Get out your dancing shoes. You’ll need them when Banda Atómica takes the Plaza’s stage on July 25 during the Santa Fe Bandstand’s fourth week of free music concerts.

Only six months old, Banda Atómica is a high energy wind and percussion ensemble featuring instruments including clarinets, saxophones, trombones and tubas. It’s based in Albuquerque and modeled after marching bands that are popular throughout South America.

“Our idea was to put together a big band with mostly Latin American sounds,” explains co-founder Kilko Paz, who assembled more than a dozen musicians to play a wide range of contemporary and traditional instruments. [Read More…]

When singer/songwriter and fiddler Carrie Rodriguez set out to record “Lola” last year, she never imagined it would become a bilingual album. Her initial plan was to sing only in Spanish as a tribute to her great aunt Eva Garza (1917-1966), who was a Texas-based singer and actor.

Santa Fe Bandstand’s audience members will be treated to hearing about three-quarters of the music on “Lola” when Rodriguez, life and musical partner Luke Jacobs (guitar/vocals) and percussionist Alex Marrero take the Plaza’s stage on July 18. [Read More…]

The Peterson Brothers (Alex, 18 and Glenn Jr., 20) have been playing music together since elementary school. According to them, it’s been smooth sailing all the way.

“There haven’t been any bad parts, ever,” says Glenn Jr., the duo’s guitarist and lead vocalist. “We’ve grown up listening to the same music, and we know how the other brother thinks. We have our own musical identities, but there really aren’t any extreme differences between us.”

The Peterson Brothers, who live in Austin, Texas, perform their blend of blues, soul and funk with Santa Fe Bandstand on July 12. [Read More…]