Socorrofest

Date(s):
Saturday September 16, 2023

Time:
12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Location:
Socorro's Historic Plaza

City of Socorro-PAS Community Event – Presented by the City of Socorro in collaboration with New Mexico Tech, SocorroFest is an annual event full of great music, brews, wines, arts and food vendors, kicking off at 6pm on Friday, September 15th on the Historic Plaza with Pepper Jam and Mesa Blue Bands and at Noon on Saturday, September 16th.

Headlining this year’s Plaza stage is Gonzalo, playing high-energy NM Spanish dance music and End of the Innocence.: A Salute to the Songwriters, a national and international touring act delivering a high-energy, high-level show, performing a full range of chart-topping Grammy award-winning hits from Don Henley, Paul McCartney, Neil Diamond, Dan Fogelberg, and Glenn Frey. The musical group has opened for such big names as Kenny Loggins, Little River Band, Randy Meisner, America, Three Dog Night, Kansas, Charlie Daniels, 38 Special, and Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles. SocorroFest attendees will hear them perform songs such as: “Hey Jude,” “I Am I Said,” and “Desperado.”

Gonzalo, a Spanish dance music star originally from Las Vegas, New Mexico, who, in addition to performing hits such as “Adolorido” and “Sin Sal Ni Limon,” also owns and operates a Taos-based music production company, The New Mexico Music Factory.

Family activities include a 3:3 Basketball Tournament, Jump Balloons, Mining for Minerals and E-Sports.

In the Spirits Tent will be Socorro’s own breweries: The Capitol Bar & Brewery, Bodega Burger Co. & Wine Shop, Box Canyon Brewery and Black Smuggler’s Winery.

We are bringing back one of the favorite T-Shirt Designs, Free State of Socorro Passports and Commemorative Beer Glasses, $10 for the Spirits Tent gets you a glass.

Friday, 9.15.23 – Plaza Gazebo Stage
Pepper Jam  6-7:30pm – Bluegrass, folk, and Americana music, features Francie Deters, Mariah Carter, Neil Haverstick, and Jim Ruff.
Mesa Blue  8-9:30pm – Spanish, country, and oldies with “Porky” Valenzuela on vocals, Carl Lukesh on bass and guitar, Ronnie Silva on guitar, and Lefty Gonzales on drums.  A reorganized subset of the popular band Suavecito, this is a seasoned group of musicians who will get you up and dancing, having performed at events all over NM and in the region.

Friday, 9.15.23 – Capitol Bar Stage
Johnny Dean  5-6pm – Classic rock, country and folk covers and lots of originals.
Wredemppshun  6:30-7:30pm – Pronounced “Redemption,” a multi-generation group playing a mixture of rock, folk, and bluegrass. The band includes Steve Senn on bass, guitar and vocals, Dave Thomas on guitar, bass and vocals, Matt Thomas on guitar, Rooster on mandolin and guitar, Bill and Susie on drums and percussion, and for SocorroFest, Bill Patridge helping out on vocals.
Rhythm Prophets  8-9:30pm – Hard-rocking, established group of seasoned musicians playing original and cover tunes that range from blues to classic to hard rock.
Fullish Professors 10-Midnight – With musical influences ranging from Americana and folk to popular, and even some ‘80s mixed in.  In their day jobs at NMT, Julie Ford, vocals, is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department; Steve Simpson, vocals and guitar, is a communication professor and dean of Arts and Sciences; Ephraim Ford, bass, is head of NM Engineering at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory; Paul Demorest (saxophone) is a scientist at NRAO; and Andrew Wagg (drums) is working at EMTRC after just graduating with a mechanical engineering degree. They are guided by Neil Peart’s poetic lyric “All this machinery making modern music can still be open hearted.

Friday, 9.15.23 – Box Canyon Brewing Company Stage
Vanessa Ruane  5-6pm – Vocalist with an eclectic mix of tunes
Tyler Lam  6:30-7:30 – Covering some of the great contemporary and classic country, folk and rock artists
Why Knot  8-9pm – Fun mix of folk, swing and oldies, with a bit of cajun vibe.

Saturday, 9.16.23 – Plaza Gazebo Stage
Tyler Lam  12:45-1:30pm ­- Musically inclined growing up, Lam always loved music, mostly country, rock, oldies, the American classics, and a little Spanish/New Mexican music and he started playing guitar at age 10. He never played publicly – aside from school talent shows – until last year when he started playing at open mic at The Capitol Bar and then at Box Canyon Brewery. His first solo gigs this summer have been at the Socorro Farmers Market, Box Canyon Brewery, and at the Cap. Lam counts George Strait, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash among his influencers.
Technical Differences  2-3pm – Featuring former NMT students–Andrew Wagg, guitar; Seth Sisneros, rhythm guitar and vocals; Kody Gray, drums and vocals; Josh Gibbs, vocals; Keith Lucero, bass, clarinet and vocals–this band plays pop tunes, oldies, and contemporary rock.
The Murillos  3:30-4:30pm – Spanish, country and oldies featuring Tori Murillo on vocals, Richard Murillo on bass and trumpet, Matthew and Patrick Murillo on guitar, and Lefty Gonzales on drums.  This Socorro favorite never fails to get the crowd up and dancing.
Blue Monday 5-6pm – Rockin’ blues, funk and oldies, featuring Gene Cole on vocals, Jim Ruff on bass, Neil Haverstick on guitar, Tom Hunt on saxophone, and Rob Long on drums. Neil is a relative newcomer to Socorro having played, toured and taught guitar professionally in a variety of rock, show, blues and jazz bands.  He’s the “real deal” who slipped into Socorro and now rivals Jim Ruff in how many Socorro bands he plays in!  Gene Cole has that blues man style and panache, Tom Hunt played sax professionally in the military, and Rob Long is powerhouse drummer.  And Jim Ruff, well he’s the man on bass, and not too shabby on the mandolin and ukelele (in other bands!). Plan to dance to this band too!!!

Saturday, 9.16.23 – Capitol Bar Stage
Terri Sunflower  1-1:45pm – Terri is a prolific, heartfelt, thoughtful and fun singer-songwriter that never fails to make her audiences feel.
Why Knot?  2-2:45 – Folk and oldies trio with Steve Cather on vocals and guitar, Martha Cather on keyboard, guitar, accordion and backup vocals, and Jim Ruff on bass.
Roon  3-3:45 – This trio plays good timin’ folk rock and originals with all three on vocals, Ronna Kalish on guitar, keys and harmonica, Johnny Dean on guitar and bass, and Jim Ruff on mandolin, ukelele and bass.  Ronna is a co-founder of SocorroFest (in her spare time) and Director of the NM Tech Performing Arts Series for a gazillion years; Johnny Dean loves and plays music more than anything else, can be seen doing a solo set on Fridays, 5-7pm at the Capitol Bar, and hosting open mic every other Thursday at the same place; Jim Ruff, yes, he’s in a lof of bands; in a former life he was a mechanical engineer, and is best known as a professional dog walker!
Shelbi Etscorn  4-4:45 – A vocalist extraordinaire, playing ukelele and guitar, with an engaging personality and infectious laugh, Shelbi covers contemporary and classic songwriters.
Pete Gonzales & Carl Lukesh  5-5:45pm – Some of your favorite oldies played by guitarist singer Pete Gonzales, and the top-notch guitar riffs of Carl Lukesh.  Both these guys have been playing music for a long-time.  Pete is also known for playing in the San MIguel Church band, and Carl for playing just about every San MIguel Fiesta ever.  Oh, and both these guys have sons who are amazing musicians–that counts for alot!
Flat Note Society  6-7pm – Featuring classic, contemporary and original rock by Colleen Gino on vocals, drums, flute and guitar; Dylan Etscorn on bass, William Eveleth on guitar, Ben Thomas on guitar, with Bill Patridge and Shelbi Etscorn making vocal guest appearances. Colleen toured professionally as a young person as a vocalist and most recently wrote an entire rock opera entitled Horror Channel which was presented as part of the NMT Performing Arts Series last year.  She is a digital photographer of night skies and many other things, makes jewelry and bags and whatever hits her fancy and is just about one of the most creative people in Socorro. Dylan is a techie on many levels, has a unique collection of basses and guitars that he builds and adapts, and is one of the funniest, nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Will, like the rest of the Flat Notes has been playing music since he was a kid, a guy one might describe as an understated powerhouse musician.  Shelbi we told you about up above.  And Bill Patridge, newest member in this group, is typically an amazing improvisational guitarist and songwriter but is recently recovered from surgery on his wrist and will sing a few songs for SocorroFest.
Fuzzy Logic  7:30-8:30pm – Classic, contemporary and original rock with the powerful vocals and stage presence of Val Thomas, Ben Thomas on guitar, Colleen Gino on Drums, Clifton Murray on bass, and Jay Blanchard on keyboards. Get ready for some incredible jams from this band.  You are going to think you are at an arena seeing a really famous rock band, no kidding!
Moondogs  9-Midnight – This group is a five-piece jam band from Albuquerque, offering a blend of lively originals and multi-genre interpretive covers of artists from Al Green and Tom Petty to Alabama Shakes and Joss Stone.  You are going to love this band too!

Saturday, 9.16.23 – Box Canyon Brewing Company Stage
The Socorro Synth Society 2-3pm – … for something completely different.
Jazz Action  3:30-4:30pm – Traditional jazz by the colorful and sultry Francie Deters, Neil Haverstick on guitar and Cliftono Murray on bass.
Terri Sunflower  5-6pm – Socorro’s most prolific singer songwriter.
Midnight Run  7:30-9pm