Hey Ben,, I think @JayeLID is around there.
Las Cruces/El Paso/Juarez scene?
I recently moved from DFW to Las Cruces, NM. I know Lenny Pickett is from here, and Mack Goldsbury used to gig here some with Duane Durrett. Also, there are a few smaller venues such as coffee shops and wineries. Is anyone on the forum currently in this area? What's the scoop on the musical scene here? Thanks!
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Thanks, Tryptykon!Hey Ben,, I think @JayeLID is around there.
You could probably play for some big crowds at the border but there is not much of a music scene anywhere in New Mexico anymore. Years ago you could do the "Downtown Crawl" on a weekend in Albuquerque where like ten bands were playing in the thriving bars on Central Avenue. Now it's an area you want to avoid.
Hey, welcome to the High Desert, Ben !I recently moved from DFW to Las Cruces, NM. I know Lenny Pickett is from here, and Mack Goldsbury used to gig here some with Duane Durrett. Also, there are a few smaller venues such as coffee shops and wineries. Is anyone on the forum currently in this area? What's the scoop on the musical scene here? Thanks!
Yup, I live here, Las Cruces....there is a music scene, a significant one in Paso, a more local and sporadic one in Cruces.Hey Ben,, I think @JayeLID is around there.
I was surprised, actually, at the calber of GOOD Jazz players in this area. Dunno if that is your genre or not ?
The usual solo act singer-songwriter guitarist stuff is here and omnipresent....and mediocre. There's a lot of Borderland music, Mexican Norteno and Cumbia bands...
... then the typical "El Paso Party Band" sorta groups which will play everything from "Born to be Wild" to Beyonce to Cumbias and Spanish/Mexican Boleros...all in the same evening of music, believing that their diverse repertoire gives them a popularity advantage...which, oddly, it seems to....although they personally drive me bananas, lol. But I have musician friends who earn decent $ doing that sorta outfit.
The usual punk bands and folk rock outfits, some ska-ish-but -not-really groups....as everywhere, I suppose.
It IS a 'regional" scene...if you are looking for famous players who came from around here...the list will be quite short. But who cares, really ? A 'road trip" tour usually consists of getting to Austin or San Antonio, or maybe Tucson or Phoenix or Denver or C-Springs, the furthest.
The music scene is pretty vibrant, all in all. Particularly in Paso. A good number of live venues. Same to be said for Ciudad Juarez....around 25% of the players I regularly associate with live in Juarez.
Not too much Funk/Fusion going on, but some good interesting hybrid bands in Paso who lean that way and it's possible to hook up with people interested in that.
Straight-ahead Jazz has a fair number of venues in the Paso area....
Blues also popular...so hooking up with musicians from those corners is quite doable...and again, there are some high-quality players around, mostly very nice people, supportive of each other.
Cruces has NO genre-specific venues to speak of...there's no "Jazz Club", Blues Club, Rock Club, etc....just venues (some bars, more wine bars and restaurants)...which just book a variety of music genres..so Jazz slides in there regularly, between the rock bands and the country and Mexican bands.
I sent you a private message with my contact info.
I have always found it really ODD that the music scene in ABQ is so...underdeveloped or stagnant. I mean, it's a big city and although it has its problems, it also is a college town and has a not-insignificant level of "at least regional sophistication" and in my visits , people there DO like to go out and socialize, and there are some nice restaurants, fun bars, etc.You could probably play for some big crowds at the border but there is not much of a music scene anywhere in New Mexico anymore. Years ago you could do the "Downtown Crawl" on a weekend in Albuquerque where like ten bands were playing in the thriving bars on Central Avenue. Now it's an area you want to avoid.
Paso has an active music scene with a GOOD # of venues who have music very regularly, 2-3 nights/week....yet whenever I ask an ABQ friend for suggestions on where a group like ours can play....they always come up snake-eyes.
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