Let’s imagine an alternate universe. Stay with me on this, I’ll make sense in a sec.

In this universe, there’s a band called Edith Makes A Paperchain. They released an EP called” Tripping Down The Stairs,” which took off like a rocket thanks to their brilliant use of harmony, solid yet eclectic mix of bluegrass, folk and jazz, and their energetic and straight up fun live shows. Soon, a big label guys came a-knocking, and before you know it they were off playing Conan and Letterman. Then, the tour followed, and the trickle of fans (or Edithheads as they prefer to be called) soon turned into a tsunami. Before you know it, they were on the cover of Rolling Stone, People and various cereal boxes. They were winning Grammies and AMAs and a bunch of other little statues. Now, since they were a polite bunch, hotel rooms were not wrecked, but as they started to play the EnormoDomes, some Edithheads started to complain that the shows were too big with all the LCD screens and the floating inflatable Ediths and the pyro. But those sour puss buggers were in the minority. To the bulk of their legions of fans, it mattered not….

And really that’s how it should be. Instead we get fake music done by fake “musicians” playing fake shows to fake fans. But that’s cool…not my cup of coffee, so it doesn’t really bother me much. So, instead of heading to Invesco Field in the middle of a ridiculously cold Colorado night to check out what I consider to be one of the finest bands in not only the city but the world, I found myself in Manitou Springs at the friendly confines of Kinfolks.

And I was rewarded with one hell of a show. Seriously … wow. Just wow. See, I have always thought highly of the band ever since I saw them at Studio Bee last summer. And apparently, I wasn’t alone, since they managed to garner a Pop Music award from the Pikes Peak Arts Council last fall. Well deserved, too. Sarah Hope and Hilary Studebaker simply weave harmonies like you wouldn’t believe. And with their vocals, guitar and violin fleshed out by Matt Chmielarczyk’s guitar and mandolin, Jeremy Van Hoyan’s trombone and Bass trumpet (the most popular instrument of the night by far), Melissa Joy’s bass, and Crystal Brandl sitting in on percussion, you have a simply superb night of truly mind blowing indie folk.

The performance was loose yet riveting, with a ton of material coming from their aforementioned EP plus a few nice surprises. How many shows can you name where you get a cover of “Oh My Darling, Clementine”  and Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” that just stills the room?

I’m telling you… in a perfect alternate universe, these cats would be so big that they would have a half dozen tribute bands playing in Vegas alone.

Great show from a band you need to see early and often.

(I do have a complaint. The Cat organ solo that Jeremy played off of his iPhone didn’t have cats that were angry enough. C’mon man! Get angrier cats!)

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