
Anne Stavely
Singing on the Other Side
Memorial event this weekend celebrates late singer/musician Amy Elizah Lindquist
According to Anders Lindquist, son of local singer and musician Amy Elizah Lindquist, his mom died in a tropical garden in Barbados earlier this year. Her death was, he says, unexpected, but she’d been spending more time in the island nation in recent years, and if she had to go, she could have found plenty of worse locations.
“She was very spiritual about death," Anders says. “We actually met with a death doula when my grandma died in 2017…I think my mom knew she wasn’t going to be here forever, and she knew her body was kind of failing her a bit. I think she just gave in.”
Lindquist died March 29 from complications related to diabetes. She was just shy of 57, according to son Anders. For many in Santa Fe, meanwhile, Lindquist was known as a music educator, a singer with bands like funk act The Sticky and a proponent of community singing akin to activism—perhaps most notably with the 7th Wave Singers, a gathering she co-founded with fellow vocalist Angela Gabriel, formerly of Santa Fe, to help folks heal through singing while regarding the very practice of song as a human imperative.
“It’s my job to give you all the crayons in a coloring box,” Lindquist told SFR in 2017 of the group. “We want them to let go of their idea of what they can or can’t do.”
Gabriel recalls that time fondly.
“One of the things we really linked on when we first became friends was our passion for community,” she says. “Not playing music for people, but making music with people. We came across so many people who said ‘you don’t want to hear me sing,’ but she did, was the thing, and I think what brought her the most joy was the look on their face when they realized they were singing.”
This Saturday, Lindquist friends and family will gather at the UU Church of Santa Fe to honor her memory and impact on Santa Fe music, and the public is invited to attend, whether they were fans, workshop participants or any level of friend. Anders tells SFR the service will include a death doula to help folks process their final goodbyes, and Gabriel is slated to lead a singing group during the event. She’ll also hold a gathering on Thursday, June 12 to teach the songs to any interested parties. Ultimately, both she and Lindquist’s son say they’re hopeful to find some semblance of closure through the memorial.
“If there’s one thing I could say, I think…people kind of suffer alone a lot in this society, and this is a reminder that we really need to check on each other,” Anders says. “I do wish I could have talked to her and asked what she was dealing with. I just feel like, in this moment with everything going on, it’s important to do our best to break through the ego shield.”
Amy Elizah Lindquist Memorial Singing Rehearsal: 6 pm Thursday, June 12. Free.
Amy Elizah Lindquist Memorial: 3 pm Saturday, June 14. Free. UU Church of Santa Fe, 107 W Barcelona Road, (505) 982-9674
CURRENTS Kicking Off
Hard to believe it’s been a full year since the last CURRENTS New Media Festival, but the annual tech/AR/VR/performance art fest indeed begins on Monday, and back at its original home El Museo Cultural—where it belongs. 2025 marks the 16th iteration of the the festival built by Mariannah Amster and Frank Ragano, and the lineup is stacked with more artists from near and far than we could ever hope to print here. Find also a symposium, untold performance pleasures, talks, interactivity and some of the most clever use of technology and video this side of anyplace. We’re personally looking forward to the roaming robot, but we’ve yet to attend a single CURRENTS (even in the weird years in unexpected locations) from which we didn’t come away stunned. To summarize, some of the most innovative artists on the planet will convene this week in Santa Fe, and you really need to be there to check it out, especially since tickets run from $0-$16.16, which a steal any way you slice it.
CURRENTS New Media Festival 2025: All day Friday, June 13-Sunday, June 22. $0-$16.16. El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 515 Camino de la Familia, currentsnewmedia.org
Solid Gold
Did you hear the one about how the people behind Midtown hotel El Rey Court took over The Lodge and brought a similar more-hip-than-a-hotel vibe to that hill-based inn? It’s true. Also true? Local record label Mama Mañana is along for the ride with an eye toward curating live shows in the Marigold Room (fka the Maria Benitez Cabaret Theatre). Next on the docket, Santa Fe surf-goth band Gold Tides—an act that brings a dark undercurrent to their undeniably catchy hooks and throwback flavor. Denver alt-pop champs Deth Rali open the show while everyone else stays pumped that one dang venue in this city isn’t stuck presenting Americana or ’70s covers. (ADV)
Gold Tides w/Deth Rali: 7 pm Friday, June 13. Free. The Marigold Room @The Lodge, 750 N St. Francis Drive, (505) 992-5800
Easy on the Wallet
We here at SFR have lauded Canyon Road gallery smoke the moon about a bazillion times. The folks behind it are on the younger side, it showcases fledgling artists from outside of the established snoot zone and, perhaps most importantly, it has become an accessible oasis on a street dominated by bazillion-dollar paintings of mesas. This week, smoke the moon puts even more money where its mouth is with its annual 500 Below: Affordable Art Market, a smorgasbord of kickass deals from tons of artists and, for this first time, a collab with rocking art auction See You Next Thursday. Everything in the show runs $50-$500, which means even us normies might walk with a new piece. Nice! (ADV)
500 Below: Affordable Art Market: 11 am-5 pm Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15. Free. smoke the moon, 606 ½ Canyon Road, smokethemoon.com