Anyone who’s constantly on the lookout for interesting new musical acts—whether they hail from along the Front Range or beyond—will be juiced by some recent developments.

  • From Wednesday-Friday, October 1-3 in Denver and Friday-Sunday, October 3-5 in Fort Collins, BandSwap 2014 will be underway. The third annual musical exchange from Colorado music nonprofit SpokesBUZZ features acts from our two cities, along with seven others (Nashville; Chico, CA; Athens, GA; Portland, OR; Lafayette, LA; Madison, WI; and Charleston, SC). The 16 acts from a variety of rock and pop genres have been playing in each other’s towns throughout September and will return here for a five-day celebration of performances, networking events, music video screenings, and educational panels. Check out the SpokesBUZZ website for information about performers and venues.
  • Last weekend, Colorado Public Radio and Colorado Public Television launched their jointly produced new show, “OpenAir Live & Local,” to showcase Front Range music. The inaugural acts included area mainstay Gregory Alan Isakov, Chris Daniels, and others performing in studio. The bands play a song or two as the hosts give viewers and listeners updates on all the new music our community is constantly producing. OpenAir Live & Local can be seen online and on channel 12 (9:30 p.m. Saturdays).
  • This month, the Denver Public Library launched Volume Denver, a collection of local music that library patrons can listen to and download at the library or from their website. So far, the collection includes a modest 40 or so albums from acts including Esme Patterson, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, and Ian Cooke, but the organizers will be adding more Colorado acts as they seek to introduce up-and-coming talent to their patrons.

Follow 5280 editor-at-large Luc Hatlestad on Twitter at @LucHatlestad.