Kingfish Blues Rolls Into New Mexico
CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM, the Grammy-winning guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, will give two New Mexico concerts this month: April 19 at the Lensic in Santa Fe and April 20 at the Sunshine Theater in Albuquerque and Ingram has quickly become the defining blues voice of his generation. From his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi to stages around the globe, the young blues star has already headlined multiple U.S. and European tours, and amazed fans in Australia, New Zealand, and India. Selected in summer 2022 to open for The Rolling Stones in London’s Hyde Park, Kingfish has also performed and toured with friends including Vampire Weekend, Jason Isbell, Steve Miller and Buddy Guy, a mentor of his, with whom he appeared on Austin City Limits.
Since he burst onto the scene in 2019, Ingram has been nominated for 10 Blues Music Awards and won them all. Rolling Stone declared, “Kingfish is one of the most exciting young guitarists in years, with a sound that encompasses B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince.” In September 2023, Kingfish released his jaw-dropping third album, Live In London. Recorded on June 6, 2023, in front of a sweaty, sold-out, standingroom-only crowd at the famous UK club, The Garage, Live In London is the guitar-driven live album Kingfish’s fans around the world have been clamoring for since they first watched him perform as a teenager on YouTube.
Tickets can be found at www.tickets.lensic360.org/tickets/428355?tc=lensic360 and at: www.lensic.org/events/ christone-kingfish-ingram
The five seasons of our beautiful Moreno Valley all have their goods points and bad ones. The fifth season is upon us, and I can’t think of one good thing about it. The season of mud is in full force at the time of this writing and everywhere you go your vehicle looks like you have been mud bogging. The February real estate market has stayed fairly steady with January’s and as spring gets a little closer, I am hoping to see a substantial increase.
Here are the numbers straight from the Taos County MLS for the month of February 2024
Home Sales:
There were 36 home sales for the month of February. Which is just slightly up from January’s 32 sales. 2 were over one million, 2 were in the $900,000.00 ~ $1,000,000.00 range. 1was in the $700,000.00 ~ $800,000.00 range. 2 were in the $600,000.00 ~ $700,000.00 range. 6 were in the $500,000.00 ~ $600,000.00 range. 4 were in the $500,000.00 ~ $600,000.00 range. 6 were in the $300,000.00 ~ $400,000.00 range. 6 were in the $200,000.00 ~ $300,000.00 range. 6 were below $200,000.00.
For the month of February, the average sales price went down from January’s $533,805.00 to February’s average of $453,693.00. 11 of the sales were condos or townhomes. 13 of the sales over all were in Angel Fire. 1 in Arroyo Hondo, 1 in Arroyo Seco, 2 in Cimarron, 2 in El Prado, 1 in Maxwell, 4 in Ranchos de Taos, 2 in Red River, 1 in San Cristobal, 8 in Taos, and 1 in Velarde. Total Volume that sold came to $16,332,970.00 Which is slightly down from January’s $17,081,775.00
Land Sales:
There were only 12 vacant land sales for the month of February compared to January’s 15, that is staying pretty steady. 3 were in the $200,000.00 ~ $300,000.00 range. 3 in the $100,000.00 ~ $200,000.00 range. And 6 were below the $100,000.00.
There were 3 sales in Angel Fire, 1 was in Black Lake, 1 in Des Montes, 1 in Ranchos De Taos, 2 in Talpa, 1 in Valle Escondido 2 in Weimer and 1 at the West Gorge Bridge.
The average vacant lot sales price overall was $121,687.00 compared to January’s $208,443.00. that is quite a drop. 2 were smaller than an acre. 2 were between 1-2 acres, 2 were between 2-3 acres, 2 were between 3-4 acres, 2 was over 10 acres. 1 was over 20 acres and 1 was over 40 acres. The sales volume came to $1,460,251.00 compared to January’s $3,126,650.00 (smaller land sizes makes a big difference).
Commercial Sales:
There was one Commercial sale for the month of February. It was over $2,500,000.00 in Taos.
Current Homes on the Market
There are currently 295 homes listed on the Taos County MLS. That is 10 more than January’s 285. 40 are under contract. 1 in Alcalde, 1 in Amalia, 86 in Angel Fire, 4 in Arroyo Hondo, 5 in Arroyo Seco, 2 in Carson, 1 in Cebolla, 1 in Cerro, 2 in Chama, 1 in Des Montes, 1 in Dixon, 7 in Eagle Nest, 20 in El Prado, 1 in Embudo, 1 in Gladstone, 4 in Guadalupita, 2 in Miami, 1 in Ojo Sarco, 2 in Penasco, 6 in Questa, 22 in Ranchos de Taos, 3 in Raton, 23 in Red River, 1 in Sandia Park, 1 in Santa Fe, 1 in Springer, 63 in Taos, 13 in Taos Ski Valley, 6 in Tres Pieadras, 1 in Truchas, 3 in Ute Park, 3 in Vadito, 3 in Valdez, 1 in Valle Escondido.
There are 76 Condos, of which 9 are under contract. Several have come down in their asking price.
There are 596 land listings currently on the market. That is up from January’s 588. There are 43 commercial listings.
Comparing February to January it has been pretty much the same market. Both in sales statistics and listings. Each month when I explore the market, for my own education, as well as those who follow my article, I see subtle changes starting to happen. Brokers are getting busy again and buyers will always continue to look at real estate in the beautiful Enchanted Circle. Until next month… ■
Mountain men are explorers and hunters most common in the North American Rockies. They often became explorers in the 1800’s. During that century, Charles Kennedy was a mountain man who lived near Eagle Nest, New Mexico. He was famous for robbing and killing people who traveled on their way to Taos.
He moved to the Moreno Valley in 1865 with his wife and small son. They built a rest stop in an isolated area at the base of Palo Flechado Pass, on the road between Elizabethtown and Taos. Some, who stopped, were never seen or heard from again! The robberies and murders might never have been known except for the confessions from his wife when she fled in terror, in the fall of 1870, when he murdered his own son for telling a traveler about bodies buried under their house.
Moving forward a century plus, there are still mountain men here in Eagle
Nest New Mexico. Mark R., shared a great short story about the life of one of our very own, Zeus Reese. Mark’s story, is called, “Get to Know.”
Get to know the men of hearty beards, and great tales. There are at least three local mountain men (that I know of) from days gone by. Men chocked full of grit, laughs and lore. Our first man, Zeus Reese, makes you ponder the question, have you ever had a bear on your chest? Well, Zeus has, more than once. Zeus is a hunting guide out of Elizabethtown, and is a proud father to Emily and Jimmy.
Zeus hunted bears and mountain lions with his dozen pointer dogs, and his 44 magnum.
He has delivered experiences and memories over the decades for clients who won’t ever forget the trips. Zeus is well paid for the experience, however life threatening his job is. He loves what he does, and is grateful for a career doing what he loves the most.
Many times Zeus was on death’s door, at the mercy of a bear or lion. Were it not for his brave dogs jumping in the battle, Zeus would have been long gone, a long time ago! Zeus had a dog that would not stop barking, day or night. Zeus was constantly yelling, “stop it dammit!” He eventually named the dog, Dammit.
Dammit still went on hunts. On one hunt, where a tree was broken, a young bear was sitting up there, after being pursued. The terrified bear ran down, through the dogs, and jumped onto Zeus, knocking him flat on his back!
The end was near; bear paws on his chest and a large mouth ready to crush his skull, when in jumps Dammit! Dammit latched on to the side of the bear’s face, allowing Zeus to jump to his feet and draw his 44, while the rest of his dogs attacked the bear. Zeus couldn’t shoot the bear for fear of hitting one of his dogs.
The bear broke free, and instead of running off, it charged again at Zeus! When the bear’s head reached Zeus’ belt buckle, he fired into the bear’s head, ending the battle. Sadly, Dammit did not survive the encounter. Zeus says that younger bears are the most dangerous. They are scared and they fight back. Older bears know their own might, and will even take a nap up in the tree. Not every hunt ends in a kill. Sometimes it is just good to take photos and let the animal go. It is the same for female mountain lions. Take a photo and let them go. Zeus says the females draw in the big boys and they are the ones to hunt. Zeus holds a 2nd place world’s record for one of his hunted lions.
Zeus does love animals. He’s had 4 generations of chocolate labs he has used for water fowl hunting. He has had at least 13 pointers he used for bigger game. Zeus is down to his dog, old Momma, who has earned her retirement, and there are not enough hours in the day to love on her.
Zeus has hunted over 400 bears, 200 lions, elk, boar, antelope, and even a 13ft gator, which he nearly jumped out of the boat to kill! The guide had to stop him from jumping in the water! The gator is now stuffed and keeping raccoons out of the garage.
You might run into Zeus at Angel’s Attic in Eagle Nest. He will be wearing a big hat, with a big beard, and a big smile. He also has a slow, smooth gait and a calm Appalachian drawl. Say hi, introduce yourself and ask him about one of his many bear stories. You won’t be disappointed. Watch for more local mountain men stories in our next issue, September, 2022.