Take note: 'Bands of Enchantment' gears up for season four premiere

In September, bands from across the globe made their way to the KiMo Theatre to film “Bands of Enchantment” — an Emmy Award-winning series filmed in New Mexico that follows musicians through eight half-hour episodes — and season four is about to make its way to streaming sites.

“We call it a postcard to the world of Albuquerque and each season features New Mexican artists and artists from around the world,” said Ken Peterson, creator and executive producer for “Bands of Enchantment.” “We want to bring artists and musicians to Albuquerque and give them the experience we all know and love, and kind of change the dialog about New Mexico.”

Take note: 'Bands of Enchantment' gears up for season four premiere

This season, the show will feature Grammy-nominated Afro-Cuban Cimafunk; from Austin, Uncle Lucius whose platinum song “Keep the Wolves Away” was featured on the hit show “Yellowstone”; four-time Latin Grammy winners from Colombia, Diamanté Electrico; Toronto-based disco and R&B outfit The Free Label; the Philadelphia showstopper Zinadelphia; and New Mexico musicians Dust City Opera, Willajay, Kevin Herig and Jacob Shije Trio.

For New Mexicans, the show offers a chance to bring new talent to the state.

“‘Bands of Enchantment’ not only creates exciting entertainment opportunities right here in the Duke City, but the series also shares the strength of our live music scene with audiences around the world,” Mayor Tim Keller told the Journal in May.

For artists, the show gives them an opportunity to expand their fan base to new regions.

“New York City picks it up on their PBS station and plays it, but they also have another platform called ‘All Arts’ and they run it, so that leads us to believe that it does pretty well,” Peterson said. “It also goes across southwest PBS station to Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma and from there it’s offered to all the stations across the country.”

“It was a blast, every season is always so unique and there’s always a bunch of exciting stories,” Peterson said. “It’s a very living room style, so we have people sitting on couches and the bands love it and the fans love it. I think it makes people feel like they’re back to their roots of playing at house parties.”

Each artist begins with an acoustic session where artists will give a performance and afterward an interview is done in a local location. BJ The Chicago Kid, a singer and songwriter known for collaborating with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q, was a previous artist on the show and did his interview on top of Sandia Mountain.

This year is the first year the show was filmed in a repeat location, and Peterson said it gave set designers the ability to be more creative.

“I think this is one of our coolest sets and our set designer really got to play in the sandbox and get some fun stuff going, so it’s a really beautiful set,” he said.

To celebrate the premiere of the show, a special red carpet event will happen on Thursday, Jan. 23. The premiere will feature red carpet arrivals from Albuquerque bands and special guests from the community. The premiere will also have an exclusive sneak peek of season four and guests will be treated to the first three episodes of “Bands of Enchantment,” featuring Willajay, Cimafunk and Hooks and the Huckleberries. The 505 Food Hall will offer drinks from Moonwalk Bar for purchase and snacks will be available.

“‘Bands of Enchantment’ is a cool way to introduce somebody that might play in your backyard and you don’t even know it,” Peterson said. “It’s infused with lifestyle interviews and you’re learning about them and getting a whole new understanding about the song and the artist.”