You may have noticed that we’ve been booking a lot of touring acts lately here at Tractor. We started that in the spring and then introduced our “Tractor Summer Tour Series” once May came around,  which has been mostly comprised of solo acoustic musicians in Nob Hill and a few full bands here at Wells Park. Some of the highlights have been: National Park Radio, Lorin Walker Madsen, Sean Costanza, John De Hoyos, Lara Ruggles, and most recently Rob Nance and Emily Gimble. These are musicians from all over the United States and it’s important to play host to these artists who would otherwise skip over us.

I’ve heard the argument that accommodating outside artists is expensive, lacks following, and ousts other local musicians attempting to break into the Brewery circuit which has developed here in Albuquerque.  I mean why not support the local scene here by giving that buck directly to local musicians? Well, here at Tractor we support our local creative economy as much as possible, but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. Accommodating these outside musicians showcases our city to a whole other creative network the isn’t accessible by just remaining in the same nucleus. It develops a reputation amongst touring musicians as a place of art, beauty, kindness, and growth.  Soon instead of just being a stop we become the destination for artists. Akin to the economy South by South West has created for Austin. This sort of economical injection into our creative, business, and entrepreneurial sectors is what Albuquerque needs and wants.  So to an extent that is why touring musicians. And it’s always great to experience something completely different, even though that doesn’t quite work out sometimes.

Catch: Emily Gimble (Wells Park) 8/13,  Buggaboo (Wells Park) 8/24, The Lymbs (Wells Park) 9/8,  Lorin Walker Madsen (Wells Park) 9/15, Porter and the Blue Bonnet Rattlesnakes (Wells Park) 9/29