Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College performances don’t always have to happen in the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
Much of Durango is familiar with the Concert Hall’s outdoor summer concert series in Buckley Park, the free events that happen on Thursday evenings from mid-summer to early fall. Recently, the Concert Hall has extended its offerings to a smaller venue as well, hosting performances on Fridays in the Smiley Café, located in the Smiley Building in downtown Durango. Billed as “Pop-Up Performances,” these smaller, more intimate events will feature artists who are on their way to playing mid-size to larger venues like the Concert Hall; it’s also a way to turn local music lovers onto new, up and coming artists.
“We want to introduce songwriters who may not be familiar to Durango music lovers, and Durango to songwriters who may be unfamiliar with Durango,” said Charles Leslie, Community Concert Hall director.
The next Pop-Up Performance will feature Carter Sampson, a singer-songwriter from Oklahoma whose most recent release “Lucky” walks a line between alternative country and gritty folk while having a rootsy, twang-noir vibe.
She’s banged out five records and performed in songwriting contests at a few national festivals. Those contests resulted in her placing as a finalist in the Troubadour Contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and winning the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at North Carolina’s MerleFest. She even runs a Rock ’n’ Roll Summer Camp for girls in Oklahoma. That’s not a bad run of success within the music world for someone who was cut from choir in eighth grade.
If you go
WHAT: Pop-Up Performance featuring Carter Sampson.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 21).
WHERE: Smiley Café, 1309 East Third Ave.
TICKETS: $20. Available online at https://bit.ly/3nENZ4E.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 247-7657 or visit https://bit.ly/3nENZ4E.
“I think that’s the reason why I picked up the guitar,” Sampson said. “I love to sing so much, that I didn’t want anyone telling me that I wasn’t good enough; that was in my early teenage years and I just haven’t stopped since.”
Sampson was raised on a healthy dose of independent music of the late ’80s and early ’90s – anything from the punk rock of the “Riot Grrrl” movement to the aggro-folk of Ani DiFranco. Her Oklahoma rearing at that time also provided a wealth of country music.
“I think the music of that time, the country music that drove me bonkers and made me really embarrassed to be from Oklahoma is now some of the music that I love the most,” she said. “It’s interesting how that changes from your teenage years, when you think a lot of things are dorky.”
Now the country music she digs is of the classic and cosmic variety, as she remains influenced by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakum and Gram Parsons. A storyteller, she tends to stay away from the political side of music.
“It’s just not part of me. I have my beliefs, but I just don’t enjoy talking about it,” she said. “I found people like Patty Griffin, that’s when I realized you can make beautiful music and still make people happy, and still be just as powerful as someone who is a political writer.”
Sampson will be solo for her Durango performance; without the backing of a full band she’s able to elaborate more on her songs and her life, stretching out the narrative found within her music.
“I have a full band, and I have a trio that I tour with also, and I love doing all three different shows, they’re all fun,” she said. “But the solo thing is great because I love to tell stories. I love to be able to talk between songs, and there seems to be more of an intimacy with the audience that way.”
Sampson also recently finished recording her next album, which will drop later in 2022.
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
