Society Hall  "where community celebrates!"

Dan Navarro’s long and eclectic resume includes “songwriter,” “recording artist,” “singer”, “voice actor”, “producer”, “road warrior” and “arts advocate” in its extensive range of credits.

His former acoustic duo, Lowen & Navarro, released 13 albums from 1990-2008, enjoyed widespread Triple A radio airplay and performed 1500 shows before Eric Lowen’s retirement in 2008 and passing from ALS in 2012. Dan set out solo in 2006.

His newest release is a duet single with 7-time Blues Foundation award winner Janiva Magness in a stirring versioin of Tom Prasada-Rao's classic “$20 Bill (for George Floyd)”, released August 23, 2024 to all major streaming and download services.

In March 2024, he debuted as a co-producer (with Grammy®-winner Jim Scott) on Jesse Lynn Madera's acclaimed album, “Speed of Sound”, including the touching co-written duet “Last Call”, now making waves at Americana, Folk and Non-Com Triple A radio. The album cracked the FAI Folk Chart March 5, 2024 at #32. Work has already begun on her follow-up, with Dan and Jim again at the helm of her new single, “Make It Out”.

Dan's 2022 album, “Horizon Line”, reunited Dan with producer Jim Scott, who cut six L&N albums. The album features performances from Chris Stills, Steve Postell (David Crosby, The Immediate Family), Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams), Brian Whelan (Dwight Yoakam), Jimmy Paxson (Lindsay Buckingham), Mai Leisz (David Crosby, Jackson Browne), Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), Taras Prodaniuk & Michael Jerome (The Richard Thompson Trio), Phil Parlapiano (John Prine), Peter Adams (Belinda Carlisle), Aubrey Richmond (Shooter Jennings), Carlos Murguia (Chicago, Three Dog Night), Leyla Hoyleand Derek Nakamoto. The album twice charted Top Ten at NACC Folk, and reviews have been Dan's finest yet.

In July 2021, he released a duo album with James Lee Stanley, "All Wood and Led", with acoustic "Laurel Canyon" re-imaginations of Led Zeppelin tunes which saw extensive radio action at Americana stations nationwide.

As a songwriter, Dan has written or co-written heartfelt songs for Pat Benatar (the Grammy® nominated “We Belong”), The Bangles, Japanese girl group Wink(the #1 hit “One Night in Heaven”), Dutch superstar Marco Borsato (the Top Ten “Je Hoeft Niet Naar Huis Vannacht”), Dave Edmunds, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, and Austin outlaw country legend Rusty Weir.

His songs have appeared in the films Deadpool 2, Pitch Perfect 2 and Talladega Nights, TV series This Is Us, Mare of Easttown, Halt and Catch Fire, American Idol, The Voice, American Dad and The Office and national commercials for Corona Beer, Sargento Cheese, Pepsi, Sheraton Hotels, Chase Bank and the United Way.

As a bilingual singer and voice actor, he sang in Oscar® winners Encanto (including the #1 hit "We Don't Talk About Bruno"), Coco and Happy Feet, the 2022 hit Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, the new Latin-themed Father of the Bride, plus Sing 2, The Addams Family, Dora and the City of Lost Gold, The Lorax, and two Ice Age films; TV series The Simpsons, Prison Break, Close Enough and American Dad; voiced characters in Invincible, The Boys: Diabolical, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, The Book Of Life, The Playmobil Movie, We Bare Bears, Pantheon, Ultra City Smiths and over 500 episodes of Family Guy and American Dad; dubbed English voices on foreign TV series Cada Minuto Cuenta, State of Siege, Team Chocolate, Love Is Blind: Brazil, La Ultima, 4Ever and Machos Alfa; sung on albums by Luis Miguel, Andrea Bocelli, Jose Feliciano and Neil Young; voiced video games Red Dead Redemption II, Fallout 4 and Uncharted 4, and performed vocals and voice-overs in literally hundreds of commercials for Toyota, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Honda and more.

During the 2020 Covid pandemic lockdown, Dan launched his "Songs From the CoronaZone" live stream series, running almost daily for much of the run of over 250 2-hour+ live streams in 13 months, on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch and the now-defunct Periscope. He then taught live stream techniques in workshops for SAG-AFTRA and Folk Alliance's "FAR-West" region (earning FAR-West's 2021 Humanitarian Award in the process), as well as online songwriting classes dubbed "Songwriting and the Creative Muse".

In his “spare” time, Dan serves on the Board of SAG-AFTRA, the AFL-CIO actor-performer-broadcaster’s union; is a Trustee on the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Fund; serves on the Unclaimed Royalties committee of the Mechanical Licensing Collective; is on the Board of the Artists Rights Alliance; and is a past president of Folk Alliance International. He has been a vocal activist in Washington DC for intellectual property rights for over 20 years, having testified in 2023 before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on IP and the US Patent and Trademark Office on AI and copyright, as well as the US Senate Judiciary Committee and the Copyright Royalty Board.

Dan Navarro’s music probes life at its most resonant. In his rich baritone, he sings songs of heart and insight, steeped in experience, soulful tales from a long road well-traveled.

He’s the proud father of a 28-year old filmmaker son, believes art is food, music is love, and sleep is for babies.

What do you get when you combine award-winning singer/songwriters, four-part harmony, a fiddle, keys, two guitars and lyrical imagery drawn from the West?

You get taken on a musical journey out West ... cowboy and cowgirl life (and love!), campfires, horses, music and the beauty of the landscape.

Western music’s new supergroup, Nashville-based GONE WITH THE WEST delivers high onstage energy, honey-smooth harmonies and seasoned musicianship, with an entertaining mix of traditional and original Western music. The band was the featured performing group for the International Western Music Association’s annual award show in Albuquerque, and is starting up a second year of touring.

This powerhouse all-female band includes multiple IWMA/AWA/Wrangler-winning vocalist and songwriter Mary Kaye Holt; vocalist/keyboardist Micki Fuhrman, winner of a WWA Spur Award (Best Western Song) and the 2023 Wrangler (Best Traditional Western album); Spanish-born singer/songwriter/guitarist Tecia McKenna, winner of the 2023 IWMA Songwriting Competition and Coloradoan Merna Lewis, aka “The Barefoot Fiddler,” a fourth-generation female fiddle player and 2023 IWMA Musician of the Year Nominee.

Cowboy Poetry gatherings are increasing in popularity around the country, led by such festivals as the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, and the Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, Texas. They are delightful celebrations of both poetry and music, with many performers sharing the stage and exchanging songs, poems, and tall tales of various sorts.

We're fortunate here at Society Hall to have our friend Dennis Russell, of Redwing, Colorado (just over Mosca Pass, but you can't get there from here) round up some of his good friends and veteran poets, songwriters and performers to pretty much bring a gathering right to us! Performing will be Doug Figgs, of Lemitar, NM, with his fine western songs, cowboy poets Floyd and Valerie Beard, of Kim, Colorado, and music and poetry from Dennis and Beverly Russell, aka The Russellers, from Redwing, Colorado.

Doug Figgs is an AFA certified journeyman farrier, a working cowboy, and a multiple award- winning Western music singer/songwriter. He has performed his music all over the west and continues to turn out his own variety of Western music – from hard driving songs with a tinge of Southern rock, to beautiful ballads and everything in between. His awards include: 2021 “Wrangler Award” Western Song “El Caballo del Fuego”, 2019 IWMA Western Album of the Year “Go West”, 2019 IWMA Group of the Year with “The Cowboy Way Trio”, 2019 NMMA Western Song of the Year “I Make My Livin’ In the Saddle”, and 2018 IWMA Male Performer of the Year.

Floyd Beard lives twelve cattle guards from the pavement near Kim, Colorado. He and his wife, Valerie, run cattle with their daughter and son-in-law. A good day involves getting up before the sun is "pinking up the east", riding, working cattle, and settling down on the porch to watch the sunset.

Floyd is an award -winning poet and has been writing and rhyming for over 30 years. He is the 2016, 2017, and 2021 International Western Music Association's Male Poet of the Year. His most recent CD, "Horse Tales and Cow Trails" also won the IWMA's 2021 Cowboy Poetry CD of the Year. Most of his original poetry is written about his observations while working on the ranch.

Valerie Beard is a rancher's wife, teacher, writer, crew cook, quilter and reader. She and her husband Floyd live outside of Kim in southeastern Colorado and run cattle with their daughter and son-in-law. They keep a few Border Collies around to stay humble.

Valerie recently released her first poetry CD, "No Better Life" with the help of Jean Prescott on vocals and Dale Burson on vocals and instrumentation. She was honored to be a top five finalist for IWMA Female Poet of the Year in 2019 and 2021.

The Russellers are Dennis Russell, poet and songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Beverly Gray Russell, best known for her beautiful mastery of the musical saw. They share their original music and poetry that depict their ranching lifestyle on the beautiful Huerfano River outside of Redwing in southern Colorado as well as covering traditional stories and songs at campfires, gatherings and house concerts in family friendly entertainment. Dennis is founder of the Cimarron Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering and happy to be the emcee of any western event. You can often find Beverly showing kids, parents, and grand parents alike how her magical musical saw works. Dennis and Beverly are celebrating the release of their new album Trackin' On, and will be featuring songs from that project as well as their previous releases.