IN FRONT OF A CORNER beehive fireplace inside the living room-like lobby of El Rey Court, in Santa Fe, singer-songwriter Esther Rose strums her acoustic guitar, quieting the several dozen listeners crowded onto the motel’s couches, cushions, and floor.
“I want to live in the desert and bake in the sun,” Rose sings from the title track of her new album, Want. “I want to live in the city and kiss everyone.” Her voice, yearning and unvarnished, carries through the white adobe room like a secret. A couple cuddles on the mustard-yellow sofa, listening reverently. Near the back, a young woman in a cowboy hat wipes her eyes. We’re sitting in the kind of vulnerable intimacy that defines an El Rey show.
“There’s no stage and barely any boundary between the artist and audience,” says Rose, who moved to Santa Fe from New Orleans in 2021. “It’s like everyone’s onstage together. It forces you to listen a little more.”
The rambling 86-room motor court opened in 1936, but its current era began in 2016, when hoteliers Jeff Burns and Matt Comfort took over and gave it a hip makeover. El Rey reopened in 2018 with a Southwest-goes-mod aesthetic, an Instagram-worthy swimming pool, and La Reina, a bar focusing on mezcal and tequila. While stylish patrons include an influx of influencers and visiting creatives, the hotel has become just as much a community hub for locals—largely because of its free live music, hosted regularly in the lobby and adjoining La Reina bar area.
Until recent touring demands, Rose served as the talent booker. “As a performer, it feels like a safe space,” she says, noting that many of the songs she’s written about her “wide-eyed wonder” at New Mexico’s landscape were first played at La Reina. The venue cultivates a reputation for booking surprisingly big names as well as standout emerging acts. Legendary troubadour—and Santa Fe resident—Terry Allen has played here. So has buzzy alt-country Texas supergroup Chaparelle.
Grab a drink at La Reina Bar at El Rey Court, in Santa Fe. Photograph by Jen Judge.
During the annual High Road Music Festival each May, a massive crowd descends on the property’s grassy courtyard for stacked lineups, including Ramsay Midwood, Y La Bamba, and La Reina’s designated house band, John Francis & the Poor Clares, a folk-meets-surf-pop four-piece that plays every other Wednesday.
The music-friendly hospitality extends to offering artists free or discounted rooms. In February, the motor court sponsored its first songwriters’ retreat, when musicians from across the country holed up for a week to co-write and try out material. Another guest, Courtney Marie Andrews, recently recorded an entire album in one of the rooms.
“This is actually where bands stay, no matter where they’re playing in town,” adds La Reina bartender Heather McKearnan. That means “secret shows” with Nathaniel Rateliff and soul powerhouse Sir Woman have sparked unannounced. “It always feels like you’re at a house party here,” McKearnan adds, “like you’re in someone’s kitchen or living room.” After shows end, listeners drift outside to hang on the patio with the band or gear up for a late-night dance party with local DJs, including Spoolius and Christina Swilley.
With their recent acquisition of another Santa Fe property, the Hotel Glorieta, Burns and Comfort are expanding their live music vision. Glorieta’s new venue, the Marigold Room, transforms the hotel’s former flamenco theater into a full-scale performance space with stage lighting, tiered seating, and a larger capacity that can handle bigger acts. Recently, it’s hosted local faves the Little Tulips and Greg Butera & the Gunsels, with LA country-disco queen Pearl Charles slated for August 15.
McKearnan says she’s excited to see the Marigold Room make some magic of its own, but she credits El Rey for putting Santa Fe on many music lovers’ radars. “I’ve lived in Santa Fe for 32 years,” she says. “This place has transformed the music scene.”
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