After spending more than 25 years in the newspaper business (most recently at the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News in Denver), Michael Bialas is taking an online approach to his work. A writer, editor, amateur photographer and former college football player, he primarily has covered sports throughout his career. Among the games he enjoys playing now, though, are reviewing and writing about music, movies, TV and other activities that don't require a ball.

Blog Entries by Michael Bialas

A Winter Sugarland: Country's Merry (Christmas) Melodies

Posted December 22, 2009 | 02:35 PM (EST)


Do you hear what I hear?

All that clatter must have something to do with last-minute packing by Santa and his elves. If there's a chance they forgot about the iPod-wielding, country-music loving member of your household, consider picking up these stocking stuffers worthy of some Christmas cheer. And...

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Miranda Lambert Embraces Role of Denver's Honky-Tonk Woman

1 Comments | Posted December 15, 2009 | 02:13 PM (EST)


A self-proclaimed redneck who enjoys talkin' and singin' about boys, booze and bullets, Miranda Lambert was made to play the Grizzly Rose Saloon & Dance Emporium.

There's nothing fancy about Denver's massive honky-tonk, where the mechanical bull looms in the back and the beer-swilling buckaroos line up...

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Robert De Niro Upstages Denver In Kirk Jones' Everybody's Fine

2 Comments | Posted November 30, 2009 | 01:34 PM (EST)


Denver plays a small part in Everybody's Fine, the tearjerking family drama disguised in recent trailers as a feel-good holiday film starring Robert De Niro.

Unfortunately, the Mile High City needed a stand-in. Like almost everything else these days, you can blame it on the economy. The Denver...

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Full Metal Racket: Consider This Ed Harris' Just Say No-No

3 Comments | Posted November 23, 2009 | 01:07 PM (EST)


He's getting ready to turn 59 next week, and has spent more than half his life as a stage and screen actor. And during an impressive career in which he's played the good (The Right Stuff), the bad (Pollock) and the hideously ugly (A History of Violence), four-time Academy Award...

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No Grinch will ruin Carrie Underwood's Holiday

3 Comments | Posted November 19, 2009 | 06:11 PM (EST)


The Fox network is wishing you -- the home television viewer -- a very Carrie Christmas. And they're gift-wrapping two hours of entertainment in a special package titled Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special that will air December 7 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT).

Of course, Fox, the network that...

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Interview: Visqueen's Rachel Flotard Sends a Powerful Message

3 Comments | Posted November 4, 2009 | 05:54 PM (EST)


With dark clouds constantly hanging over the Emerald City, playing in a Seattle rock band must come with a warning label. Resist trying to break on through to the sunny side because you can't even get your head above the clouds.

That's the least of Rachel Flotard's worries. The do-it-all...

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Expect to Hear Much More from Allison Moorer

2 Comments | Posted November 4, 2009 | 05:20 PM (EST)


The announcement last week that singer-songwriter Allison Moorer has signed a deal with Ryko Records and will be releasing Crows, her seventh studio album, on February 9, 2010 (almost two years after Mockingbird, her most recent release), was more than welcome news.

It will include 13 tracks and...

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Whodunit? Mile High Experience Leaves Roger Daltrey Breathless

5 Comments | Posted October 27, 2009 | 04:12 PM (EST)


It was billed as a solo performance, but was so much more. Who knew? Outside Whoville, that is.

Going above and beyond the call of rock star duty, Roger Daltrey went the extra miles (and miles) before a not-quite-sellout crowd at the Paramount Theatre (1,870-seat capacity) in...

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Concert Review: If you knew Suzy (Bogguss) like they know Suzy ...

1 Comments | Posted October 22, 2009 | 05:05 PM (EST)


About the time Taylor Swift was born, Suzy Bogguss was riding high in Nashville.

She was country music's "It Hit Girl" before the arrival of Pretty (and Poppy) Young Things such as Shania Twain, Faith Hill and Sara Evans impacted the scene and forever changed (some purists say...

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Rosanne Cash's The List Covers a Lot of Ground

2 Comments | Posted October 7, 2009 | 05:45 PM (EST)


Finally, at the age of 54, Rosanne Cash has become a cover girl.

The eldest daughter of the late Johnny Cash, Rosanne is releasing her 12th studio album, The List on October 6 (Manhattan Records). But it's the first time she has covered other singers' songs...

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Now Hear This (Interview): Time To Celebrate Imelda May Day

5 Comments | Posted September 19, 2009 | 04:14 PM (EST)


Touring America for the first time, Irish rockabilly/blues singer Imelda May sounds like a giddy schoolgirl. Except she prefers to go back to old school.

There's a lot of U.S. history behind the music May loves, which she is eager to study. That's why, during a brief visit in...

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The (Looonnng and Winding) Road Out of Telluride

3 Comments | Posted September 12, 2009 | 02:15 PM (EST)


This is the fourth in a series of reports from the Telluride Film Festival. The event customarily held over the Labor Day weekend returned for its 36th season September 4-7. Coverage included a quick look at a film screened each night and highlights of some of the group discussions...

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Bad Lieutenant: Telluride Witnesses a Case of Cage Rage

Posted September 9, 2009 | 10:44 AM (EST)


This is the third in a series of reports from the Telluride Film Festival. The event customarily held over the Labor Day weekend returned for its 36th season September 4-7. Coverage includes a quick look at a film screened the previous night and highlights of some of the group...

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Telluride Tries to Survive Life During Wartime

Posted September 7, 2009 | 03:03 PM (EST)


This is the second in a series of reports from the Telluride Film Festival. The event customarily held over the Labor Day weekend returned for its 36th season September 4-7. Coverage will include a quick look at a film screened the previous night; highlights of some of the group...

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Getting An Education at Telluride Film Festival

Posted September 5, 2009 | 06:08 PM (EST)


This is the first in a series of reports from the Telluride Film Festival. The event customarily held over the Labor Day weekend returned for its 36th season September 4-7. Coverage will include a quick look at a film screened the previous night; highlights of some of the group...

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Folk U. (Day 3): 10 Best of the Fest Moments

Posted August 20, 2009 | 12:18 PM (EST)


The 19th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado, concluded with a blend of down-under blues, home-on-the-strange weirdness, feel-good funk rock and back-to-the basics traditionalism with roots royalty. Here's a look at highlights and the final four acts, each lasting about 75 minutes, on Sunday, August 16, with the...

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Folk U (Day 2): 10 Best of the Fest Moments

Posted August 19, 2009 | 10:36 AM (EST)


Attendance during the second day of the 19th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado, was even better than the first, but the guitar-driven bands didn't provide the only excitement. Here's a look at highlights and the final four acts, each lasting about 75 minutes, on Saturday, August 15,...

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Folk U (Day 1): Ten Best of the Fest Moments

Posted August 18, 2009 | 12:33 PM (EST)


The 19th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival began on Friday, August 14, in Lyons, Colorado, along the banks of the St. Vrain River. While kids frolicked in the calm but cool waters, a hardy group of folk enthusiasts were like transfixed students eager to soak up some musical knowledge. They...

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Nine Questions for Madeleine Peyroux

Posted August 18, 2009 | 10:15 AM (EST)


Interpreting other folk's songs has taken Madeleine Peyroux on an adventurous road that covers miles of styles.

Covering artists as diverse as Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and Patsy Cline since her first album was released in 1996, Peyroux has decided to take...

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