1 Santa Fe All-Stars
Most super groups come together for fame, fortune and groupies. Not the Santa Fe All-Stars. The band was the suggestion of a Second Street Brewery staffer who was a fan of Sharon Gilchrist, Joe West, Susan Hyde Holmes and Ben Wright individually and wanted to see them play together. The first gig was in December of 2006 and since then the band has had some unusual gigs. Besides a cold and snowy show at the Santa Fe Ski Basin, retirement-home concerts and a sold-out show at the Santa Fe Brewing Company for its self-titled EP release, the All-Stars also was part of the New Mexico Quarter release party.
All this makes for a busy Americana band with punk leanings and a ton of other projects. “This has always been about fun for us,” singer and guitarist West says. “We’re all in other bands or have jobs so, while we take it seriously, it’s not about competition or perfecting anything.” Holmes, the band’s bassist, agrees, saying that “we get to let go. We play this Americana conglomeration but everyone gets to bring in their own genres.” And while The All-Stars have been slammed for the last year mixing those bluegrass, singer-songwriter, rock and jazz ideas, it’s not out of steam. “We’re gigging a little less this year,” West says, “but we’re building up to the Thirsty Ear Festival, where there will be a ton of new music and it should be something special.”
2 Bill Hearne
3 Hundred Year Flood
Most super groups come together for fame, fortune and groupies. Not the Santa Fe All-Stars. The band was the suggestion of a Second Street Brewery staffer who was a fan of Sharon Gilchrist, Joe West, Susan Hyde Holmes and Ben Wright individually and wanted to see them play together. The first gig was in December of 2006 and since then the band has had some unusual gigs. Besides a cold and snowy show at the Santa Fe Ski Basin, retirement-home concerts and a sold-out show at the Santa Fe Brewing Company for its self-titled EP release, the All-Stars also was part of the New Mexico Quarter release party.
All this makes for a busy Americana band with punk leanings and a ton of other projects. “This has always been about fun for us,” singer and guitarist West says. “We’re all in other bands or have jobs so, while we take it seriously, it’s not about competition or perfecting anything.” Holmes, the band’s bassist, agrees, saying that “we get to let go. We play this Americana conglomeration but everyone gets to bring in their own genres.” And while The All-Stars have been slammed for the last year mixing those bluegrass, singer-songwriter, rock and jazz ideas, it’s not out of steam. “We’re gigging a little less this year,” West says, “but we’re building up to the Thirsty Ear Festival, where there will be a ton of new music and it should be something special.”
2 Bill Hearne
3 Hundred Year Flood
