Michael Martin Murphey to open Red River amphitheater

One of Red River’s most consistent and sought-after performers is coming to stay. Michael Martin Murphey plans to open his own performance venue in Red River on the Fourth of July weekend. “It is an amphitheater, covered up, on Bitter Creek Road at the end of the road,” Murphey said during a phone interview on June 14. “You go up, as far as you can go up the road, and you’re there. It’s an old guest ranch.” Murphey said this particular location was chosen as a way to turn back the clock. “There’s a tradition when it was a bigger ranch; many entertainers stayed there,” Murphey said. “In recent times, I actually came up and stayed in the cabins. We feel like it’s a perfect place for us to build a theater that honors Southwestern music.” Murphey said he intends for this amphitheater to be his musical homestead. “I just think it’s time for me to have my own place, and it just felt like time to do it. I always play a lot of shows in the summertime, and I love hanging out in the mountains in south Colorado and Northern New Mexico. I’ve lived a good part of my life here. It’s always been my stomping grounds.” Vance Johnson, the World Dutch Oven Reserve Grand Champion, will be cooking the first week the amphitheater is open beginning July 5. “We’ll also be playing songs from my new album, Red River Drifter,” Murphey said...more