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WEEK OF MAY 15, 2025
VOLUME 98 | ISSUE 24
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Some HS science fair awards caught in USAID cuts BY HENRY LARSON CPR NEWS
Much of Ortega’s work is inspired by night walks through Denver’s northside, where the musician was born and raised. PHOTO BY TODD PIERSON
Cipriano Ortega releases debut album ‘Lo Lo House’ Artist incorporates inspiration Denver’s northside walks, vintage sounds BY MERYL PHAIR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
A few years ago, Cipriano Ortega began integrating a two-string bass guitar into his music, experimenting with stripping his sounds down to the basics. A minimalist at heart, the Denver local said that while researching blues, an African-American music genre dating back to the 1860s, he found that many players would start their music careers experimenting with a Diddley Bow, a one-string instrument. “After I discovered that, I found an instrument that I was able to get obsessed with,” said Ortega, who began to experiment with the bare-bones sound, even constructing a few of his own. His explorations make up the backbone of his debut album “Lo Lo House,” which was released in early April. The musician
has described the 11-track record as “lowrock blues,” the minimal instrumentation combining elements of blues, jazz and rock. “If I had an elevator pitch for anybody, it’s Morphine meets the White Stripes,” said Ortega, noting that much of the recording of the album itself was done on analog equipment to keep with the vintage, oldschool vibe of the album. “Lo Lo House” came together during an artist residency Oretego received through Breck Create, spending the summer of 2024 diving into the songwriting and recording process while living in the historic Robert Whyte house in Breckenridge. “I found myself listening to a lot of those old-time blues records,” said the musician, nodding to his muses for the project such as Son House, Albert King and Bo Diddley. “I’ve always been enamored by these players who could create such an atmosphere
VOICES: 8 | LIFE: 10 | CALENDAR: 13
and mood, just with their voice and guitar. It’s always been my goal to create that.” Ortega said his time in the mountains was a significant inspiration for the album, with four songs coming out of being in the physical space. The title of the album “Lo Lo House” also pays homage to the historical setting along with bringing up associations to low rock as well as direct translations of “crazy” in Hawaiian and “grandfather” in Spanish. “What I liked about the experience was it put me in this place to focus on the music and do some soul searching within that,” Ortega said. “The vibe I captured on the album will always bring me back to that place, and I loved using the unconventional recording space which became a pinnacle part of the album.” SEE DEBUT, P6
When 15-year-old Max Kurtz won an award at his school district’s science fair, he never thought it would be impacted by the Trump administration’s cuts to a federal agency. But that’s exactly what happened. Back in February, the Fairview High School sophomore presented a project at Boulder Valley School District’s annual science fair. His project measured microbial activity in soil, which could help farmers get the most yield from their crops. It was part of some broader lab work he’d been doing while working with a mentor and lab group at the University of Colorado-Boulder. “(Farmers would) be able to sort of just stick this little thing in the ground,” Kurtz explained. “And if the reason that all our crops are dying, or the reason why they’re having shortages, is due to a deficiency in microbial activity, they’d be able to then take steps to sort of solve that.” Kurtz didn’t advance to the next round of competition, but his project did win an award sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID. The USAID award was given out to projects that hold “the potential to improve lives around the world,” according to an online list of awards. It also came with a prize: a conversation with a USAID employee to talk about his project and pursuing a career in a science and engineering field with a humanitarian focus. That was a big deal for Kurtz. “I think my interest in engineering very much aligned with (USAID’s) mission … just like helping developing countries, that’s also a big part of what inspired me to want to work with this lab for my project,” he said. SEE CUTS, P4
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