The Root of the Hill

The Root of The Hill is one of Boulder's location's I feel is worth mentioning. So just to give an idea of what this little underground mecca has to offer... It's a very eclectic small retail spot on the Hill (a college student infested lump at the center of Boulder) with a conjoined underground venue and dispensary. The store sells for the most part a great selection of urban clothing, paint, and glassware alongside a number of other random oddities. The Root hosts a number of small to moderately sized parties showcasing local and underground acts from all over the western half of the United States every year. Most frequently raves, but the occasional hip-hop act can be found on stage. Given they have to compete with the nearby Fox Theatre they seem to hold their own.

What really needs to be noted about The Root is that though a phenomenal place to find a dope hoodie or a fat marker, what inspires me is the noble attempt at linking Boulder to a very small niche culture based around underground creativity via music and art, be it hip-hop, dubstep or a hat designed by Jeremy Fish. A culture that certainly isn't prevalent in such a small city.

Whether or not the owner (Mike, pictured above) is even aware that half of what he offers in his shop relates to my own deep seeded interest in underground creativity with pieces in his store designed by Munk One and clothing produced by Upper Playground, a site that supports such prolific contemporary artists like David Choe and Estevan Oriol, I am not sure. I lied... I'm actually pretty positive he has no idea whatsoever. This however just adds to the magic of the spot though, surfing through the racks of shirts and rifling through the store finding little bits and pieces, shards of a culture that's thriving far from where we are here in Boulder, that somehow traversed the midwest and made it to The Root of the Hill. It's nice knowing that there's somewhere here I can access that little piece of culture outside of a computer.

The shop might be expensive, the company might be disorganized and some of the parties might be half-assed. But for what little it has given me I am very very grateful.