Elder Grown & Graham Good & The Painters
Animas City Theatre PresentsElder Grown with Graham Good & The PaintersFriday December 9th21+ / $17 / $20Tickets on sale now online Paper Tickets available at Animas Trading Company on Wednesday October 12thElder Grown Bio:Family and community are the roots of the band Elder Grown. A band of brothers and sisters. Though the group is made up of five guys from Durango, Colorado, they consider every audience to be their 6th collective member; their heartbeat, medicine and reason for song. Funk meets Pop, Rock meets Hip Hop, Jazz meets Reggae. Elder Grown uses the freedom of improvisational jams as their foundation to create their captivating, soul-inspired sound. From the set opener to the fourth hour, Elder Grown encourages you to break down your ideas of genre with your hips and heartbeat. The band takes listeners on a genre-bending rollercoaster through rule-breaking sound, often switching instruments mid-song. Start with groovy, funk inspired bass lines reminiscent of Motown meeting the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Then, add screaming lead guitar and bossy sax lines reflective of Pink Floyd and Maceo Parker. Finish it off with inspiration from Rage Against the Machine, Atmosphere, and Sublime and you are beginning to understand the sound that is Elder Grown. Brothers and Sisters, you are invited to embark on a journey into the unrecognizably familiar. https://www.facebook.com/ElderGrown/http://www.eldergrown.com/https://www.reverbnation.com/eldergrownGraham Good & The PaintersGraham Good is hailed as the Messiah of Modern Rock (Nick Stock, jambands.com) due to his infectious energy and classic song writing. Specializing in Feel-Good//Funk-Folk-Rock, this group touches on a plethora of genres that help make them an easy band for any new fan to instantly connect with. The band has played iconic Denver venues such as Red Rocks, The Ogden, The Gothic, and The Bluebird opening up for acts such as Caamp, Andy Frasco, Satsang, and Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers. The Painters are a band of trained musicians who aim to pull the heartstrings of their audiences to step up and live life fully. This band is the ultimate feel good experience and perfect for any private party or festival lineuphttps://grahamgoodmusic.com
An Evening with Keller Williams
Animas City Theatre Present An Evening with Keller Williams Friday March 10th 2023 21+Online tickets sales go live Friday October 7th at 10:00am MT Virginian, Keller Williams, released his first album in 1994, FREEK, and has since given each of his albums a single syllable title: BUZZ, SPUN, BREATHE, LOOP, LAUGH, HOME, DANCE, STAGE, GRASS, DREAM, TWELVE, LIVE, ODD, THIEF, KIDS, BASS, PICK, FUNK, VAPE, SYNC, RAW, SANS, ADD, SPEED and CELL. Each title serves as a concise summation of the concept guiding each project. Keller’s albums reflect his pursuit to create music that sounds like nothing else. Un-beholden to conventionalism, he seamlessly crosses genre boundaries. The end product is music that encompasses rock, jazz, funk and bluegrass, and always keeps the audience on their feet. Keller built his reputation initially on his engaging live performances, no two of which are ever alike. For most of his career he has performed solo. His stage shows are rooted around Keller singing his compositions and choice cover songs, while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, bass, guitar synthesizer and drum samples; a technique called live phrase sampling or “looping”. The end result often leans toward a hybrid of alternative folk and groovy electronica, a genre Keller jokingly calls “acoustic dance music” or ADM.” Keller’s constant evolution has led to numerous band projects as well; Keller & The Keels, Grateful Grass, KWahtro, Keller and the Travelin’ McCourys, Grateful Gospel and More Than A Little to name a few. Keller can be found playing clubs and festivals around the U.S. with these projects throughout the year. http://www.KellerWilliams.nethttps://www.facebook.com/kellerwilliams http://www.youtube.com/kellerwilliamsmusic https://www.instagram.com/kellerwilliams/ https://twitter.com/kellermusician https://open.spotify.com/artist/5de5W8sgXIMq9dgMR0Wml0?si=I1Q8-PofTxuTSQYc-3Xg9Q
An Evening with The Polish Ambassador
Animas City Theatre PresentsAn Evening with The Polish Ambassador x2 sets21+ / Doors 7:00pm / The Polish Ambassador 8:00pmTickets are ONLY available online and on sale now at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/2080792/an-evening-with-the-polish-ambassador-durango-animas-city-theatreMusician. Producer. Beatsmith. Recording artist. Composer. Dance-floor general. Label-head. A mystery man of many hats, The Polish Ambassador rocks more than just a trademark jumpsuit, authoring sublime, intentional artistic works, animated safaris in technicolor sound. At first breath, The Polish Ambassador was an experiment, David Sugalski’s sound-art passion project that came to life. An inventive, imaginary character born of humble, humorous beginnings, he found his first audiences through the support of primitive digital radio stations. Today, TPA is among the premier EDM/live crossover artists in the country with millions of listeners around the world; he’s consistently in-demand at the live music-focused gatherings and boutique electronic festivals from coast to coast. Founder of independent label Jumpsuit Records, an environmentalist and early progenitor of the permaculture action movement, the world’s funkiest diplomat is here to party with a purpose. Since 2006, The Polish Ambassador has consistently released critically-acclaimed full-length albums on Jumpsuit Records, alongside a dizzying number of side-projects and multi-form collaborations. All the while launching the careers of a diverse smattering of artists that run the gamut in geography and genre. TPA continues to spread his wings in teaming up with eclectic musicians from around the world, including Matisyahu, Nitty Scott, Zion I, The Grouch, Mr. Lif, and dozens of others. He is one-half of the celebrated folktronica project Wildlight, a duo in which he pairs with ethereal songstress Ayla Nereo. The Polish Ambassador’s prolific output incorporates many styles, from exuberant global-house to fatback mid-tempo funk, you’ll pick up on West African percussion alongside stirring Kirtan melodies, a psychedelic sax solo or a fresh verse from a Brooklyn female emcee. TPA employs live horns, keyboards, guitars, violins, and a bevy of talented instrumentalists on stage. “The Jumpsuited One” has headlined iconic venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, and the renowned counter-culture gathering Oregon Country Fair. Suwannee Hulaween, Electric Forest, Envision Festival, and Lightning in a Bottle and other national festivals have each repeatedly invited TPA back across different years. In alignment with TPA’s artistic ethos is a low-key lifestyle that places a premium on being present, living in harmony with nature, participating in community and inspiring it to thrive. Offstage, David Sugalski instigated a village-building convergence in his hometown in Northern California, and manages his own 25-acre homestead in the picture-Esque, rolling Sierra Nevada foothills. The farmer/carpenter lives modestly in a cabin he built on his land of the lush; TPA music is created in a solar-powered recording studio on the property. When he removes the famed bright blue-and-yellow 80’s jumpsuit and reverts back to his humanoid self, Sugalski is an avid solo bicyclist who enjoys venturing up California’s breathtaking coastal Highway 1; he’s a dedicated van-adventurer, having built out an exquisite tiny home inside a contractors van.
Mike Cooley (of Drive by Truckers) with Kimberly Morgan York
KDUR and the Animas City Theatre Presents An Evening with Mike Cooley of the Drive By Truckers Tuesday December 6th, 2022Doors at 7pm, Show at 7:30! KDUR SUPPORTER PARTY with Mike Cooley (of Drive-By Truckers) Please email [email protected] after November 1st with the subject line “Cooley” for your chance to attend this special performance. Mike CooleyWhether battling valiantly from behind the enemy lines of his dive-bar-underground past or blowing the doors off sold-out theaters as he’s done with Drive-By Truckers for the last decade, Mike Cooley has proved his mettle time and time again. He’s rock & roll incarnate—Mick and Keith rolled into one impossibly cool, soul-howling, guitar rattlin’ ball of genuine unapologetic grit and swagger. At least that’s how it seems gazing up from the crowd at a packed DBT show.So how did this modern-day rock hero feel about temporarily ditching his band and rolling back the volume for the unaccompanied acoustic performances that would become his debut solo record, The Fool on Every Corner?“When you don’t do it normally, it’s terrifying,” Cooley admits. “I try to relax, but I’ll probably never be able to sit down in a chair on stage as easily as I sit down on a toilet behind a closed door. That’s the goal—somewhere in between,” he deadpans. “I set the bar high.”Despite his bad nerves and tongue-in-cheek penchant for self-deprecation, Cooley shines on this bare-bones live set, tossing aside his guitar pick and playing almost everything with his fingers. “Strip it, strip it, strip it down,” he says, alluding to the mantra that guided these performances. “What’s left is the song and nothing else.”And what a set of songs Fool is, comprised mainly of re-imagined DBT classics like “Shut Up and Get on the Plane,” “Marry Me” and “Where the Devil Don’t Stay,” as well as understated renditions of deep-cut Cooley ballads such as “Pulaski,” “Eyes Like Glue” and the weary yet ominous “Loaded Gun in the Closet.” This intimate new record offers fans a peek behind the curtain at what these songs might have sounded like in their most nascent state. All of them save for opener “3 Dimes Down,” Cooley says, were originally written on acoustic. “The words just come out easier when you play an acoustic guitar,” he explains.The Fool on Every Corner was recorded by longtime DBT producer David Barbe during a three-show run last March, beginning with a two-night stand at no-frills Atlanta rock club The Earl and closing at swank Athens, Ga., venue The Melting Point. “The second show at The Earl was a chaotic night,” Cooley recalls. “We didn’t have the audience seated, for one thing. Of course, you can pack a lot more people in there if you have ’em standing, but for acoustic shows, I prefer to sit ’em down and calm ’em down if I can.”This proved an impossibility in the boisterous barroom.“I was thinking, ‘We’re not gonna get anything outta tonight. The crowd is just too loud.’” As it turns out, almost everything that ended up on Fool came from that rowdy night. “It’s that way every time I’ve ever recorded live,” Cooley says, shaking his head. “The night you think bombed or wasn’t as good, inevitably, will be the one that comes across best on the recording.”
Big Richard, La La Bones, Rainey
Animas City Theatre PresentsBig Richard with special guest La La Bones, RaineyFriday January 27thDoors 7:00pm / Show 8:00pm21+ / $25 / $30Big RichardWhat began as an all-female festival collab quickly morphed into a serious passion project driven by sisterhood, harmony and humor……along with the shared desire to rage fiddle tunes and smash the patriarchy. Big Richard is a neo-acoustic super group made up of well established Colorado musicians: Bonnie Sims on mandolin (Bonnie & Taylor Sims//Everybody Loves An Outlaw//Bonnie & the Clydes), Joy Adams on cello (Nathaniel Rateliff//Darol Anger//Half Pelican), Emma Rose on bass + guitar (Sound of Honey//Daniel Rodriguez//Whippoorwill) and Eve Panning on fiddle (Lonesome Days). The future of this group is big and rising fast. https://www.instagram.com/bigrichardband/ https://www.facebook.com/bigrichardband https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmUhwPP6BymCNZfM329YegLa La Bones sprouted in Durango during the summer of 2014. Soon after their formation, the band began playing throughout Southwest Colorado making appearances at local venues, festivals, and private events. Quickly, the band shared their original and traditional songs with music lovers young and old. At first glance, La La Bones is reminiscent of a traditional 5-piece bluegrass band, passing around breaks and harmonizing melodies. With a closer look, listeners can see how the band draws inspiration from a myriad music genres, ranging from punk, pop, to bluegrass. Listeners can also enjoy the songwriting and vocal skills of all band members, as each individual brings original music to the table. La La Bones recorded their first self-titled album in 2016, an 11-track record of originals. In 2023, the band will record their second album.La La Bones is Kyle Siesser on guitar, Tommy Frederico on banjo, Kathy Hilimire on fiddle, Scott Roberts on mandolin, and Jimi Giles Davis on bass.
Tickets at the Door Lyrics Born with InFluSense
Animas City Theatre PresentsLyrics Born with special guest InFluSense18+ / $25/$30Tickets onsale now onlinePaper Tickets available at Animas Trading CompanyThis is me at my most imaginative, freakiest, and yet still most grounded and introspective,” says Japanese American rapper/actor Lyrics Born not only about his new album Vision Board (out Nov. 11, 2022 via Mobile Home) but also his “self” and his existence. “I feel like a new man! I’m healthier physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.”His new single and video “Diamond Door” is a pop/rap banger that lands you with an infectious barb and keeps you hooked for days. Featuring New Orleans singer/songwriter Princess Shaw who coyly sings the chorus (“You want in my diamond door / I think you can come in / When I hear you knock / I hear you knock / I hear you knock, knock, knock, knock, knock”), the single is a thinly-veiled tribute to a particular style of female appreciation, but it can also be taken as a welcome mat to the new era of Lyrics Born. The accompanying video which shows Lyrics Born in his current physical form – svelte, stylish and with a confident swagger – reinforces this next chapter in his life. 60 pounds lighter, he lost the weight during the pandemic when he knew he needed to make a change. “Touring was becoming harder, and I was having all these weird health problems, but nothing that anybody could put their finger on,” he explains “My anxiety was high. I was not sleeping well. I was on the verge of really bad health.” And this improvement brought more confidence which shows in his new album. Hot off the heels of Mobile Homies Season 1 which was a bombastic collection of tracks that was written like an album but played like a mixtape, Vision Board is a focused affair that found him stretching his creativity farther and challenging himself to write in a way he’s never written before. Recorded primarily in New Orleans and produced by Rob Mercurio of Galactic (who also produced 2015’s Real People and 2018’s Quite a Life), it posited him in a new environment that helped his creative juices flow even more fluidly. “There’s nothing like recording in the Crescent City. It just gets in your blood, and the results are always funky and wild.” From the bombastic and tribal “I’m the Best Rapper in the World” with its self-winking boastfulness to the playful scat of “Bang Bang Bang” that slinks like an outtake from West Side Story, to the smooth and seductive “Who’s The Best? (Dear Young LB),” to the psychedelic and swoony “Alligator Boots” with it dreamy “Walk on the Wildside”-esque reverby sway, Vision Board sees Lyrics Born tackling different tones, textures and genres without fear and making them completely his own. It’s an eclectic body of work that boasts more synths, more psychedelia and is generally more abstract.
An evening with MarchFourth: Día de los Muertos
Aniams Cith Theatre PresentsAn evening with MarchFourth: Día de los MuertosTuesday November 1st 2022Doors 7:00pm / MarchFourth 8:00pm21+ / $27 / $30MarchFourth is a joy-inducing force of entertainment. The colorful explosion of brassy funk, rock, and jazz is all about the groove. This larger-than-life group of musicians and acrobats tours the country year-round, bringing a spirit of celebration wherever they go. MarchFourth is, in a word, FUN! With exceptional musical quality and a visual kaleidoscope of performers, MarchFourth is a spectacle of high-energy compositions, colorful costumes, and irresistible charisma! M4 has been seen on stages from ESPN’s Espy Awards to festivals like Wakarusa, Bumbershoot, and High Sierra Music Fest, to world-class venues like The Kennedy Center and The Fillmore, and even a cultural exchange tour to China, sponsored by the US State Department. MarchFourth’s track “Gospel” (from their self-released album Rise Up, 2009) was featured as the closing credits theme song in the Disney/Pixar animated film, Monsters University. Their next album Magnificent Beast was self-released in 2011, produced by fellow Portlander Steve Berlin (Los Lobos). For their most recent album, Magic Number, fifteen MarchFourth musicians traveled from Portland, Oregon to New Orleans, Louisiana to record with Producer Ben Ellman (Galactic) and Engineer/Producer Mikael “Count” Eldridge (DJ Shadow, Tycho, Trombone Shorty). With local talent at the helm, the album is full of the captivating grooves and brassy swagger you’d expect from MarchFourth, plus a healthy dose of New Orleans magic, with guest appearance by Trombone Shorty, Stanton Moore (drums), and Matt Perrine (sousaphone). “Perfectly merging the artistic spirit of Portland with the musical spectacle of New Orleans, MarchFourth put on one of the most complete shows of any band on any stage. From rocking big band jam tunes, choreography and feats of strength that need to be seen to be believed, MarchFourth entertains on every level every second they are on the stage…or off!” ~Live for Live Music. “From the first note to the last, the sound was pumping and the fun never stopped… It’s worth noting that there are serious musicians behind all the fun. It’s obvious these guys (and gals) have had lots of training and formal practice. Talented band geeks turned rebels.” ~USAToday “Just when you think you’ve heard it all, suddenly a band crosses paths with your ears and changes everything… Full of auditory goodness…” ~NYS Music “Mighty, Explosive, Carnivalesque Brass Band Funk” ~New York Music Daily
TICKETS AT THE DOOR Liver Down the River with Alex Blocker Band
TICKETS AT THE DOORAnimas City Theatre PresentsLiver Down the River with special guest Alex Blocker Band21+ / Doors 7:00pm / Show 8:00pmTickets on sale online / Paper Ticket available at Animas Trading Company on Wednesday August 24thFounded in Durango, and relocated to the Front Range of Colorado is the Funk-edeli-grass band Liver Down The River. Since its creation in 2012, the band has strived to have nothing but a good time. From the high peaks of bluegrass, the deepest pockets of the funk, and the outer reaches of space, a unique genre of music is created. The group has their roots in countless river floats, campfires, late night picking, and Colorado living. “A Funkadelic hoedown that will send you into infinity and beyond.” – DGO Mag Their unique sound and high energy performances have led them to share the stage with the likes of The Infamous Stringdusters, Railroad Earth, and The New Mastersounds to name a few. https://liverdowntheriver.com/homehttps://www.instagram.com/liverdowntheriver/ https://www.facebook.com/LiverDownTheRiver Alex Blocker breaks boundaries with a genre fusing style of contemporary music that combines elements of R&B, Hip-Hop, and Jazz. Influenced by his Chicago roots, Blocker has expressed musical ingenuity as a producer, instrumentalist, video director, teacher, and more. His summer 2022 tour took him through Southern California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Be on the lookout for his next music video, “A Rose From the North.” Blocker currently resides in Denver. https://alexblocker.com/ Music Video https://youtu.be/xHUQr1sXiTE
TICKETS AT THE DOOR Young Dubliners and Patrick Crossing
TICKETS AT THE DOORAnimas City Theatre PresentsYoung Dubliners with Special Guest Patrick Crossing$25/$30 / 21+After thirty years as one of the world’s leading Celtic Rock bands, the Young Dubliners have begun work on their tenth studio album and will dedicatemuch of the year to the project while still heading out on the road for their summer tour. The boys spent the first quarter of 2022 playing shows all over the US and “reconnecting with fans while we tightened up as a musical unit and prepared to hit the studio” says lead singer, Keith Roberts.The band is Roberts (vocals / guitar), Chas Waltz (Violin, keys, vocals), JustinPecot (guitar, vocals), Dave Ingraham (drums) and Ethan Jones (bass guitar).With a solid line up and a new batch of songs to play, The YD are excited to get out on the road and continue to bring back live music into people’s lives. New dates are being added daily as the world reopens. “We want to be the band who reminds the world how important a good gig canbe to our sanity after what we’ve all been through” says Roberts. For only the second time the band is looking to its fans to finance the albuminstead of a traditional record company. “The business has changed so muchover our lifetime that it no longer makes sense for us to take money from a label and then owe it all back” says Roberts. “Making all our supporters co producers is a far more rewarding way to make a record and allows us to maintain control all the way”. The band have teamed up with long timeproducer, Irish born Tim Boland, and will begin recording in the comingmonths. The Young Dubliners have released nine albums to date. The set on the upcoming dates will draw from all their albums and include unreleased new material.In recent years the Young Dubs have appeared twice on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, had songs featured in TV shows (Sons Of Anarchy, Human Target) and toured extensively as a headliner and as the opener for such a diverse list ofartists as Collective Soul, Jethro Tull, Johnny Lang, Los Lobos, Chris Isaak and many more.Although the Young Dubliners sound is most commonly called ‘Celtic Rock’, that label can often be misleading. The Irish influence is certainly there, but it’s not the only influence that bursts through on their albums or live shows. After all, several of the band members have no Irish roots of any kind. “That was always the idea”, explains Roberts “The sound was intended to be a hybrid because we all come from different backgrounds. Even though I am from Ireland, a lot of the music I listened to growing up wasn’t Irish at all, but when I got here, I got homesick and developed a new appreciation for Irish Music. In truth the Celtic riffs can just as easily come from the American band members. Everyone writes now so you never know what you’ll end up with”“Their sound defies categorization. The Young Dubliners can be seen asIreland’s answer to Los Lobos, with a similar combination of traditional folkmusic, raucous electric rock, and forward-thinking experimentation.”Allmusic.com”(the songs) range from stadium-friendly extravaganzas to more intimate butequally outspoken pub-sized opuses.Lead singer Keith Roberts’ powerhouse vocals front a maelstrom of fiddlevamps, howling guitars and frenzied drums. But even so, the hint of ruefulmelancholy that lies at the heart of traditional Celtic music survives,transformed yet triumphant!”–Christina Roden, Amazon MusicOn CBS Early Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz2ufHJvi_8On Jimmy Kimmel Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-1tzmBdOfQ
TICKETS AT THE DOOR Through the Roots, Red Sage, Ghost.Wav
Animas City Theatre PresentsThrough the RootsWith Special Guest Red Sage & Ghost.WavOctober 12thFew things ever grow tall without roots. For the members of Through The Roots, it took a decade of inspired songwriting and heavy touring to develop the band’s unique sound: a modern blend of roots reggae, hip-hop, rock, and electronic pop. It’s a sound that nods to the band’s diverse influences while also reaching far beyond them, and it began humbly enough, with the guys hosting their own backyard shows in collegetowns across Southern California. Word spread. Crowds grew. Through The Roots bought a renovated school bus and hit the road hard, graduating from college frat parties to larger clubs, building their audience, show by energetic show. Throughout it all, the band kept writing and exploring new sounds, working their way towards a truly unique sound that blended tradition with technology.