Denton has always been one of the hipper music towns in Texas.
Bring up the words “music” and “Texas” in one sentence, and the conversation will likely include “Austin” as the place to be when it comes to music, and for good reason, as its got one of the hottest music scenes of any genre in the country. But a scene that could be just as hot, albeit quite smaller, is the scene around Denton, the town of about 140,000 some 40 miles northwest of Dallas. That scene has given the world Slobberbone and Centro-Matic, Midlake and Riverboat Gamblers, and it birthed The Monkberries, who now belong to Durango.
If you go
WHAT: BurroFest featuring events celebrating the Burro, music by The Monkberries and Nathan Schmidt.
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Downtown Mancos.
TICKETS: Free.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.mancoscreativedistrict.com/burrofest-2023.
The Monkberries will perform Saturday in Mancos as part of BurroFest, the town celebration of all things burro and the animals’ contribution to the area. Also performing will be country-rock singer-songwriter Nathan Schmidt.
The Monkberries, who are Adam Millard on guitar and Marissa Hunt on bass, formed in and around Denton somewhere around 2015. Millard had been doing the self-record, lo-fi thing as a solo artist when he met Hunt, a self-proclaimed “bedroom songwriter.” They quickly started recording together in DIY fashion and banged out a record while also establishing themselves in the scene around Denton, being backed by anyone willing and able.
“We were really lucky to play some good music festivals with artists who had really great standing,” Hunt said. “It was really awesome.”
Then Durango called after Hunt was offered a job. Off they went, bringing their lo-fi, dream pop and indie lounge sounds with them.
That sound comes from a lifetime of influences both old and new. The Strokes and The Walkmen, along with doo-wop music and cuts off the “American Graffiti” soundtrack. That, along with plenty of Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys, have all influenced the music they make.
“It’s a lot of the great ’60s stuff and going into the ’70s,” Millard said. “Stuff that translates as lo-fi now, but we like the tone of those records. We’re kind of old souls in that way.”
When they moved to Durango, they didn’t really know anyone, so they passed time writing and recording music. Then the pandemic came, so again, quarantine time meant make a record. The result is 2018’s “Evergreen” and 2020’s “2020.” It’s a complete in-house recording project – and a solid musical partnership.
“She’s very lyric based, and I’m very melody based,” Millard said. “We recorded them in an apartment in Durango that we’ve lived in since we moved. They are complete bedroom pop albums, and it’s just two of us making them, so all the instrumentation is us together.”
“The Monkberries are a whole in-house shop” Hunt said.
However, since coming to Durango in 2017 they haven’t played out much. That should change. They were a sleeper hit at KDUR Radio “Dolly Parton Cover Night,” and with Saturday’s show in Mancos, the area will hopefully call for more from The Monkberries. Because they are always working on their DIY, lo-fi dream pop and indie-lounge, the duo should deliver.
“I am always practicing,” Hunt said. “I love to go on walks in the woods and just flip words around in my head. I have my little notes app and just write down things that catch and that I’d like to use. It’s always kind of like a little mental game I’m playing. It’s sometimes melodies, or sometimes lyrics. And these days, I’ve just been practicing my chops on bass, getting some of that theory down as well. I think we’re at a point where both of us have missed it, and we’re ready to be back to playing.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
