It's around 6 or 7 a.m. when Green Day's tour bus pulls into its allotted parking space at Adam's County Fairgrounds, and while the band slumbers, fate has chosen another winner of the lug nut lottery. [There are] lug nuts on the bus, front wheel, by the door, we numbered ‘em. Everyone puts in a dollar the night before and they pick numbers out of the hat, and when we park for the gig, whatever one is 12:00, at the top, is the winning number. The winner gets nine bucks. This is how Tré Cool, drummer for Green Day, begins his day. Rather normal considering what lies ahead.

Tré and his bandmates Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar) and Mike Dirst (bass, background vocals) have been on the road since June 22, trekking across the country with 28 other bands, including Papa Roach, Long Beach Dub Allstars, The Lunachicks, Suicide Machines and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. How's it going? Well, one would expect with this being a heavy, punk-oriented tour that the bruises covering a good portion of Tré's body would come from rum-bles going on backstage. Not according to Tré: We didn't know what to expect, you know. A bunch of testosterone, a bunch of tough guys, bigger than me … but everybody just hangs out. It's like a clusterfuck backstage, so everyone gets along. It's kind of weird. We don't talk shit about people, you know, we just play our show and let that speak for us.

Which might be the reason everyone gets along with them. Not only does Green Day have one of the rowdiest mosh pits on the tour, but Tré demolishes the set, leaving his drum kit in flames at the end of each show. I've breathed a lot of smoke on this tour … [but today I] breathed the oxygen and it chilled me out. The one who really is in desperate need of oxygen is Kenny Butler, who is all black with soot. He is the hardest working drum tech in rock and roll, def-initely, said Tré. He has to put out the fire. He has to cool off all the drums, find out what is salvageable, salvage it.

While Kenny is successful at salvaging drum fragments, Green Day has shown that they are successful at resurrecting their touring career and dormant fan base. They return to the road after a two-year hiatus. tearing into such old crowd favorites as Basket Case, Jaded, Longview, Welcome to Paradise and Geek Stink Breath.

It's awesome, said Tré. It's like every show has been our show, you know. The first couple of shows were rusty I think it was muscle memory we hadn't even played those songs for a long time and so it's like, we were just getting back into it. It was kind of hard … three shows later though it was all good. Their fans were anything but rusty; even with the sweltering heat they were pressing forward into the barricade and dropping so many crowd surfers over the edge that at times it was hard for security to keep up.

While on their break from touring, Green Day reverted to semi-normal lives. Individually, they spent time with family and friends and collectively they spent time practicing and recording their sixth album, Warning, to be released October 3. During those same 24 months, Tré managed to meet the princess of his dreams, get engaged and get married March 4 in San Francisco. It's still like a honeymoon, but I'm on tour so … she's gonna come out in Philly.

What lies ahead for Green Day? They hop off the Warped Tour in Orlando to fly to Japan for a previous engagement, then back for some stadium shows in Dallas and Houston with Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys and Busta Rhymes. After all that comes the release of Warning. If their performance on the Warped Tour is any indication of what lies ahead for Green Day, they are in prime form, rested, ready and poised to stage dive on the world, again.

My best years are ahead of me, asserts Tré. I'm just getting over my stupid years … well, maybe not getting over it. Are they settling down? Are the years of trashing hotel rooms over? No, I didn't say that … I've trashed my body, eight drum sets and some stuff I don't want to get caught for, so….

One mention of the word ‘anthrax' and what comes to mind for most people is one of the world's deadliest bacterial agents. Symptoms of the bacterial agent include organ failure, flesh disintegration, pain and, ultimately, death. I'm sure that sitting in the sun for three hours on one of the hottest days of the summer is better than that, but it didn't feel like it. As is often the case in rock and roll, someone spaced out the guy coming to interview the band. While Anthrax's publicist had approved the interview, no one had taught certain event staff how to read.

By the time I reached the backstage area, I was very ready to get on with this interview. Once again, I had to wait while event staff confirmed that I was who I was and not some obsessed lunatic. Finally Philo, of Blister66 and was working there, located Anthrax's tour manager for me and I was in. (Thanks Philo, you are the man.) Walking through all the winding hallways at Red Rocks was a treat. This venue is beautiful both inside and out. Finally, I was outside the Anthrax dressing room, but they weren't ready for me, so I waited out on what has to be the most awesome stage in the world. Standing two feet from me was Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, and all I could think was, Hell yeah, this rules. Then Mustaine spoke to some fans who had backstage passes, and all I could think was, What an asshole this guy is. He treated these people like he would rather be anywhere else in the world. I didn't even say hello to him. After the afternoon that I had, was afraid I would kick his ass if he was rude to me. Finally, a voice rang out from atop the stairs, Hey bro, they're ready for you.

John Bush, frontman of Anthrax, walked over to me and said, Nice to meet you, you're with me, let's go in here. We stepped into a seperate room away from the others and began to rap.

I love to talk so I usually do the interviews, John said. Being a vocalist, I was thrilled that it was him I was interviewing. This guy, for lack of a better term, was a cool motherfucker. It was like having a conversation with an old friend.

He explained to me how the Maximum Rock Tour with Motley Crüe came about. Having a connection with the Crüe through Beyond Records, Anthrax was approached for the tour. Considering that the other two bands on the bill would be Megadeth and Motley Crüe, it was a no-brainer and they took the tour. They thought it would be a great tour to get on and support their greatest hits record Return of the Killer A's.

We were initially supposed to do a tour for this album with the original Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna, but it fell through, said John. Wanting the dirt, I asked what happened, but he didn't have much to say about it other than it was all messed up. He did say that other members of the band would have an opinion on it, which led me to believe that personal differences were involved.

Being summer time we wanted to get out and play, said John, and let eveyone know that Anthrax is still here. For the shows on the Maximum Rock tour, Anthrax is playing an energy-packed 40-minute set. On the days they have off, they are headlining their own shows.

We figure if we are out on the road already we might as well be playing and making money, John said. Besides, it allows us the chance to play a lot more of our material. We are basically going with ten days on and one day off right now. The day off is usually spent resting the body and the voice. My throat feels pretty good today, but I'm a little hoarse.

The whole altitude thing up here does a number on you psychologically, he continued. I don't think that it affects me but it is always on your mind. In the music industry, the altitude in Colorado is almost a legendary myth to singers. The crew loading our gear in has it rough. They've been bitching all afternoon about the trek up the hill to the stage. Apparently getting gear to the stage at Red Rocks is just as difficult as picking a press pass from the Will Call.

Being one week into the Maximum Rock Tour, which lasts two-and-a-half months, Anthrax will be on the road for a while. Whenever time allows, John gets together with his old band, Armored Saint. Guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Banate also have another band, S.O.D. Both John and his bandmates have made albums recently with their side projects. John will be doing a month-long tour in Europe with Armored Saint as soon as the tour with the Crüe winds down.

The way I see it, said John, I'm rocking, having a few drinks with my friends, and making a little money singing. To be honest, that is all I've ever wanted.

Upon re-entering the main dressing room, I see bassist Frank Bello stretching and complaining of a very sore leg. I have a beer, get some autographs, and head to the front of the stage for the show. When Anthrax hit the stage, the whole place came alive. This is an awesome live band. Their uncontrolled energy and powerful music make the experience well worth it. Showing no signs of a bad leg, Frank Bello was getting down playing the crowd while the rest of the band bounced all over the stage. John Bush ran into the crowd a few times, making the fans crazy while the event staff was freaking out. Playing favorites such as One More, Caught in the Mosh, Only, and Bring the Noise, Anthrax kicked the crowd's ass.

There are rock and roll dicks like Dave Mustaine and then there are good guys like Anthrax. Those guys aren't anti-social and they don't revolve around themselves. Anthrax is a disease I can't wait to catch again.

Banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and bass. No amplifiers, no extended jams. Songs about relationships, families, the beauty of nature, loss, and hardship. An American music passed down through the music industry for almost 70 years. Bluegrass it is, and it's making a comeback.

Technically, bluegrass probably never went away. This style of music has been performed, studied, and loved all over this country since it was first labeled and popularized in the late ‘30's. Interestingly enough, sales of bluegrass music in the Denver area have been on the rise over the past year. Summer outdoor bluegrass festivals, such as Telluride and RockyGrass, sell out. The mandolin is popping up everywhere from Red Rocks to Red Fish. Bluegrass is gaining more popularity, and turning on younger and younger listeners. The strange thing is, most people can't tell you what bluegrass music is.

Maybe we have good reason for the ambiguity. Among those on the bill at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival last month were Bruce Hornsby, Susan Tedeschi, Michelle Shocked, and Leftover Salmon. All are extremely talented musicians, but their recordings are far, far away from the bluegrass section in the your neighborhood record store. A good explanation lies within overlapping chains of events.

TRADITION AND PROGRESSION

First, two different strains of bluegrass can be defined traditional and progressive. Traditional consists of the five instruments mentioned above. It stays very close to the acoustic presentation that Bill Monroe pop- ularized in 1939 at the Grand Ole Opry. It carries the voice of American folk music born out of the mountain families of Appalachia.

Roots of traditional bluegrass music trace back to the British Isles, especially the influence of the Scots-Irish. Their immigration from the Scottish lowlands to the relatively isolated areas of the Appalachian Mountains only served to ingrain their musical style even deeper. The introduction of the African-invented banjo also carried with it a strong gospel element. Some of the strongest traditional bluegrass songs are gospel songs, like I'll Fly Away.

The songwriting for traditional bluegrass music aims to tell a story. Generally, songs are short and busy. Each instrument adds a layer of sound. The unvarying tempo is also a trademark. Most vocalists are men singing in a higher register. Even though most bluegrass musicians are astounding players, the song and its story remain most important.

Progressive bluegrass, or new grass, is the natural blending of one American music with other stylistic developments. Some bluegrass performers take a straight blues angle. Others use jazz or rock elements, such as an electric bass, a drum kit, or a keyboard. More soloing and virtuosic treatment of the instruments is typical. Bands like Hot Rize, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and Runaway Truck Ramp are good examples of successful progressive creativity.

So the two teams seem to be simultaneously igniting campfires beneath all sorts of people these days. Paul D. at Twist and Shout Records has noticed a definite increase in the popularity and sales of blue- grass. Twist and Shout has long been known as a great supporter of bluegrass and other types of folk music, but Paul senses that the motivation stems from a source other than their marketing team. I think we're finally seeing the aftermath of the death of Jerry Garcia.

This may not be that big a stretch. The so-called jam band circuit is thriving. It's filled with acts, local and national, such as Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Phil and Friends, Phish, moe., Leftover Salmon, and Jazz Mandolin Project. Denver musicheads refer to it as the Boulder sound. Many bands undoubtedly take their lead from the Grateful Dead.

And, sure, Jerry was in a jug band before he moved on over to Haight Street. David Grisman, a mandolin player, enjoyed successful stints with the Grateful Dead, and now is prominently featured at bluegrass festivals. So that's it? The circle remains unbroken? Sort of.

Traditional bluegrass music embraces a love of the outdoors, a high degree of musical skill, the creation of a musical community, and a pure love of keeping the sound alive. These humble traits are not lost to the post-Dead crowd, and like it or not, there has been some cross over.

The players in these jam bands are phenomenally talented, says Paul D. They incorporate all the skill and layering and excitement of traditional bluegrass. But simply picking up a mandolin doesn't cut it. Traditional bluegrass is about three-minute songwriting, not 20 minute mandolin solos.

Caught in the middle of this confusion is the festival circuit. RockyGrass (which takes place in Lyons, Colorado) runs July 28-30. RockyGrass, like Telluride or the Folks Festival, tries to incorporate music that many different people will like. The lines between traditional and progressive don't mean as much here.

The traditional guys like Peter Rowan or Del McCury are getting audiences of younger and newer fans, claims Paul D. The hope is that the traditional will come back as the new instrumentalists get people hooked on the sound. The old stuff is where it all started from.

THE STANLEYTONES

One local band is taking the traditional approach to keep bluegrass thriving. Sam Cohen of The Stanleytones loves the fact that he can play bluegrass in the original American tradition. These people were pioneers and an important part of our history. We want to preserve that sound and expose people to the world where this music came from.

The Stanleytones recreate the model of the first bluegrass bands. This five-man ensemble has Cohen on mandolin and vocals, Jim Bertolin on banjo, Mark Weeg on violin (fiddle), Gary Dark on guitar, and Jon Mitchell on bass. While they take pride in what they do and do it well, The Stanleytones are not disturbed or concerned about all of the tangent styles of music being crowded into the bluegrass tent.

I think it's great that people add their own creativity to the original style, said Cohen, and they do some great stuff. It's hard to find a good label for the progressive styles, and I wouldn't say that they're ‘bluegrass' exactly, but most of it is still pretty good.

The high-energy sound of The Stanleytones demonstrates the unique sound of bluegrass music as it was recorded in the ‘40's and ‘50's. Songs like Uncle Pen and Blue Moon in Kentucky were written by Bill Monroe, and are considered standards in the repertoire. Others have great titles, like Stone Walls and Steel Bars, or Nine Pound Hammer, and Down Yonder, which throw the listener into a world that, physically speaking, doesn't exist anymore.

This is the music of a specific place and a specific time. Like all good music, it reflects a people and is a part of American history, reflects Cohen. The music of artists like Doc Watson, Ricky Scaggs, Earl Scruggs, and Ralph Stanley keep this tradition alive.

After a few mysteries about if and where the band would play, Faith and the Muse did make it to Denver on Tuesday July 11. Their show, held at Rock Island, but organized and promoted by Club Onyx, was part of their Evidence of America tour, the first U.S. tour since they started their own label, The Mercyground.

Faith and the Muse started out in ‘93 after William Faith (formerly of Christian Death, Shadow Project and Mephisto Walz) and Monica Richards (formerly of Strange Boutique) met each other when their bands played a show together in Virginia. They decided to start a project that would take music to new extremes and became an instant success.

Emergence and Siren Project, two local bands, opened. Because of the extreme heat inside the club, it wasn't very rewarding for these two bands though. People seemed to want to get some air before Faith and the Muse started, so they didn't get all that much attention.

The show started late, after 11 p.m., and by that time everyone was ready for them to start. They started out with Scars Flown Proud, a beautiful song from their latest CD Evidence of Heaven. The band played numerous songs from all their albums. All the audiences favorites came by, including their club hit Sparks. They dedicated this song to Sarah Chamberlain, a Colorado native and good friend of the band.

For the tour, Faith and the Muse had a live band with them. This marvelous band contains various established artists, including Stevyn Grey (formerly of Mephisto Walz, Shadow Project and Christian Death) on drums and Kenton Holmes (of Gitane DeMone and formerly playing with Rozz Williams) on guitar and keyboards.

Despite the extreme heat inside the building, and the small stage, Faith and the Muse gave an excellent show. The performance was very theatrical and inspiring. The audience seemed to even forget about the temperature and started dancing. The interaction between the band and the crowd was great, including comments from Monica and William about the looks of their band members. Don't you think Bryan is a sexy man? William asked the audience, after Monica made a comment about Kenton's derriere.

The band surely seemed to have as much fun here in Denver as the Denverites had seeing this wonderful band again. After the show the band came out to talk to the audience, sign CDs and books and just hang out with their fans who they hadn't seen since the last show about a year ago. Onyx and Rock Island did an great job working together on this show and getting a wonderful band back to Denver. Let's hope the cooperation continues so we can see many more shows like this in our city.

Sentenced to Life is the title of the new Rocket Ajax CD, and from the sound of it these guys are sentenced to a life of success. Rocket Ajax is a Denver-based band in the vien of Nine Inch Nails meets Tool, but not really. This band really doesn't sound like anyone, and that is perhaps their biggest asset. Anyone who listens to the radio has surely heard of Rocket Ajax. If there is any big show, you can bet these guys will be close to it. Guitarist Todd Schlafer explained, KBPI has taken a lik-ing to us. They've been real good to us, hooking us up with great shows. We feel really fortunate to have gotten the opportunities we have.

While Rocket Ajax has had a lot of good opportunities, one only has to listen to them to know why. This is a great band. We've all heard the bullshit that this town is political as far as music goes, and it's true. It is a blessing to all Denver bands looking for a record deal that Rocket Ajax has gotten their shots. These guys have the potential to bring a lot of atttention to the Denver music scene. Their record was produced by the man Kirby Orrick and is as good as anything on the rack in any music store.

We'd like to find good management that would work their asses off for us, said drummer Craig Glisson. Todd does the business stuff now and he does great, but a real management team would surely help. We've just promoted ourselves as much as we can, said vocalist Dan Miller. We sold quite a few CDs and we are planning dates in the midwest in late August.

Playing on the road is so much fun, said Bassist Miles Marlin. Performing in front of strangers is a great rush because you really see where you stand as a band. Without travelling it is really hard for any band to reach their goals.

Right on to Latin sensations Colemesis on climbing the ladder in Denver at a frightening pace. In what seems like very little time, the Latin power groove trio has reached the top of Denver music fans' lists. They have already begun to headline Herman's Hideaway on the weekends. While this band has been in Denver for three years, the current lineup has only been together for a few months. With new drummer Rodrigo, these guys have written an entirely new set of tunes. I have never seen a band that can bounce back like these guys their work ethic is second to none. Check them out live Friday July 28 at Herman's Hideaway.

Remember when K-tel used to sell compilation albums on TV? If not, you still see them being sold on var-ious channels with a wide range of artists trying to hang on to whatever kind of glory they had by being heard once again. That seems to be the main theme to these compilation discs anymore. On one hand you have rap CDs with the likes of Biz Markee or Young MC and all those other has-been rappers of yesteryear. One the other hand, you have those tortuous ‘80's ballads by bands like White Lion, Poison and cheesers like Warrant. Who the hell buys these pieces of crap anyway? If you can remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the song Every Rose Has It's Thorn by Poison, and are trying to recapture the backseat pounding that was going on, you need two things serious counseling and probably a much bigger back seat by now.

That is why I like the disc pushed my way by Roadrunner Records, MTV Return of the Rock. It has some of the most current bands and singles on it, more than any other comp CD. Nineteen of them to be exact, and all of which are the hottest tunes that get radio spin time. Have you ever heard a song on the radio, thought that it kicked ass and then rushed out to buy the CD only to be disappointed to find that the rest of the disc can't keep up with the single? Well, this CD will solve any problems with having to press the repeat button on your player to keep the other songs at bay.

With the likes of Kid Rock busting out a groove on track number one with Fuck That, Slipknot keeps it going with Spit it Out. Tommy Lee's band Methods of Mayhem hammer out Crash. The band and track listing can be a little long to read through from here, so just to give you a splash of who else is on this CD, it goes a little something like this. P.O.D rocks the house, Stained hangs here too. Machine Head, Kittie and Incubus with their mega hit Pardon Me is in the mix as well. Coal Chamber, Full Devil Jacket along with Static-X, Boiler Room and Seven Dust make perfect bedfellows. Of course a major up-and-comer Papa Roach hits it hard with the song Infest. Powerman 5000, Liquid Gang and Dope are stepping in to get a few tunes out, too. And what would a hard, edgy little compilation disc be without Korn? The cool thing is, they along with a couple of other bands here put tracks down that are previously unreleased in the U.S. So, you get a little surprise ditty here and there to bust up any radio-play monotony.

Now, with that all said and done, MTV putting their name on this thing is a little misleading to me. Last I looked, game shows and teeny bands flooded the airwaves of this once great video goliath. I remember when there was such a variety of music videos being played 24-7 that you could hardly get up to take a leak for fear of missing another cool vid. I don't think I have seen too many really hardcore videos come out of this channel in a long time, barring some one hour spotlight on some alternative music. So, if you have a bad taste in your mouth about MTV, don't let it turn you off on this CD. It really does have a great group of bands here with some of their best hits. And at least it is not pushing tunes at you that are ten years old. These are here and now hits.

So, next time you hear a song and have to reminisce about where you were when it broke as a single, try to limit going back to about a year and a half. That way you can have some current memories about having fun and not some old little fuzzy thing in the back of your mind that has you 15 pounds lighter and the perception of being popular. Why not be popular now stay away from the Journey collection gathering dust on top of the Air Supply album. But seriously, this is a great comp disc that won't make you go out and buy 19 different albums to hear all of your favorite songs. A

The cannibal king with the big nose ring fell in love with the sweet young lady. And every night by the pale moon light, this is what I'd hear him say: Baaa-doop. ‘kiss kiss' Baaa-doop. ‘kiss kiss' Baaa-doop ba di ya di ay.

I didn't know it was legal to start an album for adults that way, but that's how the first 30 seconds of Shivaree's debut go. I Oughtta Give You A Shot In The Head For Making Me Live In This Dump has an unexpected twist of humor from the overblown title to the last track, Arrivederci. The songs bump along like a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail folk mixes with pop, then bizarre, alien hip-hop sounds crop up, and you're not quite sure if what you're listening to is real. The words give the songs a planet to live on, particularly on Arlington Road and Goodnight Moon, the two songs ticketed for radio play.

Start over. Make sense. Lead singer Ambrosia Parsley is singing exactly the kind of music one would expect from a woman named ... Ambrosia Parsley. Her lyrics are wicked funny, but drawled with such southern Gothic seriousness that a casual listener might assume she's just another pissed off and depressed girl for the Lillith Fair. Numerous articles and interviews have tried to pinpoint Ambrosia's origin, but I think it comes just where the press notes say it does: maternal grandma Nanny, who, in her ‘70's, still plays old-time favorites (and one by David Lee Roth) on her ukulele. There's a slow warmth in Ambrosia's voice you'll never hear her rattle words off like she's auditioning for Barenaked Ladies. Every the is given full weight, which makes the humor, when it sinks in, sink much deeper.

Duke McVinnie (on the guitar-type instruments) and Danny McGough (on the key-board-type instruments) overcome the guys-behind-the-girl syndrome that other bands, say Garbage and No Doubt, wallow in. Although it's Ambrosia's pretty face that goes front-and-center, a spin of the record quickly reveals that the music drives the singer, not the other way around.

Duke wandered into a studio where Ambrosia was recording one night, heard her tracks, and thought they needed help. So he added a contribution. When Ambrosia found out the next day, she kicked his ass around the block for messing with her songs, then admitted that he was good and had him join the band. Possibly the best audition story ever.

Danny is a bit of a journeyman in weird music, working on projects with Tom Waits when he's not at home watching his wife sew his pants (don't ask). And, as the band puts it, making this album was a great way to assemble a giant collection of drummer's phone numbers. That's Shivaree: the descendent of the world's craziest ukulele player, the guy who records himself with people without permission, the guy who makes noises by plugging a doorbell into a guitar, and the biggest black book of drummers ever.

Not the sort of band you'd expect to record a song called Pimp in which the most memorable lyric goes, Bitch slap, star map, dinner at Joe's. Or, maybe, precisely the band to come up with such twisted oddities. Chances are, you missed them live at the Soiled Dove back on June 13, so it's time to grab the album and pray for them to wander back through in their covered wagon. B+