Thursday nights in the summer are about to get interesting again, thanks to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis Concert bringing its Concert Hall @ The Park Concert Series back beginning June 22 and running through Aug. 3.

The concert series, now in its 13th year, began as a way to shake things up a little downtown, said Charles Leslie, director of the Concert Hall.

“It started with a conversation that I had with Beth Drum and Mike Burns at Alpine bank. We started talking about things we could do together that would activate some downtown things because at the time, there wasn’t much happening downtown,” he said. “And we wanted to get off of the hill, so to speak; we wanted to get the Concert Hall and the college some exposure during the summer months for people who are visiting Durango that may not have known ... that there’s a Concert Hall here, and that the college had a really active arts and music program.”

Leslie said the idea of a music series came from when he lived in Austin, Texas, and would take his family to a free concert series called Blues on the Green.

“We would take our kids when they were young and we would take a picnic, and it was really safe. There was no alcohol being sold. It was a really safe environment,” he said. “We could just let our kids run around. And because we were parents of young kids, we didn’t have money and time, you know, to go to concerts, so this was a chance for us to get out and do that.”

So the collaboration between the Concert Hall and Alpine Bank began; at first, they were able to close 11th Street between the bank and 11th Street Station for events. Ultimately, though, Leslie said, the group knew a park would be the perfect place for the concert series.

If you go

What: Concert Hall @ The Park Concert Series.

When: 5:30 p.m. Thursdays, June 22 to Aug. 3.

Where: Buckley Park, 1250 Main Ave.

Tickets: Free.

More information: Visit durangoconcerts.com.

Enter Buckley Park.

“Buckley was the ideal location because you could walk there, and we started it at 5:30 on Thursday so that people could come after work, as well as people visiting from out of town,” he said. “What’s crazy is now I get people who email and say, you know, we’re planning our summer ... we make sure we’re here during the concert season.”

This year’s series features a full slate of musicians, Leslie said, including Shamarr Allen, Frontera Bugualú and Ali McGuirk, whose show was rained out last year.

And speaking of rain: We’re quickly rounding the corner to the time of year when late-afternoon rain and thunderstorms are common. Leslie said one of the big changes to the concerts this year is the addition of a backup venue in case of rain. If the weather looks bad the day of a show, the Concert Hall will alert everyone to the change of venue via an announcement outside the Concert Hall, through social media and by an email blast, which concertgoers can sign up for at durangoconcerts.com.

Keeping a series with a lot of moving parts going for more than a decade is no easy feat – the evenings have gone from 250 to 300 people the first few years to more than 2,000 right before the pandemic, Leslie said – but it’s an affordable way to connect the Concert Hall with the community.

Concert schedule

June 22: Chris Daniels & The Kings. Chris Daniels & The Kings are celebrating their 39th year with live performances over the summer, playing songs from “Blues with Horns” – their 15th Kings album. Chris was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame in 2013 with Judy Collins, and he has appeared with artists including Garth Brooks, B.B. King, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Joe Walsh and The Lumineers.

June 29: Ali McGuirk. A Boston-based singer-songwriter who captivates audiences with her powerful, buttery voice and heartfelt songwriting. She’s won the Boston Music Awards Blues Artist of the Year award.

July 6: Shamarr Allen. The definition of New Orleans. Allen has influences in jazz, hip-hop, rock, funk rhythms, blues and country. He is the lead vocalist and trumpeter of his band “Shamarr Allen & The Underdawgs.” Allen has collaborated with many renowned artists including Willie Nelson, Patti LaBelle, Galatic, Harrick Connick Jr. and Lenny Kravitz.

July 13: Bobby Marquez Band. Led by Texas-born singer-songwriter Bobby Marquez, who was awarded the Academy of Western Artists Pure Country Male Vocalist award and the CMA of Texas Cowboy/Western Artist award. His songs have been recorded by classic country artists including Alan Jackson, Ty Herndon and George Strait, and he has shared the stage with Ray Price, Mel Tillis, Johnny Rodriguez, Martina McBride, David Ball, Janie Fricke, Johnny Lee and Lonestar.

July 20: After Midnight Jazz Band. Their style is modeled after the Benny Goodman Sextet, but with a sophisticated and vintage vibe. Repertoire incorporates music from Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Lionel Hampton to Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.

July 27: Ryanhood. A merging of virtuosic musicianship with rich and transformative storytelling, their shows are driven by strong acoustic guitar interplay and turn-on-a-dime harmonies forged in a decadeslong friendship. At turns energetic, hopeful, and quietly moving, Ryanhood offers an invitation to soak in a river of melodies and harmonic hooks.

Aug. 3: Frontera Bugalú. Brings the sounds of “cumbia rebajada,” a style created by slowing down vintage Colombian cumbia records on turntables, started in Monterrey, NL Mexico, and spread to the northern Mexican and the U.S. Southwest region including El Paso, Texas and Ciudad, Juarez, where the band is based. They have developed their own unique cumbia style and a contagious live set, led by a button accordion and lyrics that narrate the stories of Latinos in the U.S. and across Latin America.

“We love it,” he said. “We want to reach families who may not necessarily be able to afford to come to things up here. You know, when you’ve got three kids and you got to pay for a babysitter, it can be hard, right? So this is our way of hopefully opening up opportunities for families and folks who want to come hear things that otherwise they couldn’t do.”

Attendees may bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnics. Food and drinks from Fired Up Pizzeria will also be available.

katie@durangoherald.com