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Bring an acoustic instrument and sit in with Boulder Old-Time Jam! Every first Thursday on the Trident Patio, starting at 6 p.m.
Live Music!
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Billboard Magazine award recipient, Laurie Dameron, has been playing guitar for over 50 years, and singing even longer. She studied jazz guitar at Adams State College, and shortly thereafter took lessons from the world-renowned guitarist Johnny Smith. Between solo performances and playing with her band, “Laurie D and the Blues Babes”, she has performed for hundreds of venues in and out of Colorado over the past 20 years. Ms. Dameron is a three-time winner in the Colorado Music Business Association's song writing contests, and in 2013 she passed the first round of “America's Got Talent.” Laurie has released three CDs and is versatile with selections from folk, instrumental, pop, country, blues, and jazz. Just a few of the venues she has performed at include: Boulder Creek Festival, Capitol Hill People's Fair, A Taste of Colorado, Dazzle Jazz Club, The D Note, Mead Street Station, Mary's Lake Lodge, and Stanley Hotel in beautiful Estes Park. She has also opened for Denver acts; The Informants, The Delta Sonics, Lionel Young Band, Hazel Miller, Chris Daniels and the Kings, Dan Treanor Band, and Afrosippi with Erica Brown.
Lorrie Baum, on bass and vocals, studied trombone at the Music Academy in Vienna, Austria. She took a pause from her studies to join an Austrian all-girl band, “The Soul Magics”, who played to sell-out crowds throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. After returning to the USA she finished her Bachelor of Music Education degree at CU Boulder, and later earned a Masters degree in music theory and composition at UNC in Greeley. Ms. Baum taught instrumental music in the Denver Public Schools for 24 years, and has toured with many Colorado based bands including Earl Cole, Raw Honey, Nikki Dufrene from New Orleans, Airhart out of Kansas City, The Sunday Ladies, Wood and Street Talk, and Sister Swing. For the last two years she and Laurie Dameron have been performing as a duo called Laurie and Lorrie. Together with their rich history they please any audience with folk, pop, rock, country, blues and jazz, and originals!
Carly Fox leads Foxes Float Trip, a jammy folkpunk acoustic trio blending improvisation with honest storytelling and rich instrumentation. Alongside Carlys GenX-Joni-Mitchelly, Art-Garfunkely vocals and rhythm guitar you’ll find Dead-inspired percussionist spouse Steve Fox and funky-sweet cellist Rex Westen, bringing songs to life with rhythm and resonance. Expect tunes about family, grief, ghosts, dreams, and other beautifully complicated middle-aged things—all delivered with warmth, wit, and emotion.
“Aimee Lynne and Friends” Join us for a night of songwriting and stories, as 4 of our favorite local songwriters play their original songs and open for the full Aimee Lynne Band at Trident.”
4 Strings Attached is a youth violin ensemble founded in 2004 and led by violinist Martin Lopez. Made up of performers ages 3 to 18, the group promotes a love of music through performances, education, and community events across the Chicagoland area, presenting dynamic one-hour programs performed entirely from memory. They have gained recognition through local festivals, media appearances, and corporate events, as well as national and international tours to Mexico, Florida, Bulgaria, and Italy, and they love performing for new communities. Beyond musical growth, members develop discipline, teamwork, and confidence through their experiences.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Topaz Hooper is an author, entrepreneur, and poet from Denver, Colorado. She combines her many artistic talents to create intersectional and unique works. As demonstrated in this book, she enjoys using the aesthetics of art, photography, and the beauty of poetry to make works that incite emotional and sensory reactions in her readers. In her free time, she enjoys travelling to new places, learning languages, cooking plant-based meals, and sitting in coffee shops overlooking a busy city street.
A Life Worth Living is her second book. Be sure to read her first book, My Mind's Eye Poetry and Visual Art on Social Justice, Philosophy, and Identity. More poetic, visual, and creative works to come.
Book Summary:
A Life Worth Living: Poetry & Photography on Love, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is an interdisciplinary multilingual poetry book filled with seven years of original photographs and poems. The book explores topics like global inequality and peace, natural distasters and how love can transform (and destroy) our happiness. A Life Worth Living will stoke your imagination and deepen your understanding on how to love more freely, find liberty within, and pursue happiness in a messy, unequal world.
Amia Srinivasan is a philosopher and author noted for her work in epistemology and feminist philosophy. She is Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at the University of Oxford. She is the author of The Right to Sex (Bloomsbury 2021) and a contributing editor of the London Review of Books.
Hermione Hoby is the author of the novels Neon in Daylight, which was twice listed as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and Virtue, which was shortlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature award. She is a 2024 Macdowell Fellow in Literature and her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Guardian, The New York Times, Bookforum, and elsewhere. Raised in London, she lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Join the Rebecca Folsom Trio for an evening of heart opening, uplifting songs, award-winning musicianship, and exquisite harmonies. Internationally touring musicians Rebecca Folsom, Sandra Wong, and Julian Peterson bring together their unique blend of Americana/Folk music offering up a soul nourishing hometown show.
Tom Pakele and Stevie Guitar Glotzer are known for their soulful harmonica and guitar renditions of classic blues hits from legendary artists like Howling Wolf, Junior Wells, and Sonny Boy Williamson, as well as their own original music which is a must-experience for any blues enthusiast. With Tom's captivating vocals and Stevie's masterful guitar work, they bring the timeless sounds of the blues to life in a way that's both authentic and fresh.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Join poets Marissa Forbes & Becca Downs as they celebrate the release of the 2nd edition of their debut poetry collections from Beyond the Veil Press.
Surviving Peter Pan (Marissa Forbes) is a poetry collection with a deep red ink stain of "reclamation" branded upon the classic Peter Pan tale by J.M Barrie. Told from the perspective of the inhabitants (particularly women) of Neverland overcoming the trials of loving a narcissist (Peter Pan). By examining the bittersweetness of motherhood, womanhood, childhood, and the relationships between families, fantasies, and healing, Surviving Peter Pan holds your inner child in open palms while lighting it on fire. It shines on your pain while sprinkling a little fairy dust on your soul. The collection is so unexpected, you'll never look at growing up the same again.
Marissa Forbes (she/her) is an award-winning author, visual artist, and community amplifier. Her poetry books, Surviving Peter Pan (Beyond the Veil Press) and Brief & Bleeding Margins (World Stage Press) were published in 2023. As 2025-2026 Poet Laureate for 40 West Arts District, Marissa curated and edited the first district art & poetry anthology, PROGRESS (not perfection). Other published poems and short fiction stories can be read on marissaforbes.com. She is the Managing Editor for Twenty Bellows, a CO indie press and the Development Coordinator for Civic Center Conservancy. Marissa was named the 2026 Colorado Poet for the 150/250 Public Arts Initiative by the Governor's Office. She has resided all over the country but now lives a colorful life in Denver with her two children, dad, dog, and fat cat where she hones her personal mission to amplify art and community in Colorado.
Acid Rain Epithalamium (Becca Downs) is a rich, layered text that showcases a range of formal and thematic work. Within the poems are reversals, questionings, tentativeness as the speaker grieves losses—but there’s a strength of voice underneath those hesitancies that is explosive, espouses commitment to an unmapped future, and is ready to be set free. - Khadijah Queen, author of Anodyne
With this exquisite debut collection from Becca Downs, we join the poet as she navigates divorce, climate change, and the many parallels in these transformations. Throughout the collection, Downs’ voice emerges with strength, tenderness, rich with emotional gravitas. Her deft, delicate hand and elegant poems are powerful, wrestling with compelling narratives around inherited beliefs and choices while creating a new path forward to a life and a world that is worthy of poignant and exacting poetry.
Becca Downs (she/they) is a Denver-based writer, editor, and educator who earned her MFA from the Mile-High MFA program at Regis University. She’s a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and the author of Acid Rain Epithalamium (Beyond the Veil Press 2024). She’s also co-Editor-in-Chief of Switchback Books poetry press and a managing editor for Treeline Review. You can find her at beccadownswriting.com, her Substack (Invoice Day), and on Instagram at @beccad___.
Bitterroot began as a Boulder-based trio comprised of songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Caroline Quine, bassist/vocalist Matt Cantor, and guitarist/vocalist Kevin Johnson. The project has welcomed additional local and national artists as they add studio recordings to their songcraft, including producer/guitarist Julian Peterson. Bitterroot's Americana/folk sound features original compositions, engaging vocals, and soulful instrumentation.
Julian Peterson is a longtime Boulder/Denver-area favorite, and has contributed his considerable musical talent to numerous local artists including Erica Brown, Rebecca Folsom, and Megan Burtt. He is the founder of Wolf Den Records, a Longmont-based artist development and production label. The Julian Peterson Trio includes Leor Manelis on drums and Casey Sidwell on bass, and showcases Julian’s soulful vocals, heart-centered songwriting, and tasty-hot guitar.
Synths: A vinyl DJ night showcasing a melange of synthetic sounds, including the sounds of synth-pop, minimal synth, and kraut, among other sounds! Come dance or, otherwise, sit very still!
Lucky Me consists of Three-time Grammy winning producer/composer/musician Tom Wasinger and legendary Boulder singer/songwriter Craig Skinner.
Tom Wasinger: a composer, arranger, producer, teacher, and multi-instrumentalist based in Boulder, Colorado. Tom has received three GRAMMY AWARDS as producer of the “Best Native American Music Album” in 2003, 2007, and 2009. Tom has also produced three other GRAMMY nominated records in 2001, 20 05, and 2008. Tom’s first commercial success as a producer came in 1994when his collection of international lullabies “The World Sings Goodnight” reached #3 on the Billboard World Music chart. This collection has since been licensed by National Geographic for the release “Lullabies, Dream Songs From around the World”.
Kate Whitefield is a folk singer-songwriter from Kansas City. Throughout high school, Kate enjoyed gigging around the KC metro, teaching guitar to kids, leading children’s music at a local church and coordinating songwriters’ events for the Heartland Song Network. She spent two years in Nashville at Belmont University, where she studied Music Therapy and Media & Entertainment Industries. She also volunteered with Musicians on Call and Empower Music Therapy. Now at the University of Kansas pursuing a journalism degree, Kate continues to perform in the community and provide guitar lessons through KU’s Music Mentors program. She currently works on the public relations team for Manor Records, a nonprofit record label dedicated to supporting KC artists.
She plays a mix of covers and originals, balancing nostalgia with refreshing twists. She can be reached at katewhitefieldmusic@gmail.com or @kate.whitefield.music on Instagram.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Alex Snider is a writer, speaker, and facilitator who designs experiences that help people slow down and see themselves and others more clearly. His debut book, Sometimes You Should Be Late, is about moving through time with more intention where we center our values not the clock.
He draws on 15 years in public service, including as a diplomat and in domestic policy roles, along with certifications and a decade of practicing and facilitating meditation and group processes. He is the co-founder of Mindful Fed, a cross-government mindfulness community, and writes the Substack Slow Mindfulness. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Psychology Today.
You can find him in Washington, DC, with his squirrel-obsessed husky mix, Walnut, and at slowmindfulness.com.
Free to attend. To RSVP for the reading visit -
https://partiful.com/e/8YbXR3PFXfjacQppsBgB
The Riley J Band is a RnB/Soul band based in Boulder, Colorado, led by the soulful vocal performer, Riley J. With a sound rooted in groove, the band draws inspiration from artists like Amy Winehouse, H.E.R, Olivia Dean, Leon Thomas, and Erykah Badu. Formed in 2023, the Riley J Band quickly built momentum in the local live scene— patio shows at Trident Café, performances at the Boulder Roots Music Fest/FOCOMX/iAM Music Fest, an appearance at Fox Theatre in 2025 and 2026, and the Boulder Theater in 2026 for the Boulder International Film Festival. Their published original music, Bold, Not in Business, and Time Trip, can be found on all streaming platforms.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Dive into the world of Union City, an alternate Jacksonville, Florida, filled with Otherworld beings and Hybrids. In Kadeem Locke's Demonology: The Bond, aspiring novelist Nexus discovers his heart is bonded to the black cat demon Nyx after a near-death experience. If that wasn’t enough, twenty-five-year-old Nexus is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a writing competition that could potentially make his publishing dreams a reality. Hunted by Otherworld beings, Nexus must juggle his job at the gym, make sure his bills are paid, and follow his dream of writing a novel, all while protecting Union City.
About the Author:
Kadeem Loren Locke is a Jamaican-American writer, born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. Kadeem is an avid anime watcher, video game player, reader, and a slew of other things that take up his time, with writing being the number one culprit. You can catch him at your local restaurant or bookstore or doing whatever he finds himself getting into. Kadeem graduated from the University of North Florida, where he received his Bachelor's in English with a Minor in Creative Writing. Kadeem is the author of his debut novel DEMONOLOGY: THE BOND. He has also been published by Coffin Bell and other journals.
Ella Blankinship is a New York-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, and producer, originally hailing from Colorado. Ella’s deeply confessional yet conversational lyrics, accompanied by acoustic guitars and other bluegrass instruments, create a melancholy folk atmosphere which she has coined “Rocky Mountain Melanfolk.” Her upcoming EP, Happy for You!, is set to be released in the fall and is her cumulative thesis from her time at Berklee NYC, where she will receive her MA in Songwriting and Production in June.
You can find her @ellablankinship on Instagram, ellablankinship.com, and soon on streaming platforms!
Bring an acoustic instrument and sit in with Boulder Old-Time Jam! Every first Thursday on the Trident Patio, starting at 6 p.m.
The Jocelyn Medina Brazilian Jazz Project performs an eclectic mix of Brazilian choro, samba, bossa nova, forro, and Latin takes on jazz and original music, delivering a show of intricate listening combined with grooves sure to inspire the body to dance! Featuring Jocelyn Medina (vocals), Bill Kopper (guitar), and Raoul Rossiter (drums/percussion).
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Join in for a book launch with Trident regular and local legend, Dennis Mulherin, as he releases his brand new novel, The Face Across the Fire. As a careful carpenter of wood and words, this novel is sure to stand in time like the solid support beams of a home after a fire - charred but never fallen.
Reading & Discussion from 6:00-7:30. Free to attend.
Support local writers - Support local bookstores!
Sophie creates music that invites reflection, remembrance, and presence. Her music explores themes of connection, longing, love, and belonging.
To Sophie, music is a universal language of the heart that exists beyond words. She views the art of song as an act of divine creative expression that has no standard, requirement, formula, or expectation. Her music is an offering and a space to soften, reconnect and feel deeply.
What ails ye o' wanderer? Whatever it may be, Patchwork Jack's got the remedy. This merry band of westerners (both north and south american) mix up a recipe of one part cowboy, one part cumbia, and one part klezmer/romani swing. Their music, much like an old worn-out quilt, tells tales of love, loss, resilience and the human experience. Expect tender and raucous in equal measure. Dancing shoes required.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
A heartrending, transformative true story following Brad Ryan and his grandmother Joy Ryan as they embark on a seven-year journey to visit every US National Park.
Raised in Appalachia, Grandma Joy lived a life shaped by constraints and hardships, while Brad grappled with the weight of family rifts and unresolved pain. Together, they embarked on a quest not only to witness the majesty of America’s wild landscapes but also to heal generations of struggles and misunderstandings. Over seven years, they sought to visit all sixty-three US National Parks. From the towering peaks of Denali to the otherworldly beauty of the Everglades, each park became a classroom, teaching them profound lessons about nature, resilience, and each other.
Grandma Joy and Me follows a seven-year adventure of intergenerational healing, wherein a grandmother and grandson find themselves released from the injustices—real and imagined—that had long held them hostage. An emotionally charged exploration of love, forgiveness, and resilience, this unique bond between a young man and his ninety-three-year-old grandmother—the oldest person to visit every US National Park—is more than just any travel tale; it is a testament to what makes us deeply human.
Brad Ryan is a veterinarian, wildlife conservationist, social media inflfluencer, and writer from southeastern Ohio. He earned his BA from Miami University in Ohio, an MSc in mammalian biology from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and a DVM/MPH combined degree from The Ohio State University, specializing in wildlife medicine and veterinary public health. For Brad, storytelling is a vehicle for healing—rooted in empathy, inspired by nature, and driven by a desire to help others feel seen and connected. As a keynote speaker, he champions LGBTQ+ inclusion in the outdoors, eliminating stigma around mental health, and the protection of wildlife and public lands.
Francesca Wade is the author of Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars (2020) and Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife (2025). She has held fellowships at the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, London Review of Books, Paris Review, Granta, and elsewhere.
Claire Kelley is a library specialist substitute at the Boulder Public Library, a contributor to Library Journal, and works in book publishing, currently at Seven Stories Press.
Synths: A vinyl DJ night showcasing a melange of synthetic sounds, including the sounds of synth-pop, minimal synth, and kraut, among other sounds! Come dance or, otherwise, sit very still!
Nowhere Dept.: Nowhere Dept. is an introspective dirtbag folk band from Denver, who play folk/indie rock music about life stuff — like wanting to burn down your office building, suffocating feelings of self-deprecation, starting a commune with your best friends, and how to survive the Titanic.
Last Disaster: Last Disaster is a pop punk artist from South Florida, who’s been contributing to its underground music scene for over a decade. His music is honest, melodic, and biting. He just released another album “the five year plan,” with plans to tour out-of-state for the first time since 2023.
Meghan Foley and the Nightblooms: Meghan Foley & the Nightblooms is a Denver indie pop band built on lyric-first storytelling and emotional clarity. Fronted by Foley’s expressive vocals, the band blends intimate songwriting with dynamic, full-band arrangements, exploring themes of love, growth, and heartbreak.
“...Shulman has done enough to confidently propel herself to the next level as a singer-songwriter, displaying an acute and highly individual lyrical narrative.” - Graeme Tait, Americana UK
Carolyn Shulman is a Denver-based folk & Americana singer-songwriter whose sound is a nod to the women of Americana who came before her, such as Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Patty Griffin. She builds powerful emotional landscapes, layering poignant lyrics atop skillful guitar work. Her debut album Grenadine & Kerosene (2021) and her latest release Heart on a Wire (2024) both enjoyed critical acclaim and landed on the FAI Folk Radio Charts. Carolyn was a 2022 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriters Showcase finalist. She loves performing and quickly charms audiences with her sincerity, humor, and warmth.
Carolyn’s Website: https://carolynshulman.com
Houston native, Sarah Golden, is a folk singer-songwriter whose soulful storytelling and heartfelt performances have captivated audiences since the release of her debut album, Truth, in 2002, which earned her a spot as a Kerrville New Folk Regional Finalist. A top-30 finalist on Season 2 of NBC's The Voice on Team CeeLo Green, and a top-100 finalist on Season 4 of America's Got Talent, Golden has gone on to earn multiple awards, including Best of North America - Folk in the 2025 Intercontinental Music Awards for her co-write with Nathan K. on "Who is Gonna Rebuild LA?", Best Folk Song for "The One I Love", and Adult Contemporary Song of the Yearfor "Who Gives a Damn" in the RightOUTTV Music & Video Awards. She was recently nominated for Favorite Local Musicianand Favorite Female Entertainer in OutSmart Magazine's Gayest & Greatest 2025 Reader's Choice Awards.
Known for her rich vocals and meaningful lyrics, Golden has shared the stage with such acclaimed artists as Amy Ray, Shawn Colvin, Susan Gibson, and Ruthie Foster. Her Sessions EP showcases her signature sound and builds anticipation for her forthcoming full-length album, currently being recorded and produced by Edgewater Music Group in Sugar Land, TX, which will highlight her sociopolitical activism and human rights advocacy.
Sarah’s Website: https://sarahgolden.com
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Open to all forms of Spoken Expression, be it Poetry, Music, Comedy, or more. Hosted by Dennis Mulherin.
Join Rachel Turney for an evening of writing for fems and women. Open to all forms of writing. Set time aside to write among a collective, with space for support and discussion.
About Rachel Turney:
Rachel Turney, Ed.D. (she/her) is the Writer in Residence (2026) at NKollectiv in Englewood, Colorado. Her poems, research articles, reviews, and drawings can be found in a variety of publications. Rachel is passionate about immigrant rights, teacher support, and empowering other artists. She is a Writers’ Hour prize winner and has been nominated for Best of the Net and Best Microfiction. Her photography appears on a few magazine covers. Rachel is the founder of the popular online reading series Poetry (in Brief) and EIC of PIB (the Magazine). She is on staff at Bare Back Magazine with her monthly column Friday Night in the Suburbs. She reads for The Los Angeles Review. Her debut poetry collection, Record Player Life (the b-side) is available with The Poetry Lighthouse. Her second poetry book, Retired Wannabe Club Kid, is out now with Parlyaree Press. Website: turneytalks.com Instagram: @turneytalks Bluesky: rachelturney
Earth to Aaron is a Boulder based band, bringing together a mix of alt-country, folk, pop, bluegrass and rock. Sounds like Grateful Dead meets James Taylor.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
About the Author:
Aimee Herman has been slowly disemboweling gender for over 20 years, as a poet, performance artist, educator and human transitioning from what others said they were to what they have been all along. They have a new chapbook of poems, “somewhere in the body a nest of anger hatches.” They love writing letters, embroidering naked bodies, and drinking coffee. Find them making music with their band, Brand New Queers.
Join local DIY hooligans Dark Leaf Press for a night of words and exorcism. Featuring Dark Leaf contributors, music, ritual, & more.
The night starts off with an open mic, so come early to make your voice a part of the show!
About Dark Leaf:
Our vision at Dark Leaf is to search out the words and ways that have been hidden away in the dark recesses of our consciousness; both in the collective and in the individual.
We aim to shine light upon the ones cast out into shadows, those now feared, shamed, or ignored - and to coax them into the warm glow of nurturing existence ~ of light.
We endeavor to tear down limitations and explore the gift that is being human - stunning, raw, grotesque - through words, art, and discussions.
Join us on our mission to embrace HUMANITY as we experience it in the moments of every day.
Free & Open to the Public 6-8:30
Bring an acoustic instrument and sit in with Boulder Old-Time Jam! Every first Thursday on the Trident Patio, starting at 6 p.m.
Daphne Hardy is a singer-songwriter who loves crafting little worlds through song. Inspired by artists such as Adrianne Lenker, Becca Stevens, and Elliott Smith, she writes intimate, emotionally detailed songs shaped by a love of alternate tunings.
Jim Herlihy is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music teacher living in Boulder CO. He is a founding member of the critically acclaimed rock outfit Augustus and plays banjo with the local folk group Sturtz. You can catch him around town hosting the weekly open mic at Vision Quest brewery, playing with his other group Lost Bobcat, or sitting in at various bluegrass picks.
Jason Murray is a singer-songwriter in Boulder. His music brings together a love for exploring the world of subtle voicings on the guitar with introspective lyrics. His songs weave together a wide range of stylistic influences, such as jazz, folk, blues, and progressive rock.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Maxine Chernoff:
Born and raised in Chicago, Maxine Chernoff earned a BA and an MA from the University of Illinois. Winner of the PIP Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Poetry in 2006, Chernoff, in an innovative, post-modern approach, often utilizes prose forms. Her collections of poetry include A Vegetable Emergency (1977); Utopia TV Store: prose poems (1979); New Faces of 1952 (1985), winner of the Carl Sandburg Award; Leap Year Day: New and Selected Poems (1990); World: Poems 1991–2001; and Here (2014).
Chernoff’s poems can be surreal, witty, and politically engaged. In a review of World for Jacket Magazine, Rachel Loden found that “wit cuts in and out of the melodic surge and flow” of the volume. Chernoff references Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz and employs epigraphs from Ralph Waldo Emerson in one section, prompting Loden to note “the impressionistic structures of these poems, their hops and skips across a rippling surface that suggests the freedoms and pleasures of hypertext.”
Chernoff has also written fiction, and her short story collection Signs of Devotion was a New York Times Notable Book in 1993. Her translations, with Paul Hoover, of the work of Friedrich Hölderlin won the PEN Center USA Translation Award.
She is an editor of the journal New American Writing and a professor at San Francisco State University.
Matthew Cooperman:
Matthew Cooperman is the author of, most recently, the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2024) and Wonder About The, winner of the Halcyon Prize (Middle Creek, 2023) as well as NOS (disorder, not otherwise specified), w/Aby Kaupang, (Futurepoem, 2018), Spool, winner of the New Measure Prize (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2016), and other books. His ninth book, Time, & Its Monument, is forthcoming from Station Hill Press. Cooperman is a 2025 Guggeheim Fellow in Poetry and Professor of English at Colorado State University. He lives in Fort Collins with his wife, the poet Aby Kaupang. More info at http://matthewcooperman.org
On atmosphere:
“Our job is to be both epic and tiny,” Matthew Cooperman writes in this powerful book-length poem full of turns and twists on the American long poem road. Cooperman meditates on and tracks our imperiled American democracy, and the precarious future it forecasts as he twines the political world with the challenges and beauty of family life. In the face of crises, he affirms the meanings of love and the ways in which the language of poetry can bring us truths that are shattering and brilliant. —Peter Balakian, author of Ozone Journal, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Singer-songwriter Paula Gayatri delivers poetic, intimate performances dripping with soul. Early influences like Joni Mitchell, Indigo Girls, and Bach have woven with her years of chanting and meditation at a yoga ashram. Check out her album, Between Music & Love, and explore her offerings at www.gayatri.devillier.com
Mira Devi's music is a soul-stirring blend of East and West, weaving folk melodies with poetic storytelling. Drawing inspiration from artists like Shawn Colvin, The Band, and Gregory Alan Isakov, her thoughtful musicianship and evocative lyrics explore love, loss, motherhood, and the search for connection in a beautifully imperfect world. www.miradevi.com
What would a postcarbon future look like? How would a more just, decarbonized world require us to change the way we live? What would it take to build this world? These questions lie at the heart of Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and the Energy Transition.
This book offers a comprehensive account of the myriad ways in which people are transforming their social, ecological, and economic systems to create more just, beautiful places in response to the climate crisis. With contributions from more than a dozen leading scholars of climate justice, Building Postcarbon Futures takes readers through 30 exemplary works of climate justice spanning 43 nations and 6 continents. Together, these illustrated case studies foreground the often-overlooked tactics, strategies, and modes of practice being employed, often by marginalized peoples, to build a more just, decarbonized world—from Cuba to Kiribati.
Building Postcarbon Futures is both a celebration of action underway and a challenge to those tasked with bringing new works of climate justice into the built and natural environments—the planners, designers, policymakers, and activists pushing this planet toward a future of collective flourishing.
Billy Fleming is a leading voice on the role that the design of our cities, communities, and landscapes plays in responding to the climate crisis. He is founding co-director of the Climate and Community Institute, a progressive think tank focused on climate and political economy, and assistant professor of landscape architecture at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Fleming is coeditor of Design with Nature Now (Lincoln Institute 2019) and A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation: Uniting Design, Economics, and Policy (Island Press 2021). Formerly, he cofounded and served as the inaugural Wilks Family Director of the Ian L. McHarg Center at the University of Pennsylvania and worked on urban policy development in the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Obama Administration.
Contributors:
Catherine de Almeida, Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Eliza Breder, Holly Jean Buck, Daniel Aldana Cohen, Keller Easterling, Kian Goh, Rob Holmes, Leah Kahler, Reinhold Martin, Danielle Rivera, Douglas Robb, Akira Drake Rodriguez, Matthew Seibert, Aaryaman “Sunny” Singhal, Abby Spinak, Charles Waldheim.
Join us for a special, free screening of Art of Mastery – A feature documentary woven from more than 100 films created by 80 filmmakers across 75 countries. Through the stories of master craftspeople, artists, performers, and cultural keepers from around the world, the film explores one of the most universal aspects of the human experience: the desire to create, learn, persevere, and devote ourselves to something meaningful. At a time of rapid technological change, Art of Mastery is a celebration of the creativity, wisdom, and shared humanity that connect us across cultures. A post-film Q&A with director Nick Simon will follow the screening.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Trident Author Series celebrates Bombay Gin #50, a momentous milestone for one of the oldest ongoing Colorado publications.
Featuring readers from the journal and more!
About Bombay Gin:
Started in 1974, Bombay Gin is the literary journal of The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics—co-founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman—at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Edited by department faculty, students and staff, Bombay Gin publishes innovative poetry, prose and hybrid texts as well as art, translations and interviews. Emerging from the “Outrider” or left-hand lineage, which operates outside the cultural mainstream, Bombay Gin honors a heritage of powerful scholarship and counter-poetics through the publication of work that challenges the boundaries of language, form, and genre.
Jessica Gordon Nembhard is an internationally recognized political economist specializing in community economic development, solidarity economics, cooperative economics, Black Political Economy, racial wealth inequality, community-based approaches to justice, and popular economic literacy. She is Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies, at John Jay CUNY. She’s also the Director of John Jay’s McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program; former Chair of the Department of Africana Studies; former chair of the Malcolm/King Student Leadership Committee; and inaugural Chair of the John Jay Faculty Senate Committee on Racial Justice and Inclusion. Jessica Gordon-Nembhard is an affiliate faculty member for John Jay’s Economics Masters Program; and for the Environmental Psychology Ph.D. Program (in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences), CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (Pennsylvania State University Press 2014 and 2024), and 2016 inductee into the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame.
Júlia Martins Rodrigues, PhD, is a Research Associate and the Associate Director of the Media Economies Design Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. She also serves as a governor-appointed commissioner (vice-chair) on Employee Ownership at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Her areas of expertise include cooperative law, multi-stakeholder cooperative networks, shared ownership and collective governance. Júlia earned her PhD in Legal and Social Sciences from the Università Degli Studi di Camerino, Italy. She also holds a Master of Law in Human Rights and Innovation from the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil, where she received her Juris Doctor and served as an Assistant Professor of Law. Additionally, she has obtained a professional certificate as a “Third Sector Operator: Serving Nonprofit Causes & Communities” from the Bottega del Terzo Settore in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. As a Latin woman born and raised in Brazil, she is dedicated to advancing economic democracy and social justice, viewing both as essential pathways to achieving shared prosperity and sustainability.
Liana Gabel and the Human Beings EP release tour: Through her music, Liana Gabel aims to ignite the collective human spirit, with her tap dancing feet and her heart folk rhymes, she gets everyone singing along as she was encouraged to by Pete Seeger. After many years of travel, warming hearts at east coast house shows, festivals and listening rooms, Liana is headed west joined by James Bristol on upright bass of the Pittsburgh band The Hills and the Rivers. Liana will be sharing songs from her latest EP, the Human Beings EP recorded by Grammy award winning producer Kenny Siegal, mixed by Matthew Cullen who has worked with the Spice Girls (making Liana “Folky Spice!”) and Mastered by Greg Kalbi who has worked with John Lennon. Her live shows are transformative and leave everyone feeling lighter, more joyous and a little more connected than they did before they arrived.
Open to all forms of Spoken Expression, be it Poetry, Music, Comedy, or more.
Hosted by Dennis Mulherin.
Bring an acoustic instrument and sit in with Boulder Old-Time Jam! Every first Thursday on the Trident Patio, starting at 6 p.m.
Jeff Cooper is a law professor, lawyer, former Presidential candidate, and published author of both fiction and nonfiction. A graduate of Harvard College, Yale Law School and New York University School of Law, he spent much of his career working in the law firms and trust banks fictionalized in his novels.
Born and raised in New York, he now lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he has served as an elected member of the Representative Town Meeting, a Justice of the Peace and a Director of several non-profit organizations. When he’s not teaching or writing, he can be found on the golf course.
About The Final Account:
2025 Independent Press Award: Best Legal Thriller
“This will delight seasoned thriller audiences…. The events ring with an authenticity and attraction that makes the book nearly impossible to put down.” Midwest Book Review
“The Final Account is a fast-paced thriller/adventure that I can recommend without reservation….” Whispering Stories
Jack Collins’s upstart law firm is struggling to make ends meet. His solution is to bring in a new senior partner, a seasoned estate-planning lawyer well connected with the Greenwich elite. Unfortunately, his new partner is hiding a secret that could bring down the entire firm.
When Jack catches the lawyer embezzling funds from a millionaire’s estate, he thinks he’s uncovered an isolated crime. But as he slowly connects the clues, he stumbles into a far larger conspiracy involving some of Connecticut’s most powerful figures.
The people behind this financial scheme are ones Jack would never suspect. And they will do whatever it takes to keep him from exposing them.
Fred Moten is Professor in the Departments of Performance Studies and Comparative Literature at New York University, where he teaches courses in black study, poetics and critical theory. He works with lots of social and aesthetic study groups including Stefano Harney & Fred Moten, the Black Arts Movement School Modality, Le Mardi Gras Listening Collective, the Center for Convivial Research and Autonomy, Moved by the Motion, the Institute of Physical Sociality and the Harris/Moten Quartet.
Stefano Harney is a teacher and writer who works collaboratively and collectively in the classroom, in research, and in social practice. He is a black studies scholar who has taught in the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, art criticism, American Studies, and business & management. Stefano has held appointments at Pace University and at CUNY in the US, at the University of Leicester and Queen Mary University of London in the UK, at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia, at Ton Duc Thang University in Vietnam, and at Singapore Management University in Singapore. During 2020-2021, he was Hayden Fellow and Visiting Critic at the School of Art at Yale University and Honorary Professor at the Institute of Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia.
Umniya Najaer is the 2025–2026 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Department of Ethnic Studies and the inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS). She is an interdisciplinary Black Studies scholar who draws on Black Studies theories in conjunction with literary, archival, and social science methodologies to illuminate urgent socio-political issues. Grounded in the thought of Jamaican philosopher Sylvia Wynter, Dr. Najaer’s current book project investigates alternate epistemologies and non-homogenizing metanarratives of the human. Her in-progress manuscript, Sylvia Wynter and Black Study: Experiments in Metasystemic Inquiry and Transcalar Reworlding, offers a conceptual toolkit for future scholars to engage Wynter on her own terms.
Open to all forms of Spoken Expression, be it Poetry, Music, Comedy, or more.
Hosted by Dennis Mulherin.
It’s time again for our 3rd Annual Halloween Edition of Punketry! Punketry is a fusion of improv punk music by the ever-evolving jam band Black Market Translation and poetry from local Spoken Word nerds. Poets TBD
Costume Contest at Intermission! Winner scores a $50 Trident gift card! Dress your best and do the Punk-Mash!
Hosted by Eric Fischman
Join Rachel Turney for an evening of writing for fems and women. Open to all forms of writing. Set time aside to write among a collective, with space for support and discussion.
About Rachel Turney:
Rachel Turney, Ed.D. (she/her) is the Writer in Residence (2026) at NKollectiv in Englewood, Colorado. Her poems, research articles, reviews, and drawings can be found in a variety of publications. Rachel is passionate about immigrant rights, teacher support, and empowering other artists. She is a Writers’ Hour prize winner and has been nominated for Best of the Net and Best Microfiction. Her photography appears on a few magazine covers. Rachel is the founder of the popular online reading series Poetry (in Brief) and EIC of PIB (the Magazine). She is on staff at Bare Back Magazine with her monthly column Friday Night in the Suburbs. She reads for The Los Angeles Review. Her debut poetry collection, Record Player Life (the b-side) is available with The Poetry Lighthouse. Her second poetry book, Retired Wannabe Club Kid, is out now with Parlyaree Press. Website: turneytalks.com Instagram: @turneytalks Bluesky: rachelturney
danah boyd is the Geri Gay Professor of Communication at Cornell University. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology and society, with an eye towards how structural inequities shape and are shaped by sociotechnical systems. Her upcoming book Data are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census is an ethnography of the US Census Bureau, Jenga politics, and the struggle to make democracy’s data. She has also conducted research on media manipulation, privacy practices, social media, and teen culture. Her monograph It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens has received widespread praise. She founded the research institute Data & Society, where she currently serves as an advisor. She is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Georgetown University, a fellow of AAAS, a non-residential fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a trustee of the Computer History Museum, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and on the advisory board of Electronic Privacy Information Center. Previously, she worked at Microsoft Research. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brown University, a master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab, and a Ph.D in Information from the University of California, Berkeley.
Colette Perold researches the relationship between media technologies, labor and U.S. foreign policy, specifically the ways in which multinational IT companies shape U.S. foreign policy priorities in Latin America. Her current project draws from the business history of computing and political economy of media industries to analyze the relationship between the U.S.-based IT sector and U.S. foreign policy in Brazil prior to modern computing. Her research has been funded by various sources including the Hagley Library, the Tinker Foundation, and the Charles Babbage Institute, where she received the 2019-2020 Tomash Fellowship. She most recently received the 2022-2023 Brooke Hindle Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Society for the History of Technology.
About the Author:
Mai-Linh Hong is a poet and literary scholar. She is the author of Trio House Press Award recipient Continental Drift, and her poetry has received support from Voices of Our Nation, Tin House, and Vermont Studio Center. Dr. Hong is coauthor and coeditor of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice (University of California Press, 2021). Born in Vietnam and raised in Virginia, she teaches literature at the University of California, Merced.
About Continental Drift:
“To survive is to refuse / death, but how / to tell refusal from retreat?" In the 2025 Trio Award winning poetry collection Continental Drift, Mai-Linh Hong honors and explores the geography that made and continues to shape her ancestors' story, her own story, and the future story of her descendants. From Vietnam to Virginia, California to Thailand, Hong plumbs the fault lines, crosses the oceans, crystallizing moments into meaning. Whether luxuriating in the small joys of nature and of existence, or marveling at the process of geological shift, these artfully crafted poems bring the reader into complex promises and griefs of migration, navigation, and claiming space in a postcolonial world.
About Rajiv:
Poet, memoirist, and translator, Rajiv Mohabir is the author of five books of poetry, the latest is Seabeast (Four Way Books 2025). His books have been awarded gold in Forward Indies and Eric Hoffer Medal Provocateur. His other honors include being finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/America Open Book Award, the Lambda Literary Award, the Publishing Triangle Award for Poetry and Gay Nonfiction, and both second place and finalist for the Guyana Prize for Literature. His translations have won the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the American Academy of Poets. Currently he teaches poetry at the University of Colorado Boulder.
About Banbas / Exile:
Rajiv Mohabir first learned of the Ramayan from his grandmother while sitting on his parents’ brown-tiled porch, surrounded by the scrub forest of central Florida. Descended from generations of Indian indentured laborers who were brought to Guyana under nefarious contracts, they receive the ancient Hindu epic poem as a tale of exile in anthropomorphic wilderness, passed along as it was in stories and songs shared vocally in the cane fields.
Here, in a singular gesture of deeply layered translation, this ember of song is passed along again. Drawing on his grandmother’s Creole, Caribbean Hindustani, and the King’s English on his own decolonized terms, Mohabir reimagines the Ramayan anew. Classical in form yet rooted in Guyanese ancestry and its diasporas, Banbas / Exile is a genre-bending collection of poetry, stories, songs, and reflective prose. Speaking through heroes, villains, and animal deities, this extraordinary translation gives voice to lives shaped by exile and to the enduring search for a world that can hold both difference and communion.
Learn more about Banbas / Exile at
https://milkweed.org/book/banbasexile
Open to all forms of Spoken Expression, be it Poetry, Music, Comedy, or more.
Hosted by Dennis Mulherin.
Open to all forms of Spoken Expression, be it Poetry, Music, Comedy, or more.
Hosted by Dennis Mulherin.
Michael Hardt teaches political theory in the Literature Program at Duke University. His works combine philosophical investigations with analyses of our current political situation. Studying the current forms of social domination, including the mechanisms of capitalist control, which form the bases of the contemporary global power structures, is a central focus. Key, too, is engagement with contemporary social movements that refuse domination and present the potential for new, democratic modes of social organization. His first book was Gilles Deleuze: An Apprenticeship in Philosophy (1993). Over the course of several decades, his collaborations with Antonio Negri resulted in six books: Labor of Dionysus (1994), Empire (2000), Multitude (2004), Commonwealth (2009), Declaration (2012), and Assembly (2017). His latest book, The Subversive Seventies (2023), analyzes liberation movements of the 1970s in a wide range of countries throughout the world, highlighting their relevance for political struggles today.
Rachel Kushner is the author of the novels CREATION LAKE, THE MARS ROOM, THE FLAMETHROWERS, and TELEX FROM CUBA, a book of short stories, THE STRANGE CASE OF RACHEL K, and THE HARD CROWD: ESSAYS 2000-2020. She has won the Prix Médicis and been a finalist for the Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and was twice a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction. She is a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow and the recipient of the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. Her fiction has been published in the New Yorker and the Paris Review, and her nonfiction in Harpers and the New York Times Magazine.
Arne Höcker is Associate Professor of German Studies at CU Boulder. His publications include The Case of Literature: Forensic Narratives from Goethe to Kafka (Cornell UP 2020), and Paranoia and the Totalitarian Drift of Modernity (Cornell UP 2026).
Lilla Balint is Assistant Professor of German at the University of California, Berkeley. She specializes in twentieth- and twenty-first-century German literature, culture, and thought in its transnational European contexts. Her work has appeared in venues such as Critical Quarterly, German Quarterly, Gegenwartsliteratur: A German Studies Year Book, and Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature, among others. She is coeditor of Text + Kritik 244—Judith Schalansky (2024). Her monograph The Contemporary: History and Temporality after 1989 is forthcoming with De Gruyter.
Benjamin Kunkel is the bestselling author of Indecision and Utopia or Bust, and a co-founder of n+1. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books.
This event is made possible by CU Boulder’s 2026 Kayden Book Award.
Looking for an open mic night at your favorite community hub? Back at Trident, The Bloom Open Mic! Join us on June 30th from 6-8:30 for a night featuring you! Open to all spoken performances, be it poetry, music, comedy, or more. Sign-up goes out at 6pm.
Hosted by Dennis Mulherin
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
"With humble roots in an unheated backyard shed, Boulder-based Jehovah's Fitness Club brings an eclectic mix of jazz, funk, blues and Latin sounds to the local scene. With eight enthused musicians at its core, JFC has a budding track record of putting on a lighthearted and energetic show, drawing crowds in venues like Larimer Lounge and Trident Booksellers and Cafe. Known for their seamless improvisation, tight musical synergy, and a touch of mirth, they blend spontaneity and groove creating a unique live experience every time they take the stage. JFC's recent EP "Household Name" was released in Spring 2025. Come witness the fitness!"
"give it a year"
Penelope Jane is a mandolin player, singer, and songwriter from Boulder, CO, currently attending Berklee College of Music. Shaped by growing up in the Colorado music scene playing with her family band, her music is a blend of modern and traditional bluegrass, folk, and Americana inspired by artists like Sierra Hull, Bella White, and Sarah Jarosz. With the release of her new album 'Evergreen,' she brings her original songs to life with the help of her family band and others who have influenced her musical journey. To listen to hear album or learn more check out her website: https://penelopejanemusic.com/
Katie Yeager is a Denver-born singer/songwriter. Part journal entries/part fan fiction, Katie's songs embody lived heartbreak and imagined joy. Their style reflects their love of classic folk rock and modern queer pop.
Marc D. Cohen blends lyrical poetry and landscape photography in ‘A Dance with the Cosmos’
This collection invites readers to explore meaning and passion through the lens of the natural world
The newly released poetry book, “A Dance with the Cosmos” , by Marc D. Cohen, is timely for reflecting on the beauty of nature amid today’s chaotic world events.
This poetry book blends the harmonies of birdsongs and the elements to keep the reader immersed in the rhyming, melody and meaning of his poetry. Its nuanced observations in the forest and mountains is meditative and self-healing, as one can almost hear the stream flowing, while the bluebirds fly above. The poet incorporates landscape photography to enhance the motif of the poems. The subject matter of poetry ranges from the natural world to being present in the moment; from the understanding of relationships to the science of the cosmos.
“A Dance with the Cosmos” has been critically acclaimed by two award-winning authors, Heather Frimmer, author of “Always Hope,” and David Baron, author of “The Martians.”
“A Dance With the Cosmos is an intriguing collection inspired by the beauty and complexity of the natural world. Cohen’s astute observations, lyrical language, and unexpected turns of phrase create an immersive and satisfying reading experience.” —Heather Frimmer
“Marc D. Cohen’s A Dance with the Cosmos is heartfelt and moving. These poems- about loss, hope, and the solace of nature-will resonate with anyone who calls Earth home.” —David Baron
About the Author
Marc D. Cohen is a prolific writer who shares a passion for the environment, nature, birding, and meditation for self-healing. He has a unique observational skill to translate the natural world as part of human growth and spirit.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
!mindparade blends elements of art pop, psych, and experimentalism. Their music has been described as “an ambitious low-fi bedroom symphony marked by flourishing psychedelic arrangements” (NUVO) and "a perfect slice of what’s best in Oregon Pop Music." (Oregon Arts Watch) . Currently based in Portland, Oregon. In 2020, the group founded their own label, Neon Underground Archives, in order to self-release their genre-bending records.
Precocious Neophyte (PrecOneO) is the shoegaze/dreampop project of South Korean singer-songwriter Ham Jeehye. After relocating to the U.S., Jeehye began experimenting with home recording in Chicago. She embraces a lo-fi aesthetics for PrecOneO to create a fuzzy yet expansive sound inspired by the organized noise of bands she grew up with in Korea‘s indie scene.
From PrecOneO’s debut album Home in the Desert (Graveface Records, 2023) to the more recent Stony EP (Longinus Recordings, 2024), Jeehye negotiates impossible longings for perpetual spaces and times of home, filling unstable distances with overdriven warmth and cradling the insecurities of isolation in layers of distorted guitars.
After moving to Boulder in 2025, co-producer and guitarist Ethan began participating more in writing and recording, and the band has been performing actively in Colorado with new members Davis Rowan (drums) and Joe Grobelny (bass).
JOE GORKA: With his keenly observant lyrics and blend of dynamic guitar and piano work, Chicago-based singer-songwriter Joe Gorka has made a name for himself in the Midwest music scene. He has played such well-loved Chicago rooms such as Schubas Tavern, City Winery, and Uncommon Ground, along with venues and festivals across the region. 2025 saw the release of his debut solo acoustic EP "Evergreen", as well as increasing national attention with his selection to the 2025 "Emerging Artist" showcase at Connecticut's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. In 2026 he will be playing shows across the country while completing production of his debut full-length album, due out in the fall.
Lucy Isabel is a folk/Americana singer-songwriter who divides her time and affection between Nashville, TN and coastal New Jersey. She has spent years touring the United States and is known nationwide for her soaring melodies, compelling lyrics, and enveloping stage presence. She released her debut LP, Rambling Stranger, in 2019 and her highly anticipated sophomore album, All The Light, in October 2024, both to critical acclaim.
Reading to celebrate the anthology, Winter in America (Still: Poets, Writers, and Artists Respond to a Fractured World. Co-hosted by Anne Waldman and Roxi Power The reading also celebrates the conclusion of Naropa University's Summer Writing Program 2026.
Featuring:
Caroline Bergvall
Mari Brown
CAConrad
Matthew Cooperman
Stella Corso
Caroline Ebeid
Tongo Eisen-Martin
Aspen Everett
HR Hegnauer
Valerie Hsiung
Vincent Katz
Aby Kaupang
Roxi Power
Margaret Randall
Kathryn Rieber
Andrew Schelling
Cedar Sigo
Shannon Sky
Steven Taylor
Tony Trigilio
Anne Waldman
Have you ever had an experience before? Together, this eclectic band of misfits creates a sound that is equal parts tactile, emotionally moving, and mentally insane. They explore uncharted territory with improvisation, stream-of-consciousness songwriting, and creative use of unconventional instruments. Don't trip out, man! Come see Lounge Drugs and let their music guide you through the ocean that is your mind.
Lounge Drugs is the brainchild of Jay LeCavalier (of The Crooked Rugs, Los Toms, and Funscreen). After emerging as a solo project, Lounge Drugs quickly evolved into a live band by popular demand. Since its debut in 2022, the project has evolved into a completely different animal on the stage. Live shows are notoriously unpredictable and filled with humor, inspiration, and psychoactive energy.
Infinite Cousins is a local psych band consisting of Trident’s Ted Stevens, and Denver rockers Sam Moylan, Willy Tyson, Ryan Schlictman, and Violet De Vries. Their music is an homage to 70s psych and kraut like Black Sabbath and Neu! with a modern twist. In the last year they’ve put out two albums, completed two tours and partnered up with Denver’s High Plains Psych Exchange with lots more on the way.
Find their music and more here: https://linktr.ee/infinitecousins
Corners of the Sky is a noisy psych garage rock band out of Kansas City. The band is well known for their energetic performances and improvisational moments of musical chaos, heavy on the pulp.
Jeff Sharlet is the New York Times bestselling author or editor of eight books. His latest is The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War (2023), a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist for Nonfiction, one of The New York Times 100 Books of the Year, and a New Republic book of the year. In 2020, he published This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers. “Gorgeous,” says The New York Times, “[t]he book ingeniously reminds us that all of our lives — our struggles, desires, grief — happen concurrently with everyone else’s, and this awareness helps dissolve the boundaries between us.” Sharlet’s other books include Sweet Heaven When I Die, C Street, The Family — the basis for a 2019 Netflix documentary series, The Family, of which he is narrator and executive producer — and, with Peter Manseau, Killing the Buddha;and two edited volumes, Radiant Truths, and (with Manseau) Believer, Beware. His writing on Russia’s anti-LGBTQ crusade earned the National Magazine Award for Reporting, and his writing on anti-LGBT campaigns in Uganda earned the Molly Ivins Prize and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s Outspoken Award, among others. He has also been the recipient of numerous fellowships from MacDowell. Sharlet is an editor-at-large for VQR, and is or has been a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, Harper’s and Rolling Stone, and a contributor to publications including The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Esquire, Mother Jones, Bookforum, and others. At Dartmouth College, he is the publisher of 40 Towns and is the Frederick Sessions Beebe ’35 Professor in the Art of Writing.
Nathan Schneider is an associate professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Media Economies Design Lab. His most recent book is Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life.
Join us for an evening of live music with The Niwot Gig's Rock & Pop All-Star Bands. This Boulder County–based program is bringing two youth bands and one adult band to the Trident for a lively set of classic rock and pop hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
It’s a great chance for family and friends to come out and support these musicians, and for anyone in the Boulder community to enjoy a fun, relaxed night of familiar music in one of the city’s favorite gathering spots.
Come early, grab a drink or a bite, and settle in for a memorable evening of live music.
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Eastwood & Holly is a three piece indie folk band from Fort Collins, Colorado. The band is fronted by singer-songwriter, Chelsea Beth along with multi-instrumentalist Russick Smith on the guitar, bass and banjo and Brett Throgmorton on drums. Their original music balances atmospheric guitar textures, driving rhythms, and emotionally charged lyrics. Many of their songs are inspired by their shared love of nature as well as autobiographical experiences of travel and adventure.
The Unwieldies are Dani Bell (vocals/guitar), Robert Bell (upright bass/vocals), and Tim Mallot (dobro/mandolin). They deliver rich, dynamic vocals and harmonies that resonate deeply in their original songs about love, loss, and longing. Along with their signature cover arrangements, their style blends indie-folk flair with Americana torch and alt-country storytelling.
Amanda Crumley is a singer-songwriter who is re-emerging. Equal parts Radiohead and Dolly Parton (among countless others) influence songs that are fully her own
Jen Hitt singer/ songwriter: "The voice of Joan Baez with the wit of Leonard Cohen," says Margaret's Dad. Served on a bed of light rhythm guitar, Jen Hitt sings originals and familiar tunes to blow a bit of jasmine through your mind. http://jenhitt.com
TAVO CARBONE Bio:
Tavo Carbone (VT/NY, voice/guitar/piano) has been an active songwriter and recording artist since 1998, independently touring since 2006. Songs are described as"dystopian folk/blues" with musical influences that include Michael Hurley, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, others. There's an off-kilter charm to Tavo Carbone's oddball, old-timey pop...Essentially a solo act, Carbone's been known to employ orchestral flourishes to flesh out his skeletal acoustics including at one point a 17-piece backing band - City Paper (Philadelphia). In recent years Tavo has adopted the unusual stage moniker of a bald eagle mask with a moving beak. This theatrically engaging visual element has become a consistently developed 'character' of sorts, in venue spaces all over the country. Recent album releases include Planet Nonsense (2019), Give Em the Bird (2022), Viral Melodies (2020), Narcissyphus (2019). Carbone lives and tours in a 1991 Toyota motorhome with his dog and performs in theaters, basements, living rooms, record shops, and is currently on the Why America Tour which will traverse 38 states.
ENCAV BIO: Self identified as "Hipster Blues," ENCAV started out as Experiments iN Cello And Voice and quickly evolved into the ongoing musical meanderings of Robert Rowe (uke, cello, violin) and Melissa Maugeri (vocal, lyrics, bass) Though we spend a lot more time on solo and other projects these days, Encav will always be home.
Robert Rowe Bio: Based in Boulder, Colorado, Robert Rowe is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, music instructor, and central figure in the Front Range music community. Seamlessly shifting between violin, viola, cello, and ukulele, his stylistic reach spans everything from intricate acoustic arrangements to vibrant ensemble performances.
A frequent performer across the region's most iconic local stages, Robert has brought his music to historic venues like the Gold Hill Inn, the Hotel Boulderado, and the Velvet Elk Lounge, as well as intimate local favorites like The Laughing Goat. Whether sitting in during a full band showcase in Longmont, bringing Hawaiian music to local community centers, or guiding the next generation of musicians at Harmony Music House, his work reflects a deep, lifelong commitment to the craft and a passion for connecting people through live music.
Giovanni Chavez is the Denver, Colorado based singer-songwriter and guitarist behind Los Cronies, a band featuring some of the best friends of Chavez, Brandon on guitar, Braden on bass, and James on drums. At the end of 2025, Chavez went through a rebirth in Turtle Island’s Grand Canyon, leading him to switch from the electric guitar to the acoustic guitar. With this new stripped down and organic approach, Chavez released his debut solo EP “Mae” in December of 2025. Building a new collection of songs, Chavez is beginning to pull friends back into the live band on backing vocals and other instrumentation to join him for concerts. Recording analog straight to tape, Gio has also started recording friends in Colorado and plans to release more music and play more shows in 2026.
Bring an acoustic instrument and sit in with Boulder Old-Time Jam! Every first Thursday on the Trident Patio, starting at 6 p.m.
BIO: Simone Nicole creates intimate, emotionally rich performances that feel like stepping into a candlelit room — warm, brooding, and quietly powerful. Loosely rooted in folk but unbound by genre, her music blends poetic storytelling, expressive vocals, and subtle shifts in rhythm and mood. A Fort Worth–based artist with a globe-spanning upbringing, Simone’s songs explore love, longing, and the human experience with honesty and depth. She has been recognized as Fort Worth’s Best Musician and Best Female Vocalist, and her latest work continues to draw listeners into a space that’s meant to be felt as much as heard. (www.simonenicole.com)
BIO: Lauren Frihauf is a rising neo-folk artist whose sound blends indie singer-songwriter intimacy with folk and neo-soul influences. Featured in NPR Music’s 2022 Tiny Desk Top Shelf and a standout on Season 19 of The Voice (Teams Gwen and Legend), Lauren is known for her expressive vocals and emotionally resonant songwriting. Drawing inspiration from artists like Nai Palm and Joni Mitchell, her open-tuned guitar work and fluid melodies create performances that feel both grounded and exploratory. Raised on a rural farm yet carrying a distinctly urban sensibility, Lauren’s music invites listeners into a reflective, soulful space. (www.laurenfrihaufmusic.com)
Lively conversation for language learners, native speakers, and everyone in between. We regularly have 10+ languages spoken and always have spirited discussions!
Yugs is an indie-alternative Chilean-Jewish artist and producer who makes music to close your eyes and dance to. Drawing from an eccentric mix of influences—The Strokes, Mac DeMarco, J Dilla—his sound blends indie rock guitars, Latin grooves, dreamy synths, and introspective lyricism created to "help you see the magic that exists all around us."
Yugs has become a staple in the Denver and LA music scenes, opening for major artists like Michael Seyer and Los Shadows and headlining Denver venues like Skylark, Lost Lake, and Hi Dive. Yugs just graduated from LAAMP (Los Angeles Academy for Artists & Music Production) under legendary producers Stargate (Rihanna, Beyoncé). He is the co-founder of the alt-folk supergroup GIRLSTUPID with Megan Winsor and Diana Thale.
He releases his next album, Dancing In My Room, on May 5th, 2026—an emotional, genre-blending odyssey about moving on from a seven-year relationship, holding love for what was, and exploring themes of self-love and identity. It's a soundtrack for anyone trying to find the sunshine in a world becoming more isolating and dark.
As a producer, Yugs has produced music across a wide range of genres—including R&B, Latin, hip hop, folk, pop, and singer-songwriter—for artists such as Sunstoney, Big Dopes, Keddjra, Trayce Chapman, Jon Rubio, Pool Sharks, Frida Aria, Megan Winsor, and Diana Thale.
Esai Vargas is a Denver-based indie/ bedroom pop artist who blends the chill vibes of indie-bedroom pop with hints of R&B. Known for pretty chord progressions and a dreamy sound.
Cherry Pitter is a Fort Collins based rock band founded by Ethan Minard bringing an eclectic mix of alternative, indie, psychedelic, and folk elements into a glorious and catchy concoction.
Bangers & Blunders:
Bangers & Blunders is a Colorado-based traditional Irish music duo. Shannon Muenchow and Graeme Danforth originally met at Irish sessions in the Denver area, and have since formed a musical connection based on their mutual admiration for the Irish music tradition. They bring uplifting trad. tunes to life with twin-fiddle melodic interplay and driving rhythms on fiddle and bouzouki.
Shannon and Graeme's debut album 'Tunes For The Porch' is a compilation of instrumental sets, including many of their favorite tunes. It represents a journey through the tradition of Irish dance music as they combine old standards with new compositions from musicians who are carrying the tradition forward in the present day. Ultimately, it's a culmination of their friendship and their shared love for traditional Irish instrumental folk music.
Katie Mintle:
Katie Mintle is a Colorado-born and raised indie folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
She first fell in love with music at age 11 through Celtic traditions, beginning harp lessons and quickly taking her playing to the streets as a busker in Boulder. Music has always been part of her life, but singing and songwriting came into fuller focus in 2020 during lockdown, when she began exploring her voice more deeply and writing original material.
Since then, Katie has continued to develop a warm, intimate indie folk sound rooted in tradition, storytelling, and stripped-back instrumentation. Her music reflects a balance of old-world influence and modern folk sensibility, shaped by both her early traditional roots and her evolving songwriting voice
Nicolette Andres:
Nicolette Andres plays the violin and the Hardanger fiddle, a 9-stringed folk instrument from Norway. She has performed across the world and has composed original music for film scoring. She released her cdebut album, Hands, in April 2025, which features cittern player Graeme Danforth, her husband. The cittern is a lute-like instrument dating back to the Renaissance. Between these two instruments there are 19 strings.
Nicolette performs solo and collaborates with other artists. Along with her husband, she regularly plays with Irish session players in Boulder, Colorado. From 2017-2020 she was a member of the steampunk band Abney Park, where she toured internationally - visiting Russia twice.
Raised in Evergreen, CO, Nicolette now calls Boulder home. She began violin lessons at age 5, and attended the University of Puget Sound where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Music (2015). She first learned of the Hardanger fiddle after graduating college through a friend, and felt a strong pull towards it from this moment on. She started studying the Hardanger fiddle in 2020 on an instrument loaned to her by the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America.
Texas-based rock singer-songwriter Mark Winters is many things; a witty poet, passionate musician, entrepreneur, optimist, family man, and a bonafide rocket scientist. He first picked up a guitar to play a song for his wife on their anniversary. That’s when he discovered the joy of connecting with people through music. Mark combines music, poetry, a science background, and love for his community to form his signature sound, “rock with a positive vibe.” His musical roots are in rock, blues rock, and pop, and John Mayer, Tom Petty, and Jason Mraz are significant influences. “My music starts from a place of poetry and creative inspiration, and I use my ‘rocket-scientist brain’ to find structures that help me explore that initial burst of inspiration and feeling – like writing haikus, my favorite! My grandmother taught me to express myself through poetry and I'm thankful to her for setting me on this creative and expressive path.”
SARAH MINTO-SPARKS
Sarah Minto-Sparks has played acoustic guitar and sung nonstop since first picking up a guitar at twenty, finding music to be the perfect medium for connection. Inspired by her Grateful Dead-loving father and her Texan roots, Sarah draws folk, bluegrass, and classic rock influences in her original songs. Her debut album, "Stoned I Left Rocky," is a tribute to leaving her home state and finding a new home in the Rockies. After years spent traveling the country by van and abroad in pursuit of music, life, and academics, Sarah settled in Boulder, CO. She can often be found coordinating shows with her fellow local musicians, hosting events in the artist community, and playing in mountain towns throughout the Front Range. She is a Founding Member of Busted Coyote Records.
TOM MORRIS
Tom Morris is a Boulder, Colorado-based acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter whose performances blend emotional storytelling, masterful guitar work, and a rare command of traditional and contemporary styles. His original songs carry a haunting melodic clarity, his traditional folk interpretations feel lived-in and authentic, and his instrumental pieces showcase a distinctive voice on the guitar, often using one of more than 25 alternate tunings he employs to create rich, resonant soundscapes.
With a repertoire that moves effortlessly from British folk ballads to intricate fingerstyle instrumentals, from intimate originals to reimagined covers, Tom brings both versatility and artistic identity to every stage. His playing draws on fingerstyle, cross picking, and dynamic tonal shaping—ranging from pure acoustic warmth to atmospherically modulated textures—always in service of the song.
JO FULLER
Jo Fuller is a CO-based singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Wood of the Grain, is a personal exploration of development in context. Jo’s music is genre-bending, but is ultimately best classified as alt-country. Pulling from the varied musical influences of her Kansas upbringing, she brings you depthful poetry sung to a groove.
Trident Booksellers & Cafe is located in the heart of Downtown Boulder, Colorado. With Buddhist roots, our cafe and bookstore celebrate community, compassion, diversity, and independent thinking.
