Insiders See Adult-Rock Format Rising

G. Brown
The Denver Post, August 11, 2002 Section: AE Page: F-08

It's been 10 years since the first Triple A Summit gathered in Boulder, a conference/music festival held for radio programmers in the adult-rock format. Gavin Report, a magazine aimed at programmers, sponsored the convention until folding a few months ago. Now, another trade publication has taken over, and the
renamed Radio & Records Triple A 2002 Summit will be held Wednesday though Aug. 18.

A lot of things have changed in the industry, but R&R's Triple A editor John Schoenberger wants to plug into an optimistic attitude.

"When the summit first got together, the first generation of artists was springing out of the coalescing Triple A format - Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews Band, the Wallflowers, Counting Crows," Schoenberger says.
"As the format began to mature, radio stations had to take on more competitive roles in their markets - the playlists tightened up, the rotations on the records they were playing increased, and songs from other formats crossed over to help build their audience. From '96 to '99 or so, it was more of a follower format as opposed to a leader format.

"But it seems to be coming into its own again. You can point to David Gray, Pete Yorn, Five for Fighting, John Mayer, Norah Jones - the next generation of artists that can give the nod to Triple A radio as the place that first recognized their talent and gave them the big shot."

The convention's panels will kick off Thursday morning with a "Then & Now" session moderated by Dennis Constantine, program director of KINK in Portland, Ore. He formerly was PD at Boulder's KBCO, the station credited with inventing the Triple A format.

"People complain about corporate ownership (of radio stations), but it's always been there. It's just that the corporations are bigger now - and with deregulation, where a company can come in and own eight radio stations, they look at ways of consolidating and saving costs," Constantine says.

"I'm going back to the beginning of progressive radio and through the timeline of how this kind of radio has developed up to now. In the '60s and '70s, corporate America was much more stringent and button-down. KMET and WNEW, the big progressive stations back then, couldn't play "Move Over' by Janis Joplin because of her curse-rapping at the fade of the songs.

"And they had much more restrictive environments to work in, wallpapered offices and dress codes. Today, yeah, we're owned by these big companies, but the environment inside the stations is much more individualized for the situation."

In addition, there will be the summit's usual live-music showcases at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. Many of the artists at these shows in past years - Dave Matthews, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Chris Isaak, Natalie Merchant - usually play much larger venues.

"To me, it's just another show," says Aimee Mann, who will perform Saturday night. "And if it's a bunch of executives standing around talking to each other and ignoring the music, fine with me. Paid rehearsal."
But it's a treat to see the performances in a more intimate setting (the Fox's capacity is about 625), and a few tickets are released to the public. This year's lineup:

Wednesday: Sonia Dada with Dave Pirner (of Soul Asylum) and Peter Stuart. Over the course of a five-album career, Sonia Dada has steadily garnered acclaim for its three lead singers and the songs of Dan Pritzker. The band is promoting "Barefoot Soul," due in stores Aug. 20.

Thursday: Blind Boys of Alabama with the Wallflowers and Beth Orton. The original Blind Boys are all in their 70s, and the new album "Higher Ground" pairs them with young souls - pedal steel phenom Robert Randolph & his Family Band and singer-guitarist Ben Harper.

Friday: Coldplay with Kim Richie and Marc Copely. With "Yellow," a beautiful and perfectly constructed hit, Coldplay was embraced as successors to the territory vacated when Radiohead weirded out. The new "In My Place" is another bittersweet but empowering single.

Saturday: Chuck Prophet with Aimee Mann and Alex Lloyd. In the '80s, Prophet's work in Green on Red was lumped in with the "Paisley Underground," a scene said to favor '60s psychedelia. But Prophet's solo work has presaged the popularity of Americana and roots rock by several years, and "No Other Love" is one of the year's best albums.

"You're always trying to have a balance," Schoenberger says. "You want name artists who are on a good run at the format right now. And then you look in the crystal ball and hope to pick a few new acts that, a year from now, everybody's going to be saying, "Wow, I remember seeing them for the first time in Boulder!'"