The Cortez Public Library’s Literary Fridays program hosts local guitarist and singer Charla Nettleton on Friday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m., according to a news release from Kathy Berg.
The library’s monthly Literary Fridays at the Library series hosts artists, authors, storytellers and musicians from Southwest Colorado and is free.
Nettleton, who was raised as a preacher’s daughter in the Midwest, is a self-taught guitarist, according to the news release, who focuses on musical genres including bluegrass, folk and country. She played guitar and mandolin in her first band, Domerie Creek, in 1981. While living in southern New Mexico, she began playing the stand-up bass and sang with local folk musician Johnny Florez, including a performance at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., in 1992.
Nettleton, a physical therapist who lives in McElmo Canyon, has recorded the CDs “Don’t Take It Too Far Above the Heart” and “Way Cool West.” “Don’t Take It Too Far Above the Heart,” Nettleton’s first CD, contains original music and reflects memories of home and her time near the U.S.-Mexico border. “These are songs of the heart – relationships, loss, family, lifting the voice in song,” she said in the news release. “Way Cool West” contains harmonies, Tex-Mex songs and old songs.
She also has played with the Epiclectics. Now, she mostly plays solo or harmonizes with mentor and friend, Linda Carter.
The Cortez Public Library is at 202 N. Park St. For more information, call 970-565-8117.