eTown 1991 - present
eTown’s early logo
After the progressive bluegrass quartet Hot Rize disbanded in 1990, bassist and singer Nick Forster hatched the idea of a locally produced radio program mixing live music with conversations about social and environmental education. The first episode of eTown aired on Earth Day, 1991, and the weekly show eventually became nationally syndicated, heard from coast to coast on National Public Radio, as well as public and commercial stations. Taped in front of a live audience, eTown features performances from a long list of diverse musical artists, as well as conversations and relevant information. Performers often travel solo to perform, knowing that the house band, the eTones, is versatile enough to have learned the genre-spanning songs, from Americana, blues and bluegrass to Celtic, Cajun, Afro-Cuban and more. For more than two decades, eTown taped its shows at the Boulder Theater; in 2012, the non-profit organization got its own venue, converting an old church in the heart of downtown Boulder into eTown Hall, a green multipurpose, multimedia center. These archival recordings reveal the scope of the eTown experience.
Brandi Carlile
Before It Breaks
2006
eTown headed to the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre to tape a roadshow featuring Carlile, who offered “Before It Breaks,” an ode to emotional resilience from her then-current album Give Up the Ghost—“Let it bend before it breaks.”
Bill Frisell’s New Quartet
La-La (Means I Love You)
2010
Guitarist Frisell explored a cover of the time-honored Delfonics’ R&B song with three vital members of his ever-evolving ensembles and projects—Greg Leisz on steel guitars, David Piltch on bass and Kenny Wollensen on drums.
Buddy Guy
Look What All You Got
2001
Staring down his 65th birthday, the Chicago blues legend still sounded vigorous as he covered a raw version of “Look What All You Got,” a song written by T-Model Ford, a blues musician who caught a break opening for Guy for a while.
Ben Harper
Mama’s Got a Girlfriend
1994
Harper’s debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World, established him with “Benheads” as a popular folk musician and a master of the Weissenborn, a hollow-neck lap slide guitar designed by Herman Weissenborn in the 1920s.
Bruce Hornsby
Shadow Hand
2009
The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and virtuoso pianist offered a song from the 1998 double album Spirit Trail, his masterful story-telling ability on full display with a lyric about his twin sons’ imaginary childhood companions.
Sonny Landreth
Cherry Ball Blues
2016
Renowned for his inventive techniques, the Louisiana guitar legend often played slide behind and ahead of the cylinder with his left hand. At eTown, he created unique voicings and harmonics on bluesman Skip James’ “Cherry Ball Blues.”
Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loka
Mambo Yo Yo
1999
Congolese singer Lemvo and his band Makina Loca emerged with Mambo Yo Yo, an album blending African and Cuban music. After the title track poured off the eTown stage, it earned him a global following in Latin dance clubs.
Anaïs Mitchell
Wedding Song
2010
“Wedding Song” began on a concept album called Hadestown, a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The accomplished Mitchell eventually became the force behind a Tony-winning stage version of the same name.
Willie Nelson
We Don’t Run
1996
On the road again in support of his bare-bones Spirit release, the country icon was at his understated best during his eTown performance, offering “We Don’t Run,” an acclamation of unfaltering faith and love’s uphill climb.
Randy Newman
The World Isn’t Fair
1999
Following a period during which he focused on film soundtracks, Newman emerged as bitter and satirical as ever with “The World Isn’t Fair,” taking a look at what the world would look like through the eyes of dirty old man Karl Marx.
John Prine
Aimless Love
1996
Prine dipped into his back catalogue for a tale he’d kicked around since the ’70s, noting that “Aimless Love,” about a character afraid “to have his heart touched/Without a glove, reminded him of an old Johnny Cash or Ernest Tubb song.
Nathaniel Rateliff
Nothing to Show For
2013
Denver’s folk balladeer was ready to give up on music after making his recording debut on a major label. He issued Falling Faster Than You Can Run independently, featuring a set of poignant songs including “Nothing to Show For.”
Mavis Staples
Have a Little Faith
2005
Performing a song originally recorded after a hiatus during which she lost her father, Pops Staples, and stopped touring to deal with the illness of her sister, Staples sang with soaring conviction and certainty on the eTown stage.
Pops Staples
Why Am I Treated So Bad
1992
Known as the patriarch of gospel’s Staple Singers, the septuagenarian Staples pursued a solo career, returning to his blues and R&B roots on the album Peace to the Neighborhood and enjoying a spell of global success.
James Taylor
Wichita Lineman
2008
Taylor took the stage during the Democratic National Convention in Denver with the eTones and pianist Henry Butler for a rendition of Jimmy Webb’s beautiful Grammy Hall of Fame song, first released in 1968 by Glen Campbell.
Bob Weir
Only a River
2017
From his solo album, Blue Mountain, inspired by his time working as a ranch hand in Wyoming as a teenager, the Grateful Dead founding member performed “Only a River,” a “cowboy song” written in collaboration with Josh Ritter.
