5-ish Musical Genres that Embody Fort Collins
Musical genres can be a fun and great way of describing the feel of a place. Like music genres, cities have their individual feel and experience which make them unique. Some genres are combined together in this list because they embody Fort Collins in similar ways. For those who are new to town, or those that have been here for years, here is a list of musical genres that help best describe the city of Fort Collins.
5-ish. Billboard Top 100
The Billboard Top 100 is not a musical genre, but it’s key to what this town is not about. It showcases the most popular songs at the time and in the case of this list, it embodies the popular sound a large audience can enjoy. Fort Collins focuses on providing and maintaining a local environment that heavily supports the products of the city. The music scene in Fort Collins is built on independence and originality, yet big industry and popular music are still apart of the city. Just as in the music, the large industry of Denver over-looms Fort Collins and provides trending industries, products, and arts that still become a piece of Fort Collins’ culture.
4. Jazz / Blues
Jazz and blues are uniquely American genres that have evolved and broken off into sub-genres since their creation, yet stereotypically have one traditional sound. Similarly to these genres, Fort Collins can have stereotypes and certain images from the outside, but beyond the surface this city has many different levels, cultures, and environments that have changed over time. This city is laid out in a way much like the evolution of jazz and blues . Fort Collins is full of new construction, yet it’s government and town buildings remain traditional in architecture. Also, clubs and open jams aimed towards specifically one of these genres can be found all across town.
3. Folk / Bluegrass / Country
Geographically, Fort Collins lies in Northern Colorado and is roughly 30 miles from the Colorado/Wyoming border. Being surrounded by rural country, traditional Americana genres such as folk, bluegrass and county are a large part of Fort Collins. These genres can have a transporting effect to a place away from civilization and Fort Collins has that smaller town or country feeling while still industrialized.
2. Hip-Hop / Rap
The student body attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins largely contributes to the town’s uniqueness. Students come from all around the globe to study at the university which subsequently brings those raised in more urban environments to Fort Collins. Hip-Hop and rap traditionally are the voice of the inner streets of the city, and hip-hop follows the residents of Fort Collins who came from larger cities.
- Alternative / Indie
For many, Fort Collins is a home for self-discovery. At the crossroads of agriculture, business and education, people try to discover exactly who they are and what unique things make us stand apart. In their names alone, alternative and indie music is characterized by independently producing music and the ability to create without the boundaries set by record labels. Similarly, the Fort Collins community values DIY (do it yourself) actions such as gardening and re-purposing materials or items as opposed to pushing big industry.
Fort Collins is a unique town. Its individual elements and features can sometimes be over shadowed by Denver, but with a simple look around you can see how this place has a culture of its own. Music can be a great tool for describing places and things because it can help paint a picture or look at something through a different lens. Independence, colliding cultures and geography together make Fort Collins, Colorado a special place .
