OccasionalMusic.org provides details on upcoming concerts in Corrales, Bernalillo, and other nearby communities. We don't book the shows or sell the tickets; we just do our best to make sure our audience has an opportunity to be IN the audience when these world class performers pass our way.
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Kent Gurley
with musical support by Annie Benjamin and Tom Ashe
SUNDAY, January 12, 2025
Doors: 6:30 Music: 7:00 - 9:00 PM
You may bring your own food and drink.
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO FEATURED ARTISTS
RSVP please by text or call:
Kent @ 505-205-6010
Join Us at the studios of
Solamente Natural Plaster
135 N Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo, NM 87004
Please join us for our first show of 2025.
Kent will play a mix of Original, Standard and Obscure acoustic music. He will be joined on a few tunes by Annie Benjamin on flute and vocals, and will lean on his buddy, Tom Ashe, for some vocal and guitar assistance.
In addition to his own songs, Kent and the gang will play songs by John Prine, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, Townes Van Zandt, Willis Alan Ramsey, James Taylor, John Denver, Dave Alvin, and Kris Kristofferson. No tickets will be sold for this show. Donations will be accepted.
RSVP to reserve a spot for you and your friends. Call or text Kent at 505-205-6010.
Jeffrey Foucault
Historic Old San Ysidro Church
966 Old Church Rd
Corrales, NM 87048
Friday, February 7, 2025
Doors: 7:00 Music: 7:30 - 9:30
General Admission, All Ages: $29 advance / $35 door
Jeffrey Foucault, a distinctive voice in American music for over 20 years, has earned critical acclaim and built an international following through his emotionally powerful, stripped-down sound. His music has drawn praise from The New Yorker and influential figures like Don Henley.
In September 2024, Foucault released THE UNIVERSAL FIRE, his first new material since 2018. Recorded live with members of Calexico and Bon Iver, the album explores themes of mortality and legacy, partly inspired by the loss of his drummer Billy Conway in 2021 and the 2008 Universal Studios fire that destroyed countless master recordings.
His musical journey began with his parents' record collection, progressing through influences like John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, and the Texas folk scene. Recently, a career highlight came when veteran musician Rodney Crowell invited him onstage during a show, representing a full-circle moment in Foucault's artistic evolution.
Acoustic Eidolon
Sponsored by Rick and Gail Thaler
Historic Old San Ysidro Church
966 Old Church Rd
Corrales, NM 87048
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Doors: 6:30 Music: 7:30
Tickets cost $25 in advance, $30 day of show (including all service charges). They are also available by phone through Hold My Ticket at 505-886-1251.
Fate has a magical way of bringing people together.
Take the case of Joe and Hannah, aka Acoustic Eidolon. In 1995, Hannah, a studio cellist, received a call to play on a Boulder ensemble's record. Hannah listened in amazement as directions to the recording studio told her to turn on a small road near her home, and then turn down her own street past her house!
Little did Hannah know that across the street and three houses away lived Joe, the greatest double-neck guitjo player in the world (OK, the only double-neck guitjo player in the world).
A few years after they met, Joe and Hannah both found themselves between full-time musical engagements. Joe called Hannah, saying he'd always wanted to hear the cello and the guitjo together. He had a feeling the harp-like sound of the guitjo, combined with the warmth of Hannah's cello, would be beautiful together. So on a snowy day in February 1998, they got together to play for the first time. What happened next was magic. Captivated by the music they created together, Joe and Hannah immediately agreed to clear out their schedules, start rehearsing full-time, and form what would become Acoustic Eidolon.
But, fate wasn't finished with Hannah and Joe. What started as a musical/business partnership and friendship blossomed into their marriage on October 14, 2001. Hannah and Joe (and sons Zach and Alex) became a family. Joe and Hannah joke that this was a marriage of convenience since they were already together all the time anyway! But, anyone watching them perform can feel the love that draws them together. Their love for one another, and their passion for life, speaks through their music.
Tommy & Saundra O'Sullivan
Sage Valley Pottery
4908 Corrales Road
Corrales, NM 87048
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Doors: 7:00 Music: 7:30 - 9:00
General Admission - All Ages - $25 advance, $30 door.
Join us for an intimate, unplugged house-concert style performance by one of the most musically accomplished & tasteful purveyors of traditional & contemporary Irish music. The husband-wife duo of Tommy and Saundra O’Sullivan own and run the famous O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub, smack in the middle of Dingle, Ireland, home to many of the island’s best musicians. Prior to opening the esteemed establishment in 2011, Tommy was a full-time touring musician. As a member of Sliabh Notes he recorded three albums. He also toured for years with Irish piper Paddy Keenan with whom he recorded a duet album, The Long Grazing Acre. He has recorded two solo albums, Song Ablaze and Legacy. Tommy & Saundra’s paths crossed when she attended an annual traditional Irish music retreat in Midlothian, Texas, where Tommy was an Irish guest instructor on guitar and vocals. As they explored singing together, they discovered her alto harmonies to be a perfect match to his tenor vocals. The two married in Houston in 2010 and now live in Dingle, where their pub which has earned a reputation for world-class traditional Irish music. In 2015, National Geographic cited O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub as the go-to pub for traditional Irish music on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way.
Saundra, who hails from Texas, brings to the table a strong background in choir and folk singing, skills put to great effect on Tommy & Saundra’s first duet album, Safe Home, which they released in 2018 on both sides of the Atlantic. The next year they enjoyed a visit from Casey Driessen & family to record a session with Casey’s Global Music Exploration Project. A track from this session is now available on the Grammy nominated Otherlands: One (see video below).
During the Pandemic Tommy & Saundra took part in Janis Ian’s Better Times Project. They also did a fine fine recording for Southwest Roots Music’s Shelter in Place Sessions (see below). For their Facebook Live Sessions, Tommy & Saundra and many musical guests held forth every Sunday for 18 months during the pandemic, recording over 75 hours of smoking Irish sessions. Recently the duo was involved in two Traditional Irish Festivals in Ireland as well as playing and presenting music five nights a week at O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub. We are proud to again be a part of their annual American winter tour.
The duo will also play Santa Fe on Friday, March 7 (INFO HERE).
Scott & Johanna Hongell-Darsee
Historic Old San Ysidro Church
988 Old Church Road
Corrales, NM 87048
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Doors: 7:00 Music: 7:30 - 9:00
General Admission - First Four Rows - $20
Tickets beyond the firs four rows are FREE but must be acquired on tickets link.
Free tickets to this event are made possible with support
from the New Mexico Humanities Council.
Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee perform traditional Scandinavian/Celtic ballads and tales. From Finland and Iowa respectively, they've traveled through Europe, Scandinavia, India, and the U.S., collecting songs and stories that explore links between various singing traditions.
Their performances have been acclaimed as magical and mesmerizing. As described by Mel Minter: "the Hongell-Darsees summon ancient characters from the depths of our collective unconscious and bid you take leave of the modern world and join your ancestors."
Their recordings have earned three New Mexico Music Award nominations and spent 40 months on The Top 40 World Music Charts by Ethnocloud. Johanna, born in Finland, brings expertise in vocals, woodwinds, and theater, having studied in France and India. Scott, from the USA, specializes in stringed instruments and spent 16 years in Europe consulting with major ballet companies before settling in New Mexico.
Tim O'Brien with Jan Fabricus
Historic Old San Ysidro Church
988 Old Church Road
Corrales, NM 87048
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Doors: 7:00 Music: 7:30 - 9:00
General Admission -All Ages - $29
In duet with his wife Jan Fabricius on mandolin and vocals, you can expect rootsy acoustic instrumentation and sweet harmony singing, interspersed with O’Brien’s self deprecating humor. Born in West Virginia in 1954, Grammy winning singer-songwriter and multi instrumentalist O’Brien grew up singing in church and school. Gaining attention in the 1980s with Colorado’s Hot Rize, O’Brien scored a country hit with Kathy Mattea’s cover of his song “Walk The Way The Wind Blows” in 1986. Soon artists like Nickel Creek and Garth Brooks also covered his songs. Collaborators include his sister Mollie O’Brien, old time musician Dirk Powell and songwriter Darrell Scott, as well as Steve Earle, Bill Frisell, Mark Knopfler and Sturgill Simpson. O’Brien formed his own record label, Howdy Skies Records, in 1999, and launched the digital download label Short Order Sessions (SOS) with then-partner Jan Fabricius in 2015.
O’Brien says his most recent recording, He Walked On, is about “what you need to do to survive in America.” Covering work, racial issues, and modern technology, its eight originals and five covers offer an expansive portrayal of the nation from its beginnings to the present day. Personnel includes long-time bandmates Mike Bub (bass), Shad Cobb (fiddle) and Jan Fabricius (mandolin and vocal), along with drummer Pete Abbott, bassist Edgar Meyer, guitarist Bo Ramsey, and gospel singer Odessa Settles. Other notable O’Brien recordings like the bluegrass Dylan covers of Red On Blonde and the Celtic-Appalachian fusion of The Crossing led to Grammy winning CD’s Fiddler’s Green (2005) and The Earls of Leicester (2014). 2017’s Where the River Meets the Road paid tribute to the music of his native West Virginia.