Renowned Austin Singer-Songwriter Lisa Morales Returns to Society Hall!
4/16/26, 1:30 AM
Like her cousin Linda Ronstadt, Mexican-American vocalist and singer-songwriter Lisa Morales and her sister Roberta grew up in a musical family in Tucson, Arizona, learning to perform traditional Mexican music while developing broad-ranging musical taste prior to moving to Texas. Lisa's performances move back and forth effortlessly between Spanish and English lyrics and styles – she is truly a force in either world, and the larger bicultural Hispano-Americana realm that embraces them both.
Lisa Morales’ credentials on the songwriter scene were established long before the release of her debut solo album, My Beautiful Mistake, in 2011. In addition to performing and recording for nearly two decades part of the acclaimed San Antonio-based sibling duo Sisters Morales (with her beloved sister, Roberta, who passed away from cancer in August 2021), Lisa also produced Flowers & Liquor, the 2002 debut album by Americana music favorite Hayes Carll. But it was My Beautiful Mistake (hailed by Lone Star Music Magazine as “an absolutely flat-out devastating and stunning work of art”) and it’s equally luminous follow-up, 2018’s Luna Negra & the Daughter of the Sun, that marked the Tucson, Arizona-native’s true arrival as a creative force to be reckoned with and, according to Rolling Stone, “one of the most multifaceted artists to watch in 2018.”
On her third album, 2022’s She Ought to Be King, Morales once again affirmed her world-class stature with a distinctive perspective and a remarkable capacity for looking both inward and outward. “I’ve been looking at how strong we women are,” she says “We keep evolving and gaining more confidence with time. We don’t sink into our own shoes — we stand taller in them.” Morales recently released her new album Sonora and will be featuring some of the newer material in her Society Hall concert.
Sonora, in particular, serves as both a tribute and a reinvention—honoring the memories of her sister while stepping boldly into new creative terrain. The album features collaborations with a wide array of celebrated artists, including, JoJo Garza (Los Lonely Boys), Kesley Wilson (Sir Woman) and Tish Hinojosa, as well as a poignant posthumous co-write with Roberta. Morales also welcomed her son, Thomas Spencer, into the recording process—bringing a fresh generation of family harmonies into her work. Thomas will also be joining her onstage for the Society Hall show.
With her trademark blend of vulnerability and strength, Lisa Morales stands as a voice for multicultural expression, female empowerment, and the healing power of song. Her live performances, often met with standing ovations, are a testament to her authenticity, her heritage, and her enduring creative fire.
Society Hall Welcomes Back Alexa Wildish With Sadie Gustafson-Zook!
4/19/26, 1:30 AM
Alexa grew up in a musical family in the horse country of Southern California, where her father collected vintage guitars. She began studying classical voice when she was seven, and she attended the Orange County School of the Arts and Elon University, where she delved into musical theater.
At age 17, however, an entirely different musical spark was ignited when she saw The Wailin’ Jennys open for Nickel Creek, and she took the hard-left turn from musical theater to Americana. She had been on her way to Broadway, but the lure of performing original material was strong.
As she says about her change of focus: “Musical theater’s be-honest-and-tell-the-truth training taught me how to tell other people’s stories as if they were my own. But because they weren’t my own, there was no real passion.” Nowadays, Alexa’s live performances of her original songs signal the advent of a major new voice in folk, with passion to spare – with Taste of Country writing, “Alexa Wildish has been steadily building herself a reputation of being a soulful and deeply emotional artist.”
Before the pandemic changed everything, Alexa had auditioned in 2019 for The Voice, wanting to increase her visibility as a singer. As a songwriter, she was equally ambitious, submitting her work to Planet Bluegrass competitions that resulted in her taking home first place in 2019 at Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. With her unique command of vocals, guitar, and octave mandolin, Alexa traveled to Nashville just before COVID shut down the country to record her self-titled debut EP, released in 2020.
Alexa Wildish’s new EP, After Love, released on September 27, 2024, comes after her celebrated run as a contestant on NBC’s The Voice in 2023. Her appearance on The Voice was a life-changing event for Wildish, who released her self-titled debut EP of original music in early 2020. While her performances on the show were watched by millions of viewers, behind the scenes, Wildish was on a journey of profound self-discovery and vulnerability, one in which she honed her craft as a stellar vocalist and showcased her talent in the art of conveying what is at the heart of a song.
Sadie Gustafson-Zook’s songs have been endorsed by some of the most respected songwriting contests in the country, winning Kerrville Folk Festival’s 2022 New Folk Contest (as well as placing as a finalist in 2020), earning second place at the Rocky Mountain Folk Fest’s Songwriter Showcase, and winning first place at the NewSong + LEAF Songwriting Contest. Sadie has been featured on the Basic Folk podcast and on Folk Alley.
On Sadie’s May 2024 album “Where I Wanna Be,” she takes the listener along on an intimate journey as Sadie decides where to call home. Recorded on an 8-track reel to reel, this stripped-down album isn’t hiding behind anything. Over the course of 10 delightful tracks the listener gains insights into Sadie’s middle school crushes on gay boys, a desire to call the weatherman to ask for some guidance, and the nerve-wracking experience of meeting your idols and feeling small. Throughout the album Sadie’s agile vocals and intricate guitar playing shine while her thoughtful lyrics capture the immensity of potential and the complexity of history that emerge during times of life transition.
Following closely on the heels of “Where I Wanna Be” is Sadie’s fall 2024 EP entitled “What I Pushed Below,” released November 13th, 2024.
Society Hall Presents a Western Music Doubleheader with Jim Jones and Randy Palmer!
4/26/26, 1:30 AM
Jim Jones is a Western/Folk Singer/Songwriter, an author and a native Texan who lives in New Mexico. He's won just about every award out there for both his western music and his writing! He was the International Western Music Association’s 2014 Male Performer of the Year and winner of that organization’s 2019 Song of the Year, along with the Academy of Western Artists 2016 Western Song of the Year and the Western Writers of America 2013, 2017 and 2021 Spur Awards for Best Western Song. His songs and books are about the West … cowboys, horses & cattle, cattle rustlers, the coming of the train … songs about people and land, rivers and mountains, the beauty of the Western sky.
Jim has produced twelve Western/Folk albums and is currently celebrating his newest release - “Storyteller: Tales From the West”, as well as five Western novels, a novella and a Children’s Book in the Western genre. His Western novels include the Jared Delaney series, Rustler’s Moon, Colorado Moon and Waning Moon, and the spin-off series including The Big Empty (2016) and The Lights of Cimarron (2019), published by both Five Star Publishing and Speaking Volumes Press.
Jim was also a member of the western trio “The Cowboy Way”, which was awarded “Traditional Group of the Year” from the International Western Music Association in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021.
Randy Palmer comes to us from the high plains of Amarillo, Texas. Randy sings songs of life lived to its fullest, and of the beauty of the everyday and the commonplace. He helps us all to celebrate the good things on our lives, and to cultivate the awareness and appreciation of the many gifts we find along the way.
Randy is celebrating the release of his new CD “Waterline” produced by the legendary Merel Bregante of Austin, Texas, and will be featuring songs from his new release as well as songs from previous recordings.
Palmer is a cross between a painter and a poet. And not fine art but scraping, sanding, priming, make it like new, painter. Randy has roots deep inside a bucket. A son of a paint contractor, Randy has an ingrown desire to make things beautiful. You read it in his lyrics and you hear it in his voice as he brings his songs to life. Songs from down deep in the bucket, with clean lines, brushed to bring living into a sweeter, better focus. Every song a reflective rendition of life at its most basic core. No apologies for songs close to the heart. Randy celebrates frailties, friendships, and family. Join him for an adventure. A deep dive into the interesting and intoxicating twists and turns of the joy of life.
The board of Society Hall, your local non-profit performance space and event venue, hopes that you all can join us for another great night of inspiring and uplifting western music at the hall with Jim Jones and Randy Palmer, Saturday, April 25th at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available at the link below or in person at the Green Spot at 711 State Ave in Alamosa. Society Hall - Where Community Celebrates!
Folk Legend Crys Matthews Comes to Society Hall!
5/1/26, 1:30 AM
Already being hailed as “the next Woody Guthrie,” Nashville resident Crys Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. A powerful lyricist whose songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls "the poster child for intersectionality," Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation called Matthews’s gift "a reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides." She is made for these times and, with the release of her new, hope-fueled, love-filled social justice album Changemakers, Matthews hopes to take her place alongside some of her heroes in the world of social-justice music like Sweet Honey in the Rock and Holly Near. Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.”
Matthews began performing in 2010 but cemented her acclaim at Lincoln Center as the 2017 NewSong Music and Performance Competition grand prize winner. That year she also released two new projects — her album of thoughtful songs on love and life called The Imagineers, and her EP called Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers, which tackles social justice themes. Matthews also won the People’s Music Network’s Social Justice Songs contest at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance. Loyal fans quickly followed as Matthews racked up performances at large music festivals and prestigious venues across the country including the Sundance Film Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, and locally at venues like The Birchmere, The Hamilton, Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, and Jammin' Java. In her TedTalk about difficult conversations called "Sing, Don't Shout — An Alternative Approach" Matthews spoke about being born and raised in a small town in southeastern North Carolina by an A.M.E. preacher, and how she witnessed the power of music from an early age. A former drum major and classically trained clarinetist turned folk singer, Matthews is using her voice to answer Dr. Martin Luther King's call to be "a drum major for justice."
“I believe in hope,” Matthews said. “As a social-justice songwriter, it is my duty to keep breathing that hope and encouragement into the people who listen to my music.” And, from the title track to the last track, Changemakers does just that all while tackling some heavy topics like immigration, the opioid crisis, Black Lives Matter, and gun safety to name a few. “Ani DiFranco said, “People used to make records as in a record of an event,"” said Matthews, “so I hope that these songs will serve as a time capsule, a record of the events of the last four years and what it was like to live through them.” Crys Matthews's thoughtful, realistic, and emotional songs speak to the voice of our generation and remind us why music indeed soothes the soul.
Society Hall Presents a “Mariachi Spectacular” with Mariachi Corazon del Valle and Mariachi San Luis!
5/10/26, 12:00 AM
Mariachi del Corazon is an ensemble of students, teachers and community members sponsored by Adams State University, cultivating and celebrating their love of traditional Mariachi music and keeping the tradition alive in our community.
Mariachi San Luis is a legendary organization from the town of San Luis, Colorado that has nurtured and grown the great tradition of Mariachi and traditional Spanish music, both in their own community and throughout the region for more than 25 years.
Society Hall board member and Howlin' Dog Records producer Don Richmond remarks, “This will be an amazing gathering for all music lovers who wish to have their spirits lifted by the soul-stirring sounds of Mariachi music – don't miss it!”
More Upcoming Shows & Events
May 23 – Redd and the Paper Flowers
May 28 – Stillhouse Junkies
June 13 – Walt Wilkins, Josh Grider, and Marc Douglas Berardo
Oct 4 – Tish Hinojosa