Boris McCutcheon

at Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership

Time: 7:00pm     Day: Saturday     Doors: 6:00pm     Ages: All Ages / Bar with ID     Price: $7
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Boris recorded his first album called, “Mother Ditch” in 2001 and started a roots-rock band with a sound that was raw, wild and different than anything folks had been used to. His songs were vastly unique against the generic americana/folk scene of Boston at the time, so his band stood out and became a sensation in the area. In 2003 the band traveled to Tucson and recorded a phenomenal and groundbreaking album called, “When We Were Big”. The album was produced by Craig Schumacher(Nico Case)and Pete Weiss. The album was soon discovered by a Dutch Label called Lucky Dice and Boris and his Comrades began touring Europe under their wings. During this time Boris won the Boston Music Award for Best Male Singer Songwriter. Among the competition were Ellis Paul and Josh Ritter. In the height of Boris’s success as a renegade desert folk-core roots rocker desert rat he decided to leave Boston while the going was good and return to New Mexico. Despite his career taking off, Boris wanted to live, farm and raise children with his wife Laura on a traditional Spanish acequia. They moved to an off the grid farm on 4 acres in the Sangre De Cristo mountains where they had two kids. In this lost valley the newlyweds planted an orchard and Boris became the Mayordomo for 6 years. In between getting married, starting a farm, raising children, Boris wrote many more songs, recorded an extraordinary off the grid album trilogy and toured exclusively in Europe. “Cactusman Vs The Blue Demon”, “Bad Road Good People” and “Might Crash” were all #1 albums on the Euro Americana charts. Boris has shared the stage with the likes of, Ryan Adams, Iron and Wine, The Gourds, The Handsome Family, Los Lobos, Hot Tuna, James McMurtry, Calexico, Howe Gelbe, Stewart Staples, Dan Hicks, Slaid Cleaves etc etc. You can hear many of his songs on familiar sitcoms and even Titonis pizza adds; Cold Case, Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad, Agents of Shield etc etc. In 2007 he was voted Best Singer Songwriter in New Mexico at The NM State Fair. He has also been a twice-finalist in Mountain Stage New Song Contest where he performed live on Mountain Stage and at Lincoln Center. Boris continues to live well, farm, write songs, raise children with his wife, prune fruit trees, plant orchards and record startlingly original albums in Dixon NM.

About the newest album: “AS OLD AS ESPANOLA”

Early on in Boris's career he was told that low riders were from Española. Even though this is not true, the lowrider and its culture are as vital a part of the New Mexican landscape as red and green chile. Boris McCutcheon's warm analog sounding “lowrider" album, called “As Old As Española” is a long time coming and might be his most New Mexican.

The record features four songs that mention low riders. The original tracks, “Mighty Jemez” and” Begging for Dollars”, were recorded on Boris's mobile studio in Albuquerque 2017. Three separate sessions at Frogville Studios in Santa Fe forged the remaining tracks. The main players on the record are Boris's longtime collaborator Brett “Smokestack” Davis, Susan Hyde Holmes and the impeccable local Santa Fe drummer Mikey Chavez. Critical to the albums epic adventure are guest performers by Alex McMahon, (Handsome Family’s guitarist) John Graboff, (former pedal steelist from The Cardinals) Greg Williams (La Chat Lunatique’s drummer), David Barclay Gomez (accordionist for Felix e Los Gatos) and even drummer Jeff Berlin (from Boris's ground-breaking albums “When We Were Big” and “Cactus man”.)
The record starts up with the rocking title track “As Old As Española” transporting the listener to the ancient Town of Española, heart of the Norteño New Mexican culture. In fact most of The songs on this new record were written while driving through Española. The second track on the album jumps to a jazzy beatnik trance with, “Feels Good To Go To Work.” Thirdly, “The Mighty Jemez” frames the album with its burning caldera. It’s a song that Boris wrote during the devastating fires of 2011 that caused Los Alamos to evacuate. Boris wrote “The Mighty Jemez” and forgot about it until he discovered it in 2016. “Angelina’s Farm” is a fantasy song about marrying a local chicana and becoming a sculptor. “La Llorona and The Lowriders” is a song that Boris started writing in Nambe, NM after having an Autumnal visitation by a spirit of sorts

along the river in a tree. It took him 20 years to finish it. “Begging for Dollars” is a song inspired by Boris's proud father-in-law who casts a shameful eye on Boris for starting a fund-raising internet campaign. In the stark instrumentation and poetic richness of “I Held Your Hand”, John Graboff plays some powerful angelic pedal steel as Boris returns to an almost early Townes Van Zandt tradition. John Graboff also plays on “Dust Devilish” a true story about a dog named “Pappy” who gets sucked up into a dust devil when he's just a wee puppy. “Where Have All The Lowriders Gone?” is an anthem Boris wrote about New Mexico for New Mexicans. Eager to maintain a certain level of energy, Boris decided to record the old “Velvet Underground” song, “Waiting For My Man.” He changed the lyrics a bit and localized them for Española. “Devil Dave” is a rock'n roll homage to the now deceased drummer David Bindler who coerced Boris into starting a rock'n roll band with him in the late 90s. “Snowy Mountains”, Boris’s personal favorite revisits the depths of long cold winters spent on the mountain with its recurring green shooting stars in the sometimes harsh and lonely remoteness of the New Mexican wilderness. “Trees of Heaven” closes the with a high-energy version of the song propelled by dueling guitar work from Brett Davis and Alex McMahon.

The 2019 release “As Old As Española” maintains its lowrider theme throughout its duration while supplying the listener with a truly New Mexican adventure. For the most part the album rocks and needs to be played very loudly.

Discography
As Old As Espanola (Cactusman/Frogville 2019)
HOTH Brothers-‘Workin and Dreamin’ (Bard Edrington acoustic project)
I’m Here Let Me In (Cactusman/Frogville 2017)
Might Crash! (Cactusman/Frogville 2013)
Boris McCutcheon Sings the Songs of Townes Van Zandt (European Bootleg 2012) Utrecht (live 2011 )
Wheel of Life(Cactusman 2010)
Bad Road, Good People (Cactusman/Frogville 2008)
Boxspring Plow (EP, 2008)
Songs of New Mexico (mult. artists)(Revolution 2007)
Lost Sessions and B-Sides (Bootleg 2006)
Cactusman vs. the Blue Demon (Cactusman/Frogville 2006)
Turbulent Amusement (live 2004)
When We Were Big (Cactusman 2003)
Mother Ditch (Cactusman 2001)