Musician Nathan Kalish recently made himself a bit more local. The Nashville, Tennessee-based singer-songwriter, who last played Durango in 2018, won’t be moving to the area, but he has signed on as a client of local music industry company JTM Music Services, an organization that helps independent artists with the business side of making music, which includes recording, booking tours and promotion.
Kalish will perform tonight at the Smiley Cafe in the Smiley Building in downtown Durango as part of the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College’s monthly Pop-Up Concert Series.
Independent artists may find that the red-tape side of the biz gets in the way of the art; JTM Music Services manages that side of the business for artists without digging as deep into your pocket as a major record label would, allowing the musician to concentrate on why they got into the business in the first place – to write, record and perform songs.
For JTM Music Services owner Jeff Munger, Kalish’s rootsy, narrative vibe and 200 shows-per-year tour cycle was a great fit.
“The hope on some level is to expose them further,” Munger said. “Nathan is an exceptional storyteller, a true wanderer who has an uncanny ability to write songs that draw from his travels, and to look at life from all sides.”
If you go
WHAT: Pop-Up Performance featuring Nathan Kalish.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday (April 1).
WHERE: Smiley Cafe, 1309 East Third Ave.
TICKETS: $20, available online at https://bit.ly/3wQ4mAT.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 247-7657 or visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
Early in his career, Kalish found himself drumming for roots-rock outfit Deadstring Brothers; he then struck out on his own, bouncing around the world and spending more time on the road playing than staying home. File him under roots-rock, where subtle hints of twang rub elbows with garage-rock, all recorded with a do-it-yourself mentality.
Like his triple digit tour-date schedule, he writes prolifically, with his forthcoming release containing 10 cuts whittled down from 30. He remains his toughest critic as he strives to create something more than just songs; he wants his art to be a whole, musical atmosphere.
“I’ve gotten pretty critical of most things I do at this point, so I wouldn’t say I’m fond of everything I do. I kind of hold everything in a real lens, a pretty specific lens. I think a lot of the stuff I get rid of is stuff people would actually like,” Kalish said. “For me, I kind of look for something a little bit better than it just sounding good or it just being a good song. I’m kind of looking for things to have a vibe. It’s fun to have a vibe where the music and the lyrics and the recording all fit together in tandem in a special way. That’s something I think that is hard to do. It’s pretty easy to make a good-sounding recording, it’s pretty easy write a song that’s catchy or whatever, it’s pretty easy. It’s hard to make the lyrics and the music sound like they go together like in a special way.”
The dude’s a road hog. While he does favor leading a band, he’s recently opted for touring solo. It’s simple, you’re only responsible for yourself and its helped him put together a solid, musical package via a killer live set.
“I’ve been doing a lot of solo touring for the last couple of years because that’s the only way to really do it, it’s so high risk if you go out with a band and somebody catches COVID. So, my solo set is my favorite at the moment,” he said. “I’m going to fly out, rent a car, play Durango, then Denver. Yeah, it’s going to be fun. I just did a whole Europe tour solo, so my set is pretty tight.”
Kalish’s forthcoming record “Great Big Motel Bed in the Sky” is set to drop this summer.
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
