Country act Broomdust Caravan may technically be new to the Santa Fe scene, but its themes are pura Santa. On debut album Heavy Rescue, front man John Widell selected a who’s who of established local talent for a superband.

Do you ever feel not so fresh? Spring is about new beginnings and, should you desire to shake things up a bit, Santa Fe now boasts not one, but two new hot spots for the discerning nightlife participant.

We know you’ve been impatiently awaiting its arrival all year, so you can finally relax: the New Mexico Music Awards is here! The nominees for the 2011 honors have been posted. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough room to list everybody. Just know that I wish the best of luck to all involved. Mostly.

Recently, over a late lunch, I asked The Infektor to explain certain aspects of the dubstep movement. For starters: “What the hell is dubstep, anyway?”

Sometimes, it seems like Americana/folk is the only music around—but that’s not completely true. I crunched the numbers from Hear, Here for the week of March 30-April 5 to gain a more factual, super-scientific understanding of the music scene.

Four months in, Team Everything’s weekly dance party HeartBeats still gets the blood flowin’. The event has grown to be a Friday-night must for Santa Fe dance fans, with its constant influx of local, national and international talent helming the decks.

The Imperial Rooster has a punk-rock sloppiness, and the songs certainly live up to the band’s self-description: Tom Waits meeting Nick Cave and writing Johnny Cash songs with Hunter S Thompson lyrics.

With more karaoke choices than ever, y’all have shown Santa Fe can’tget enough of the faux-rock star action. I attended several karaokeevents and gave them grades. Y’know, just to make your life a little easier.

With South by Southwest looming, a handful of local promoters and venues have come together to snag acts en route to Austin. For the 2nd Annual SxSF Transit Music Festival, more than 50 acts pack just 15 days at Corazón, Warehouse 21, VFW, Eggman & Walrus and Little Wing.

Think back to approximately 10 years ago when Santa Fe had all kinds of punk bands. Bands such as The Floors, Knowital, The Battle’s End, Pintsize, Monkeyshines and even my own project (don’t) shoot noah! packed Warehouse 21, The Paramount and Rockin’ Rollers on a regular basis.