Colorado's Own Jon Chandler Brings His Big Western Sound Back to Society Hall!
7/26/26, 1:30 AM
on Chandler is a three-time winner of the prestigious Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. Linwood, his moody examination of Doc Holliday’s life won the Spur for Best Song in 2009, while his tribute to Wyoming’s Hole in the Wall country, Morning Star Moon, received the award in 2012. His novel The Spanish Peaks received the WWA’s Medicine Pipe Bearer Award (Spur Award) for Best First Novel, and he was named True West Magazine’s Best Western Musician. Wyoming Wind, A Novel of Tom Horn, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. A seventh-generation Coloradan, Jon’s music and stories reflect his heritage, and his eight CDs, two novels, two non-fiction works, and myriad short stories and nonfiction articles are collected by western lifestyle aficionados worldwide. He hosts the iconic monthly concert series America’s Soul Live at the Olde Town Pickin’ Parlor in Arvada, Colorado. Homage, his new recording of cover songs that have influenced his writing and singing, will be released in Summer 2019.
The Los Angeles Daily News dubbed Denver native Jon Chandler the “...best western songsmith since Ian Tyson,” while Texas’s Country Line Magazine exclaimed, “Thank God for Chandler and his gang of musicians.” A review of Jon Chandler’s iconic CD WESTERNS includes the phrase, “Chandler’s music is literate and literary.” That about covers it. There’s not an ounce of stereotypical Gene ‘n Roy retro-cowpoke, Lazy Z Chuckwagon faux-western schtick in his music, voice or prose. Chandler writes and sings of the historic and contemporary West - not particularly cowboy songs and stories, although they tend to show up with frequency. His songs owe more to Larry McMurtry, Elmer Kelton, Robert Service and Mark Twain than they do to anyone in a band that ends with Wranglers or Ramblers. Simply put, his music and his writing are reflections of his heritage. A seventh-generation Coloradan, his novels, songs and poems serve to keep the West’s frontier ethic alive.
"Jon Chandler is part Wallace Stegner, part Jack Schaefer. He’s part Bruce Springsteen, and part Rambling Jack Elliott. He’s part William F. Cody, and part Cole Younger. Yet he’s distinctively original, a poet laureate of the American West of past, present and future."
- Johnny D. Boggs
Society Hall Welcomes the South Austin Moonlighters!
8/3/26, 1:30 AM
The South Austin Moonlighters are Lonnie Trevino Jr, Chris Beall, Daniel James, & Hunter St. Marie. The Moonlighters deliver their own unique brand of Americana music with organic, show-stopping vocal harmonies, incredible musicianship, and well-crafted, heart-felt songs.
The joy of making music is a tangible and contagious part of the Moonlighters’ live shows. They are often compared to The Eagles, Little Feat, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young—but the Moonlighters have a voice all of their own.
They write and perform original music, as evidenced by their albums: 2012’s Live at The Saxon Pub, 2013’s Burn and Shine, 2016’s Ghost of a Small Town and the highly anticipated, Anders Osborne-produced album Travel Light, which was released on May 17, 2019.
From their website - “The band started in 2011 when Lonnie got together a group of local music veterans to occasionally play together for the sheer joy of making music. Pretty soon it became evident that something special happened when we played together, and the band—which was originally meant to be a moonlighting side-gig for all of us—became our main gig. Those of you who know us know that our success has come from working as a team. We hold each other up and inspire each other to keep pushing and challenging ourselves to be our very best at all times. We all sing and write songs. We take turns leading the band, singing harmonies and coming together to lift each other up. At the end of the day we all love making music, sharing it with people and basking in the joy that our audiences reflect back to us.”
More Upcoming Shows & Events
Saturday August 15 – Ingrid Avison and Edie Carey co-bill
Saturday August 22 – Sarah Golden and Tipps and Obermiller co-bill
Friday August 28 – Michael Martin Murphey
September 5 – George Ensle and Martin Gilmore
Sunday, September 13 – Howlin' Dog Music Group fundraising concert with Eliza Gilkyson, Ben Jones, Walt Wilkins, Susan Gibson and Don Richmond
Saturday, September 26 – Annual Celebration with Billy Bond and Kyle Phelan and Hired Hands reunion
Sunday October 4 – Tish Hinojosa