On October 21st, emerging Denver jam band Gabe Mintz and the Sparrows released their first single “Colfax Swamp Blues.” The completely instrumental tune feels like it was born from an era long passed, hearkening back to the early days of rock first merging with psychedelia. It’s bluesy and bold, featuring crescendoing horns and hypnotic playing. Following their single release party at Cervantes’ Other Side, the single marks the debut of what is sure to be one of the more talked about new bands hitting the Denver jam scene.
Denver Dive spoke with Mintz about the band’s origins, how the single came about, his connection to the eponymous road and much more.
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Denver Dive: I usually like to start these out by taking it all the way back in the day to when you first became interested in music. Do you have any memories growing up of music first piqueing your interest? Was it a certain song or music played in the house growing up? A certain show you saw when you were young? Anything you can tell me.
Gabe Mintz: Some of my earliest childhood memories of music are from riding in the car with my dad and listening to whatever he would put on. We listened to a lot of Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, and soul music. I remember being fascinated by the intro to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Music was always something that captivated me. I even got in trouble once for bringing a boombox to elementary school and playing the Rolling Stones. I couldn’t understand what the problem was, and I got one of the many “you’ll understand when you’re older” speeches that would follow me throughout my life.
Another core memory is sitting in front of this big Native American drum that my parents used as a coffee table, banging on it and experimenting with different beats. Funny enough, I didn’t turn out to be a drummer.
My older cousins were also huge musical influences. One was involved in a lot of musical theater, and watching him perform in many productions like The Wiz, Guys and Dolls, and Cabaret opened my eyes to the world of performance. His brother was more of a punk and metalhead who introduced me to bands like Iron Maiden and the Melvins, opening up an entirely different world of music for me. Another cousin who was a big influence is my cousin Leah Concialdi who always kept me and her little brother hip to the popular music of our era. The Gorillaz, Green Day, Blink 182, Weezer, and many other alternative/pop punk acts. She is now an amazing baritone sax player playing with the likes of Harry Styles as well as a Hollywood PR agent working with acts such as Cory Henry, Lettuce, and Sun Ra Arkestra. I guess it runs in the family.
Growing up, I was surrounded by all these different sounds, styles, and influences, and I absorbed them like a sponge. I think you can hear that in my music today. I’ve never felt tied to just one genre or approach, and a lot of that comes from being exposed to such a wide range of music from an early age.
DD: When did you first start to play?.
GB: 15 years old as a sophomore in high school, but I only started taking music seriously as a musician about 5 or 6 years ago.
DD: Tell me about Gabe Mintz and the Sparrows. How and when did the project first come together?
GB: The first official “show” was 8/25/2023 and I credit the defunct Your Mom’s House Open Jam, which was hosted by the Sparrows’ touring guitarist, Jason King. King helped me find the confidence to get onstage, after inviting me join him on a slow night. I kept coming back, honed my craft, and eventually asked some friends to join me for a few shows.
DD: Your sound has the out of time feel, feels like it fell out of something like the mid-70s, hints of Pink Floyd and like Little Feet melded together. Tell me about how the sound came about.
GB: Like I mentioned above the sound was a culmination of the musical influences my bandmates and I had growing up. We each bring our influences to rehearsal and throw them into a big melting pot, the results are the sounds you hear.
DD: Let’s talk about the single, “Colfax Swamp Blues.” When did you first start working on it? How did it come to be?
GB: “Colfax Swamp Blues” is the brainchild of a Jimi Hendrix riff that I loved and turned into its own blues. It took me several years to figure out what the song wanted to become. Some songs come together quickly. “Colfax Swamp Blues” was different. I kept returning to it until it revealed itself to me in full and the pieces finally made sense.
DD: Tell me more about the Colfax connection.
GB: I’ve lived on West Colfax for 10+ years and the whole avenue has an energy that reverberates and is hard to ignore. It is the longest continuous commercial street in the United States, a road with a long history in Denver and a place connected to Jack Kerouac’s cult-classic book On the Road. The homelessness you see, the addiction, cheap roadside motels, prostitution, and neon bar signs that come alive at night show the kind of scene that polite society prefers not to acknowledge. It is raw and honest, exactly the kind of street that produces the blues.
DD: The first single is fully instrumental. I think that’s a bold move. It’s pure in a way. Can you tell me a little about the message of the single, if you set out to have one. What do you hope listeners take away from it?
GB: It’s about pulling back the curtain on the things polite society would rather not acknowledge. This country has real issues that continue to get swept under the rug, despite having the resources to address them. As Tupac famously put it, “We got money for wars but can’t feed the poor.”
That’s my interpretation, anyway. I’m always open to hearing what someone else takes away from it. I love the idea that a listener can bring their own experiences and perspective to a song and walk away with something completely different from what I originally intended. That’s the beauty of music.
DD: It has that true classic rock feel to it. At the turnaround, those horns come in and they hit hard. Tell me a little bit about recording the song.
GB: This was actually the only track on the album that I recorded in a professional studio — The Keep on South Broadway — and it features some incredible collaborators. Guitarist DJ Williams, who spent more than twelve years playing alongside Karl Denson, the saxophonist known for his work with The Rolling Stones. DJ brings the seasoned, elastic playing that only comes from years on the road. Fellow guitarist Shawn Eckels is another road warrior who spent a decade with Andy Frasco, rocking stages and blowing minds across the country.
At the heart of the track is the album’s producer and my close friend Jack Marty, keyboardist for rising jam-scene stars Sqwerv, whose vintage Hammond organ sound gives the song its foundation and soul. And finally, hot-shot horn player Nate Miller puts the cherry on top with his buttery horn arrangements. We actually recorded Nate’s parts in Jack Marty’s wonderful home studio after the fact, which brought everything together to make this track what it is.
DD: This is a broad question I like to ask a lot. Feel free to answer however you’d like. Do you have a philosophy when it comes to creation?
GB: Open yourself up to the universal energy, spirits, or whatever you want to call it, and let that energy flow through you. Tap into the source and trust where it takes you.
DD: Finally, what’s next for Gabe Mintz and the Sparrows?
GB: We’re ecstatic to finally get our music onto streaming services, starting with our first single, “Colfax Swamp Blues.” And what’s next? Whatever the hell we want! That’s the beauty of being a blues, funk, punk, outlaw country, jazz fusion band. We could hit the road for an outlaw country tour down to Texas, do a punk rock run out to California, or just keep doing our thing here in Colorado. The possibilities are endless, and that’s exactly how we like it.
We just wrapped up our summer/fall tour, but we’ve got some great shows coming up. On November 21, we’ll be playing a personal bucket-list venue of mine: The Little Bear in Evergreen, Colorado. I’ve been dancing on that stage since I was a baby, so getting to play there with the band is a pretty special full-circle moment. We’ll also be at The Armadillo Ranch in Manitou Springs on December 4.
I recently got my piano back, so maybe I’ll play some keys on the next record. Who knows? I’m just going to keep tapping into the source, following my instincts, and seeing where the music takes me. That’s the fun of it all.
Stream “Colfax Swamp Blues’ HERE!
