The Brotherhood of Guitars, Storytelling, and Healing

NEWS | TUESDAY, MAY 12 | BY FUSION STAFF WRITER, RUDOLFO CARRILLO

Guitarist Ken Valdez has an idea that he calls, that he manifests as The Brotherhood. Besides being the name of a killer band that includes his musical partner, Blues Music Awards winner guitarist and vocalist Kevin Burt, Ken’s current show also shines the spotlight on guest artist and Grammy Award Winner virtuoso guitarist Larry Mitchell.

In what promises to be a legendary engagement at FUSION (the show is nearly sold out, so get tickets as soon as you can!) Valdez told this reporter that he and Burt plan to bring a wealth of awesome music, storytelling, and fantastic ensemble playing to the stage on Friday, May 15, at 7:30 PM.

Speaking with and listening to the words and music of Valdez and company is easy enough; after all the Santa Fe native looks back on his Land of Enchantment roots with great gravitas, invoking our state as the source of his inspiration and vision.

To find out more about this upcoming and most likely unforgettable concert, I took time to sit down with Ken Valdez to find out more about what the Brotherhood entails, how music is shared by different folks with different ideas, and why the Brotherhood represents the kind and likeable future of music in America.

Rudolfo Carrillo: Let’s get this conversation rolling by talking about The Brotherhood. Can you please tell our readers about that, about your music and how The Brotherhood rose from your creative vision?

Ken Valdez: You know, I’m from New Mexico, originally from Santa Fe, but spent a lot of time in Albuquerque, man, for sure. So, I’m really looking forward to being back. I get a chance to bring my big brother, as I call him, Kevin Burt. He’s going to be coming with me, and we have a show called The Brotherhood. The cool thing right now, the new development that is important to note right now, is about Kevin. Kevin just won a 2026 Blues Foundation Blues Music Award, which is like the highest award you can receive in the blues music community, outside of a Grammy. He won Acoustic Artist of the Year, which is massive!

What about guitarist Larry Mitchel; how does he figure into all of this?

Larry and I go back to New Mexico. That’s where Larry and I met, because he was living out in Santa Fe…and I was living in Santa Fe. We struck up a great friendship that has continued on to this day. Anyway, he saw that we were going to be in Albuquerque, and he was coming through. I thought, “What are the chances?”  Well, yeah, I told him, come on board. Let’s do this! So, we have a Grammy winner that’s going to be joining us, doing an opening set and then playing a little bit of guitar with us on stage with The Brotherhood. We got a brand new Blues Music Award winner who’s going to be on stage too, and then there’s little old me, who is doing everything he can to hold on!

I’m told you also have an amazing rhythm section!

Well, yeah! The rhythm section includes a brother named Denham McDermott, who originally is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, now residing in Nashville. Denham is a phenomenal, phenomenal musician. Originally, we met because of people that know Kevin (Burt). Denham’s father and Kevin used to play football together, college football. And they were going on to the pros. All these years later, there’s Denham, and he turns out to be a phenomenal musician! And he’s also an artist in his own right. He’s an incredible hip-hop artist who is really making waves with his own music. We’re lucky to have him with us. We have Eric Douglas on drums. Eric, his lineage is awesome; his father used to play guitar for Van Morrison for many, many years ago. Eric was inducted into the Iowa Music Association’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. He’s from Monticello, Iowa. He's been on recording after recording after recording and has toured the country over and then some. He’s just as rock solid as they come. They’re all great people. Denham, Eric, Larry, Kevin, you know, they’re just—they’re the salt of the earth, man. I’m just honored that I get to make a little bit of noise with them.

How did The Brotherhood come together?

It’s interesting because Kevin has his own thing. I have my own thing. He and I met about fifteen, sixteen years ago. But it was literally like we had known each other our whole lives when we connected. It’s that bond, that chemistry, that brotherhood that’s noticeable at our concerts. We bonded within moments. And that brotherhood has carried on to this day. The chemistry comes from the fact that we don’t come from the same walks of life or the same musical backgrounds or anything of the sort. We just respect what we do so much. We have the skill, if you will, the understanding, the ability to not just appreciate but to contribute to what the other is doing in such a unique way.

What about those differences?

I come from a blues-based, rock and roll, and funk kind of background, along with the fact that I’m from New Mexico, man. You can take me out of the 505, but you can’t take the 505 out of me! So I still got a lot of the Norteño in me. The fact that Kevin, who comes from a very blues, soul, and R&B background, can find his way into what it is that I’m doing and collaborate, as we call it, man, means we move air in a very unique way, right? That's what we do as musicians. People come out to hear us move air in a very unique way. When the two of us get together, the air around us is moved in an even more unique way. That creates something really special, whether it’s in the vocal harmonies, whether it’s in the songs, or through this tremendous rhythm section behind us.

How does the concept of brotherhood figure into your concerts?

There's a whole social undertone to everything [at the shows], where music is a healer. Music can heal. Music brings us together. It doesn’t matter who we vote for, what we think, what walk of life we’re coming from, what color we are, what we believe in. We’re there for the same reason. Sometimes we kind of tend to forget that we forgot what it’s like to like each other. These concerts are a good way to come together and realize, you know what, we might have a little bit more in common than we think. That’s a beautiful thing. That’s a big part of what this tour is all about as well. Just healing through music, that’s the idea.

The Brotherhood Featuring Kevin Burt and Ken Valdez with Larry Mitchell
Friday, May 15, 2026
7:30 PM - 10:30 PM (Doors at 6:30 PM)
FUSION | The Cell
700 1st Street NorthwestAlbuquerque, NM, 87102 

Tickets here.