Tim O’Rourke performs at the Pub & Grill at the Santa Fe Brewing Company on Saturday, July 25 at (37 Fire Place, 8 pm, $5). His new album, Backyard Dreams, is available through Blues Farm Records.

A native of St. Louis, Tim O’Rourke moved out to New Mexico in the late 70s and has called it home ever since. Living in Placitas in the mountains north of Albuquerque has proven a continual inspiration for O’Rourke in its openness and sense of community. “When we first came out here, there was a community situation going on here where one person would help another. That’s how we built our home and that’s how all our neighbors built their homes; with the help of the community,” O’Rourke recalls, and it is very much in this spirit of community and progress that he writes and performs his music.

Backyard Dreams, his latest album, was released in early June by Blues Farm Records, based just outside Clovis. With O’Rourke on vocals and playing most of the album’s instrumentation, including acoustic and electric guitar and bass, “Albuquerque’s voice for blues and folk music” offers up spirited songs about love, life, and the fallout from eight years of Bush Administration rule. Featuring a selection of solo acoustic work alongside songs featuring rousing electric guitar solos and drum backing, Backyard Dreams offers an eclectic American folk sound, with O’Rourke’s wit and passion shining throughout.

Things are bad all around it seems, but O’Rourke’s music still sees hope and joy, inspired by New Mexico’s open minded music community and beautiful landscapes. SFR spoke with O’Rourke and learned more about the folk artist’s life in New Mexico, his album, and his upcoming show at the Santa Fe Brewing Company.

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After the July 8 meeting to discuss the future of the memorial set up in Cathedral Park, friends and family reconvened on the park Friday, July 10, to begin moving pieces of remembrance from the park’s monument to a new location next to the gates of the park’s northeast side.

The memorial honors teenagers Rose Simmons, Julian Martinez, Kate Klein and Alyssa Trouw. The four youths were killed June 28 in a car crash. Scott Owens, the driver of the car that hit the teens, has been charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and had a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit, according to police.

The new location for the memorial is where Rose’s father, John Simmons, and a small group of friends have set up a new site with cinder blocks and a large marble sheet. It is currently not clear whether the city will allow this piece of the park to act as a permanent memorial or whether it is another temporary location. The mood was somber as candles, clothing, cards and other objects were taken from the monument and placed on and around this new shrine.

Simmons noted that he had spoken to the owners of the buildings directly east of the park and that they might consider allowing a permanent location on their land only a few feet from where the shrine now sits. Though it now seems hopeful that this memorial will find a place to stay in the near future, Simmons noted sadly, “This will happen again. We’ll all be doing this again, for others, until something drastic changes.”

Avree Koffman, who was driving the car carrying the teenagers, is now out of the University of New Mexico Hospital.

Mourners, classmates and friends of the four Santa Fe teenagers killed in the June 28 car accident gathered on Wednesday, July 8  afternoon at Cathedral Park, where a makeshift memorial for the teens had been furnished on and around the park’s central monument. Members of the city council and community were on hand to discuss future plans for a more permanent memorial.

The crowd swelled as city councilman Carmichael Dominguez began to speak about the status of the impromptu shrine, the damage it has done to the flagstone, and possible compromises between the city and those wishing to share public condolences.

Dominguez first expressed the sadness that the whole community has felt in the wake of the tragedy and his interest in hearing from and coming to solutions with those who have contributed to the memorial.

However, he made clear that there could be no permanent shrine to the lost students in Cathedral Park. To that end, the city will begin removing objects and writing found on and around the monument this week. Continue reading »

Richard Boukas presents his Brazilian Guitar Panorama on Saturday, July 11 with a workshop from 2-4 pm, followed by a solo guitar performance at 7:30 pm. Both take place at the GiG Performance Space (1808 Second St., 501-3333). Boukas will also be a guest on KSFR’s (101.1 FM)’ “Jazz a la carta” program, 9 am-noon on Friday, July 10.

After nearly 30 years of performing in and leading various jazz and Brazilian music ensembles and gaining honors as distinct as being declared the “Best Brazilian Jazz Guitarist in the US” by GuitarOne Magazine, New York-born guitarist Richard Boukas feels there’s always more to be learned and to be played.

“It’s like your work is never done,” Boukas explains in regards to developing his repertoire and constantly exploring and experimenting in the many genres of Brazilian music. With positions teaching jazz improvisation, ear training, choral musicianship and more at New York’s New School, as well as a “steady gig” performing at the Bonfire Grill Restaurant in Queens, NY every Monday evening, Boukas is focused on making sure he never becomes complacent with his art and that his work truly never ends.

For Boukas, each piece of music is still alive, vibrant and fertile with ideas and expressions still ripe to be uncovered. With each piece that he performs, the guitarist hopes to put forth his own unique style and personality while honoring those composers and guitarists who influenced him. Indeed, he plans for roughly 90 percent of his performance at Santa Fe’s GiG Performance Space on Saturday to be made up of the compositions of other composers to highlight Brazil’s musical traditions and diversity.

SFR spoke with Boukas and learned more about his influences, musical philosophy, and what he hopes to accomplish through his solo Brazilian guitar workshop and performance on July 11.

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