The man behind the music

ACT’s booking manager on what it takes to run local venue

by Stephen Sellers

For this month’s “Between the Beats,” I sat down with local music promoter Eugene Salaz. Eugene is celebrating his 10th year with the Animas City Theatre (or ACT as it’s locally known), a feat he credits to working for Durango’s most unsung musical heroes, owners Chris and Michele Redding. Having miraculously weathered the COVID-19 storm due to the genius of the aforementioned owners, Salaz and the ACT are back with a vengeance, booking a jaw-dropping lineup that punches well above the belt for a community of Durango’s size. I recently spoke with Salaz to learn more about the world of chasing down the best bands for our local listening pleasure.

You are a talent buyer, promoter and production manager. Put simply, what is it that you actually do?

My main focus is booking international and national touring acts for the ACT. Sometimes, it takes a couple of years to finally land a show with a certain artist, trying to figure out routing and planning. One of the nice things about Durango is we’re outside the radius clause for bigger markets. If you’re not familiar with that, it basically says there’s a certain amount of mileage or time that acts are allowed to perform in a market. Finding the bands, contracting the bands, figuring out routing, budgets, marketing budgets, posters, artwork. There’s quite a bit that goes into it, but the bottom line is trying to figure out what the best bands are for our current market.

What kinds of programming are you aiming for at the ACT?

I’m looking for bands that are going to help create a space where people can forget about their day-to-day lives. I feel that helps create a healthier community. A lot of it is being able to see how a band performs live. It’s the live show we’re trying to sell. I try to make it out to music festivals and make it a point to see bands I’ve never heard before and get a feel for who’s going to be coming up the ranks.

What are some of the challenges you face as a promoter in a smaller, more remote market?

It’s hard to get artists here for the first time. We’re so far away from a major interstate. Sometimes it takes a while to convince them, but when we do, we show them a high level of professional production, sound, lights and hospitality that they do want to come back. Generally for us, weeknights are better than weekends, because our market, especially in summer, is incredibly active and tends to leave for the weekend.

This year, we’re experimenting with doing music again during the summer, though. KDUR will be sponsoring some events, and we’ll be hosting our first open mic night hosted by Salamander Collective and myself, DJ I-Gene. With KDUR sponsoring, it’s giving us an opportunity to see what it’s like to have a $5 cover.

What marketing trends have you noticed in the Durango live music business lately?

Eugene Salaz

People are getting pickier. We have access to so much music. We’re not seeing college kids coming to shows anymore. When they look at new artists, if they don’t have more than 1 million views of a music video, they’re generally not interested. The curiosity isn’t there. Back in the day, you would look at the events calendar in the Telegraph, and if you weren’t doing anything, you’d go to a show.

We had two shows last year, Ott and Keller Williams, that were both $40 tickets, and both shows sold out. We think we can start getting into bigger artists. So, now we have Andy Frasco coming – also $40 a ticket. Our venue only holds 270 people, so that’s the niche I’m trying to sell: big artists coming to an intimate venue; there’s a great seat no matter where you are. We have a fantastic sound system and professional lights. You will definitely get your money’s worth. Andy Frasco is playing here, and then he’s going to be playing Red Rocks 10 days later. That’s special.

What is your hope for the ACT?

We want to get more local artists into our venue. We focus a lot on international and national touring acts. However, to see the excitement of a band that has lights for the first time, to be able to bring cameras in, record their soundboard sets … it’s really special. We’ll be starting a series in the fall called “528.” It’s going to be our opportunity to allow bands to come in, play a couple of sets and see if we can get more local acts to help gain experience. That’s our biggest goal right now: supporting our local bands and local music scene. ■