Welcome to the Southwest Pickers!
The Southwest Traditional and Bluegrass Music Association (aka The Southwest Pickers) is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization established in 1981 to preserve, promote and strengthen traditional, acoustic music, particularly Bluegrass and Old-time, in New Mexico. The Soutwest Pickers sponsor concerts, workshops, and jam sessions throughout the year in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and every August, we present the annual Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Festival, three days of concerts, contests, pickin’ and grinnin’. On this site, you can find information about the festival, upcoming events, local bands, and membership. If you haven’t already, please join our fine organization to get discounts on concert tickets and to help us support traditional, acoustic music in New Mexico.
Contact Us
E-mail
Mail@SouthwestPickers.org.
Our mailing address is:
SWT & BMA
PO BOX 90145
Albuquerque, NM 87199
Announcement
Advance Ticket Sales
Advance tickets are now available at two retail outlets. In Santa Fe go to The Candyman at:
851 Saint Michaels Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 983-9309
In Albuquerque you can go to Apple Mountain Music at:
10301 Comanche Road Northeast
Albuquerque, NM 87111
(505) 237-2048
Our Next Concert
Jeff and Vida
Friday, September 17, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Covenant Presbyterian Church Hall
9315 Candelaria Road NE
Albuquerque, NM 87112 | Click for Map
Phone: (505) 891-2829
Admission
$ 10 Southwest Pickers Members
$ 15 Non-Members
Children 16 and under free!
No advance ticket sales
Tickets available at the door
Jeff and Vida’s nine years of performing and songwriting, have seen them delve into many different genres of music; country, honky-tonk, rockabilly, even a little rock and roll. But throughout their career, which has included four critically acclaimed albums, literally thousands of live shows in the U.S. and Europe, and a move from New Orleans to Nashville, bluegrass has remained a key influence in their style and sound. Nowhere is this more evident than on their new CD, Selma Chalk.
The new record features thirteen original songs, a stellar band, and an enigmatic name. Inside the CD jacket, selma chalk is defined as “an impurity in the most fertile soil of the South”. Intentional or not, the title seems an apt metaphor for the music contained within- an outsiders’ take on fertile traditions of Southern and Appalachian string band music. Indeed, a number of tracks do fit neatly into what might be called a ‘traditional bluegrass’ sound. More often than not however, the record bends bluegrass instrumentation around material that's a little edgier, a little bluesier and a little rougher than your typical bluegrass album.
“they continue to shape some of the most potent, bluegrass-influenced sounds around.” “in Vida Wakeman they have one of THE contemporary Americana vocalists” Whisperin’ and Hollerin’ (UK)
“There’s no holding back Jeff Burke on the mandolin, and the players on banjo, fiddle and other instruments are some of the best you’ll hear anywhere...the virtuoso playing isn’t standard - it’s dazzling” Music News Nashville
“Jeff & Vida make music that is real and true. Theirs are the songs you long to hear late at night on the interstate, in poolhalls and smoky whiskey bars.” New York Times Magazine