ALAMOSA — There is some music that captures a place or a way of looking at life so well that it becomes emblematic in a person’s mind, almost as if the music and the lyrics have become part of that familiar landscape. For many who call the San Luis Valley home, whether they are natives or newcomers, a band known as the Rifters has that same effect.

As a result, it should be of special interest to know that on Friday, April 18, the Rifters will take the stage at Society Hall in celebration of the release of their new album “Heroes and Friends”.

“Basically, this album is a collection of us doing songs by friends of ours, who are also heroes of ours,” band member Don Richmond told the Valley Courier. “I’d written a lot of songs during the Covid lockdown, putting out a double solo CD, and then wrote a lot of the original stuff for the Rifters’ The Enchanted World CD. I needed a break from myself and my thoughts. So, I thought it would be fun to just record an album of songs by friends of ours, as a tribute to all of them. We’ve always recorded songs by friends of ours, mixed in with our original tunes, but this project focuses in on that more.”

The New Mexico/Colorado based band, that celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2022, has evolved in the last quarter of a century But the story began with each of the three members – Don Richmond, Rod Taylor and Jim Bradley – all coming together with their own musical history.

“We all knew each other from knocking around the same music scene since the late 1970s, and decided that we’d put something together and see what happened,” Richmond says. “We kept going as a trio, and it always just felt good, so we kept doing it.”

Outside of performing together, they each lead different lives. Rod Taylor on guitar, mandolin and vocals, is a working cowboy and head of a large cattle operation down in Texas. Jim Bradley, on bass and vocals, is a native of New Mexico and has played his Fender bass from Alaska to Manhattan and many places in between, from the mountain bars to the big festival stages with touring national acts. And Don Richmond, on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, banjo, accordion, pedal steel, trumpet and vocals, is basically a local legend and epitome of a  true troubadour in addition to being the founder of Howlin’ Dog Records, founding member of Howlin’ Dog Music Group and board member of Society Hall.

But put these three musicians together and the sound is rich and full of life and well balanced harmony, somehow connecting at an organic level the diversity of the different places they call home.

And let there be no doubt about the pure draw of their music. According to a story told by Eliza Gilkyson during one of her recent performances at Society Hall, she was teaching at a songwriting workshop in Red River, New Mexico. The Rifters were playing at the Motherlode, next door to The Lodge, the old hotel where Gilkyson was staying. Through the open doors of the balcony to her room, she heard them playing a great old Hugh Prestwood song called Bristlecone Pine, which is one of the Rifters’ most-requested songs. Gilkyson was so drawn by the music that she put a coat on over her nightgown and went down to listen. And the rest, as they say, is history.

When asked if they’ve changed over the years, Richmond says, “We’re older and grayer and creakier, for sure! And I think in many ways, we still have much the same vision - that of being a voice for our part of the world and the people who live there, and the lives they lead. I’d like to think that our expression of all that has deepened and perhaps refined a bit. It’s sort of hard to see from the inside, but that’s how it feels.”

The themes found in the collection of 15 songs on the CD echo not just what can be found in music known as Southwest Americana but also in the heart and soul of the Rifters’ repertoire.

The Rifters will be in concert at Society Hall on Friday, April 18th at 7:30 PM. Doors will open at 6:30. Tickets are $20 and are available at the Green Spot at 711 State Ave in Alamosa, or online at www.societyhall.org. The concert will also stream live on the Society Hall Facebook page and You-Tube channel.