Press Release

July 21, 2009 (Taos Ski Valley, NM)
The Taos Mountain Music festival is pleased to announce its full musical line up. Headlining the show will be three international touring acts, Ozomatli, The Wailers and Joan Osborne. Their sound will be complemented by regional performers Nosotros, Rico Blues Project and the Brent Berry Band. The festival gates open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 15 in Taos Ski Valley for a full day of music.

"This festival aims to bring a variety of great music to the area that will have broad appeal," said Alejandro Blake, Taos Ski Valley Events Coordinator. "The location is beautiful . . . the main stage will be framed by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and those blue New Mexico skies."

The day-long festival will include more than just the music featured on the main stage; craft and food vendors along with additional performing acts will be found in the adjoining Strawberry Fair. Children of all ages are encouraged to attend and will find their own attractions and games in the Kidzone including a Velcro wall, jumpy castles and drumming lessons.

While this is a one day event, festival-goers can make a weekend of it with the accommodation packages available on our festival website. "It would be well worth coming up for the festival and enjoying a full weekend in Taos Ski Valley," said Alyson Hyder, Director of the Taos Ski Valley Chamber of Commerce. "There is a great deal of excitement about the festival and the hotel packages are selling fast." Santa Fe based band La Junta will be playing on Friday night before the festival at the Stay Dog Cantina located in the heart of the resort village.

The Music

OZOMATLI

In their fourteen years together as a band, celebrated Los Angeles culture-mashers Ozomatli have gone from being hometown heroes to being named U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors. Their music -- a notorious urban-Latino-and-beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican reggae and Indian raga -- has long followed a key mantra: it will take you around the world by taking you around LA. "I've always felt that music is the key to every culture, the beginning of an understanding," says vocalist and trumpet player Asdru Sierra. "It's a language far more universal than politics."

Click here to visit the band's website.

The Wailers

The name speaks for itself. The reggae legends, fronted by bass player Aston "Family Man" Barrett along with singer Yvad, will be coming to Taos Ski Valley from the island of Jamaica. With its recent 30th anniversary, The Wailers will be performing the Exodus album named by some as the album of the century and as always bringing with them the spirit of Bob Marley as they unite the people under the their familiar mantra "One Love".

Click here to visit the band's website.

Joan Osborne

In a career that spans over fifteen years, Joan has proven to be an artistically restless yet consistently enthralling performer. In 2002, she cemented her reputation as a top tier soul singer with an incredible turn in the acclaimed documentary film 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown,' followed by a tour with legendary Motown backing band The Funk Brothers. In 2003, Osborne toured with the Dixie Chicks and then surprised and wowed audiences touring throughout America for two years as the lead singer for The Dead. In 2007, she graced the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Osborne loves to sing and perform in many different genres, but she comes back to her soulful rock roots on 'Little Wild One,' her fall release that reunites her Grammy All-Star team of Rick Chertoff and Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian of The Hooters. The team last worked together on Osborne's breakthrough debut album 'Relish' which sold five million copies worldwide, yielded the smash hit "One of Us" and scored six Grammy nominations.

Click here to visit the band's website.

Nosotros

Nosotros seamlessly combines Latin rhythms with elements of Flamenco, Jazz, Salsa, and Rock, creating an original sound that is unmistakably Nosotros. M.E. Schenck of Hyperactive Music Magazine may have interpreted their sound best by saying "Nosotros' music is not to be explained, it is to be felt in the pit of our souls." Nosotros recently released their critically acclaimed fourth album, "Llena La Alma", engineered and co-produced by Grammy Award Winning Engineer J. Douglas Geist. "Llena La Alma" is getting both national and international radio play and their song "Hermosa" was named as a winner in the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Click here to visit the band's website.

Rico Blues Project

The Rico Blues Project hail from high in the southern San Juan Mountains of Colorado. From the small town of Rico, Colorado they bring you their own blend of mountain blues that for decades has been grooving blues fans from the high peaks all the way down to the flat lands. The long-standing blues band can be found anywhere from a Ski Patrol end-of-season party to the stage of the Telluride Blues Festivals playing alongside artists like Leon Russell, Dan Fogelberg, Margo Reed and The Coup De Villes to name a few.

Brent Berry Band

Kicking a bass drum while playing a guitar or blowing a harp and singing at the same time about love and war, Brent Berry produces his own unique style of Afro-coastal Americana music from the Southwest.

Click here to visit the band's website.

Lodging & Festival Packages

Whether you're just coming in for the festival or planning an extended stay in the valley you have a variety of accommodation choices from lodges, hotels and condos to private homes and cabins. Many of these will offer a festival package that includes your ticket making your stay even more convenient. Tickets will be delivered to your accommodation so all you have to do is wake up, have some breakfast and stroll into the festival at your leisure avoiding all the lines at the box office.

Festival goers may request a lodging reservation through the Taos Ski Valley Chamber of Commerce website or by calling 800.517.9816.