Round and Round

Ritual: Songs & Stories finds four local songwriters trading tunes

Singer-songwriter Kathleen Smith had not intended to kick off a regular songwriter event at the Jean Cocteau Cinema when she put out a Craigslist ad searching for women musicians in Santa Fe—it was meant to be more like a club. But the more musicians reached out, the more Smith realized she could launch an idea similar to one she executed in Los Angeles and New York when she lived in those cities. Ritual: Songs & Stories was born.

“I had started clubs in California and New York, and it was ladies sitting around talking about songs,” Smith tells SFR. “And it was magic.”

Of course, putting together this particular lineup—which includes Smith herself, hot off the October release of her most recent record Medicine; Stephanie Hatfield; Vincent Copia; and Samantha Christine—was no easy task given the glut of responses Smith received, but she knew once she heard some of the respondents’ tunes that she had to go live. And really, Ritual forms more of a starting point, she says, a proof-of-concept event that will highlight local talent and maybe drum up some unexpected musicians from around town. The event is also a natural fit for the ol’ JCC, Smith says.

“It’s a listening environment,” she notes. “It’s not a bar where there is also music. People are going and they know it’s for a show. They know they’re going to experience art. If they want to get a drink, there’s a bar, but it…also felt like a way, now that the record is out, to peek my head above ground and get to know the musical community more.”

Smith, who hails from Reno, came to New Mexico to temporarily look after a friend’s house in Sandia Park in 2017. She and her husband moved to Santa Fe soon after.

Smith’s music, meanwhile, leans into the singer-songwriter milieu with obvious nods to Americana and country, but also indie rock and, at times, a bit of humor. Take the track “I Forgive You But I’m Still Fucking Mad,” from Medicine, for example; but look also to Smiths’ fearlessly vulnerably lyricism on pretty much any other song. As for Christine, Copia and Hatfield, think singer-songwriter fare, but each with their own take. Brass tacks? You’re gonna hear songs and they’re gonna be pretty. (Alex De Vore)

Ritual: Songs & Stories: 7 pm Wednesday, Feb. 28. $12-$20. Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave., (505) 466-5528

Women Behaving Badly

What’s the saying about how well-behaved women rarely make history? We’re about to get a bit of that style and flair when Canyon Road’s Turner Carroll Gallery embraces women artists who did (or still do) crazy-cool shit at Blasfemme, a tribute to at least some of those ladies who changed the world through their art. “I guess the gist of why I’m doing it is because there is something I feel is happening in our society again,” says Tonya Turner Carroll, gallerist and art historian. “We’re entering a new Dark Ages; The Handmaid’s Tale is becoming true as women’s right to take agency over their own bodies is eroded. I feel that that happens when the patriarchy becomes fearful and when society becomes fearful of the creative power of women.” The show includes the likes of installation champ Swoon, Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, the legendary Louise Bourgeois and way too many other baddasses to list here. (ADV)

Blasfemme Opening: 5-7 pm Friday, March 1. Free. Turner Carroll Gallery, 725 Canyon Road, (505) 986-9800

In Your Face

“Blah, blah, blah—landscapes and portraits,” seems to be a common refrain for Santa Fe galleries, but what do the viewers and critics do when the landscapes and portraits are damn fine? They let everyone know about it and enjoy liking things, probably. In this case, it’s The Many Faces of Robert Daughters, a retrospective for the late American oil painter whose landscapes and portraits (we’ll stop using those words now) exploring the Southwest practically hum with life and movement. Daughters died in 2013, but left a massive stockpile of works behind, most of which are absolute stunners of textural and lightning mastery. And though many of us likely won’t be able to afford a Daughters, going to take a look can’t hurt. Stare a while. Feel it in your bones. (ADV)

The Many Faces of Robert Daughters: 10 am-5 pm daily from March 1-31. Free. Meyer Gallery, 225 Canyon Road, (505) 983-1434

Eye-Eye-Eye

What do you hear in your mind when you think of “indie-pop?” Is it dancey? Soulful? Introspective? Yeah, it’s all that, but Minneapolis’ Early Eyes goes even further, infusing elements of neo-soul and jazz into a head-bobby and borderline funky sound so good it somehow wound up on punk label Epitaph. Oh, you’ll get all the feels from the emo-adjacent vocal work, but synths and booty-shaking basslines kick things into the stratosphere. See? Bands with indie-pop bonafides need not be a huge drag! Atlanta’s Trash Panda sweetens the deal with sexy riffs and emotive vocals of the pop variety, even if you won’t hear ‘em on mainstream radio (that’s a good thing). (ADV)

Early Eyes and Trash Panda: 6 pm Tuesday, March 5. $23. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369