Shortly after the release of Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird and his band (including electronic artist and percussionist Martin Dosh) made their way into our studios for a live performance on the Afternoon Sound Alternative. Stephen Whitehead spoke with Andrew about his songwriting style, inspiration, and extraordinary whistling talent. The set ended with a rare tune, Dear Dirty, from his Fingerlings 3 release.

Local Gold: Local Gold features some of the amazing talent right here in Colorado. Over the years we've had the good fortune to have regular visits from Esmé Patterson. Whether she is joined with her friends in Paper Bird or sharing material from her solo projects, it is always a treat to have her on our airwaves. Her latest visit features material from her second solo album Woman to Woman.

One of Canada's finest musicians, Afie Jurvanen, is best known by his stage name Bahamas. Following the release of his stunning second album Barchords in Spring of 2012, we obsessed over his tour schedule hoping for a date that might land him somewhere near Denver. Luckily one popped up that Fall and Afie and his back up singers agreed to take time out of their schedule to share a few tunes with us.

Local Gold: One fine Spring Sunday morning, Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore made their way up to our studios to perform selections from their expansive discography and an unrecorded cover of a Dorothy Love Coates tune. We were excited to have them back live in our performance space.

Volker Bertelmann records under the name Hauschka. His expansive and delicate material orbits a universe centered by the prepared piano. We were lucky enough to spend some time with him during a visit to our Boulder studio in the Fall of 2007. Volker caught up with Marshall Demeranville and Kate Lesta for a live performance and interview. Our studio space has a dilapidated upright Baldwin piano that slumps with bad musical posture in the corner of the room... Volker loved it! He used it to make something uniquely Hauschka.

Local Gold: Madame Andrews passed away peacefully on Monday March 24th 2014. She was a Gospel legend who made Colorado her home. We were lucky to have her with us as a vibrant member of our musical community. She shared the message of Gospel music through her own performances and through the KGNU show she created over three decades ago - The Gospel Chime Hour.

DJ Olive was the headliner at our 2009 Fundraising concert called Signal Strength. Before the event he stopped by the studios for a live set and interview. DJ Olive is an incredible selector and producer with a unique and abstract approach to dance music. His live sets are remarkable and at the Signal Strength fundraiser the room was electric as his set unfolded. Enjoy an archive of the afternoon broadcast.

Local Gold: Patrick Dethlefs & Eye and the Arrow stopped by for a live studio session on the Morning Sound Alternative with 99. When Patrick won studio time for $10 at a silent auction he asked Eye and the Arrow if they would be his band for the recording session. They had a different idea, "How about we give you $5 and we do a split EP?" - they still owe Patrick $5 but the resulting EP was the first showcase of a magical musical collaboration.

Around the time of the release of The Slew's 100% album, Kid Koala made his way into our Denver studio for an interview and DJ set on three turntables. Kid Koala scratched up a batch of improvised versions of Skanky Panky, Robbing Banks (Doin' Time), and Audrey Hepburn's 1961 take on Moon River. In between, he covered topics ranging from his graphic novels to his ambitious puppet theater project, as well as how he has pioneered aspects of implementing the turntable as a true musical instrument.