ALAMOSA — Society Hall is more than excited to welcome the long-time loved and legendary Alamosa band Tumbleweed for a special reunion show this coming weekend.

Tumbleweed first formed in the fall of 1973, and for many years (and through many member changes) was one of the most popular country-rock bands in the region, attracting legions of devoted fans.

Tumbleweed originally formed in the fall of 1973 to be the house band at the newly opened location of the Goalpost night club in Alamosa. Don Richmond, who was 18 and fresh out of high school had the same expectations as the other band members, who were all seven years older. The band wasn’t planning on Tumbleweed being a long term endeavor.

But it must have been a case of the exactly right-band playing the exactly-right music audiences wanted to hear because Tumbleweed quickly starting collecting legions of fans. It was then they realized there was something going on worth sharing and continuing. 

The band started branching out and over the years began touring extensively in their native region of Colorado and New Mexico. Tumbleweed always seemed to feel most at home in the mountain resort areas and became regulars at such well-known clubs as the Old Dillon Inn in Silverthorne, Colorado and many other high country clubs.

“I was the youngest in the band,” Richmond says, “and I was playing with some very good players. We worked hard on vocals, and I’ve been that way ever since. I guess you could say we found our niche. We got to do it our own way. We played the same places and developed a real strong following.

“When we first started, I thought in the back of my mind that we might have to travel thousands of miles someday to be heard – I wasn’t crazy about that idea. I’ve always loved the San Luis Valley. But we were lucky, we could do the same thing – play places where people would come to listen – and we could do it in our own region.”

Looking back, he says, “At the time, I always thought, well, I’ll do this until I have to do something else. But that never happened. When I finally realized that this is what I was going to be doing, I thought I better apply myself.”

The band's music was always characterized by wide-ranging variety, eclectic selection, and intricate and challenging arrangements. Although usually thought of as a country band, Tumbleweed played (and plays) material from rock to blues to reggae to bluegrass to old hippie anthems and pretty much whatever they feel like. With several active songwriters in the band, there was always a mix of original and cover material happening. It was always an interesting night, and no one (least of all the band) was ever sure what was going to happen.

By 1990, things in Richmond’s personal life were changing. His marriage was “dissolving” and, as a father, he realized he couldn’t be playing with a band with a schedule that would require him to be gone for days at a time.

That was when the band stopped playing together regularly, and Richmond started focusing on playing in the area around Taos. But, he says, nothing changed about how the members of Tumbleweed felt about each other.

“I love those guys,” Richmond says. “I genuinely do.”

Band members went their own ways, all such excellent musicians that starting their own bands was the natural next step, But they have continued to get together once or twice a year for special engagements, mainly because, as band member Don Richmond says, “It was just too much fun to stop!”

Tumbleweed is a 5-piece powerhouse of a band, with a wide range of instruments including acoustic and electric guitars (often 3 lead guitar players) bass, drums, pedal steels (2 onstage) mandolin, accordion, fiddle, banjo, harmonica, trumpet, and even a clarinet making an occasional appearance.

Numerous different musicians moved through the ranks of Tumbleweed over the years, with the current lineup being Don Richmond on guitars, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel, harmonica, trumpet and vocals, Rob “Robear” Bosdorf on guitar, pedal steel and vocals (and clarinet if he's feeling brave), Dale Smith on cajon and vocals, Roger Dawson on bass and vocals, and Scott Russell on guitar, mandolin, accordion and vocals.

“And you still never quite know what's going to happen,” Richmond says, “but it’s going to be fun.”

When asked how he hopes the audience will feel during and after the show, Richmond thinks for a moment. “I hope that those people who come to see us that remember us from years past remember some of the joy and energy that they had in their younger years and get a good dose of that. And I hope they remember they can still feel that way and it will connect them to their younger selves, just as it will connect us to our younger selves. That energy is still very much in us.”

He then thinks for another moment, and his voice literally changed. “But, you know, whether people have heard us before or not, it’s a kickass band playing some really good old music. I want the audience to feel the kind of charge that comes with that.”

The Society Hall board, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a place for community celebrations of all kinds, invites everyone to join them in the hall for a wonderful night of country-rock music with Tumbleweed at Society Hall, located at the corner of 4th Street and Ross Avenue in Alamosa, Saturday, January 17^th at 7:00 pm.

Tickets are $20.00 and are available at the Society Hall website at www.societyhall.org or at the Green Spot, at 711 State Ave in Alamosa. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.. The concert will also stream live on the Society Hall Facebook page and You-Tube channel.

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