World-class acts mix with renewable energy demonstrations
Renewable energy may be the theme of the Taos Solar Music Festival, but music has always been the centerpiece.
“When we started out, one of our main goals was to make a world class music festival,” says Dawn Richardson, who founded the festival in 1999 with music producer Dan Sherman and Brad Hockmeyer, owner of Taos’ solarpowered radio station, KTAO-FM. “Music is the bait to get people interested in renewable energy.”
The tradition continues this June as the festival celebrates its 10th anniversary with an eclectic lineup of musical acts, ranging from the catchy rock riffs of Collective Soul to the incendiary hip-hop of The Coup.
Taos, with its sunny climate and progressive politics, was a hub for solar power long before the festival began. In fact, former Gov. Gary Johnson decreed Taos to be the solar capital of the world by official proclamation in 1997.
That same year, Hockmeyer held a two-day solar music festival in a gravel pit by the Rio Grande Gorge. Richardson, a music promoter, and Sherman came on board two years later and moved the festival to Kit Carson Memorial State Park in the center of town.
Operating out of a 31-foot Airstream trailer, Richardson and Sherman put together a slate of local bands and nationally known acts like Harry Belafonte and Steve Earle. The formula proved to be a success, and the festival grew to where it now attracts thousands of music lovers from more than 30 states.
“It’s been a huge act of perseverance and love for us,” says Richardson. “We’ve been able to create, for one weekend each summer, a community right here in the middle of town.”
The Possibilities
The festival setting includes a main stage and a smaller adobe stage that runs on solar power. The park is also home to the festival’s Solar Village, with booths and demonstrations celebrating the possibilities of renewable energy.
“The Solar Village is about teaching people the great ways that the sun, wind and water can be used to create energy,” says Scott Evans, president of the Taos Chapter of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. “What we try to do is create displays with a little more pizazz, like water misters that use solar power to cool off the crowd.”
The village has plenty for kids, too, with solar-powered remotecontrol cars and cookies baked in solar-powered ovens.
“We want to get the kids thinking about where energy comes from,” says Evans. “If we plant the seed that the sun is a powerful source of renewable energy, then we might provide them with a burst of inspiration.”
The Taos Solar Music Festival takes place the last weekend in June, between the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the July Fourth holiday.
“It was the slowest weekend of the summer in Taos,” recalls Richardson. “Now, it’s the busiest.”
The Basics
The Taos Solar Music Festival is scheduled June 27-29, at Kit Carson Memorial State Park. Hours (rain or shine) are 3-10 p.m. June 27, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. June 28 and noon-8 p.m. June 29. Gates open at 10:30 a.m. each day.
Bottled water allowed with an unbroken seal.
A three-day pass is $75. Tickets available online and at various outlets in New Mexico and Colorado. Kids 10 and under are free. The Solar Village is free and open to the public.
Parking is available at the Taos Town Hall and the Taos Elementary School.
For information, go to solarmusicfest.com.
Taos Solar Music Festival Lineup
Headliners scheduled to appear at the 2008 Taos Solar Music Festival include:
- COLLECTIVE SOUL: Led by brothers Ed and Dean Roland, the Georgia natives burst on the scene in 1994 with the No.1 song “Shine.” After a prolific, successful run with Atlantic Records that resulted in hits like “Heavy” and “The World I Know,” the band started its own record label and has been touring in support of “Afterwords,” the second release on that label.
- THE COUP: Rapper Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funkstress play a style of music that festival co-founder Dawn Richardson refers to as “Sly and the Family Stone meets hip-hop.” Their 1998 release, “Steal This Album,” one of the most acclaimed hip-hop albums of the ’90s, featured socially conscious and occasionally inflammatory lyrics that earned the ire of conservative pundits. Two of the Oakland duo’s songs were featured in the 2007 hit comedy “Superbad.”
- STEVE EARLE: Earle’s turbulent life is the stuff of movies, with seven marriages, a stint in jail and a battle with heroin addiction. He returns to Taos fresh off a Grammy win for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album (Vocal or Instrumental) for “Washington Square Serenade.” During his 20-plus years in show business, Earle has secured 13 Grammy nominations and has acted on the acclaimed HBO show “The Wire.”
- ALLISON MOORER: The alternative country artist from Alabama first came to national attention when she earned an Oscar nomination for her song “A Soft Place To Fall,” from the 1999 movie “The Horse Whisperer.” She recently released her seventh album, “Mockingbird,” in which she covers songs by Patti Smith, Johnny Cash and her sister, Grammy Award winner Shelby Lynne. Moorer married Steve Earle in 2007 and lives in New York City.
- SUSAN TEDESCHI: A three-time Grammy nominee, the bluesy singer-guitarist from Boston often has been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin. She has opened for Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp, among others. Her most recent album, “Hope and Desire,” includes covers of songs by Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones.
