Author – The Durango Herald

Majik Ham: The kids are all right

They say rock ’n’ roll is a young person’s game. That’s a forever debatable opinion, as The Rolling Stones try to pull if off, succeeding in some fans’ opinions, but that success is too, deb...

DATE: Nov 1, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Getting down to the ‘Nitty Gritty’

Sometimes all you need to do is ask. Next thing you know, you’ve got loads of musicians saying “yes” to your question, and you’re on your way to recording one of the most influential bluegra...

DATE: Oct 25, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

It’s ‘like story time’ for Sarah Petite

Sara Petite’s music career fell into place on the quick. As a kid, she liked to sing, but never had the nerve to get on stage. Studying international relations in college meant research, and...

DATE: Oct 18, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Dan Navarro: ‘It’s all meant to be fun’

The music business is still fun for singer-songwriter Dan Navarro. That’s likely because he’s done things his own way. He had the chance to be part of the songwriting machine, and even dance...

DATE: Oct 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

iAM MUSIC building community

A music community builds community. That built community comes via the social contribution from its members; you’ve got a band that sits down and writes songs, ultimately playing out. Peopl...

DATE: Oct 4, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Tropidelic Reggae in Durango.

Tropidelic are road hogs. They also roll at a workaholic pace, which for any working band means write, record, tour, repeat. It’s a solid formula that works for the Cleveland-based band that...

DATE: Oct 3, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Lawn Chair Kings, Erik Nordstrom and writing

They’ve been a band for over 20 years. They’ve played hundreds of shows regionally and banged out half a dozen albums, the majority of those songs of the alternative country and cow-punk var...

DATE: Sep 20, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Where the Dead and Steely Dan meet

Steely Dan and the Grateful Dead are top bands of the rock canon. Two bands in who in their day crafted sounds that drifted well beyond the “rock” world, sounds that still get plenty of airp...

DATE: Sep 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Ragged Oak to play iAM MUSIC

Joshua Mendrala is a storyteller. His method of storytelling is through writing, something he’s wanted to do since he was a kid. After banging out poems, short stories and books, he wanted ...

DATE: Sep 7, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Townies bringing punk to Anarchy

Trinidad’s Townies are a punk rock band with one eye on the past and another on the future. This is music for those aging skateboarders who discovered classic punk rock via the “Repo Man” so...

DATE: Aug 31, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Nashville Songs & Stories: Songwriters take the stage

Songwriting is hard. Songwriting can also be profitable. However, not everyone who sits down to write a song is good at it, and even if you are good at it, that doesn’t mean you are going to...

DATE: Aug 24, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Sometimes you just need to go home

Josiah Payne gets homesick. The Pagosa Springs-raised mandolin player set his musical sights for something bigger over a dozen years ago, and the Pacific Northwest was his destination. But s...

DATE: Aug 18, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown