D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February 2010
The To-Do List
A sweetheart of a month.
Isn't it romantic? Besides Valentine's Day (Don't tell us you forgot! We'll wait while you run out and buy a card and gift), February of course means Chocolate Fantasia in Silver City on Feb. 13 and For the Love of Art Month all month long in Las Cruces and Mesilla. You can read all about both in this month's Arts Exposure section.
And if you're looking for something to do with your sweetie on Feb. 14, the Black Box Theatre in Las Cruces is staging its 10th annual production of A.R. Gunney's play Love Letters. You can pick from two shows, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., before or after that special Valentine's Day dinner out. (You do already have restaurant reservations, right? OK, we'll wait again while you go pick out the perfect place from this issue's Red or Green? dining guide)
Listen up! It's also a big month musically. Janis Ian — yes, that Janis Ian — comes to the Rio Grande Theatre in Las Cruces on Feb. 4.
Brothers Char and Robby Rothschild — a.k.a. Round Mountain — bring their voices and bevy of instruments to the Silco Theatre in Silver City on Feb. 5 as part of the Mimbres Region Arts Council's Folk Series. The brothers have been playing music together for most of their lives. Based in Santa Fe, their background ranges from Balkan and West African styles to traditional Appalachian music, from classical to funk. In the course of a live performance, Chris plays trumpet, guitar, banjo, dobro, accordion, Irish whistle, gaida (Bulgarian bagpipes) and saz (a type of Turkish lute). Robby, the younger of the two, plays cajon (Peruvian/flamenco box drum), djembe, bouzouki, mandolin and kora (West African harp).
Singer/songwriter Chuck Pyle will perform at a Silver City "house concert" on Feb. 19 and also teach a three-hour songwriting workshop on Feb. 20. Pyle's songs have been recorded by a number of popular artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, John Denver, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Suzy Bogguss and Tish Hinojosa. His song "The Other Side of the Hill" has been recorded by more than 20 different artists including Chris LeDoux, who renamed the song "Cadillac Cowboy" and took it to the top of the country charts in 1991. As a performer, Pyle has developed his own finger-picking guitar style, which he calls "Rocky Mountain Slam Picking," which simultaneously emulates rhythm guitar strums and lead guitar lines, making him sound like an entire band. He has taught guitar seminars at such prestigious events as the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and the Swannanoa Gathering. He has 10 albums to his credit and has just completed work on his 11th, "The Spaces in Between." Attendance at the concert is by advance payment only; call Judy Mitchell at 640-7952.
Speaking of "house concerts," the Silver City Public Library's House Concert series continues on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m., with Bayou Seco. Silver City's own Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie have been making music together since 1978, always with an ear to the regional traditions that capture their interest.
Another Silver City favorite, Greg Brown (his mom lives here), returns to play at the Silco Theatre on Feb. 24 as a special event in the MRAC Folk Series. Brown's songwriting has been lauded by many, and his songs have been performed by Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Michael Johnson, Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. He has also recorded more than a dozen albums and earned two Grammy nominations. His latest CD, "One Night," is a re-release of a 1983 live performance.
And the very next day, Feb. 25 (we told you it was a busy month for music!), the Grant County Community Concert Association brings Nube to the WNMU Fine Arts Center Theater. Nube (Spanish for "cloud") is an ensemble that blends contemporary Latin American and world music. Co-founders Paraguayan harpist Nicolas Carter and guitarist Renato Lombardi from Argentina fuse the dynamic rhythms of Latin America with musical elements from around the globe. The greater ensemble includes world percussionist Michael Bissonnette and Andean flute player (woodwinds and pan flutes) Mario Arroyo.
Finally, on Feb. 26, you can enjoy more music while supporting public radio station KRWG-FM at the Burnsland-Back Porch KRWG Benefit Concert. The concert at the Rio Grande Theatre features Bob and Melody Burns and Lauren Michaels, plus Benjy Rivas and the BBR Band.
Cultural diversity. February also brings a potpourri of other events, ranging from the 17th Bootheel Cowboy Poetry Fiesta on Feb. 20 at the Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Museum to a free screening of Standing in the Shadows of Motown on Feb. 22. The film, at the Silco Theatre in Silver City, is in honor of Black History Month; it documents the history of the Funk Brothers, house band for Detroit's famed Motown label.
To raise a different part of your consciousness, attend the Feb. 15 talk by Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, also at the Silco, sponsored by Gila Friends Meeting. The topic is "Eyewitness to War, Witness for Peace." Believing that "where you stand determines what you see," Kelly has stood alongside people in various war zones, in Baghdad and, most recently, in Pakistan and during the Operation Cast Lead assaults in 2009 in Gaza. She will talk about the importance of keeping one foot firmly planted in solidarity with those bearing the brunt of US wars and the other foot planted in nonviolent resistance to US economic and military warfare.