SOCORRO, N.M. – Two award-winning folk singer songwriters will share the Macey Center stage to begin the New Mexico Tech Performing Arts Series (PAS) this fall. The double-bill features Eliza Gilkyson and Rooster Blackspur at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17.

Eliza Gilkyson, who recently moved back to New Mexico from Austin, Texas, has twice been nominated for Grammy Awards and has numerous Folk Alliance and Austin Music Awards including singer and songwriter Hall of Fame. Rooster Blackspur relocated to Truth or Consequences four years ago and won the New Mexico Songwriter’s award this year for her song “Big Dipper.”

“I am thrilled to play this show with Eliza,” Blackspur said. “She is a New Mexico musical legend and her songwriting is true to the bone. I know we are gonna have one heck of a great time and I'm honored to warm up the stage for her. I'm prepared to experience an unforgettable night.”

Attendees will experience an unforgettable night as well when the PAS program returns to in-house performances, with COVID-19 protocols in place (see nmt.edu/pas).

In addition, before the show, a reception beginning at 6 p.m. will honor G.E. Grey in a Memorial Exhibit and silent auction of her paintings. PAS also will present a songwriting workshop with Eliza Gilkyson on Saturday, Sept. 18.

Gilkyson (pictured at right) has just finished recording a new album of songs and promises a sneak preview of some of them, along with advance copy forms for delivery later. Along with new songs, her performance will doubtless include favorites from her many recordings, some of which are known from covers from artists such as Joan Baez, Bob Geldof, Tom Rush, and Rosanne Cash. Her songs have been featured in films, PBS specials, and on prime-time network TV shows.

Gilkyson is no newcomer to New Mexico, living in Santa Fe and Taos for many years, and spending time in the state during summers.

“I have always thought of it as my heart’s home, but working and touring from here was difficult. So it feels like a gift I can finally give myself, to return, to wake up every day with this sky and this air, these mountains. I rejoice many times in the day,” she said.

Her new recording takes a break from her sometimes politically-themed songs, part of a history of activism.

“This homecoming to New Mexico has filled me with joy, connecting me to my past and my deep abiding love of the Old West, as well as highlighting my desire to see those remnants of natural beauty and history preserved and honored,” Gilkyson said. “This recording is my love letter to the West.”

Blackspur (pictured at right) is a transplant to the “quirky town” of T or C from Alaska. She said she was introduced to the village as a touring musician when “Truth or Consequences was a serendipitous stop. … I played a small show at an art gallery there and had such special interactions with everyone I talked to that the community left an impression. The next morning when I walked around I saw a tumbleweed actually roll down Main Street, I heard my heart say, ‘I want to live here.’ ... I've never loved a place more or felt more at home. As my mom taught me, never judge a book by its cover … under the surface of this town there lives amazing heart and soul.”

"Rooster" she said, “is a song I wrote that stemmed from a childhood experience when my mom took our family rooster and an axe to the chopping block to make him stew. That rooster wasn't gonna back down and he fought my mom so passionately he got away and never came back.”

“As a kid his tenacity stuck with me, and when we think all is lost, the rooster teaches us to not give up, but to fight like hellfire to live to see another day,” she said. “People started calling out ‘Rooster’ so I would play that song and eventually it took as a name.”

Now, she won’t answer to anything else. Rooster opened the “Giddy Up Café” in T or C when COVID-19 shut down music and art venues. Now, she entertains customers both as ‘sheriff’ and as troubadour.

Her songs, she said, “are of love, and the message I speak from the stage is about loving your neighbor, respecting the earth, and giving people the right to walk their own spiritual and life path, and making room for one another’s differences. I am an ordained minister so I got the reputation of being a preacher, but the Reverend Rooster Blackspur simply wants you to be good to those around you and not be unkind.”

Songwriting tips and advice will be highlighted Saturday morning at a workshop with Gilkyson, offered by the PAS at the Capitol Bar starting at 9:30. The price includes a breakfast buffet (Sofia’s Kitchen) and drink ticket (with or without alcohol.) The charge is $40 and $20 for NMT students. Register at nmt.edu/pas or call 575-835-5688 or email pas@nmt.edu for more information.

The September Memorial Art Exhibit highlights works by Georgette Evans Grey, a long-time Socorro artist, who with her husband Prescott Grey owned Vertu Arts Gallery. Proceeds from the silent art auction will benefit Magdalena Kids Science Café and well as defraying medical expenses. The silent auction will run September 17 to 24, but the exhibit will be up for the whole month. The reception will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. September 17.

Tickets to attend the show at Macey Center are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $5 for youth and free to NM Tech students. Discounts are applied to season ticket holders. For a full season brochure and for more information, visit nmt.edu/pas or call 575-835-5688.

– NMT –