Linda Relyea
The Paw Print
The San Luis Valley Cancer Relief Fund 3rd Annual Concert for Cancer Relief will feature music inspired by the San Luis Valley, Taos, and Texas. Music will fill Leon Memorial Hall as Tish Hinojosa, Michael Hearne, and Don Richmond share their talents in a songwriter-in-the-round format to benefit the San Luis Valley Cancer Relief Fund on Saturday, February 15, at 7 pm in Leon Hall on the Adams State University campus. Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $15.00 for 18 & younger and can be purchased at The Green Spot in Alamosa, All Good Things in Monte Vista, and The Windsor Hotel in Del Norte.
The SLVCRF was established in 2006 by the late Tony Ross whose purpose was to “lift the spirits” of those battling cancer after he received emotional and monetary support while being treated for cancer. The Fund has grown since Ross first initiated it and was able to distribute $11,900.00 to 59 patients in 2013, more than doubling the amount of patients it helped in 2012.
The annual Concert for Cancer Relief is its biggest fundraiser of the year. Tish Hinojosa, originally from San Antonio, Texas, grew up listening to traditional Mexican music and the pop and folk music of the 1960s before heading out on her own, first to northern New Mexico, then to Nashville, spending the past 9 years in Hamburg, Germany before returning home to Austin.
Hinojosa was signed by A&M Records in 1987 after her independent release, Taos to Tennessee. She has released 16 CDs since then, exploring sounds from the country, folk, and Latino genres and winning multiple awards along the way. According to the Chicago Tribrune, “simply put, Hinojosa is a first class songwriter,” and the Washington Post describes her music as “vivid, touching, pointed, playful, engaging.”
Michael Hearne was based in Taos, NM, from the early 1970s until 2011 when he headed for Austin, Texas. Hearne is largely responsible for what has come to be known as Southwest Americana music. His stellar guitar playing, “whiskey velvet voice,” and original songs speak to the life he was born for: playing for, singing to, and interacting with audiences. His songs have won numerous awards from the New Mexico Music Awards and Hearne won the Texas Singer/Songwriter of the Year shortly after moving to Austin.
Alamosa’s own Don Richmond has been playing music for more than 40 years and has been described as a “musician’s musician” and as “…practically peerless as a picker, singer, producer, and arranger.” Richmond is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who plays just about anything with strings. Because of this, Richmond is often in demand to accompany musicians traveling through the southern Colorado, northern New Mexico area, including the likes of Susan Gibson, Chuck Pyle, Trout Fishing in America, Bob Livingston, and Tish Hinojosa. These three combined promise an extraordinary night of excellent original music while raising funds to support the Cancer Relief Fund’s mission to assist cancer patients in the SLV. Richmond has become a staple of the annual concert having been through the cancer journey himself. When Richmond was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in 2007 he “received incredible community support… It meant so much to me and I really think it helped me get better.” Because of this, Richmond is committed to giving back. Teri McCartney, chair of the SLVCRF, is “thrilled to be involved in the growth of the Fund. All of the money stays right here in the Valley going directly to cancer patients. Even a small gift can help people know others are thinking of them and they are not alone.”
The SLVCRF is a totally volunteer organization with a small board of dedicated individuals who have been touched by cancer and want to help others in that journey. The bulk of funds raised comes from individual memberships and fundraisers like the Concert for Cancer Relief and the Memories and Reflections evening in December. Individuals wishing to become members or businesses wishing to sponsor the concert should visit slvcrf.org or contact McCartney at wellspring@att.net. Alternatively a check may be sent to the San Luis Valley Cancer Relief Fund, PO Box 1297, Alamosa, CO, 81101.
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