It’s been the premier music venue for north La Plata County. Despite its inability to hold hundreds of music lovers because of its size, and the reality that the building’s intent was to never host concerts, The Olde Schoolhouse Café is a pretty happening music venue when it wants to be.
The general consensus from people who may have seen Drag the River, The Dugouts, Farmington Hill, Couches or any other bands on the rest of the list of Schoolhouse stage alumni would agree that the comfort, quaintness and general friendliness of the patrons and staff members lends to its overall vibe as a venue. It’s also rowdy and downright fun.
The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe will host an evening of rock n’ roll tonight with local bands Sinkhole, Immediate Family and Your Bones, along with Nude Dude from Boise, Idaho. This will be an outside event with an early, 6 p.m. start; fortunate for the 50-somethings (me) who still enjoy going to rock n’ roll shows but hate waiting around until midnight for the headliners to take the stage.
Sinkhole is a North County-based power trio featuring Durango punk musician longtimers Paul “Bubba” Iudice on guitar and drummer Josh Dearien. Fans may remember those two from the band The Thirteens; the third member of that band is Dearien’s son, also named Josh.
If you go
What: Rock music at The Olde Schoolhouse with Nude Dude, Your Bones, Immediate Family, Sinkhole.
When: 6 p.m. today (June 11).
Where: The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe, 46778 U.S. Highway 550.
Tickets: No cover, donations accepted.
More information: Call 259-2257.
Nude Dude is a family band. Led by brothers Skid and Brody Horrowitz and joined by drummer Bruce “Bonestone” Arthur, theirs is a sound that’s influenced by the sounds of classic American punk rock. A glorious and irreverent mix of garage rock and sloppy punk, it’s a sound that remains loose around the edges with minimalist production. The two brothers have been at it since they were teens, and they’ve bucked the trends of rebelling against the music their parents listened to, as they were lucky enough to have parents that hipped them to what was the indie-rock of the 1970s and early 80s.
“They were the ones that armed us with instruments,” Skid said. “Everything we do, from Los Angeles punk and then lower East Side New York Stuff. We definitely dig the 1970s punk.”
Your Bones and Immediate Family are rock bands that both feature Alex Vick on bass, the former forming in 2018, the latter forming a short four months ago.
Immediate Family has hit it hard since forming, as the trio went straight to work on writing new music, tunes that would appease both the hard rock crowd, and the crowd that may need something a little on the lighter side.
“We’ve been pumping driving tunes, and a couple of sweety, cutesy tunes,” Vick said. “We’re trying to get a good balance of some heavy rock n’ roll, along with some approachable stuff, too.”
The band also has a rule of not playing other people’s music. Seeing that the local market has plenty of bands that play covers, Immediate Family wants to write and record new music they’ve written as a band. It’s all in an effort to continue to bolster Durango’s music scene with bands making fresh and inventive sounds.
“We have a very strict policy of no covers. I always have a hunger for original music, and there’s a lot of musicians around town that play covers,” Vick said. “I feel like the majority of the music that you hear are covers, and I’m not knocking those guys, but I want to produce and share something with the public that they can’t hear on the radio. Something that is fresh and new. And personally, I’m not talented enough for covers, so we throw out three-chord bangers all day.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
