HOMES & REALTY

Scott Stecken couldn’t help but wonder: Was Rhythms on the Rio going to be history?

The music festival, held annually along the banks of the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley since 2006, had grown from a one-day concert in the parking lot of the visitor center in South Fork to a three-day camping festival, attracting music lovers from across Colorado for the family-friendly atmosphere, affordable prices and idyllic mountain setting.

Then Covid happened, canceling the 2020 and 2021 festivals. Then the owner sold the land to build an RV park.

“We were very concerned. We didn’t really have a direction as far as another site,” says Stecken, president of the South Fork Music Association, founded in 2005 to use the festival’s revenue to help connect local children with music instructors and instruments. To date the organization has donated $25,000 to San Luis Valley schools for music programs.

“All of us on the board were not too sure what we were going to do and where we were going to go,” he says.

But there’s good news, music lovers. Rhythms on the Rio is back after 2 years, in a new location: Just outside the town of Del Norte.

A lifeline for the festival

Just across the river from the town sits a mostly vacant, wooded lot, 35 acres, home of a former sawmill.

Kathy Willschau’s family owns the land. When she heard festival organizers were struggling to find a new location, she offered up the land for the festival, free of charge.

“I think it’s going to be fantastic for Del Norte and the area,” she says. “It’s a great location for that.”

Ironically, she’s never been to the festival. “But this year I’m going to be there. I’m going to see this craziness go on.” She adds that she has no concerns about the impact of a couple thousand people on the property.

Says Stecken, “It’s a great property, heavily wooded and right on the river, so we get to keep the name.”

A sleepy hamlet

Del Norte, population 1,500, was once a sleepy one-stoplight hamlet, where drivers from Denver turned right to ski Wolf Creek 37 miles away, with few dining options or trails in the rattlesnake-infested hills around the town. It flourished in the 1880s but fell on hard times with the decline of mining in the nearby San Juan Mountains and the decline of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

Today it has a brewery, Three Barrel Brewing. The historic Windsor Hotel was saved from demolition and remodeled into an upscale staying or dining experience. Its rich network of trails has caught the attention of mountain bikers. A water park with swimming holes and a play wave was built on the Rio. Numerous new restaurants have popped up. It even has a health food store. There’s still only one stoplight.

The Wall Street Journal recently featured the town on its list of “mountain towns that promise a crowd-free summer.”

While the South Fork location was usually a self-contained event, Stecken expects concert attendees will spread out to visit local restaurants and attractions, such as the river water park and the nearby trail network. They’re encouraging it, delaying the start of music on Saturday so concert-goers can walk into town to enjoy the parade at Covered Wagon Days, another longtime event held the same weekend.

A smaller event

The new site is about 10 acres smaller than in South Fork, so the number of tickets with camping will be limited to 1,600. RV campsites sold out fast, though tickets for car and tent camping remain on sale. A three-day pass with camping is $160 per person, and children 15 and under are free. Tickets were still available at press time, though Stecken expects the concert will sell out.

A dozen musical acts have been announced, including headliner Railroad Earth, a Denver band known for jam-oriented bluegrass.

Asked why the festival remains so popular people will buy tickets without knowing who all the bands will be, Stecken says music lovers believe in the brand.

“Our festival is never going to be a festival where you walk in and start getting hit up by corporate sponsorships. Our goal is to put on great music at an affordable price for families and individuals to come and enjoy,” he says.

Plus, he says, “Our lineup is stacked. We could have potentially 10, 12 Grammy winners.”

Stecken hopes the festival will become an annual one in Del Norte, and that it will enhance the town’s profile and put it on Colorado’s musical map.

“Maybe people won’t see Del Norte as such a traveling-through town.”

The lineup is heavy on bluegrass acts, though Stecken expects more musical diversity as new acts are signed.

“Concerts are a place where nobody cares about anything accept what’s going on in front of them and that’s the music. Nobody cares about your political affiliation. Nobody cares about what clothes you have on. It’s just the music and I want to see that continue in the future. I want my kids to have that ability. We just want to keep music going.”

Other announced acts are the Bluegrass Generals, featuring Andy Hall and Chris Pandolfi of Infamous Stringdusters with a special guest to be announced; the Travelin’ McCourys; Hip Abduction; The Texas Gentlemen; Pixie & the Partygrass Boys; Laney Lou & the Bird Dogs; Cole Chaney; The Jauntee; Branjae; and The Smelter Mountain Boys.

Visit Rhythmsontherio.com for tickets and information.

BREAK-OUT BOX?

Rhythms on the Rio won’t be the only music festival in the San Luis Valley this summer.

The Seven Peaks Festival, launched near Buena Vista in 2018, was canceled for Covid in 2020, and promoter Live Nation canceled last year’s event after Chaffee County Commissioners wouldn’t raise the cap on attendance.

Organizers found officials in Saguache County more amenable. The county, which spans the north side of the San Luis Valley, approved a 20,000-person festival over Labor Day weekend. It will be near the town of Villa Grove, against the backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Country music stars Dierks Bentley, Morgan Wallen and Tracy Lawrence are among the many performers.

Tickets for the three-day festival start at $219, while camping passes start at $159. Visit Sevenpeaksfestival.com for more information.

TOUR MINDBENDING ART IN MOUNTAIN VILLAGE

BROOKE EINBENDER DISPLAYS A VIBRANT NEW WAY TO EXPERIENCE ART IN A SPECTACULAR SETTING

1The Town of Mountain Village unveiled its first-ever phygital (physical + digital) public art installation in the Town of Mountain Village as part of the local Art + Architecture event, a program of Telluride Arts this August.

Fine artist, Brooke Einbender, a.k.a. “Mindbender Art,” is the visionary behind The Unknown Zone, a public art and NFT project featuring large-scale installations of reclaimed doors layered with cutting-edge tech and interactive experiences.

Shelter Magazine in Telluride recently praised her, “Fresh off Art Basel, TEDxVail, and an artist residency in Ophir, Einbender is Telluride’s ‘It Artist’ for all things digital: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, NFTs, projection mapping, video…”

The installation features ten reclaimed doors, sourced from the local Telluride community, each reimagined into stunning double-sided works of fine art. Every door is hand-painted and embellished with intricate designs of reclaimed materials. The back of each door features an excerpt from a collection of original poems written by artist and sound healer, Clare Hedin.

Each The Unknown Zone: Telluride’s door collections physical door in the installation has a “digital twin” 3D model minted as an NFT. These digital fine art assets are accompanied by an edition of 333 NFT Cosmic Door Keys. Like a raffle, one of these NFT Keys unlocks a highly imaginative and valuable NFT Mystery Door. NFT Key and Door holders receive exclusive access to The Unknown Zone’s virtual world of portals, a multi-sensory experience, accessible by computer or Virtual Reality headset, featuring Einbender’s digital art accompanied by Hedin’s original soundscapes and poems.

The Unknown Zone: Telluride public art installation is installed along Mountain Village Boulevard Trail, a 2.5 mile trail beginning at Mountain Village Blvd and; HWY 145 and ending in Mountain Village’s Plaza core. Two doors will be placed in front of Black Iron at The Madeline Hotel and near Reflection Plaza. Each door is fitted with a custom steel frame fabricated by Telluride artist, Chris Robison.

“The work that Brooke is doing is exploring new territory for the future of public and digital art in Telluride, Mountain Village and beyond… she is leaving a legacy,” said Ann Barker, Director, Telluride Art + Architecture.

The Unknown Zone public art installation is made possible by the support of Telluride’s prestigious Art + Architecture Week that was held in July and is supported by the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association (TMVOA). The installation will be on view from July 12-September 30, 2022 in Mountain Village.

To learn more about Einbender and this groundbreaking project, The Unknown Zone, visit mindbender-art. com or follow @mindbender.art on Instagram and@mindbender_art on Twitter.

Step into Brooke Einbender’s augmented reality and immersive experiences at this event or through her website, they are incredible and a whole new way to experience art. Visit: www.theunknownzone.com

www.mountaintownmagazine.com | ISSUE 36 2022 39