Negrito's most recent album, Please Don't Be Dead, won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album this year. Fantastic Negrito and his band stopped into our studio before a show at the Blueb...

Dessa has visited our studio a few times over the years, though her last musical performance at CPR was in 2013.

The Beeves hail from the small town of Erie, Colorado, and got their start busking on the streets of nearby Boulder. The members of the garage rock quartet released their debut album, "Adam & Beeve," earlier this year. The band stopped into our studio to play some songs from the record and chat with Bruce Trujillo.

Sean Frederick wrote, recorded and produced all the music on I'd Waste All My Time On You, his debut album as Good Elastics. Backed by a drummer, the Denver musician recently shared some of the atmospheric indie rock from that record in our performance studio. He also sat down for a chat with Alisha Sweeney.

Turvy Organ draws inspiration from the wave of great indie rock bands of the 2000s. Formed in Austin, the band now calls Denver home. The quartet released the EP The Ghost at the Feast earlier this year. Turvy Organ stopped in to play some music from the record and chat with Jeremy Petersen.

Shakey Graves -- the performing moniker of singer-songwriter Alejandro Rose-Garcia -- makes music with a rollicking, Americana-tinged take on life and love. We welcomed him back into our performance studio before a headlining show at Red Rocks. He and his band played four songs from last year's Can't Wake Up album and chatted with Alisha Sweeney.

The Greeley-based trio Trash Cat has a knack for breezy indie pop melodies and charmingly eccentric lyrics. The band, whom we featured as one of our Local 303 artists last month, stopped by our studio to play a few songs from the debut album, "Welcome to Trash City," and chat with Bruce Trujillo.

Pure Bathing Culture released its third album, "Night Pass," earlier this year. The Portland indie rock band with a dreamy, oceanic sound returned to our studio to share a few songs from the new record and chat with Jeremy Petersen.

Last month Angie McMahon released her debut album, "Salt," after years of performing in her home country of Australia. The singer-songwriter recently stopped into our studio to play stripped-down versions of three songs from the album.

Kiltro captivated us at last year's Underground Music Showcase when the band played one of our porch sessions. Led by Chilean-American artist Chris Bowers-Castillo, the Denver band makes loop-based songs influenced by folk, Latin, rock and electronic music. Kiltro will release its debut album, "Creatures of Habit," next month and play an album release show July 6 at Denver's La...

Instant Empire took a unique approach to putting out new music last year. The Denver indie rock band wrote, recorded and released one new song each month of 2018. Now, the band members have compiled those tracks into the new album "Cathedrals." Instant Empire made its fourth visit to the CPR Performance Studio last month. The band members played four songs and spoke with Jeremy Petersen...

Flaural last visited us in 2017 with ambitions for a debut album. The Denver rock quartet's plan took a bit longer than anticipated, but after multiple U.S. tours and recording sessions, it released the aptly-titled "Postponement" last month. The album features the layered guitar and synth sound that has won the band praise from publications like Stereogum. Flaural returned to play...

Extra Gold released its debut album, "High & Lonesome," late last year. Evan Holm fronts the Denver country-western band and draws on his experiences living in Kansas City and across Colorado on the record's eight tracks. Extra Gold stopped into the CPR Performance Studio to play four songs from "High & Lonesome." Holm also spoke with Alisha Sweeney about how the...

Heavy Diamond Ring is a new project from Sarah Anderson and Paul DeHaven, founders of the Colorado folk band Paper Bird. The band finds the musicians continuing their 12 year collaboration after Paper Bird's split in 2017. Heavy Diamond Ring celebrates the release of its debut album with a June 7 show at Denver's Larimer Lounge, presented by OpenAir. Heavy Diamond Ring stopped into the C...

Knuckle Pups haven't been around long, but the band is already making waves beyond the Colorado music scene. Featuring former members of Denver band Mega Gem, the indie pop quintet released its debut EP "San Panino," last year. A gig at the Treefort Music Festival in Boise, Idaho, followed a few months later. Knuckle Pups stopped into our studio last week to play four songs. The mem...

Black Belt Eagle Scout's "Mother of My Children" is the remarkable indie rock debut album from the Portland, Ore., band. At the time of its recording, Black Belt Eagle Scout was just one person: singer-songwriter Katherine Paul, who played every instrument on the album. She originally released it in 2017, and it soon caught the attention of renowned indie label Saddle Creek, who re-...

Denver band iZCALLi recently released its fifth studio album, "Casa de Papel." Shortly before the album's release show, the Latin psych-rock band made its third appearance in our performance studio. iZCALLi played four songs from the new record. The members also spoke with Bruce Trujillo about consistently writing new music to "stay fresh," working with producer Tyler Imbr...

Roger Sellers has made electronic music for several years, first under his own name and currently as Bayonne. The Austin, Texas, musician released his sophomore Bayonne album, "Drastic Measures," earlier this year. The record finds Sellers singing about life on the road as a touring musician while adding pop-inspired choruses into his loop-based music. Bayonne stopped into the CPR Perfor...

Aly Spaltro released "Even in the Tremor," her third album as Lady Lamb, earlier this month. The New York-based singer-songwriter takes plenty of musical twists and turns in her music, shifting from charming and lively pop to contemplative folk at a moment's notice. The connecting thread is Spaltro's poetic and reflective lyrics. Spaltro visited our studio to play four songs fr...

The Copper Children formed in 2015 when frontman Zea Stallings booked a performance at the Gothic Theatre and needed a band to back him. Since then the Denver group has released three albums that blend jam, folk and psychedelic rock, the most recent of which is "Speaking in Spirits." The Copper Children visited the CPR Performance Studio before an album release show at Denver's Lari...

The members of Oko Tygra shared their hypnotic, '80s-influenced dream pop in our studio four years ago. Since then the Denver quartet -- led by singer and guitarist Joshua Novak -- has remained relatively quiet, playing intermittent local shows and working on new music. The band is back in the local spotlight this month with the release of its debut album, "Assistoma." Oko Tygra rec...

Daniel Rodriguez has been a guest in our studio several times as a member of Colorado folk band Elephant Revival. That band went on hiatus last year, but its members remain busy. Guitarist Rodriguez has done so by recording his debut solo EP, "Your Heart, The Stars, The Milky Way," which he released earlier this year. Rodriguez returned to the CPR Performance Studio to play four songs fr...

We first welcomed Whiskey Autumn into our studio in 2016 after catching wind of their submission to that year's Tiny Desk Contest from NPR Music. Three years later, the Denver band brought their eclectic indie pop back into our studio just before releasing the new album "Modern Doubt." Whiskey Autumn played four songs from the new record and chatted with Bruce Trujillo about the pol...

J.S. Ondara's humble musical beginning is a central theme of his debut album, "Tales of America." The singer-songwriter grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, with little opportunity to hear or play music outside of listening to his parents' small radio. After moving to Minneapolis, Ondara cut his teeth in that city's music scene before gaining a national spotlight for his poetic folk...

Hop Along began as songwriter Frances Quinlan's solo acoustic project, but has since evolved to a full band signed to the Saddle Creek indie label. The Philadelphia quartet self-produced its third album, "Bark Your Head Off, Dog," which features an eclectic sound influenced by folk, pop, punk and classical music. But it's Quinlan's effervescent vocal delivery of her though...