American, Not Gothic Music genres are an endless parade of innovative portmanteaus, mashing up existing words with microniche trends. The one most commonly applied to Denver band Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is gothabilly. “I don’t know where that came from,” laughs Slim Cessna, the band’s frontman. “I think we’re closer

Benjamin Tyler grew up in the southwest, studying jazz in Tempe, Arizona. Despite jazz’s propaganda as an outlet for musical freedom, he felt boxed-in. “I had a lot to get off my chest, and I just felt a little stifled in school,” he says. “And no one really wanted to