The grass is bluer
The Durango Nature Center, which provides outdoor-based education programs in the region, steps out of the box when it comes to fundraisers. Take its sixth annual Bluegrass Festival, which will go down from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. today in Rotary Park, 1563 East Second Ave. The event will bring an evening of live bluegrass music, local food, drinks and beer to the park’s lawn. Durango-area bands Chokecherry Jam, La La Bones and Flume Canyon Boys will provide the old-timey sounds. And Nature Center Executive Director Sally Shuffield, who was a musician “in a former life,” might even play some of the ’tweener slots. Shuffield said the festival has grown more popular by the year. “It’s really fun,” she said. “It’s a lot of things that people really love.” Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 day of, and the festival is free for kids 6 and younger. Money raised through the festival will support DNS programs and scholarship funds. Visit durangonaturestudies.org for more information.
Visual storytelling
Jimmy Williams is a commercial and fine art photographer with a knack for capturing moments of nuanced beauty. Over the course of his globe-trotting career, he has photographed everything from serenely rolling Tuscan landscapes to chaotic streets of Thailand, Spanish bullfights and American delta blues musicians telling honest stories of life and spirit through the pictures. The Raleigh, North Carolina, photographer is bringing a body of his color and black-and-white images to Durango’s Open Shutter Gallery for an exhibit. The show opens from 6 to 9 p.m. today with a reception at the gallery, 735 Main Ave., 382-8355. Williams will be in attendance.
Rural roots
Country singer Barry Ward’s songs are informed and inspired by his deep roots in the heart of rural America. The fourth-generation Kansas farmer sings about cedar-cloaked hills and icy mountain streams, of horseback and harvest time and harsh western winters. Ward, who has shared his music at cowboy poetry gatherings and music venues across the country, will play a concert at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Edgemont Ranch picnic grounds on County Road 240. Tickets are $15 for this summer series show, and concert-goers are encouraged to bring folding chairs, blankets or picnics.
Classically trained, with a twist
Jordana Greenberg, Rebecca Reed-Lunn and Maria Di Meglio met while studying classical music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and discovered a shared love of roots, gypsy, rock and folk music. They went on to form Harpeth Rising, a string trio that combines the musical finesse of classical training with the boundary-busting explorations into Americana and traditional tunes. With a cello, violin, banjo, a little foot percussion and three voices, Harpeth Rising creates an eclectic and lovely sound. The Nashville band will play a show at 8 p.m. today at the Dolores River Brewery, 100 S. 4th St., Dolores. Tickets are $5.
