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Meet Silver and Smoke

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Silver and Smoke.

Silver and Smoke, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Silver and Smoke is a genre-less band in a world full of heavily categorized music. We play whatever strikes a chord with us – excuse the pun. People are always asking what type of music we play, and we’ll either stutter for 8-10 seconds or say something different every time. So we just call it Western Rock.

It all started with high-school friends Ty Bray and Dino Ianni. Both attended Overland High School, which saw their first formation of a “band” called Good News, Apollo. After college (circa 2015), Ty and Dino decided to start a new band pretty much on a whim. I wrote some songs, booked some shows, and pumped out a quick DIY EP called Workhorse in Dino’s mom’s basement. All of this in the span of about three or four months.

Rick Brown would join Silver And Smoke in the summer of 2016 as the first and only bassist the band has ever seen. So essentially a founding member, and our de facto music theory consultant as he majored in music education at the University of Northern Colorado.

After a few iterations with different drummers, another EP titled Marking Time, a tour to the west coast, and another change in drummers, Tanner Boyle joined the band in the spring of 2018. He jumped right onto that drum throne and helped crank out our third, latest, and most refined album 30P (get it, it’s our third EP). We toured the midwest for three weeks after the release, and have been grinding ever since.

We are four guys who are committed, passionate, eager, and sometimes plain goofballs. But that has led us to The Gothic Theatre and a headlining slot at The Bluebird in January 2020. So for all the changes and twists and turns, we are quite proud of where we’re at right now. No signs of slowing down either.

Has it been a smooth road?
Starting a band is easy. Maintaining and growing a band, not so much. The business side of things can be overwhelming. Tax returns, bank accounts, merchandise, budgeting, booking shows, social media, tour planning, web presence, video and photography content, etc. can be a lot to manage.

Then you have personnel. Members joining or leaving always causes a little anxiety of “how are we going to get through it this time?” You have to mesh with the player musically and personally. You have to catch them up to speed on all the material, and just integrate and re-calibrate everything to make sure the addition or departure doesn’t trip up the band/schedule too much.

And after all that, there’s still the music. The creative side is one big, ever-moving and ever-evolving challenge. Trying to write music that’s familiar yet different. Easy enough to tap along to, yet not boring. Stretching your skills, yet not overextending yourself. Finding the time or the right mindset to write and improve on songs can be elusive. Between part-time jobs, family, personal lives, four unique schedules, finding the time can be difficult. But when it does happen, we are as productive as possible. We have to be.

We’d love to hear more about your music.
Silver and Smoke is a four-piece rock/blues/soul/whatever-we-feel-like-playing band in Denver, Colorado. Founded in mid-2015, Silver And Smoke has released three albums, played shows across the country, and are blazing a trail in a genre we made up called Western Rock. Our music has seen airplay on radio stations throughout the US and Canada, Our latest album, 30P, was voted Best Colorado Release 2018 on Chris K’s Colorado Playlist.

It sounds a bit elementary, but we are most proud of how far we’ve come since we started. Some bands form and are immediate sensations. We went through some growing pains and developments, but we are more focused, driven, and stronger for having gone through all of that. We saw and still somewhat see ourselves as underdogs. Everyone under the Denver sun seems to be in a band, We were one of those bands. But a few years in, our name is still out there and we are the most active we’ve ever been. So it just proves that keeping your head down and putting in the work, you will see results. The key is momentum. Build it, and keep it.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The Colorado music scene – and specifically the Denver music scene – is arguably as active and vibrant as its ever been. Bands are forming by the day. Venues are opening (or more commonly, changing hands) by the year. There’s something floating around that Denver has the most venues per capita or something. We didn’t check our sources, but you can definitely see how bustling the music scene is in Denver.

It’s somewhat of a double-edged sword. More bands means more venues, a bigger embrace for live/local music, and a highly active scene. But in an age where everyone’s entertainment dollar is being lobbied by more sources than ever, carving out an audience and maintaining relevance is a real concern for a band just getting started. There is significant competition not only within the music scene but across all mediums of entertainment. In turn, making a living out of this business is not easy. But that’s most likely the case for anyone searching/stumbling for a career in music.

Proudest Moment:

Stepping onto the stage of The Gothic Theatre in August was a moment none of us will forget. The lights were low as the contagious cheers grew louder when people started to realize that the show was starting. And those first notes – BAM! That was a ride we are probably the most proud of. It’s already led to some great opportunities and who knows where it goes from there.

None of us had played that venue before, but we’ve seen some of our favorite artists play there. So it was quite a moment to step foot on a stage that some of our musical heroes have graced.

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Image Credit:
Jura Daubenspeck
Axel Holm

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