Totally Tradical!
Santa Fe TradFest asks a simple question: Do you like acoustic instruments?
If you count the old Santa Fe Banjo & Fiddle Contest from which the ongoing Santa Fe TradFest evolved, the annual three-day traditional music festival turns 50 in 2024. That’s 50 years of folk, Americana, bluegrass, regional tunes and more acoustic guitars, banjos, upright basses and fiddles than even seems possible.
“Thanks to support from the state and city and the community,” organizer Dave Dillman says, “we’ve been in the black for eight years, which is amazing for a nonprofit.”
Dillman hails from the board of the nonprofit Santa Fe Friends of Traditional Music, the org that puts on TradFest each year. He’s a lifelong bluegrass/folk/Americana fan with a passion for transforming Santa Fe’s Camp Stoney into festival grounds replete with stages for performers, workshop space, formal and informal jams, food trucks and camping.
“And they’re starting to come to us, they’re knocking at the door,” Dillman says of the bands who want to play TradFest. “They hear about our community; the atmosphere is kind of like Woodstock—everyone’s friendly, everybody is there to have a good time and we have special events for kids and music petting zoos where people can try out instruments. It’s like a three-ring circus.”
This year that circus includes flagship performances from bluegrass acts like The Special Consensus, Louisiana Cajun tunes from Magnolia Sisters, traditional Rio Grande Valley folk from Lone Piñon; plus Mariachi Sonidos del Monte, Indigenous hoop dancing with the performers of the Lightning Boy Foundation and so much more.
“One of the things we’ve discovered is that we have people who come to the main stage to hear a particular band, and if they stick around and listen, they realize the quality of acts…they didn’t even come out to see,” Dillman says. “Plus, I can’t remember the actual figure, but I know a large percentage of our attendees make music themselves, and with the jams…they can break off and meet other people who play.” (Alex De Vore)
Santa Fe TradFest 2024: All day Friday, Aug. 23-Sunday, Aug. 25 $25-$80. Camp Stoney 7855 Old Santa Fe Trail, santafetradfest.org
Zozo at 100
Oh, sure, most Santa Feans look forward to Zozobra—for our out-of-towner friends, that’s the annual burning of a massive, screaming puppet to dispel our doom and gloom—but how much does the average person know about Old Man Gloom? If your answer was something like, “Not a lot, actually,” or if you’ve just always wondered what it’s all about, local librarian Sawyer Regensberg has just the talk for you. Regensberg pulls from the Santa Fe Public Library system’s archives and numerous online resources for the 100 Years of Zozobra talk this week at the library’s main branch downtown. As Aug. 30 marks the 100th Burning of Zozobra, the timing feels right, y’know? You can still shriek “Burn him!” at the top of your lungs, too, but, like, from a place of knowledge. (ADV)
100 Years of Zozobra Talk: 4 pm Thursday, Aug. 22. Free Santa Fe Public Library (Main Branch) 145 Washington Ave. (505) 955-6781
Holographic Dimensions
In the upcoming exhibit A Moment to Wonder, photographer Arthur Drooker and holographic artist August Muth invite viewers into a world of light and color. Drooker’s photos find him experimenting with the soft glowing gradients formed by sun and sky, while Muth’s pieces explore geometric holograms and projections of ever-changing light. “My work is really about the natural phenomenon of intersecting light waves and light wave interference,” Muth tells SFR. Wonder might, in fact, cause epiphanic realizations—or a chance to trip out on cool photos and holograms. Either way, it’s worth a visit. (Adam Ferguson)
Arthur Drooker + August Muth: A Moment to Wonder (Opening Reception): 4-7 pm Saturday, Aug. 24 Pie Projects, 924 Shoofly St., Ste. B, (505) 372-7681
A Million Points of Light
On their new record Hide & Seek, Santa Fe rock trio Luminatrix enters a new and decidedly more mature era of songwriting. Think indie elements and feels akin to those from ‘90s-ish alterna-rock titans like The Breeders and The Presidents of the United States of America, but with off-kilter and funky moments á la Dead Milkmen, doo-wop adjacent catchiness and poppy pleas to dance offered up along introspective lyricism from singer and principal lyricist Jennifer McGrath. The charming lo-fi beats seem to come from the nerd-punk realm, even, and the vocal harmonies sound so sweet. As the band sings, “doesn’t matter how you dance—dance.” Luminatrix celebrates the record this week at Goathead NMex with punk legend Gregg Turner opening. (ADV)
Luminatrix with Gregg Turner: 7 pm Saturday, Aug. 24 $8. Goathead NMex, 825 Early St., luminatrixmusic.com