Acts announced for TV show

One of the producers of the "Bands of Enchantment" music television series announced two of the acts that will perform when filming begins in Tucumcari next week.

Elkhorn Entertainment president executive producer Tyson Chavez said during a telephone interview Thursday that The Texas Gentlemen and Max Gomez will be among the performers during initial production that begins next week through March 26.

Chavez said he likely would announce more music acts that will come to Tucumcari later this week.

The Texas Gentlemen are a Dallas-based quintet of young studio musicians who've served as the backing band for George Strait, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Joe Ely and Kris Kristofferson, according an article in Texas Monthly. They play blues, country and rock, and one of the songs on their debut album in 2017, "Habbie Doobie," has logged more than 2 million streams on Spotify.

Gomez, a New Mexico native, is a singer-songwriter based in Taos. He's recorded two albums and co-founded and produced the Red River Folk Festival in Red River. Gomez has been compared to Jackson Browne and the late John Prine.

Primary filming will occur at historic Tucumcari Railroad Depot Plaza. The city is spending about $2,000 in electrical upgrades to the depot in preparation for the shoot, said City Manager Mark Martinez during last week's Lodgers Tax Advisory Board meeting.

"We have to have a closed set, but we will be sharing what's going on behind the scenes on social media," Chavez said. "We want folks involved as much as possible, but we have to be a little more cautious in protecting Tucumcari in terms of COVID protection and protocol."

Chavez said the film crew would be tested for the coronavirus before arriving in town.

"We don't want to bring COVID with us," he said.

Chavez signaled that filming wouldn't be solely at the depot.

"The folks in town definitely are going to see us around," he said. "That will be exciting. That will be fun, but I can't divulge more than that."

The principals of "Bands of Enchantment" envision the forthcoming series as a New Mexico version of "Austin City Limits." It would be broadcast on New Mexico PBS stations, RFD-TV's Cowboy Channel and the Amazon Prime streaming service. Altogether, it would mean a potential audience of tens of millions of viewers.

"Bands of Enchantment" in October received up to $60,000 in city lodgers' tax funds to produce four of eight 30-minute episodes for the series. Elkhorn will cover the rest of the cost through sponsorships.

Filming originally was slated to begin in February, but Elkhorn and the prospective music artists mutually agreed to delay it one month to allow better control of the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccinations.

"We're thrilled to finally be approaching the filming date and making a good show," Chavez said.

Martinez said last week that "Bands of Enchantment" producers would offer a private screening of its pilot episode March 19 to city officials.

Elkhorn is seeking more city funding for another four episodes in Tucumcari. Chavez indicated he was optimistic about that possibility.

"If this pans out, I think this is something that will happen again," he said.