Santa Fe musician Joe West. jjadrnak@abqjournal.com Thu May 26 15:09:07 -0600 2016 1464296946 FILENAME: 212921.jpg
Joe West ~ Santa Fe
photo: jjadrnak@abqjournal.com 2015
Joe West is an award winning songwriter and performer based in the international art community of Santa Fe, New Mexico. His music has been described as “theatrical folk music” but is influenced by both country and rock.
Most recently Joe has returned to his theatrical roots and has created The Theater of Death; a theater company which performs Joe’s original dark horror/comedies with original live music.
Joe lives with his daughter and her mother on the outskirts of Santa Fe on the old family ranch. He enjoys fishing, cutting wood for the fire and spending quality time with his family.
above: In the spirit of Joe West’s low fi CD, ABERDEEN, SOUTH DAKOTA, here is a low fi video depicting the bar where Johnny doesn’t seem to be. Released 2012.
Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys ~ Albuquerque
photo: Telecaster Guitar Forum
In the early 60’s, before syndication took over, many of America’s cities had quirky, variable-quality, but always interesting locally-produced TV shows aimed at kids. Albuquerque, NM, was fortunate. The early 60’s was a Golden Age and the city had three high-quality children’s TV shows: Uncle Roy on KOAT TV-7, Captain Billy on KGGM TV-13, and Dick Bills on KOB TV-4. Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys were a regular feature on the show. His lead guitarist and nephew was a talented youth named Glen Campbell.
The band is also known as Dick Bills and His Sandia Mountain Boys.
above: Rockin’ and a Rollin’ – Crest Records – 1961 – Country Western Rockabilly single recorded by Dick Bills, one of America’s pioneer television show hosts in Albuquerque, New Mexico. KOB Television, Channel 4.
Recipient of the New Mexico Music Commission’s 2017 Lee Berk Award, Catherine Oppenheimer, a former professional dancer with the New York City Ballet, has provided opportunities for talented young musicians throughout the state to receive top-quality music education. In 1994, she co-founded the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, a statewide organization annually teaching nearly 10,000 children throughout the state. In 2010, she was also the driving force behind the creation of New Mexico School for the Arts, the state’s first residential high school for the performing and visual arts.
NDI is recognized for “Teaching Children Excellence,” and has introduced thousands of New Mexico children to dance training and performance experiences as an effective catalyst for character development and artistic expression.
Oppenheimer was also the driving force behind the creation of the New Mexico School for the Arts, New Mexico’s first chartered residential high school for the performing and visual arts. The charter school is dedicated to arts mastery and academic excellence assisting passionate young artists in developing their full potential.
An impressive artist in her own right, Oppenheimer danced with the New York City Ballet under the leadership of choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company.
Oppenheimer came to New Mexico to teach residencies with NDI in Santa Fe and in selected rural communities. NDI provides classes at its Dance Barns to all children who desire to study the performing arts regardless of financial capabilities.
In 2008, Oppenheimer was honored by the MS Society of New Mexico with its Award of Distinction and by the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts for her dedication to the arts.
In 2005, the readers of The Santa Fe New Mexican named Oppenheimer to its annual “Ten Who Made a Difference” list.
Under Oppenheimer’s leadership, NDI received a prestigious Coming Up Taller Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, which was awarded by then First Lady Laura Bush.
Recipients of the New Mexico Music Commission’s 2017 Platinum Music Award, Bill and Bonnie Hearne became an institution in New Mexico’s musical landscape beginning in 1979, with their unique blend of Southwest Americana, bluegrass, country and swing music that influenced many artists including Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nanci Griffith and Eliza Gilkyson. After Bonnie quit touring in 2003 due to health issues, Bill formed a trio and quartet and continues to play and record his music. Bill’s most recent release, “All That’s Real” shows him as an inspired performer who has travelled many miles down the honky tonk road.
Bill Hearne calls it ‘The Road:’ that metaphorical ribbon of honky-tonks, roadhouses, empty whiskey glasses, prison cells and unrequited love lined with signposts and mile markers tattooed with names like Haggard, as in Merle, Williams, as in Hank, Owens, as in Buck and Lovett, as in Lyle. Being legally blind, Bill has never actually driven The Road himself, but he sings with such authority of the tales he’s heard while riding shotgun that you’d never know it.
Bill has a whole list of CDs available from the early releases with his wife, Bonnie such as “Most Requested: Best of Bill & Bonnie”, “Diamonds in the Rough”, & “Live at the La Fonda”. After Bonnie quit touring in 2003 due to health issues, Bill formed a trio & quartet and recorded “From Santa Fe to Las Cruces”, “A Good Ride”, “Bill Hearne Trio” & his most recent release, “All That’s Real”. Like the velveteen rabbit in the children’s story, the title “All That’s Real” describes Bill Hearne…he is “real” and he’s earned it from traveling many miles down the honky tonk road. He has a little less hair and his head is shinier these days just like the rabbit. “All That’s Real” is co-produced by Bill Hearne and Don Richmond, a master of many stringed instruments who owns Howling Dog Studios in Alamosa, CO, but has many musical ties with northern NM. Numerous area pickers and singers perform on the CD including Bill’s nephew, Michael Hearne, as well as some notable Texans, including piano man Earl Poole Ball (best known as Johnny Cash’s piano player, though he also played on the Byrds’ landmark country-rock album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo), and Jerry Jeff Walker, who sings his own “Dust on My Boots” with Hearne.
“They used to play a place called Corky’s in the Montrose area of Houston. I would get a seat right up next to the stage and sit in front of Bill and try to figure out all his guitar licks.” – Lyle Lovett
Bill doesn’t write his own songs. His greatness lies in his interpretive skills. His husky Texas baritone finds its way into a song’s interior with the mellowness of fine bourbon and the warmth of a Sunday picnic. And of course, there’s his pickin’, a style he calls ‘cross picking.’ He picked up the guitar when he was seven years old. “Since I didn’t have people to play with, I developed a style that incorporated a percussion rhythm while playing lead riffs. Basically, I tried to be a one man band,” he says. Like fellow cross-pickers Tony Rice and Doc Watson, Bill is improvisational. “I hardly ever play the same thing twice,” he says. Not only does he rarely play the same thing twice, he rarely plays the same song twice. His repertoire is as vast as Texas and New Mexico. Bill is the Real Deal, a genuine article in a country-music world that seems to have forsaken its roots.
“Bill and Bonnie Hearne … play the best darn folk music I ever heard.” – Nanci Griffith
Bill’s professional life began in Austin in 1968. It was there where he earned his first paycheck as a musician and met his future wife, Bonnie Cross. Bonnie’s mellifluous east Texas alto fit Bill’s picking like a glove. They toured TX, NM, and CO before moving to Red River, NM in 1979 where they became the house act at Chubbie’s Tavern. Fellow Texans, Tish Hinojosa and Michael Martin Murphy also moved to northern New Mexico, and Bill & Bonnie found themselves the center of a thriving Americana music community.
“Whenever I come to Santa Fe, I make a point of checking to see where Bill Hearne is playing. His music is evocative of all that I love about New Mexico and the West. They broke the mold when they made Bill – you should not miss the chance to witness him in action.” – Eliza Gilkyson (2015 Grammy nominee)
Fast forward a decade. Northern New Mexico’s Americana scene fades like high-country grasses in autumn and Bill & Bonnie move to Santa Fe where they sign on as the house band for La Fonda, a venerable downtown hotel. For 11 years, Bill and Bonnie delighted Santa Feans and countless tourists with their infectious blend of bluegrass, country and swing music. In 1997, Bill & Bonnie signed with Warner Bros. and recorded “Diamonds in the Rough.” Produced by country veteran Jim Rooney, it climbed to fifth on the Americana chart that year and led to tours with Lyle Lovett Music Festival, Merlefest, and the Kerrville Folk Festival. The wind seemed to be at their backs, but in 2003, Bonnie’s health deteriorated and she could no longer perform. On his own musically for the first time since meeting Bonnie, Bill formed the Bill Hearne Trio. In the trio, Bill is backed by Bob Goldstein on lead guitar, mandolin & banjo and either Zeke Severenson or Dave Toland on bass. Bill is in his 23rd year at the La Fonda and is still singing every Monday & Tuesday night with his Trio.
above: Bill and Bonnie Hearne perform “Roseville Fair” live at the Farm Aid concert in Austin, Texas on July 4, 1986.
Recipient of the New Mexico Music Commission’s 2017 Platinum Music Award for lifetime achievement, Arlen Asher (1929-2020) is one of New Mexico’s long-standing jazz luminaries. Born in 1929 in a small farming community in Missouri, Asher moved to Albuquerque in 1958. Prior to becoming a full time musician, he worked as an award-winning producer and announcer for KNME-TV, KOB-TV and KHFM radio. He left broadcasting to establish a private woodwind studio in 1965 and since then has been teaching woodwind fundamentals and jazz improvisation to hundreds of students throughout the US. In the 1970’s, he formed the Arlen Asher-Bob Brown Quartet, which formed the basis of two jazz television series for KNME-TV and a series of concerts that included guest artists such as trumpeter Clark Terry. In 1994, Arlen Asher joined drummer, John Trentacosta’s group, Straight Up. Asher has appeared on numerous CD’s including his own 2002 release, Another Spring , featuring a virtual Who’s Who of New Mexico jazz talent. He also appears on Straight Up’s recording Live Jazz in the Desert, a top selling local jazz CD in New Mexico. Straight Up has appeared at many jazz festivals, including the Tucson and Sedona Jazz Festivals and Jazz In The Sangres in Colorado. At 84, Arlen Asher remains active as a performer as well as hosting “The Jazz Experience” broadcast every Monday morning on Santa Fe Public Radio station, KSFR. Along with Arlen Asher, woodwinds; Straight Up features leader, John Trentacosta, drums, NY trumpeter Michael Morreale; Albuquerque born, NY based pianist, Tony Regusis; and Michael Olivola, bass.
above: Arlen Asher’s tribute video from the 2017 Platinum Music Awards show at the Lensic. Filmed and edited by Bunee Tomlinson of Windswept Media. Produced by the New Mexico Music Commission Foundation, David Schwartz Executive Producer.
