Silent Bear joins KGNU’s Dr. dB in the studio. Silent Bear plays a few tunes and talks about the Audree Dillard All-Star Benefit Concert. The two discuss the importance of community support and the lineup of Front Range talent showing up for local musician Audree Dillard (Interview date: 11/8/2024)
Dr. dB: I’m here live in the studio with Silent Bear. How’s it going buddy?
Silent Bear: Oh, pretty well. Hanging in there.
Dr. dB: Thank you so much for braving the elements to be here with us. It is some nasty weather out there.
Silent Bear: Yeah, it’s getting there. Not too bad yet.
Dr. dB: It’s wet. It’s not icy yet. Be careful out there, everybody. Take it slow. Take it safe.
Silent Bear is here on a mission. There’s a benefit show coming up on Tuesday night at the Roots Music Project to benefit Audree Dillard. She is a local musician. Been playing for 30 years. Chances are, if you are a connoisseur of local and live music here along the Front Range, she has entertained you at some point. She is playing all over the place. She has suffered a stroke. Is that correct, Silent Bear?
Silent Bear: Yes, about a month and a half ago. She has temporary paralysis on her left side. It’s really affecting her abilities.
Dr. dB: Her ability to play and more importantly, her ability to earn the bread that keeps things afloat. When you’re an artist, you are often out there without a net. You commit to being an artist. And what that means is, you’re probably not going to have any health insurance or any of the things that you and I, who aren’t artists or performers and have nine to five jobs, take for granted. That is certainly the case with a lot of musicians. You know that you can go belly up pretty quick as an artist. Someone steals your trailer full of your gear on tour. That’s it. You’re done. Game over. You suffer from a stroke and you get halfway paralyzed. That’s it. Game over, you’re not playing, you’re not earning, and everything comes to a screeching halt. And we don’t necessarily think about that as everyday folks who just go for a couple hours to enjoy some music.
Silent Bear: Yeah, that’s true. She’s put a lot of her heart and soul in this, like you said, for many years. When someone suffers like that, it’s your natural instinct to want to step up and help because you could empathize.
Dr. dB: And talk about stepping up. Beyond the fact that the Roots Music Project has donated the venue and is fully staffing the place for the night, the list of people who have committed to this show is a who’s who of local musicians along the Front Range. I’m just going to run through the list real quick, and we’re going to play some of the music of some of these artists throughout the night. We are going to be kicking it off with the Peaceful Rest Baptist Church Choir. Up next will be Soul School, Rex Peoples and X-Factr, Wendy Woo, Lionel Young, Johnny O, Silent Bear, Peaches Embry, Hazel Miller, Erika Brown, Hilary Freeman from Glass Ceiling, John Magnie from the Subdudes, Mark Diamond, and I think maybe some more, you never know who’s going to show up.
Silent Bear: Yeah, Dan Trainor just joined. He’s going to be playing some harp. And then Diana Castro.
Dr. dB: Diana Castro is going to be there as well. An all star who’s who of local talent along the Front Range all donated their time. So we hope we’ll see you out there.
I see you have a guitar there with you, sir.
Silent Bear: I do. Yes.
Dr. dB: Would you perhaps delight us with some live music?
Silent Bear: All right. I’m probably one of the few people left on earth that still has one of those old Sony Walkmans. I like to get my exercise late at night. I had Songs in the Key of Life. I said, I can’t mess with that ‘cause Audree kills that one. So I don’t want to bother with that. But this other song came on and I said, I know that one. This one here is for Audree.
Dr. dB: Coming up next, I am going to throw down a couple of songs from a couple of the artists that are going to be at the show on Tuesday. Coming up next here is Wendy Woo. This one’s called “The Weather”. Keep it tuned right here to KGNU Community Radio.
And that right there was the one and only Rex Peoples along with X-Factr. They’re going to be at this show on Tuesday night over at the Roots Music Project. It starts at 6pm. Before that we heard “The Weather” by Wendy Woo who is also going to be there. Silent Bear informs me she’s going to be maybe doing an acoustic set. There’s going to be a bunch of stuff that sounds like what we just heard and it was just fantastic. Let’s talk more about the show.
Silent Bear: Doors are at 6:00, everything starts at 6:30. Goes to 9:30, about three hours.
Dr. dB: Yeah, and as we discussed, we can’t really talk about prices over the air, but it sounds like it’s practically free with a suggested donation.
Silent Bear: Yeah, that’s about right. Like you said, everybody’s got the blues these days. So we want to give people a chance to come in there and have some catharsis and while helping Audree out.
Dr. dB: It’s for a great cause. Audree needs everyone’s help. It’s gotta be horrible if you’re a musician and you can’t play, especially when that’s how you pay your bills. This is an all star lineup. It’s gonna be just a fantastic show. Is there a GoFundMe or anything like that? Where can people go to help out Audree?
Silent Bear: Yeah, some of the members from her band put together a GoFundMe, and you can find that one on her Facebook page, Audree Dillard. The Daily Camera did a feature recently on the show. It’s online now, and they have both the GoFundMe and the ticket link at the end of the article.
Dr. dB: It comes right up. “Local legends keeping the beat alive with a Boulder benefit show for drummer”. And I didn’t realize this, she’s a rapper also. So hip hop community, calling you too. She suffered a stroke, she needs everyone’s help, there’s going to be a fantastic evening of music, and it’s practically free.
Silent Bear: Yeah you can’t do better than that.
Dr. dB: You can’t do better than that, not with this world class music that you’ve got.
Silent Bear: We want to raise her spirits. She’s going to be in the house with a friend of hers and her sister.
Dr. dB: She’s going to be in the house, folks. So come by and say hi and give her your positive vibes and show your love and support. It would be just fantastic. That’s Audree Dillard, look her up online, it comes right up.
Silent Bear: And then AKA Audree D, or Madame Jam. That’s her hip hop name, I think.
Dr. dB: You got a few more minutes to stick around with us, Silent Bear?
Silent Bear: I do.
Dr. dB: All right. We’re going to play a couple more songs from a couple of the artists that you can expect to see at the show on Tuesday. And then if we’re real lucky, I’m gonna beg and plead for Silent Bear to play another song for us. Coming up next here is Hazel Miller. I love me some Hazel Miller.
This is “I’m Still Looking”. You’re tuned in to KGNU Community Radio, the Blues Legacy, kicking off your weekend right. I am joined live in the studio with Silent Bear. He played some music for us a little earlier. I think you’re going to play another song for us, buddy.
Silent Bear: Yeah, sure. I just wanted to say something quick. We have quite a scene, listening to that music. My brother, Johnny O, went through something real similar a few years ago. He had a stroke and then we had hundreds of people rally for him at the Boulder Outlook Hotel.
Dr. dB: The old blues haunt.
Silent Bear: Yeah. Dan King. He really created a scene over there, most of the people on the bill were there rallying for Johnny. When I called him, he didn’t hesitate. We lend a helping hand. It doesn’t matter what the fascists say, we’re here to help one another. Stand up.
Dr. dB: That’s the truth, brother. And Johnny O’s gonna be fantastic on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to it. It’s gonna be a great show this Tuesday, over at the Roots Music Project.
Silent Bear: Many thanks to Roots. I’m very thankful, and they’re very efficient and kind. The staff over there are very great people to work with.
Dr. dB: Absolutely. So you got another song for us, buddy. What are you going to play?
Silent Bear: Yeah, it’s a little appetizer. They’re gonna have the real singers over there. They’re gonna be singing with me, but I’m going to create a little feeling here.
Dr. dB: Alright. In case you’re just joining us, that was Silent Bear live here in the studio. He’s here to promote the All Star Benefit for Audree Dillard coming up this Tuesday the 12th over at the Roots Music Project. Thank you so much for swinging by, brother.
Silent Bear: Thank you so much for having me and we look forward to seeing you all down there Tuesday night. Let’s keep it moving,
Dr. dB: Yeah, come on out. I’ll be there. I hope to see you there. It’s going to be a fantastic evening of music.
