[From Westword] Horse Bitch Is So Hot Right Now: Why We're Obsessed With This Denver Band

By Emily Ferguson

March 11, 2025

The group has been making waves with its madcap sound and stage presence, which you can see for yourself at Globe Hall this weekend alongside Gestalt and Tiny Tomboy.

It's a warm day at Morse Park in Lakewood; spring is finally breaking through the dregs of winter, and the members of Horse Bitch are sitting on bleachers along the baseball field. A soft "awwww" breaks out as a dad and his son cross the field for a batting lesson. "Horse Bitch loves kids," jokes Riley Merino, who plays guitar and keys as well as vocals.

"I wanted us to meet at Chuck E. Cheese today," says David Knodle, who takes on guitar and lead vocals, with an ironic smile. There was also talk about Dave & Buster's, but that would be too loud. So Morse Park it is, and the band's members — including Adam Cabrera (bass, vocals), Alec Doniger (drums, vocals), Olivia Shaw (fiddle, vocals), Caleb Amelunke (pedal steel) and Ashley McKinney (tambourine, vocals, and most important: bubble machine) — all came prepared with lollipops, mint gum, a juggling set, a plastic lightsaber and Spike Ball.

Left to right: Riley Merino, Alec Doniger, Ashley McKinney, Adam Cabrera, David Knodle, Olivia Shaw and Caleb Amelunke.

Courtesy of Horse Bitch

It feels like high school again, hanging out in a field, talking about music, a very bizarre landlord and, oddly, kids. (Should Horse Bitch open for Kidz Bop at Red Rocks? The vote is yes.) The bandmates are perpetually riffing off one another, as satirical in person as they are in song — an attribute that earned Horse Bitch a 2024 Best of Denver award for Best Out-of-Pocket Lyrics. They're rowdy as hell on stage, too: Under the sweltering heat at the last Underground Music Showcase, they put on a raucous performance that roused the audience from their sweaty lawn chairs and out into a mosh pit. The musicians were practically moshing on stage as well (at least, as much as they could with instruments), before they collapsed in a heap at the end of the show.

Immediately after that concert, I bought a Horse Bitch shirt. When I later admitted to Merino that I got chili stains all over it, he replied: "That's awesome to hear! They really are designed to be a canvas for chili, beer, snot, blood and what have you — you’re one of the few using it correctly."

Watch your head at Horse Bitch show.

Courtesy of Horse Bitch

That's just the sort of answer you'd expect from a band that flies by the seat of its pants, usually crafting its setlists just before heading on stage. On March 15, Horse Bitch will be at Globe Hall, joining Gestalt and Tiny Tomboy for St. Patrick's Day shenanigans. "Gestalt's some of our besties," says Merino. "Such nice boys. We're close with a lot of people, like our friends Tiny Tomboy."