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Music

Free concerts al fresco for Durango nights

Summer music series begins this Thursday in Buckley Park
The Tyller Gummersall Band, led by Bayfield native Gummersall, will kick off the 2014 Concerts in the Park series with a show Thursday at 5:30 in Buckley Park.

Music goes well with many things. Among them: free, outdoor and local.

This month, that winning combination will come to Buckley Park as the Concerts in the Park series returns to downtown Durango. The four-concert series, which will bring jazz, reggae, country, funk and rock to the outdoor stage, will kick off Thursday with a country show by The Tyller Gummersall Band.

This is the fifth summer for the free music series, which is presented by the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College and Alpine Bank of Durango.

Charles Leslie, director of the Community Concert Hall, said the goal of the series is threefold: to showcase great local bands, to have a summertime presence in downtown Durango and to make live music more accessible to a broader audience.

Because there are so many summer festivals in the region, Leslie said, “our summer programming is pretty minimal. This gave us an opportunity to really highlight local and regional artists. That was kind of the ultimate goal.”

The series started on 11th Street, but after the pavement proved to be a bit too hot for concerts, it was moved to the park. Buckley is a great place for the shows, he said, because people can bring picnics, lounge in the shade or spread out on the grass; it’s a great way to spend a summer evening.

The series is programmed with the intent of bringing a mix of musical styles and high-energy bands to the park.

First up: Bayfield native Tyller Gummersall and his band. The young singer/songwriter writes straight-ahead country songs about time’s passage, lost love, self medicating with music and Colorado rain.

Gummersall began his music career at the age of 8, when he performed Hank Williams’ “Hey Good Lookin’” at the La Plata County Fair talent show. He started taking lessons with Gary Cook of the Bar D Wranglers that same year, and, by the time he was 14, he was working with Los Angeles voice coach Raven Kane Campbell.

Before long, he cut a live album, “Live at the Strater,” and he went on to record an EP in Nashville with a band featuring musicians who work with Ryan Adams and John Prine.

Gummersall, who divides his time between Colorado, Nashville and Texas, is currently touring to support his latest album, “The Makings of a Man.”

kklingsporn@durangoherald.com

If you go

The 2014 Concerts in the Park series will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays in Buckley Park. Concerts are free. Here is the lineup:

Thursday: Tyller Gummersall Band

July 10: Groove Factor Four

July 17: Elder Grown

July 24: Sneaky Pete and the Secret Weapons



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