Courtesy Bruce Dunlap
Anyone who's anyone has certainly heard of GiG Performance Space (1808 Second St.) and its founder, Bruce Dunlap. A guitarist of the highest order, Dunlap has hosted well over a thousand shows at GiG during its 12-year run and, with the upcoming GiG Inadvertent Festival (7:30 pm nightly Thursday-Sunday and Tuesday, May 25-May 28 and 30, $20), he adds even more nights of unique live music to the cultural landscape. Performances include folk songstress Cindy Kallet (May 25), jazz-funk collective Progger (May 28) and others. We like Dunlap's style (and also his hat), so we asked him what's up and what the future might hold.
What do you hope to accomplish with these five days of music?
It was a festival that just sort of booked itself while I wasn't looking. That is, five of our favorite artists decided to converge on GiG during that week, and the caliber and diversity of the music was so appealing, we thought it would be a really fun, immersive experience for people. We hope that the exposure to so many different kinds of music over such a short period will be inspiring and broaden people's interests.
If someone can only attend one of the nights, what might you recommend?
I can't really answer this well. The idea of the festival is to broaden people's musical perspectives by seeing lots of different kinds of music. To attend one evening, I suggest listening to all the groups at gigsantafe.com and picking your favorite or favorites to attend.
What's in store for GiG in the future?
Well, ours is not a growth model, but perhaps one of simple consistency. The community seems to love what we do and we find that rewarding. That said, I always have an eye out for a slightly larger space where we could practice different varieties of mischief.
