FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 12, 2007

ALAMOSA, CO – Hundreds of concert-goers gathered in the meadows of remote and picturesque La Veta Pass Saturday evening to see singing cowboy poet Michael Martin Murphey perform – the debut event in the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad’s High Altitude Concert Series.

The Highnote Express, the railroad’s special music event train, whisked passengers in six full railcars through the Sangre de Cristos up to famed Horseshoe Curve on La Veta Pass just as the sun set behind the peaks on Saturday. Cowboy poet Fred Hargrove opened the show while Murphey signed and sold CDs stageside, then took the stage himself as the stars came out.

Murphey charmed the crowd with favorites like “Cowboy Logic”, “Carolina in the Pines”, and the haunting and evocative “Wildfire”, intermingled with commentary on his life-long love of rural Colorado and railroading.

“Is there any better setting than this for a cowboy poet?” he asked the audience amidst cheers and applause.

The event was the first in the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad’s new High Altitude Concert Series, a series they hope will continue to be as successful next season as Saturday night’s turnout was.

“People had a great time, the weather was fantastic, the setting was breathtaking,” says Rio Grande Scenic Railroad president Ed Ellis. “I’m really pleased.”