It is the first concert hall in northern La Plata County. Despite its inability to accommodate hundreds of music lovers due to its size and the building’s intention never to host concerts, The Olde Schoolhouse Café is a pretty hip music venue whenever it wants.

The general consensus of people who may have seen Drag the River, The Dugouts, Farmington Hill, Couches or any other group on the rest of the Schoolhouse alumni roster would agree that the comfort, originality and the general friendliness of customers and staff lends to its overall feel as a place. It’s also rowdy and downright fun.

The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe will host a rock n ‘roll party tonight with local bands Sinkhole, Immediate Family and Your Bones, as well as Nude Dude from Boise, Idaho. It will be an outdoor event with an early start at 6pm; Lucky for the 50s (me) who still love going to rock n ‘roll concerts but hate waiting until midnight for the headliners to take the stage.

Sinkhole is a North County-based power trio with longtime Durango punk musician Paul “Bubba” Iudice on guitar and drummer Josh Dearien. Fans might remember these two from The Thirteens; the third member of this group is the son of Dearien, also named Josh.

Nude Dude is a family group. Led by brothers Skid and Brody Horrowitz and joined by drummer Bruce “Bonestone” Arthur, their sound is influenced by the sounds of classic American punk rock. A glorious and irreverent mix of garage rock and sloppy punk, it’s a sound that stays loose around the edges with minimalist production. Both brothers have been working there since they were teenagers, and they resisted the tendency to rebel against the music their parents listened to, as they were fortunate enough to have parents who pushed them towards what was there. ‘indie-rock from the 1970s and early 1980s.

“They are the ones who armed us with instruments,” said Skid. “Everything we do, from Los Angeles punk to the Lower East Side New York Stuff. We’re definitely digging into 1970s punk.

Your Bones and Immediate Family are rock bands that both have Alex Vick on bass, the first formed in 2018, the latter formed just four months ago.

Immediate Family has hit hard since its formation, as the trio got straight to work on writing new music, tunes that would appease both the hard rock crowd and the crowd that might need something. a little lighter.

“We pumped up some driving tunes and some sweet, cute tunes,” Vick said. “We try to get a good balance of heavy rock n ‘roll, as well as affordable stuff.”

The group also has a rule not to play other people’s music. Seeing that the local market is full of bands playing covers, Immediate Family wants to write and record new music that they wrote as a band. All this with the aim of continuing to strengthen the Durango music scene with groups producing fresh and inventive sounds.

“We have a very strict no-cover policy. I’m always thirsty for original music, and there are a lot of musicians in town who play covers, ”said Vick. “I feel like the majority of the music you hear is cover songs, and I don’t hit those guys, but I want to produce and share something with the audience that they can’t hear at the radio. Something fresh and new. And personally, I’m not talented enough for covers, so we’re throwing three-chord bangers all day.

Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and director of KDUR station. Contact him at [email protected].