Photo by jesse lirola / Courtesy Instagram @ blackpumas
Black Pumas
By the time we hit mid-May, Santa Feans are ready to spend less time at home and more in front of a stage. Once June hits, the music scene explodes to the point you’d have to try pretty hard to make it through August without catching at least a handful of kickass shows. And this isn’t even close to everything happening, so stay tuned to SFR’s print and online calendars weekly to keep abreast of the action.
JUNE
Santa Fe Bandstand: The Heavy Heavy with Alex Maryol
7 pm Thursday, June 6
Free
Santa Fe Plaza, 63 Lincoln Ave., lensic360.org
The promoters of nonprofit imprint Lensic360 kick off the storied Santa Fe Bandstand series with a performance from retro-rockers The Heavy Heavy (not to be confused with The Heavy, singular) and hometown bluesy hero Maryol. Catch tons of others throughout the summer at 7 pm, including Max Gomez, Devotchka, Alejandro Escovedo and too many more to print.
Railyard Summer Concert Series: Mexican Institute of Sound with Frontera Bugalú
7 pm Friday, June 7
Free
Santa Fe Railyard
Market and Alcaldesa Streets, railyardsantafe.com
Electronica from Mexico? Yes, please. Perhaps you heard Mexican Institute of Sound on the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack? Maybe you just love it. Either way, this one kicks off the free Railyard Summer Concert Series. El Paso-based cumbia/salsa/mambo act Frontera Bugalú opens. The series goes on all summer and includes acts like La Dame Blanche, Os Mutantes, The Polish Ambassador and so many more.
James McMurtry (and his band)
7:30 pm Friday, June 7
$30
Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery
2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 303-3808
The downright beloved singer-songwriter and drag enthusiast (Google it) returns for what seems to have become his annual appearance in town. Think Americana, but with some rock undertones.
Black Pumas
7 pm Thursday, June 13
$46-$84
HIPICO Santa Fe
100 S Polo Drive, (505) 474-0999
Lensic360 brings the Austin-based psych/soul act to one of our finest outdoor venues/equestrian centers. If you caught a pandemic show here, you know HIPICO has a special kind of magic somewhere out there in the grass.
Hot 8 Brass Band
5 pm Saturday, June 15
Free
Santa Fe Railyard
Market and Alcaldesa Streets, railyardsantafe.com
Celebrate Juneteenth a few days early with this New Orleans-based brass band that is, if one believes the scuttlebutt, one of the hottest horn acts of all time. Come ready to dance.
Stop Making Sense
7 pm Saturday, June 15
Free
Railyard Park, 740 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-3373
Though technically a movie, production house A24′s 4k restoration of Jonathan Demme’s Talking Heads doc-slash-concert-film is about as musical as these things can be. Plus, now you can try and force your kids to like David Byrne! This is just one of many free films in Lensic360′s summer series. Visit lensic360.org for the full lineup.
Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band
7:30 pm Wednesday, June 19
$20
Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery
2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 303-3808
If you like the type of blues that calls back to icons like John Lee Hooker and RL Burnside, you’ll probably like this—just as outlets such as Rolling Stone, American Blues Scene, Paste and No Depression have. You can thank AMP Concerts for this one.
Mr. Joe Jackson Presents: Joe Jackson Solo and the Music of Max Champion
8 pm Saturday, June 22
$40-$70
Lensic Performing Arts Center
211 W San Francisco St., (505) 988-1234
Sure, you know “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” but English rocker Joe Jackson has sooooo many more jams. And he’ll prove it, along with tunes from lesser-known 19th century British musician Max Champion.
JULY
The Avett Brothers with Iron & Wine
7:30 pm Wednesday, July 3
$65-$95
Kit Carson Park, 211 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos, lensic360.org
Holy mid-2000s indie-folk, Batman—did somebody just book two of the biggest names in the über-vulnerable acoustic-led singer-songwriter world? You bet they did, people with wide-brimmed hats and lots of feelings…you bet they did.
The Halluci Nation
7:30 pm Saturday, July 27
$25
The Bridge @Santa Fe Brewing Co., 37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182
The act formerly known as A Tribe Called Red brings its melange of hip-hop, dubstep and dance to town, alongside elements of more traditional Indigenous jamz. It feels and sounds so good.
Courtesy lensic360.org
Samantha Fish
7:30 pm Tuesday, July 30
$32
The Bridge @Santa Fe Brewing Co., 37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182
Another outdoor show on the outskirts of town, find Fish’s patented blend of blues, rock, folk and shredding-ness as it rings into the night with guitar goddess aplomb. Blues badass Zac Schulze opens.
AUGUST
Santa Fe Salutes: Taylor
7pm Friday, August 2
Free
Santa Fe Railyard
Market and Alcaldesa Streets, railyardsantafe.com
Though the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, all the Swifties are bound to shake it off as this show crams as many locals onstage as possible to cover the songs of Ms. Taylor Swift.
UB40
7:30 pm Monday, August 5
$52-$247
The Bridge @Santa Fe Brewing Co., 37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182
We’d make a “Red Red Wine” joke here, but no joke: British pop-reggae act UB40 has been packing ‘em in and kicking out hits for roughly a billion years. We can only assume many of you read this and went, “Oh, cool!”
Digable Planets
5 pm Friday, August 9
Free
Santa Fe Railyard
Market and Alcaldesa Streets, railyardsantafe.com
Ummm, what? Local MC/DJ Raashan Ahmad ushers in hip-hop’s 51st birthday with a free performance featuring the downright legendary Digable Planets, plus so much more from local MCs, vendors, food and so on. Mark your freaking calendars.
Dwight Yoakam & the Mavericks
7:30 pm Saturday, August 24
$55-$95
Kit Carson Park, 211 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos, lensic360.org
In the pantheon on country music legends, surely Dwight Yoakam has more than earned his spot with his mix of guitar riffage and down-home feels.
SEPTEMBER
Black Uhuru with Boomroots Collective
7:30 pm Thursday, Sept. 12
$8-$25
The Bridge @Santa Fe Brewing Co., 37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182
One of the most legendary reggae acts of our time hits the stage alongside the local heroes of reggae-rockers Boomroots Collective. Probably Black Uhuru will play “Reggae With You,” to which you can be like, “...that’s what we’re all doing right now!”
Blossoms & Bones: Ghost Ranch Music Festival
All Day Thursday, Sept. 12-Saturday, Sept. 14
Abiquiú, ghostranchmusicfest.com
Just as the summer starts to dwindle, the festival that previously hosted acts like The Breeders and Japanese Breakfast returns with the likes of Mavis Staples, Lucinda Williams, Courtney Barnett, Vance Joy, The California Honeydrops, Red Light Cameras and more. There are many ticketing and camping options, so hit that website.