So many shows, so little time
A rundown of can't-miss live music this June

Greetings, dear readers! With all of the amazing live music on tap in Durango the rest of June, I thought I’d clue you in on what’s definitely not to miss, including a brand new festival in our back yard. Happy summer, and may the CFS be ever in your favor.

• June 10 - Leslie Mendelson at the Lightbox: Durango’s newest venue, The Lightbox, hosts Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson. Her 2009 album, “Swan Feathers,” was nominated for a Grammy, while more recently she has been collaborating with the likes of Jackson Browne and Bob Weir. The show starts at 8 p.m. at 1316 Main (in the strip mall next to Jimmy John’s), and tickets are $20. Find out more at www.stillwatermusic.org

• June 11 - Circles Around the Sun at Animas City Theatre: An instrumental supergroup based out of Los Angeles brings its groove-soaked, synth-drenched jams to the brand-spanking new sound system at the Animas City Theatre. The group began playing shows in honor of the “Fare Thee Well” tour, a series of reunion concerts played by members of the Grateful Dead in 2015. The project has taken on a life of its own, less reliant on material from the great American rock band, but one as funky and danceable as you’ll see coming to our town. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $35. Find out more at www.animascity theatre.com

• June 13 - Up Around the Sun: Jimmy’s Music snags some of the best and brightest roots music acts for small listening-room style shows, and this one is absolutely not to miss. The band consists of Tim Kerr on guitar and Jerry Hagins on fiddle and banjo. According to their website, “Take a claw hammer banjo playing old-time tunes backed with an open D-tuned guitar playing a style that might usually be found backing Irish tunes, and you get an instrumental soundtrack that was described by one listener as “Windham Hillbilly.” The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at 1239 Main Ave., and tickets are $20.

• June 17 - The Monkberries, Nathan Schmidt: The Mancos Burrofest is back with a stellar lineup of music featuring the indie-rock duo The Monkberries and country/western artist Nathan Schmidt. Hailing originally from Denton, Texas, the Monkberries (Adam Millard and Marissa Hunt) combine pitch-perfect, glistening harmonies with elements of 1950s/’60s guitar and songwriting. Also on the bill for Burrofest is the unsung hero of country and western music in Montezuma County, Nathan Schmidt. The Kansas-born transplant to Southwest Colorado is a veritable encyclopedia of country music and just released his debut album “Backstories” to critical acclaim from the likes of Country Music People magazine and beyond. Burrofest starts at 10 a.m. in downtown Mancos, and admission is free.

• June 19 - Jerry Douglass, Daniel Kimbro and the Bar D Wranglers: That’s right, folks. Legendary dobro player Jerry Douglass is joining the Bar D Wranglers for a special night of music to ease your Telluride Bluegrass withdrawal, which comes to a close the night before. Douglass will be joined by two-time Grammy-nominated bassist, Daniel Kimbro of the aforementioned dobro master’s band. The show starts at 7 p.m. out at the Bar D Chuckwagon on CR 250, and tickets range from $35-55. Visit Bar D’s website at www.bardchuckwagon.com for more information. 

• June 22 - Cha Wa: It’s time to laissez les bons temps rouler! One of the hottest bands out of New Orleans is coming to the Animas City Theatre. Rolling Stone writes, “Cha Wa, with bass lines played on sousaphone plus trumpet and two trombones, bring the city’s brass band tradition to bear. Add sick jazz-funk guitar and … full-beaded holiday regalia, and the result is a portable Mardi Gras dance party!” The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $22. Find out more at www.animascitythea tre.com

• June 24 – Nordfest: The first concert I ever attended after moving to Durango back in 2007 was at a ruckus bar called The Summit. Or, the Scummit, depending on who you ask. I was a fresh-faced rock bass player hot off the trail from West Texas, looking for something – anything – to connect with musically in the funk/jam-laden landscape of early-2000s Durango. That night, a curly, blonde-haired rocker with a Kansas baseball cap on led the one-in-one-out crowd through smoking-hot alt-country/garage rock, tune after tune. I was blown away that this kind of talent was in Durango.

That man with the guitar was Erik Nordstrom, along with his band The Lawn Chair Kings. I’ve seen Erik and his local heavyweights the Lawn Chair Kings and Farmington Hill more times than I can count. Each show of Erik’s is a celebration of the grittier, dustier side of Durango’s musical landscape, and I’m so damned thankful we have that here. The Nord, as he is known, has had a dust-up with cancer this past year (putting it mildly), and the troops are rallying to celebrate and support him and his amazing wife, Shanti. Whether you know Erik personally or not, this is your direct invitation to come be a part of the biggest event this summer, which features a blistering lineup including The Lawn Chair Kings, Farmington Hill, Little Wilderness, The Crags, Acid Wrench, and several other Durango and Montezuma County-based bands you don’t want to miss. Erik and Shanti will also be performing a set of music. The show starts at 3 p.m. at the Mancos Brewery, and there is a $20 suggested donation.