Grab a Picnic, Blanket, and Kids; Concerts in Buckley Return

Hi, I'm Beth Drum. And I am a proud employee owner at Alpine Bank. Giving back to the community is one of Alpine Bank's core values, as it is with the many nonprofits that serve our community. We invite you to meet some of these change makers as part of our series, community matters.

Grab a picnic, a blanket, lawn chairs, and the kids. The 12th season of the Community Concert Hall at the Park, begins on July 16th in Buckley Park, sponsored by Alpine Bank and Kdur Community Radio. The free seven week concert series will start at 5:30 pm every Thursday through July 28th. Since its inception 12 years ago, the Community Concert Hall at the Park series has continued to draw an ever growing audience from all walks of life. Concert Hall Director Charles Leslie, estimated that more than 1800 kids, moms, dads, retirees and just plain music lovers. Find a spot in the grass and settle in for an hour or two of live music.

There's some people that plan their summer returning to Durango around the concert series. You know, so people have second homes. You know, I've got a lot of people like from Phoenix, and San Antonio that say, you know, we've been coming, we, you know, we've been doing this for 40 years but now we plan it during the concert series. So that we're here for that. Then we get people who say, I can't afford to go here live music, you know, I'm retired or I'm a family with four kids. And so this is our opportunity to go out and hear live music. And then the other one I hear is this is a safe environment for me and my family to come out and have an outing where the kids can be safe and we can enjoy ourselves as adults.

This year's lineup runs the gamut from Americana, Soul, Rock and Roll, Latin Folk and Jazz.

What the Concert Hall has always done, is introduce artists to Durango who don't know about Durango. You know, and that's really important 'cause Durango's a really amazing place. And when people come here, who've never been here, they all, you know their eyes light up and they're so excited. And then these artists are like, oh my gosh. And then they love our audiences too, right? So that's a big part of it. The other part of it is that, we want to introduce artists to our citizens and our audiences that they may not have ever heard of before. And that's really important as a part of the Concert Hall programming, you know, mission that we do is we want to introduce artists.

The Taylor Scott Band will open the series with its fusion of funk, soul rock and rhythm and blues. Back by popular demand on June 23rd, will be a performance by Albuquerque's Nosotros Band with the Latin rhythms that combine elements of rock, salsa, jazz and Cumbia. And you won't want to miss the United States Air Force Academy Band, the Falconaires on June 30th. Followed the next week by Jack and the Vox and Company who perform as part of the Rocky Mountain UkeFest. The Fantastic Cat Band will play a mix of all new songs reminiscent of 60s folk music and top rock and roll hits from the 70, there on stage July 14th. Bluegrass will be featured on July 21st with Carter Sampson and the Jackalopes Band from Oklahoma. And wrapping up the series on July 28th will be Ali McGuirk, a Boston based singer and songwriter who is the recipient of the Boston music awards, Blues Artist of the Year title. No matter what kind of genre you like, Leslie says, the experience of listening to music in the park is unbeatable. And you'll even get home before dark.

It's hard to beat live music outdoors in Durango, Colorado. I don't know, I don't know any, I mean what's better than being outside in Durango in the summertime listening to live music?

All concerts start at 5:30 pm and are free and open to the public. For complete schedule, visit durangoconcerts.com.

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