If you’re lucky enough to be spending this Old Year’s/New Year’s week in Denver, your options for live music . Electronic, country, jam bands—especially, always, jam bands — Denver has you covered.
A. Tom Collins falls out of the range of those genres and into what we’d call a show-goer’s show. In the vein of (albeit less psychedelically unhinged), the band’s pounding piano, percussion, brass and drunken scream-along lyrics can burn a cathartic high-water mark into any Wednesday night.
That goes double if that Wednesday night happens to be New Year’s Eve. We checked in with frontman Aaron Collins ahead of the band’s two-night stand at the Oriental Theatre to talk end-of-the-year shows and the follow up to 2013’s “Stick and Poke.”
Ring out 2014 with A. Tom Collins on the 30th and 31st at the Oriental Theatre. Tickets are available .
What do you have planned for the NYE shows?
We have some stuff up our sleeves. We’ll be playing with Ned Garthe and Faceman on the 30th and Kitty Crimes and Ned Garthe on the 31st. We’re doing quite a bit of decorating to the Oriental. Itap great having shows there, because everyone from the sound guys to the manager are really helpful and let us do what we want.
There’s a lot of stuff up in the air. Itap going to be forest themed, probably. Itap going to be a spectacle for sure. We’re going to have a few guests on stage to do some songs with us, and we’re going to be performing five songs from our new album that we’ve never played live before.
What’s the status of the new album?
We’re writing it right now. We’re about 75 percent done with it.
What does it sound like?
Itap in the same vein as our older music. Itap a little darker and a little more syncopated. We’re calling it meets Wu Tang Clan. Thatap the goal, thatap what we’re shooting for.
That’s an interesting hook. Any release date set in stone?
We’re going to start recording right after the holidays and try to have it all done by spring. So hopefully we’ll have it out by the summer. We’re really excited to get the new one out. I think our sound has developed a lot from “Stick and Poke.”
And then another big tour behind that?
There’s nothing on the books yet, but we’ll definitely be going out supporting it. Trying to get to Europe again next year and do a couple festivals too. Will probably make another SXSW run as well.
“Stick and Poke” had some cool —any shoots in the works for the new album?
I’m hoping to have quite a few music videos for it. I’m taking a different approach to it and am giving away the early mixes to some friends who are video artists and letting them do whatever they want to do. Hopefully by the time the album’s done, we’ll have three or four videos done to come out alongside the album.
Do you like playing New Year’s, or would you prefer to be off the clock, so to speak?
I do like playing New Year’s. Itap fun to have something to do thatap ours. New Year’s can be anticlimactic sometimes, but if you get the right group of people together itap great.
I’m really excited about this year. The music going to be amazing, and the actual group of people in the bands are just some of my favorite people in Denver, so it’ll be a good party, even if there wasn’t any music.
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Dylan Owens is Reverb’s all-purpose news blogger and album reviewer. You can read more from him on , or the comment sections of WORLDSTARHIPHOP.
