Durango Acoustic Music brings Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams back to Durango on Friday night. The local nonprofit organization has been working to bring roots music to local stages since 1990. /Courtesy photo

Keeping the music alive

DAM marks 25 years of bringing big names to local stages

by Ted Holteen

We’ve had a lot of great music in Durango, but make no mistake about it – Durango is not a music town.

Just ask Charles Leslie, Eugene Salaz, Jesse Ogle & Ashley Edwards, Tami Graham or any one of the myriad bar and club owners who have spent the past 20-plus years busting their collective asses to keep a vibrant and diverse live music scene happening in this culturally rich but physically isolated corner of the Southwest. And while ours is a population that loves a good concert, many are just as likely to split town for a weekend in the hills, leaving local venues half empty and their owners cursing the fickle ADHD populace – and praying they’ll show up next week. It’s a testament to the hard work and commitment of the aforementioned and so many others that we’ve had so many top-notch, sold-out shows over the years.

Also fighting the good fight year after year is Durango Acoustic Music, whom for our purposes we’ll call DAM, a group of live-music lovers with passion enough to enter the soul-atrophic arena of concert promotion as a nonprofit. This is no Johnny-come-lately outfit, as many longtimers will remember DAM’s origins as the Durango Society for Cultural & Performing Arts in the 1990s. Despite the DSCPA acronym just rolling off the tongue, someone had the idea to shorten the name to something more reflective of the group’s mission, and now we are treated to DAM music several times a year.  Next up is a Durango return for Halden Wofford and The Hi-Beams on Friday night at the Durango Arts Center.

The Denver-based Wofford and his band should immediately raise an eyebrow or two if you take DAM’s name literally. The Hi-Beams are fully plugged-in electric rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll, but despite their decidedly un-acoustic stage show, DAM board president Milt Hunsaker said the spirit of DAM’s mission trumps the letter of its laws.

“Our mission is to bring roots music to this area,” Hunsaker said during a sit-down at Carver Brewing Co. “We’re required to provide a cultural proponent to the Four Corners, and ours is roots music. And while that’s mostly acoustic, it’s also ethnic or regionally based, like blues or Cajun, funk or bluegrass, singer-songwriter. So we can have honky-tonk with Halden Wofford or Leo Kotke alone with an acoustic guitar.”

To get a sample of what DSCPA/DAM music looks and sounds like, just take a look at a sample of some the artists the organization has brought to town in the last 25 years: Kotke, Bruce Cockburn and Del McCoury may be some of the expected artists, but DAM has also produced concerts by rock bands like the Bottle Rockets and The Motet as well as cross-genre luminaries like Keb’ Mo’, Steve Earle, Alejandro Escovedo and Sam Bush. Those are some of the easy sells, but without naming any names, Hunsaker said not every show sells itself, if it sells at all.

“It’s very hard to predict what’s going to sell in Durango, and we’ve had to reject artists who haven’t sold in the past,” he said, but opted to withhold any specific names to protect the feelings of the innocent. “Regardless of how good we think the artist is, we have to look at the market and see how they’re selling elsewhere. Even then, we’ve gotten burned a lot in the past.”

Like any nonprofit, the DAM board is made up of volunteers who have day jobs. But these board members are musicians and hardcore music lovers who take on the tasks of booking musicians into venues, finding lodging, providing food and promoting the shows in local and regional media. Working with local venues like the DAC, Animas City Theatre, Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Henry Strater Theatre and local clubs, that’s usually a full-time job, but this bunch takes it on gratis, rotating the duties, as many as 12 times per year. At least they’re not burdened by the usual nonprofit yoke of fundraising, as DAM does not apply for nor receive any grant funding, but the group did receive a surprise bequest in a will a few years ago that keeps the bank account open. Ticket sales account for all other income, which is usually rolled over into booking costs and concert promotion.

The current board is Hunsaker, Pat Hall, Michael Davenport, Steve Miller, Chris Aaland, Rachel Frederico, Dave Schenk, Kim Pappin and Lori Bush, who as Lori Eagle was a founding DSCPA board member in 1990. It’s an ever-changing board, but one that’s formed by invitation only, and there’s no board application process.

“We look for people who’ve been involved in local music for years,” Hunsaker said. “But we also have to ask, ‘what can they bring to the table and can they work with the rest of the board?’”

It’s during the board meetings and the email exchanges leading up to them that Hunsaker said most of the decisions are made regarding DAM’s lineup of concerts. With such a wide range of music on the table, there are still limitations as to just what is DAM music and what isn’t, and it’s up to the board to decide what makes the cut.

“The success of DAM over 25 years is from the dedication of the board members but also their ability to interpret the mission of the music,” Hunsaker said. “Yes, it can be electric; if it’s a New Orleans R&B sound that’s OK, but probably not Deer Tick.”

Hunsaker said that DAM will average about six or seven shows a year going forward with a three-season schedule, forgoing summer concerts, which often get lost in a saturated local slate of entertainment options.

“We’re looking forward to the future of DAM, with some new board members bringing new ideas to the table, and we feel better now than we have in years,” Hunsaker said.

Ted Holteen introduces readers to the wonderful people of Durango while avoiding them at all costs. Suggestions are welcome – egholteen@yahoo.com.