Veteran San Juan County group Jokers Wild leads three-band lineup at Animas River Jam

FARMINGTON — Despite its status as perhaps San Juan County's longest-tenured band, Jokers Wild has hardly gone stale over the last 40 years, as the six-piece group that mixes New Mexican, rock and country influences recently released its sixth CD and continues to receive radio airplay all over the state.

Tony Delgado Sr., the band's lead singer and lead guitarist, was one of the founders of the group in 1982. He remains its anchor today as Jokers Wild prepares to serve as one of three acts to be featured at the second annual Animas River Jam this weekend in Berg Park.

"I'm the original Joker," he said, laughing.

While other members of Jokers Wild have come and gone over the years, Delgado has been the one constant, and he credits the community's familiarity with the group's name for its longevity.

"To me, it's that I never changed the name of the band," he said.

That means fans of the group know what they're going to get — well-crafted original tunes written by Delgado, many of which celebrate his Spanish heritage, and a smattering of upbeat, carefully chosen covers. It's a formula that has served the group well over the years and that continues to work to this day.

Jokers Wild records for Alta Vista Records, an independent label in Albuquerque that gives the group a solid presence in the state's largest city. Delgado said "Amor, Amor" — a song he wrote for his wife that is featured on "El Pachuco," the band's latest recording — recently finished first out of nine other songs by New Mexico artists in a competition on Las Vegas, New Mexico, radio station KNMX-AM in a poll of the station's listeners. The disc also has been receiving airplay on a station in Santa Rosa, he said.

That kind of affirmation is what keeps Delgado going after all these years, he said — that and the satisfaction he gets from watching crowds react at the band's live performances.

"To me, it's seeing people happy, watching them dance and enjoying our community," he said. "We play for everybody."

Jokers Wild is made up of Tom Trujillo on bass and vocals, Ray Quintana on drums, Michelle Naranjo on vocals, Billy Sanchez on rhythm guitar and vocals, Kiko Guitierrez on keyboards and accordion and Delgado himself. The group occasionally performs outside San Juan County, but most weekends, it can be found taking the stage at one of its regular haunts – the No Worries Sports Bar and Grill or the SunRay Park & Casino, where it will be featured next weekend.

Delgado said Jokers Wild has a special relationship with the casino, as he recently was asked to write and record a tune for its new advertising campaign, "Come play with us."

The group's performance on Saturday at the Animas River Jam will be the first of three gigs it has planned for that day. The group also will be featured at the San Juan College West community picnic in Kirtland Town Park at 4 p.m., then it wraps up the day with a wedding show that evening in Fruitland.

Jokers Wild will lead off the day's music at the Animas River Jam, performing from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by Julie & the Boyz from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The Family Affair Band will perform the day's final set from 3 to 5 p.m.

The event, which takes place at the River Reach Terrace, will have six food trucks and a beer garden featuring 550 Brewing products.

D'Ann Waters, president of the River Reach Foundation, the Farmington-based nonprofit organization presenting the event, said festival attendees will be asked to vote for their favorite food truck. The winner will be awarded a free spot at River Reach Terrace during the 2023 Riverfest celebration over Memorial Day weekend, an $800 value, she said.

The original Animas River Jam was held May 29-30, 2021, at locations in Berg and Animas parks as an alternative to Riverfest, which was cancelled for the second year in a row because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Waters told The Daily Times then that organizers were so pleased with the response, they planned to make it an annual event, although they wanted to move it to the fall to avoid a conflict with Riverfest, which returned to its traditional Memorial Day weekend spot earlier this year.

When foundation officials chose the first Saturday in October for this year's Animas River Jam, Waters said, she didn't see any other major events on the city's social calendar. That has since changed, she said, noting that there will be a variety of other festivals, concerts and public gatherings going on that day that are likely to impact attendance at her organization's event.

"It's likely to be a lot lighter than we had hoped for because there's so much going on," she said. "But we still think it will be a nice, comfortable event."

Waters said she is expecting a crowd of approximately 500 people for the Animas River Jam, and she said River Reach Foundation officials would convene in the days after the event to discuss whether it will be held again next year.

Admission to the Animas River Jam is free. Call 505-716-4405.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Jokers Wild will perform songs from newly released CD "El Pachuco"