Nahko And Medicine For The People will be coming to Colorado this June, bringing their enchanting and heartfelt sounds to the Boulder Theatre on Thursday, June 8th. Led by Portland-born and Los Angeles-based Nahko Bear, the world-music collective’s multi-genre sound has been steadily gaining traction since the group’s inception in 2008, with their inspired message bridging the gaps across their large volume of listeners and advocating for social, spiritual, and political consciousness. Nahko and Medicine for the People’s Boulder show, with support from Midnight North, is set to double as a pre-party for Dead & Company’s two-day run at University of Colorado–Boulder’s Folsom Field, which starts the next day.

Nahko And Medicine For The People’s performance in Boulder will be a perfect warm-up for those attending the Dead & Company run, with the group’s genre-defying mix of rock, hip-hop, alt-folk, and music from around the world combining to create a powerful and beautiful sound that will get folks into an appropriately blissed-out mindset ahead of Dead & Company’s return to Folsom Field. With Nahko at the helm, Chase Makai (lead guitar), Justin Chittams (drums), Pato (bass and kora), Tim Snider (violin) and Max Ribner (horns) will put on a spiritually enlightened and positive show that friends will not want to miss.

The group is on the heels of their third full-length studio album HOKA, which was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Ted Hutt and has received critical acclaim for its pioneering sound that is pushing Nahko and Medicine for the People to the next level. “Over the last three years, I’ve been cracked open so deeply in my own healing to really give this record my all,” explains Nahko. “My style of writing and my intentions with how I put things together has evolved a lot. I’m able to better paint the picture after time on the road, seeing first-hand the emotional state of the people of the world, of how sick people are, and how much healing they need.”

Midnight North is known for their own soulful performances, though their shows fall more in line with traditional blues and rock lineage while adding their own contemporary twist to their music. It’s notable that Midnight North will be in attendance on June 8th at the Boulder Theatre as well, especially when considering that the band was born as the house band at Phil Lesh’s iconic San Rafael venue Terrapin Crossroads. While Lesh may not be in attendance for the Dead & Company run, his spirit may be their in proxy, as Midnight North is composed of his son, guitarist Grahame Lesh, along with multi- instrumentalists Elliott Peck and Alex Jordan, drummer Alex Koford and bassist Connor O’Sullivan. With healing being the theme of the Dead & Company pre-party as they look toward the weekend, the performance will connect the dots across the expansive musical family that is the Grateful Dead.

Increasingly in this confusing world, people need healing, and music is the answer for many. With Nahko and Medicine for the People’s restorative and enlightened sound at its front, Boulder will be the place to be come June for a string of shows that will lift spirits and elevate minds. With Midnight North’s own brand of harmonious sound kicking things off, there will be songs to fill the Colorado air, and we’ll be all the better for it. Tickets for Nahko and Medicine for the People and Midnight North’s Boulder Theatre performance on June 8th are available here. You can also check out the other Dead & Company pre-shows and post-shows presented by Boulder Theatre and Fox Theatre here, which will also see performances by Easy Star All-Stars (performing Radiodread), The Marcus King Band, Tom Hamilton’s American Babies, White Denim, Circles Around The Sun, Shakedown Street, Boombox, Dopapod, and Hudson (featuring Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski, and John Scofield).

[Photo: Paul Citone]

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