Esther Rose

We are excited to launch a free concert series in Albuquerque's newest gathering space—the beautiful new Winrock Park! Come join us on Fridays in May and June for an exciting mix of local, national and international artists.  The concerts will start at 6:30 and feature two groups each night.  

• Feel free to bring chairs to the concert.
• Food trucks will be onsite and outside food is welcome in the park.
• Please do not bring alcohol or glass bottles. Santa Fe Brewing Company will be on hand offering a nice variety of local craft beer.
• Bring your water bottle as we will have FREE water stations, as well as other drink options from Santa Fe Tea.
• There is ample parking around Winrock.  We encourage people to take advantage of the large underground parking lot.
• This concert series is made possible due to a very generous Visit Albuquerque Innovator Grant. 

Register for the event to get updates on schedules, vendors and activities, as well as info on future free programs and other events around Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Esther Rose was on a long solo drive when she started writing the opening title track of Want, her stunning fifth album. At first, the words seemed almost like a joke, something to keep herself amused as the miles passed. "I want a puppy, but I don't want a mess. I want to know where I'm going without GPS," she sang from behind the wheel. Soon, the idea snowballed into a list of desires that spanned existential, spiritual, and mundane; romantic to platonic to familial; at once wildly ambitious yet piercingly relatable; all set to a catchy melody that blends her pop instincts with country storytelling and the raw immediacy of a basement punk show. In other words, she was on her way to another classic Esther Rose song.

This precise blend has made the Santa Fe-based artist one of her generation's most beloved songwriters: someone whose live shows are known to conclude in mass tears and group hugs. Still, something was different this time. "For me, these songs felt like revelations," she explains, comparing the 11-song record to a memoir, alive with kinetic storytelling and personal insight. In its newly direct and stirringly nuanced writing, you'll hear about rock bottom encounters, shifting relationships with substances, evolving perspectives on adult partnership, and, as evidenced by those early lines in "Want," a few jokes along the way. Vivid and bracing, Want places you in the passenger seat while each of these feelings arrive.

To match the multi-dimensional tone of the writing, Rose has made the most adventurous, hardest-hitting record of her career. Working with producer Ross Farbe and recording live-to-tape in Nashville's Bomb Shelter, she travels as far as she's been from the stripped-down classic country of celebrated early work like 2017's This Time Last Night and 2019's You Made It This Far. Following the wide-open serenity of 2023's momentous Safe to Run, she now leans toward confrontational arrangements full of distortion and full-band spontaneity, never sacrificing a classicist's gift for melody that makes each song instantly memorable.

Red Light Cameras are a show-stopping rock band out of Albuquerque. Lead by powerhouse vocalist Amanda Machon, this band packs a punch and always has the dance floor moving as fans belt out the lyrics, singing along with one of the best front people you will ever see. The songs are catchy, the hooks infectious, and the beats will have you bouncing. It's all the pop you need with some serious garage rock edge to blow you away! 

Visit Albuquerque is an accredited destination marketing organization (DMO), and a private, not-for-profit organization [501(c)(6)]. The mission of Visit Albuquerque is to stimulate economic growth by marketing Albuquerque as a convention, sports and visitor destination.

If you are coming in from out of town, consider staying over at our sponsor hotel the Albuquerque Marriott and visiting the Winrock Market in the morning. The Winrock Market features a variety of local vendors, artisans, makers, food trucks, live music and a kids' play area!

Thanks to iHeartMedia, the official Summer Concert Series media sponsor.