The Strater Experience wouldn't be complete without some time spent listening to the talented Ragtime Pianists of the Diamond Belle. One time an artist in residence paid his hotel bill with 2 oil paintings. One of the paintings sits above the piano and depicts Evelyn, who was one of the early Saloon Girls. Ragtime happens all summer Monday through Saturday starting at 5:30 PM. You will be so entertained that you will want to order 2 dinners. So come belly up to the bar with a cocktail or ice cold beer and order one of our hunger quenching appetizers. The Belle offers nightly dinner specials, so grab a table and treat your sweetheart or a good friend to some Old West grub.

Adam Swanson is one of the world’s foremost performers of vintage American popular music, including ragtime, early jazz, the Great American Songbook, and more. He holds a bachelor’s in classical piano and a master’s in musicology from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Although he is only twenty-seven years old, Adam has been a featured performer and lecturer at ragtime and jazz festivals across the United States, and he is the only four-time winner of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. He made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall at the age of nineteen, where he performed with Michael Feinstein. Adam has performed at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as in Hungary, Switzerland, and Australia. He has worked with such musicians as Toronto’s John Arpin, former rock star Ian Whitcomb, and legendary 1950s recording artist Johnny Maddox, who was one of Adam’s greatest influences. Adam frequently performs at the historic Strater Hotel where he makes his home in Durango, Colorado