Friday, downtown Durango will be awash in activity as the town kicks the holiday season into full gear.
Along with shops offering a host a deals on goods, there will be plenty of hot chocolate and snacks to be had.
There will also be plenty of live music – Stillwater’s “Vox Harmonix” will be at Sorrel Sky Gallery, Jeff Solon will be playing at Karyn Gabaldon Fine Arts, Robby Overfield & Friends will be playing at Derailed Pour House and there will be Christmas guitar and piano music at Durango Arts Center.
From 6 to 8 p.m., you can also check out Bob’s Yr Uncle at Animas Trading Co.’s new location at 742 Main Ave.
The band has been playing together for about eight years, said Jon Broholm, who plays bass and vocals with the five-piece group. He said that in the past, they have called their music alt-country and blues, but they play more than that.
“Americana would be sort of a broad label ,” he said. “We’ll do some indie rock tunes; just kind of whatever catches our ear.”
Broholm said the band started as a group of friends who all happened to play different instruments. While the lineup has changed a little over the years, current band members are: Broholm; Pete Diethrich on drums; Matt Kenna on guitar, harmonica and vocals; Ayla Moore on vocals and percussion; and Scott Moore on mandolin, guitar and vocals.
Bob’s Yr Uncle has been playing at Animas Trading Co. for about the last five years, Broholm said, and he said he’s excited to see the store’s new shop after it moved from 1015 Main Ave. into a bigger space in October.
While Noel Night is a big social event, there’s a more important reason for heading downtown, he said.
“I just think it’s a ton of fun and it gets a lot of locals into a lot of local shops,” Broholm said. “I’m a big supporter of local businesses, looking for things locally whenever you can. It kind of kicks off the holiday season with an eye to getting people into local shops, and hopefully, they continue throughout the month to patronize local businesses.”
For Bob’s Yr Uncle’s set, Broholm said theirs will be a mix of traditional holiday songs along with original holiday songs by more contemporary artists, and the band’s own songs.
“We’ll do a Paul Simon song, a Pretenders song. We’ll do maybe a Jimmy Fallon song, we try to mix in a lot of humorous material,” he said. “And we have a couple of originals, too, some holiday tunes we’ll do.”
You can’t really talk about Bob’s Yr Uncle without discussing the origin of the name.
“Scott Moore’s Canadian, and it’s kind of a Canadian saying,” Broholm said. “It’s a little hard to describe the meaning of, but when something is serendipitous or something just falls into place, you say, ‘Bob’s your uncle.’”
katie@durangoherald.com
Noel Night Entertainment Events
Shops participating in Noel Night, which will take place tonight (Friday)in downtown Durango, will offer a variety of sales, snacks and Santa. Here are some of the entertainment events planned for the evening. For more information and the full schedule, check out the insert in the Nov. 30 edition of The Durango Herald.
All day:
Buy three tickets, get one free for “The Nutcracker” by State Street Ballet Santa Barbara with music by San Juan Symphony Orchestra at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Friday through Sunday.
3 to 7 p.m.:
Meet Santa and take pictures (bring your own camera), Beads and Beyond, 840 Main Ave.
5 to 7 p.m.:
Local children’s book authors Kate Siber (“National Parks of the U.S.A.”) and Anna Swain (“Animas Animal Adventures”) will sign books at Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
5 to 7:30 p.m.:
Christmas guitar and piano, Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
5 to 8 p.m.:
Stillwater “Vox Harmonix” will perform at Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave.; Jeff Solon will perform at Karyn Gabaldon Fine Arts, 680 Main Ave.
5 to 9 p.m.:
Meet the artists and listen to live music at A Shared Blanket, 104 E. Fifth St.; Animas Trading Co., will offer homemade cookies and hot spiced wine (Bob’s Yr Uncle will play from 6 to 8 p.m.), 742 Main Ave.; Artesanos: Sales throughout the store, live music by North Star Djembe Grooves Drummers, warm drinks and hors d’oeuvres; Create Art and Tea will offer hot chocolate and live music in Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.; Durango Arts Center’s Winter Solstice Invitational Artisans’ Market. DAC, 802 East Second Ave.; live music, food and drinks, Pine Needle Dry Goods, 858 Main Ave.; live music, food and drinks and Santa, Pine Needle Mountaineering, 835 Main Ave.; jewelry by Lawrence Baca and music by Stillwater’s “Vox Harmonix,” Sorrel Sky Gallery, 680 Main Ave.; 6 to 8 p.m.: Music by Bob’s Yr Uncle, Animas Trading Co., 742 Main Ave.
7 to 9 p.m.:
Robby Overfield & Friends, Derailed Pour House, 725 Main Ave.
All times approximate.
