Editor’s note: Venue Plus continues “In Case You Didn’t Know,” a weekly feature with fun tidbits about New Mexicans and their projects.
Ron Crowder has always made the best of situations.
Crowder is used to traveling from city to city to perform gigs. But the time off during the pandemic gave the New Mexico-based singer-songwriter an opportunity to cultivate his own material in telling his story.
He also had access to his studio in Albuquerque, InCrowd Productions, to record the new material.
Crowder has led the studio since 1993, writing and producing award-winning TV and radio commercials and custom music, as well as longer-form videos and films, for clients throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“All my last shows in 2020 were shut down, and the work I had at the recording studio dried up,” he says. “It was a bad situation for business, but I wanted to keep moving forward.”
Last year, Crowder did release the single “This Is the Moment.”
“I donated the proceeds to the Navajo and Hopi COVID relief fund,” he says. “I knew I was going to release the songs, and I felt like I could do some good with it.”
Crowder’s year also included awards for best pop song and best recording engineer at the New Mexico Music Awards – which were held virtually.
He is already nominated for his new single, “Gotta Find A Way.”
Like many New Mexicans, Crowder is shedding his pandemic skin and preparing for a live show at Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery in Santa Fe on June 13.
It will be his first live show in 14 months.
“When the live shows went away, I felt like a part of my identity was taken away,” he says. “Same with my studio work. To have those parts of your life taken away was tough.”
Crowder is nearly done with a new album, scheduled for release later this year.
He plans to release singles in the months leading to the album release.
“Because I had to make the best out of a difficult situation, I have enough material for two albums,” he says. “I poured the time on myself. I would have spent that time on clients if it were a normal year. It was refreshing to get back to me and my musical vision.”
As Crowder prepares for both his new album and his first show on June 13 in Santa Fe, here are five things you probably didn’t know about him:
1 “When I was a kid growing up in Albuquerque, I dreamed of playing in the NBA.”
2 “I’m a voracious reader. I love the classics and poetry; both of those things bring me joy.”
3 “When I was a little boy, I always wanted to play the drums. In fact, I used to tell everyone I used to play before I did. When I was 13, my parents got me a drum set, and I had to learn quickly. I learned two beats and played them in everything.”
4 “When I was 13, I stepped into a recording studio for the first time, and I cut a 45″ single. I basically knew the day I stepped in that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”
5 “When I was 14, my family lost our home and it completely changed my view of the world. Up until then, my life was happy-go-lucky. It was filled with laughter and losing our home pulled the rug from under me. It was the end of my childhood and I had to grow up quickly. I learned that home is not a physical dwelling but a place in your heart.”
