A sad note for local music, Furtado and Baby Toro

by Chris Aaland

Durango’s last great blues man, Jeff Strahan.

Time to Ride. That was last weekend’s theme as Uncle Steve came through again. Otto , Steve and I packed up the Tundra and made the six-hour trek northeast to Section 115, Row 35, Seats 3-5. The tickets barked such themes as “Time to Ride” and “United in Orange” and proudly proclaimed us as renters of the $170-a-pop seats in the north end zone of Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Peyton Manning and the Orange Crush did the rest as Denver dispatched Whiny Bill’s Patriots. Shannon Sharpe’s voice echoed through our heads: Call the National Guard because we are killing the Patriots!

Otto learned important bathroom etiquette, too. Don’t stall in the stall. After a rather productive tailgate party, a quick stop at the men’s room was in order. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one enjoying a liquid lunch. The lines were long and goosebumps formed on the arms of the small-bladdered like me. One orange-clad fellow busted to the front of the line, bent over in front of the urinal like he was underneath center and shouted, “Omaha! Hurry, hurry!” just like Peyton. I nearly peed my pants.

Hurry, hurry indeed. The Lombardi Trophy awaits!

The local music scene got a whole lot smaller last week with the passing of blues guitarist Jeff Strahan in Texas. Strahan suffered heart problems during a New Year’s Eve show and never recovered. “Jeff was a blues player extraordinaire who played out of Durango for many years and had recently moved to Texas, where he was recording prolifically, touring and receiving national recognition,” eulogized his friend, Larry Carver. “He continued to play in Durango while on tour to Telluride and the Front Range. He was a great guy and a good friend to many of us.” During his career, Strahan released nearly a dozen albums of Texas blues and was just 53 when he died.

The Animas City Theatre presents a twin bill of newgrass with Mountain Standard Time and the Tony Furtado Band at 9 p.m. tonight (Thurs., Jan. 23). MST has risen quickly by playing its own style of “Rocky Mountain freegrass,” which fuses instruments of rock (drums, electric bass and keyboards) and bluegrass (guitars, mandolins). Expect everything from bluegrass and Americana to prog rock and Latin sounds. Furtado, of course, is a seasoned veteran in the progressive bluegrass world thanks to more than a dozen albums of bluegrass, blues and folk that feature his Scruggs-style banjo and bluesy acoustic slide guitar work.

The ACT welcomes a pair of “tropicaliente” acts to town at 9 p.m. Wednesday with The Empresarios and Desert Dwellers. The former is best described as a blend of Caribbean sounds (salsa, reggae, cumbia, dub and house), with bandleader Javier Miranda and singers Frankie Rosado and Felix Perez all hailing from Puerto Rico. The latter improbably brought an electronic bass vibe to the yoga scene. Picture the raw sounds of the natural world augmented with skillfully blended deep bass, earthy percussion, ethereal voices and culture-crossing instrumentation. It’s sonic incense for the mind and body. Or, to paraphrase Spinal Tap, “Smell the yoga.”

The MarchFourth Marching Band brings its steamfunk rock and roll circus to the Telluride Conference Center at 9 p.m. Saturday. After playing a sold-out show at the tiny Sheridan Opera House last winter, the T-Ride promoters opted for a bigger space with more room for the 20-plus band members. The larger venue allows ample room for M4’s impressive acrobatics and stilt walkers.  MarchFourth took its name from the date of its first show (March 4, 2003), when a handful of artists and musicians threw together a marching band for a Marti Gras party. They’ve graduated to massive festivals and nationwide tours.

The Durango Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual awards ceremony tonight at the Community Concert Hall. A reception in the lobby kicks things off at 5:30, with the ceremony itself to run from 6:30-8 p.m. Following the event, join the Kirk James Blues Band at the Lost Dog for an after-party from 8:30-10:30. Present your “Durango Rocks” ticket stub and get a free beer or glass of wine.

Moe’s weekly madness is highlighted by Funked Up Fridays with the freeform funk jam from 6-9 p.m. and dancing to Peter Robot afterwards. Regular occurrences include tonight’s Thirsty Thursdays, Saturday’s Salsa Night and Sunday’s Music of Mexico.

After quite a few years of out-of-town gigs, playing in empty fields and general negligence, arthouse rockabilly duo Baby Toro returns when it plays the Mancos Valley Distillery (116 N. Main in Mancos) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The duo of Hardison Collins and Lindsay Isbell are certainly the most eclectic noisemakers in the Four Corners, drawing on punk, post-punk and country influences.

This just in: Michael Franti and friends will play an intimate show at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride on Sunday and Monday, March 23-24. Tickets went on sale yesterday at sheridanoperahouse.com.

This week’s Top Shelf list celebrates the top six moments in Broncos playoff history.

1. The Helicopter, Super Bowl XXXII. John Elway’s defining career moment was an 8-yard scramble  on third down to set up a short, Terrell Davis touchdown run that gave Denver a 24-17 lead.

2. The Drive, 1987 AFC title bout. Elway led Denver on a five-minute, 98-yard drive into the heart of Cleveland’s “Dog Pound” to tie the game at 20 and force overtime.

3. The M&M Connection, 1978 AFC title game. Craig Morton found Haven Moses for a 74-yard bomb down the right sideline as Denver dumped Oakland 20-17.

4. The Fumble, 1988 AFC championship. Cleveland’s Earnest Byner was stripped by Jeremiah Castille at the Denver 2 as the Browns were looking to force overtime in the last minute.

5. Tebow’s Wild Card, 2012. On the first play of overtime, Air Jesus hit Demaryius Thomas on a dart across the middle that ended up as an 80-yard touchdown and a 29-23 win over the Steelers.

6. Elway’s Moon Shot, 1992 AFC divisional game. Trailing 24-23 with 2:07 remaining, Elway again embarked on a game-winning drive from his own 2. This time the victim was Warren Moon’s Houston Oilers. Elway converted two fourth downs, including a 44-yard bomb to Vance Johnson in an eventual 26-24 win.

Threading his toes through a bucket of rain? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.