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Saturday, January 18th, 2025
Carol Markstrom
with Jim Jones
Seekers is an album of 12 original songs, all on aspects of Native American history and culture. It includes earlier songs, some re-recorded, plus new songs. Many talented musicians contributed to the album, including Native American artists and co-writers. Carol celebrates this release with lead engineer and co-producer, Merel Bregante. Audiences from across the U.S. to the far north of Alaska and to Europe have enjoyed Carol's clear, emotion-filled vocals and songs that transport across places, times, and people. She has received awards from the Red Carpet Award Show in Europe, the Academy of Western Artists, the Rural Roots Music Commission, Spirit Wind Records, and beyond. Her songs have been in films and are played by DJs worldwide. Jim Jones is a Western/Folk Singer/Songwriter, an author and a native Texan who lives in New Mexico. He was the International Western Music Association's 2014 Male Performer of the Year and winner of that organization's 2019 Song of the Year, along with the Academy of Western Artists 2016 Western Song of the Year and the Western Writers of America 2013, 2017 and 2021 Spur Awards for Best Western Song and most recently, a winner of the 2022 Western Heritage Wrangler Award for Outstanding Original Western Composition. |
Saturday, April 26, 2025
The Cowboy Way
The Cowboy Way is a trio of award-winning musicians from New Mexico consisting of Mariam Funke, Doug Figgs, and Jim Jones. They have been named Western Group of the Year five times by the International Western Music Association and have taken home numerous individual awards from the IWMA, the Western Writers of America, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Academy of Western Artists, among others. Their music captures the spirit of the West... the past, the present, the future; the values, challenges, and allure, while their lively shows feature tight harmonies, high energy and smokin' instrumentals. These prolific songwriters take you on the ride of a lifetime as they honor traditional cowboy songs then bowl you over with their dynamic contemporary original Western tunes. The Cowboy Way presents professional, crowd-pleasing entertainment. Jim Jones is a native Texan, a student of the West and a life-long devotee of all things cowboy. His award-winning songwriting, guitar-picking and unique vocal style keeps him in demand at music venues throughout the country. Jim has produced eight Western Americana albums and three award-winning children's character education videos. He has written three Western novels, Rustler's Moon, (2009); Colorado Moon, (2011) and Waning Moon, (2013). His eighth Western Americana album, Borrowed Time, released in April of 2012, produced Western Writers of America 2013 Spur Award winning Western Song of the Year, "Texas is Burnin'" and 2014 Western Writers Spur Finalist for Western Song of the Year, "Race with the Wind". His song, "Cowboys of New Mexico," was the New Mexico Music Awards 2009 Western Song of the Year. Jim was named the Western Music Association Male Performer of the Year for 2014 and won the Academy of Western Artists 2015 Western Song of the Year with "The Fires of Goliad". In 2017 "Halfway Down the Devil's Road" ( written by Jim Jones and Allan Chapman) from "The Cowboy Way" CD won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for best Western song. Doug Figgs is a horseshoer, cowboy, and a Western music singer/songwriter. In the last few years he has turned his attention to his love of music with the emphasis on Western themes. The Western Music Association named him the 2015 Songwriter of the Year and his song "Socios" was named WMA Song of the Year. He also won the Academy of Western Artists 2015 Western Male Vocalist of the Year and the coveted Spur Award for Best Western Song from the Western Writers of America in 2014 "Charlie & Evangeline." He has toured the Southwest extensively and continues to turn out his own variety of Western music, from hard driving songs with a tinge of southern rock, to beautiful ballads and everything in between. Doug released his CD "Partners" in 2014 and his award winning CD "A Cowboy Like Me" in Feb. 2016. Mariam Funke, a native of Germany, and now a U.S. citizen, was selected Instrumentalist of the Year in 2022 by the International Western Music Association. Mariam jokingly states: "I always felt I was accidentally switched at birth and grew up in a strange land far, far away, where there were no roaming cattle, no wide open spaces, no singing cowboys." Making the best of his "dis-location", Mariam cut his musical teeth on a wide variety of musical styles, from Classical, Jazz and Pop to Rock, Country and Blues. He enjoyed a colorful career as a multi-instrumentalist, at home on stage as well as in the recording studio. He gained a reputation as a diverse session player, award-winning arranger and producer. When his travels brought him to New Mexico, he felt he'd finally returned to his true home land. Realizing how much he loved horseback ridin', backporch pickin' and two-steppin' on Saturday nights, he quickly caught on to the cowboy way. Currently calling Santa Fe, New Mexico home, Mariam is a private music teacher, collaborator on Doug Figgs' projects and provides the lead guitar and 3rd harmony vocal for The Cowboy Way. |
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Helene Cronin
Texas-bred artist Helene Cronin describes herself as a story-singer. She is driven by a desire to share her life through stories that resonate with genuine emotion, and more than a little imagination. She doesn't mind if, in their wake, her songs impart lessons that her listeners can absorb into their own lives. For Helene, cultivating connection with her listeners is of supreme importance especially in these divisive times. She recalls meeting a woman after a house concert, who told her through tears, "Listening to you and your songs makes me want to be a better person." Helene reflects, "I can't think of a better reason to keep doing what I do. And to keep believing there's a higher purpose for me writing one more song that only a few people may ever hear. Sometimes my songs remind me that I need to do better too." A 2018 New Folk Winner at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival, Helene's style is a merger between the raw roots of Americana and the polished song-craft of Nashville's Country. Never setting out to be a "star", songwriting brought her to the stage. Audiences are drawn to her vulnerability and presence. Like other more well-known troubadours, she possesses a voice as much a character as the ones that inhabit her songs. Helene is currently prepping a brand new full-length record called Maybe New Mexico, due in March 2025, which showcases her writing over the last few years. It promises to bring her the wider attention she so decidedly deserves. |
December 7, 2024 Scott Sean White |
October 19th, 2024 Randy Palmer |
September 14, 2024 Daniel Boling |
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August 17, 2024 Joel White |
July 28th, 2024 Rod MacDonald |
May 25, 2024 Mike Agranoff |
May 4th, 2024 Luke Bulla |
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April 13, 2024 Jim Jones & Mariam Funke |
March 15, 2024 Buffalo Bill & Dr. Jo |
Feb. 10, 2024 Almeda Bradshaw | ||
Jan. 27, 2024 Kerry Grombacher |
Nov. 14, 2023 Grace Clark |
July 8th, 2023 Lori Beth Brooke |
June 24th, 2023 Jennings & Keller |
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May 6th, 2023 Ken Gaines |
April 21, 2023 Miss Devon & The Outlaw |
March 24, 2023 Carol Markstrom |
February 23, 2023 Poi Rogers |
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December 3, 2022 Two Crows for Comfort |
October 2, 2022 Claudia Nygaard |
September 17, 2022 Randy Lewis Brown |
July 30, 2022 Dan McCorison |
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June 3, 2022 Scott T |
May 14, 2022 Jim Jones & Mariam Funke |
April 28, 2022 Kray Van Kirk |
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March 19, 2022 Buffalo Bill & Dr. Jo |
February 12, 2022 Steve Cormier |
December 11, 2021 Steve Jones |
October 16, 2021 Dana Cooper |
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September 25, 2021 Carol Walker |
August 28, 2021 Rupert Wates |
July 17, 2021 Rebecca Folsom |
March 15, 2020 Mike Agranoff |
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February 23, 2020 The Rough & Tumble |
January 25, 2020 Buffalo Bill & Dr. Jo |
November 9, 2019 Kerry Grombacher & Aspen Black |
September 19, 2019 Carol Markstrom |
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September 11, 2019 The Freight Hoppers |
August 9, 2019 Bruce Mandel |
April 13, 2019 Nikki Talley & Jason Sharp |
March 19, 2019: Bill Staines |