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kmccormi

What is one of your favorite/most magical musical experiences?

One of the most magical music moments for me was this past summer, seeing My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks Ampitheater. First and foremost, they’re just a fantastic live band who change up every show they perform, and to see them on a balmy summer night outside with thousands of stars shining brightly overhead was just such a visceral, emotional, beautiful experience. But to add onto that, I had made some of the most amazing new friends ever, and we had all somehow found each other working at the same place in Boulder. I felt like we were all cogs moving around in our own little circles, and that summer all of our cogs perfectly aligned - this group of friends and I had some of the most amazing hiking, climbing, and camping adventures all over the peaks of Colorado, in Moab, UT, and elsewhere, and My Morning Jacket was often the soundtrack to those long drives to trailheads or camping spots. And just a few days after the My Morning Jacket show, all of our cogs would move out of alignment on their own little tracks with my best friend moving onto a new city, and the others to soon follow. So to see MMJ play on this beautiful night with that group of friends still intact made me feel blissfully “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” to name the one particular My Morning Jacket songs that meant the most to me that summer.

If you had to pick a favorite artist(s) who would it be? (tough one I know)

The favorite artists question is always such a hard one to answer, especially since I do love discovering music and have new but temporary favorites all the time. I’d say some of my lifelong favorites are classics, that I’d attribute to my dad. He has awesome taste in music and definitely gave me mine, too. So the forever favorties would be Van Morrison, Cat Stevens, Nirvana, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Jeff Buckley. Some newer favorites from the current generation of music that have proved lasting power would be Bon Iver and My Morning Jacket.

If you had to share one artist right now who would it be? Why?

Oh man, a single artist to share is hard. But I guess I’d have say Pickwick. I’ve been a champion and a fan since stumbling across them on Bandcamp nearly a year ago, probably thanks to exfm or one of the many music blogs I follow. I finally got to see them in Denver a few weeks ago, and brought a few friends along who became fans, too. They’ve got this ability to make an old, super-soulful, R&B rock blend sound modern and new. And man, does the lead singer have one hell of a set of pipes. Check out the crowd favorite Hacienda Motel — it won’t leave your head all day. And because I can never seem to answer a question straight, I’m going to answer with two artists instead of one, especially because I’m feeling all summery as of late. Tanlines are probably a little more well known than Pickwick, but they just released their new album Mixed Emotions and I have a feeling that it’ll be my soundtrack to summer if I don’t overplay it too much before summer even officially hits. Their tunes are poppy and tropical, and go down smoother than a pina colada. Check out their first single, Brothers for a delicious summery taste.

What genres of music are you into most?

I don’t think I have a favorite genre. I love the old classics and timeless rock, but I also love new indie trends, too. But all the newer bands I don’t stop playing have fallen into pretty much two solid categories. The first is indie folk, with bands like Dawes, Delta Spirit, Trampled by Turtles, Lambchop, A.A. Bondy, Damien Jurado, The Barr Brothers, Bahamas, The Cave Singers, Deer Tick, The Head and the Heart - I could go on and on. Basically everybody and anybody that woud play at Newport Folk Festival. The second is chillwave indie pop. I don’t know if that’s the best way to describe it; I’m terrible with lumping things into genres. But to me, it includes bands like I Break Horses (who I’m excited to see open for M83), Washed Out, Youth Lagoon, Active Child, dems, Oliver Tank, Porcelain Raft, Zola Jesus, etc.

Anything else music related, hobby related, or whatever related you’d like to share?

The last thing I’d like to share is actually music-related, too. I’ve been sititng on an idea for a Spotify app for awhile, but as an advertising copywriter, I don’t know how to code, nor do I have the funds to hire a developer and/or designer. So if there’s anyone out there who loves music as much as I do and feels up to designing the UX or coding the app for zero dollars, shoot me a note!

Recently Loved Tracks from kmccormi:

And be sure to check out her blog Ventures In The Slipstream. Great stuff there. Thanks much Kelly!

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