Taking a tour break near the Sangre di Cristo Mountains
New Mexico Concert and Radio Tour
First I went to Albuquerque, NM where I played a truly magical house concert at the Source, a Healing Center, alternative living community, and performance venue. I performed with Eric McEuen and Pax, an amazing percussionist. Daniel Boling, another incredible singer/songwriter ran sound for us and played a few songs. I met Daniel at a gig we shared at Airplay Café last winter. The cross-pollination between Albuquerque continues as there were some friends of Kate Mann’s at the concert who will be in Portland in June.
From Albuquerque, Eric and I headed to Sante Fe for an on-air radio interview at KBAC where we received a warm welcome and played a sweet show. Up in Taos, we interviewed at KTAO, a solar-powered radio station.
The Taos experience began with a stop at a great lunch place in a tiny town called Embudo, where you can literally wade in the Rio Grande while you wait for your food. It was beautiful and delicious! We played that night at The Old Blinking Light, to a great audience, thanks to KTAO and some good friends who came in from Angel Fire. When we arrived at the venue there was no sound system (PA), but the desk person at our wild hotel, the Abominable Snow Mansion, graciously sought one out for us. An outfit called The Mandala Project (themandalaproject.ning.com) delivered the PA to the Old Blinking Light, set it up for us, ran a sound check and then returned after the gig to take it down and cart it away. The whole thing seemed like more magic to us.
Being a KerrVirgin at the Kerrville Folk Festival
For those of you who don’t know, the Kerrville Folk Festival is one of the longest running Folk Festivals in the U.S. I had the pleasure of being a KerrVirgin (a newcomer) under the watchful and caring eye of Christopher Yarrow (Peter Yarrow’s son — Peter Yarrow is one of the founding fathers of the festival) and Matt and Nancy Meighan. They were so sweet, making sure I didn’t get too overwhelmed, introducing me to the most amazing musicians and taking me to the Medina River to cool off in the heat.
The highlight of the festival for me was sitting in a round of songwriters at Brian QTN’s fire circle up at Crow’s Nest. It was a complete honor and pleasure to be so warmly welcomed into a circle of such talented and fine singer-songwriters and musicians from around the entire country. We literally played until the sun came up. I found my tribe!
I could go on and on about the quality of music that is happening at the Kerrville Folk Festival, but mostly you just have to go if you want o experience it. Next year I will go for longer!
I hope you are all enjoying your late spring and we’ll see you out there,
-Lupé
