Electronic music: it’s the unoriginal soundtrack of raves, the pulsing heartbeat of those hedonistic brain-cell annihilation-fests, the stuff of naive candy kids strung out on ecstasy, right?  

Well, in all honesty, yes, it sometimes is. But don’t all music genres have to put up with a few cheesy, embarrassing members the way pop music does with, say, Britney Spears?  Most believe that a typical “techno” song consists of a variation of an “unts-unts” bass beat over the top of a Sarah McLaughlin remix, something that took about as much thought and creativity to produce as the “tracks” my hamster, Chuckles, “laid down” when she escaped her cage and walked across the piano keyboard.  

What does it take to make a band? For the most part, it requires a strong work ethic; a willingness to play your heart out as often as opportunity allows.

This is the path that Fort Collins-based WoolEye knows best.

A four-piece group that has known almost as many drummer changes as Spinal Tap, WoolEye shows a willingness to go the distance playing their self-described brand of psychedelic Southern funk.

Many Coloradans can instantly recognize these song titles but few know their origins. And fewer still would suspect that Denver is at the  forefront of revitalizing and preserving these and many other famous songs in the genre known as spirituals.T

The Spirituals Project, a nonprofit based in Denver, is committed to getting the word out about these famous American folk songs which helped form the foundation of modern R&B, gospel music, jazz, blues, and rap.