This weekend, venues in the East Mountains and Torrance County will be getting a taste of “Celtic-flavored funky fusion” from an Irish Americana band composed of members who have been in the New Mexico music game a long time.
Dirty Old Town ABQ (DOTABQ) brings their diverse mix of Irish, Cajun, Norteño/Tex-Mex, country, rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, and punk music to the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid Saturday Dec. 14 and Rock Canyon Cider Sunday Dec. 15. Although based in Burque, DOTABQ accordion player and singer Debra “Debo” Orlofsky says that lately a good chunk of their gigs have been in bars and clubs outside of the city.
“I live in the valley, I party in the mountains,” she says.
The band members have crossed paths or played together in different projects throughout the years and “tripped over one another” as Orlofsky puts it. In their current lineup, Orlofsky is joined by Thomas Dewers (guitar, mandolin) Terry Bluhm (bass,) and Zoom Crespin (drums). DOTABQ performs original music and cover tunes in different configurations — fully electric or semi-unplugged as a duo, trio or full 4-piece band, depending on the gig — and were brought together by their mutual love of the Irish Folk and Punk music of their youth and draw inspiration from a multitude of cultures and styles.
“I’ve always kind of been drawn to other cultures’ music,” Orlofsky said. “All these different kinds of languages, vernacular and vocabulary that I didn’t grow up on. I also play in a klezmer band, but I didn’t grow up with that per se. My mom listened to Broadway show tunes. I have brothers and sisters older than me and I would go through their boxes of 45s.”
Orlofsky’s diverse taste in musical styles from Africa to Brazil has influenced her craft, and since the 80s, she’s performed in several other bands that vary in genre and region of origin including The Animal Opera and Splinter Fish. She currently plays gigs throughout New Mexico with Juanita, which she calls her “desert Zydeco blues” band.
“I sing in French whenever I can,” Orlovsky said. “But I always say, ‘Pardon my French.’”
The name “Dirty Old Town ABQ” is inspired by a song written by British Songwriter Ewan McColl in the 1970s and popularized by British Celtic Punk band The Pouges. The name fits because like Orlofsky’s musical journey, the song has transformed over the years and been adapted and covered by various musicians. Orlofsky says the band started out as a duo who planned on playing a few shows leading up to St. Patrick’s day, but it got a bit of a punk makeover and took off.
“The project grew legs because we didn’t just stick to the Irish music. We’re doing a little bit of the traditional stuff, but then a bunch of Pogues stuff, which was punk music with traditional instruments, which is why it was so cool. If you think about it, even traditional Irish music is really punk rock, in my opinion.”
DOTABQ looks forward to a good party, and to watching East Mountain crowds dance and groove to a performance that reflects the beauty and the grit of Albuquerque — their dirty old home town — but for Orlofsky, the diversity in towns like Madrid is like a breath of fresh mountain air.
“It’s just a little more free wheeling. I like a mixed crowd. I like hippies, I like growers, I like the kids. The venues up there just seem to have a little more variety,” she said.
Dirty Old Town ABQ
3 – 7 p.m.
Dec. 14
Mine Shaft Cantina
2846 State Highway 14, Madrid, NM
2 – 5 p.m.
Dec. 15
Rock Canyon Cider
364 NM 333, Tijeras, NM