19 FEBRUARY 6-12, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | FIND MORE MUSIC COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/MUSIC Natural-Born Rockers SHADY OAKS IS TURNING UP THE HEAT IN DENVER’S MUSIC SCENE. BY EMILY FERGUSON Shady Oaks has played the Underground Music Showcase four times, and the band- mates agree that their 2024 set was the best yet. They received a prime evening slot at the hi-dive, just before the “mystery set” from Rootbeer Richie & the Reveille. The line of people hoping to get inside stretched down the street, where you could’ve fried an egg on the pavement. But it was even steamier inside the little blue venue, and Shady Oaks was about to turn up the heat. The six-piece group is one of Denver’s best alternative-rock bands — raw, gritty and inexhaustibly energetic in both sound and stage presence. The crowd soaks up that adrenaline, too. The hi-dive audience was jumping, headbanging and frantically dancing to stay afl oat in the crushing wave of blues rock. Meanwhile, frontman Ty Gal- loway was stomping his way to the fl oor from the stage, wielding his guitar while his bandmates sonically lit the place on fi re. “For me. personally, it’s one of the most fun shows to be a part of, on stage and off stage,” says Hunter Bates, the founder of Mean World Records who joined the band as bassist in May 2023. Being rowdy is par for the course. “The fi rst UMS Hunter played with us, we were at HQ,” recalls Isaac Vance, who has played dual lead and slide guitar in the band since 2021. “It was a Sunday night, and I’m sweat- ing so much; I made the idiot decision to wear a suit jacket. I look over and Hunter is on the ground, spinning around, his glasses are broken. And you had to get a knee surgery after that, right?” “I tore a ligament in my knee from con- stantly working, playing, going all out,” Bates says. Tack that onto an infi nite list of rock- related injuries, including Steven Tyler tear- ing his larynx and Trent Reznor accidentally clocking Chris Vrenna with his mic. It’s part of the rockstar job, and the Shady Oaks members are defi nitely suited for it. Just listening to the band’s recent releases, you can tell this is a crew that goes all out. And Shady Oaks sounds just as good — if not bet- ter — live, even if the members don’t rehearse that often, Galloway admits. “We’re actually going to practice later today,” he says with a grin, as he, Bates, Vance and drummer Jonah Samp huddle around some early-afternoon drinks at Atomic Cowboy on Broadway. They’re sitting in the corner under the buzzing neon cowboy sign — a fi tting symbol for the bandmates, who blend Western twangs and folk sensi- bilities with blues-driven rock and roll and a renegade attitude. The only members who aren’t here are keyboardist Ian Arras and electric violinist Sarah Hubbard, who is performing at the National Association of Music Merchants showcase in a partnership with two spon- sors, Quilter Labs and Volta Strings. She and Arras joined Shady Oaks last summer to record its 2024 EP, Best Thing, and have remained in the band since then. “I met Ty and Isaac at the fi rst show I ever played with Mr. Knobs and we shared an immediate musical kinship,” Hubbard says later via email. “I had heard rumors of the bombastic, electric shows Shady Oaks put on, but had never seen them prior to recording on their Best Thing EP later that summer. It was clear to me in the studio that the band possessed a kinetic magic that made me eager to work more with them.” “She immediately fi t in perfectly,” recalls Galloway. “It was exactly what we needed.” “She literally bleeds glitter,” Samp adds. Indeed, Hubbard appears on the stage like a mystical fairy, casting a spell with her electric violin as if it were a wand. “It’s crazy visually because most of the time, we’re all in black or denim or some- thing,” Galloway says, “and she’s always in pink — but she’s also just as grungy as us. She plays with her heart out every time.” With such broad talent, most of the Shady Oaks members are also part of other groups. Arras, who isn’t yet 21, performs with Thom LaFond, the Discourse, Libélula, Dzirae Gold and more; Samp has a solo project, There May Be Ghosts; Hubbard is in Flobots, Espiaille, Mr. Knobs and sits in with even more groups; Vance is in Mr. Knobs, as well; and Bates is in Dethrali and Tarantula Bill. As for Galloway? “Shady Oaks is my baby,” he says. “It’s kind of like my outlet for everything.” He is a geologist by day, but Galloway was born to be a rock-and-roll frontman. Not just because of his penchant for showmanship or charisma, of which he has plenty — he also has the talent to back MUSIC continued on page 20 Ty Galloway (center) and bandmates (from left) Hunter Bates, Ian Arras, Sarah Hubbard, Isaac Vance and Jonah Samp. CHRISTIAN HUNDLEY The band is planning a tour and new releases this year. CHRISTIAN HUNDLEY
