Can you feel it? There’s bluegrass electricity in the air! After a deep winter and wet spring, the ancient tones lying deep within the sandstone cliffs of the St. Vrain are being awakened by banjos. Powered by the high lonesome sound of fiddle and mandolin, the Planet Bluegrass Ranch is once again alive with the energy of 4,000 Festivarians eager to pick, dance, sing, and share in RockyGrass traditions. We’re proud to welcome back legends Larry Sparks, Del McCoury, and Peter Rowan, along with the breadth of musical possibilities inspired by Bill Monroe’s maverick music: from old-time to chambergrass to newgrass. This year, the RockyGrass map grows a little larger with new bands from Argentina (Che Apalache), Canada (Lonesome Ace Stringband), and China (Tom Peng Newgrass Band). We encourage you to begin your day with free yoga classes inside the festival grounds. On your way to the contests and workshops in the Wildflower Pavilion, fill your bottle with free filtered water, charge your phone at the Sunsense Solar booth, and visit the kids area—with arts & crafts and an instrument petting zoo. You’ll find more ways to fill your vintage reusable cup than ever before: from Avery’s afternoon beer tastings and special Saturday tapping, to Stem Cider, eco-friendly wines, and local artisanal cocktails. For your Festivarian family
who are raising a cup elsewhere, KGNU Community Radio is again broadcasting the festival live—for their 12th consecutive year! Find a spot on an empty tarp up front. Drink lots of water. Fill the campground with mandolin chops, G-runs, and laughter. Use sunscreen. And cherish our time together in this loving community of RockyGrass Festivarians. We’re so glad you’re here.
Shine On! planet bluegrass
Festival Partners
july 26th through 28th • 1
Once placed on, wristbands are nonrefundable and non-transferable. If you remove, tear, damage, or lose your wristband, we will not replace it.
Feel free to sit on any open tarp (especially up front) until its owners return.
Please use only low-backed chairs in designated areas. If we can roll a basketball under your chair, we will ask you to move it behind the sound booth. Umbrellas, shade tents, and other view-obstructing items are allowed only along the river & back perimeter.
Climbing the hillsides or cliffs is strictly prohibited.
Please be respectful of others—do not stand in the Festival seating areas.
There is no lifeguard watching your kids in the river. Please monitor your children carefully.
No dogs are allowed at the Festival, in the campground, or in the parking lots. If you leave your dog in your car, we will call Animal Control to safely remove your dog from the car.
Please do not smoke in the audience. Wander over to the smoking tent near the river, and deposit your butts in the proper receptacles.
Lost and found is located at the Festival box office.
Tarp Line Policy
Festivarians may begin assembling for the next day’s line numbers no earlier than 11pm. At around midnight, the number line will be led through the customs gate, where we will distribute random numbers and mark wristbands to show receipt of a number. These numbers will be shuffled randomly; each person may receive no more than 1 number. The next morning, Festivarians should re-assemble in linenumber order beginning one hour before gates. Festivarians will be admitted into the Festival in this randomly-assigned order, followed by all Festivarians without line numbers.
Vintage Performance TM
Modern Reliability
Handcrafted in the USA by Beard Guitars. Hagerstown, MD Beardguitars.com 301-733-8271
2 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
With your help, the Planet Bluegrass festivals strive to be models of Sustainable Festivation, from carbon offsets to free local water to becoming a Certified B Corporation™. Here are a few areas we’re focusing on in 2019.
waste stream
All offerings from our food vendors must be either reusable, compostable, or recyclable. So for the past 8 years, we have removed landfill containers inside the festival grounds in an effort to raise awareness of the landfill items brought in by Festivarians. Historically, our landfill diversion rate has averaged 65%. Since one-third of the festivarians camp, our campgrounds continue to be an area of focus. This summer we are working with students from the Masters of the Environment (MENV) Graduate Program at the University of Colorado Boulder to conduct a thorough waste audit to better understand campground waste. The power is in your hands, Festivarians. Let’s bring our collective attention to avoiding single-use items and make reusable cups, bottles, plates, and utensils our Festivarian Toolkit of choice.
carbon footprint
Since 2007, Planet Bluegrass has been neutralizing the festival’s travel and energy emissions by investing in carbon reduction projects. Thanks to our 16-year partnership with Renewable Choice Energy (now Schneider Electric), Planet Bluegrass has offset 29,990 metric tons of carbon and purchased 5,402 megawatt hours of renewable electricity. That’s the equivalent of not burning 33 million pounds of coal or taking 6,367 vehicles off the road for an entire year! This year we again partnered with Pinhead Climate Institute to purchase Colorado-based agricultural carbon offsets generated by the May Ranch, a 16,480-acre parcel of Colorado shortgrass prairie. Through this “regenerative agriculture” project, the May family is paid to leave its soil forever intact and untilled, where it can remove planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, store it, and help address global climate change.
our community
In 2018, we donated more than 1,200 pounds of leftover food (from vendors and catering at our Telluride and Lyons festivals) to local organizations assisting those in need. Each year, your generous tips at the beverage booth help fund local organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Lyons Community Foundation, Lyons Fire Protection District, and the Lyons Regional Library District Foundation. Thank you, Festivarians!
4 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
Relax and enjoy the sound!
GOODTIME AMERICANA BANJO Old Old Time Time Tone Tone With With AA 12” 12” Rim rim
deeringbanjos.com/americana
info@deeringbanjos.com
(800) 845-7791
In 2016, Planet Bluegrass began replacing singleuse compostable plates with sturdy reusable ones made from a sustainable mixture of bamboo, sugarcane, and corn. Thanks to a variance from the State of Colorado, our Lyons festivals are the first and only special events in the state to offer a Reusable Plate Program for all our food vendors— all at no additional cost to Festivarians! In the program’s first 3 years, we diverted over 74,000 plates from the waste stream. With last year’s introduction of 6,000 stainless steel forks and spoons, we were able to divert more than 17,500 single-use utensils. This year, with assistance from Boulder County’s 2019 Zero Waste Funding Program, we are adding additional plate inventory and a second dishwasher to keep up with demand (and your love of Sisters’ Dumplings!).
This program is a collective effort; it absolutely cannot succeed without your help. Please remember to return all plates and utensils to the “Plates” bin at the waste stations, never take plates or utensils outside the festival grounds, and remind your fellow Festivarians to do the same! This program is the only one of its kind, as it is completely free to all Festivarians. Let’s work together to make sure it can stay that way!
Want to start a reusables program at your event? Check out our instructional handbook and plate program video at bluegrass.com/rpphandbook. Or reach out to us with specific questions at the Sustainable Festivation booth or email green@bluegrass.com.
6 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
Have fun out there, festivarians...
We’re here when you need us.
A harmonic ensemble of 80+ primary care and specialty providers. Serving Boulder County and beyond in 5 locations. Meet our new doctors:
John Kelley, MD Family Medicine
Long Huynh, MD OBGYN
Paula Mendes, MD Neurology
Katie McCormack, MD Allergy
James Gottlieb, MD Pediatrics
Helen Rho, MD Internal Medicine
Megan Adamson, MD Urgent Care
Stephen Siegel, MD Urology
Boulder Medical Center Visit us at bouldermedicalcenter.com/pbg
Blending Old World tradition with creativity and boldness, our friends at Avery are excited to share these Colorado ales and lagers. Drink up!
Beer Selections festival lager 5.0% ABV
avery ipa 6.5% ABV
Daily Beer Tastings at the Avery Booth Friday Cucumber Sour Vanilla Bean Stout
white rascal
from Noon-2pm: Saturday Sunday Lilikoi Kepolo Double Digit IPA Bug Zapper Raspberry Sour
5.6% ABV
Cider & Cocktails
grapefruit shandy
real dry
4.7% ABV Special Saturday Tapping:
New this year, we enter into the world of gluten-free, craft ciders with Colorado’s own Stem Ciders. 6.8% ABV
hazyish ipa 7.0% ABV
rosé
5.5% ABV
Special Saturday Tapping:
banjo
6.9% ABV
Also enjoy our Colorado-inspired selection of eco-friendly Yoonit Wines, Bloody Marys, Citrus Tonic or Ginger Lime Shrub with Lyons’ own Spirit Hound Gin or Vodka, and Coyote Gold All Natural Margaritas.
Thomas Verdot Violin Maker and
Dealer featuring
573-443-5011 www.verdotviolins.com
8 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
Affordable European instruments for the working musician
Filled with humor, warmth, and insight, award-winning British journalist Emma John’s Wayfaring Stranger: A Musical Journey in the American South is one of our favorite bluegrass books of the year—and not just because she devotes an entire chapter to RockyGrass, including the following tubing story... I had borrowed a giant inflatable ring from my friend’s ten-year-old son, determined that this was the place to make my maiden voyage. ‘Make sure you go with someone,’ he had told me. I thanked him for the tip, then ignored it. I was an adult, after all. I picked a secluded spot upstream for my launch; I wasn’t quite sure how this was going to go down, and I didn’t want the indignity of onlookers. [...] Dropping into my giant doughnut was a relief. For approximately ten seconds. That was how long it took for me to realise that the current that had looked like kindergarten fun from a distance was, at least to my untutored helmsmanship, a seething torrent. My tube was picking up speed in compound time. I careered towards the unyielding cliff face, bounced off, and headed back towards the shallow bank, where my butt scraped along its jagged bottom. Thus I pinballed, between literal rocks and a hard place, for the remainder of my terrifying, mortifying ride. I whizzed past strangers who, seeing my tortured facial expressions, shouted advice from on land. ‘Lean back!’ they said ’Steer with your hands!’ One guy stuck out an arm in an offer to haul me in. I got nowhere near him. The sandy beach, my planned exit point, sped past without pity.
I had no idea what was further down the river, and I didn’t care to find out. I had been in a state of rigidity since I hit the water, entirely preoccupied by the thought of how I was going to stop. Now my mind panicked that I might find myself borne along all the way to Nebraska. I could be careering towards a waterfall, like Annie Edison Taylor in her airtight barrel. The thought jolted me from paralysis. I made a supreme effort, and flopped myself out of my tube like a live fish ejecting itself from a frying pan. It took me some time to drag myself and my vessel back to the shore against the cold current. A couple of little kids floated past me in a state of serenity. The barefoot journey back to my towel and clothes – through the thorny fringes of some woods, and up the long gravel road through the campgrounds – took longer than I’d been in the water. The campsite was a hipster’s hippie Narnia: not an RV in sight, but plenty of Airstreams and campervans and the general atmosphere of a circus. I passed a jam that a shirtless ponytailed man was accompanying by spinning poi balls. [...] A guy in a sequinned silver cape wandered by and nodded a greeting. Dry and dressed and heavily chastened, I ran across Pete [Wernick] again. He was with his bandmate, Tim, and it took a moment before I recognised Tim from the thirty-year-old video clip that I’d watched at Pete’s music camp: the mandolinplaying Napoleon Dynamite. He was quieter than Pete, but with eyes that suggested buried reserves of unspoken thought. I told them about my nightmare river cruise, and vowed never to go tubing again without a mentor, preferably a ten-year-old. Tim gazed at me the way a tribal elder might ponder a distant flock of birds. ‘You went alone?’ he asked. ‘Oh no, you gotta go with someone.’
Wayfaring Stranger is available at the RockyGrass Country Store. Excerpt from Wayfaring Stranger copyright © Emma John, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
10 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
12th Annual With more than 2,000 campers in Lyons this weekend (doubling the size of our town!), it’s critical that each of us is mindful of our camping footprint. In collaboration with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and Eco-Products (suppliers of free compostable bags for your campground compost), we will again be rewarding campsites that excel in creative, sustainable camping.
To nominate your campsite or one of your neighbors:
1. Submit an entry form at the Leave No Trace booth, explaining how the campsite exhibits cleanliness, sustainability, and creativity.
2. Stop by the Leave No Trace booth each day to view the campsite entries & vote for your favorites.
Each day we select 2 winners—one random, one staff choice—for prize packages that include: Avery beer, Klean Kanteen reusables, and Planet Bluegrass merch. After the pack-out on Monday we will select grand prize winners to receive a pair of 3-day passes and camping for the 2020 RockyGrass.
Congrats to 2018 winners: Mr. Pink Camp
Delicious tacos & Mexican food
7 salsas made daily in house, creative tacos, enchiladas, refreshing craft margs, ceviche, great tequila and mezcal selection, and more!
12 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
Since the first Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival, the band and instrument contests have been a beloved part of the Festival experience. Past finalists have included Mark O’Connor (1974), Tim O’Brien (1975), Jacob Jolliff (2007), and band winners Steep Canyon Rangers (2001), Front Country (2012), and The Bow Ties (2018). Discover the next generation of musicians as they vie for new instruments and spots on the main stage.
Instrument Competitions Each instrument contestant performs 2 tunes in the preliminary round. The top 3 on each instrument advance to the final round where they perform 2 different tunes. Musicians are judged “in the blind” using the following criteria:
prizes
1st Prize: Instrument 2nd Prize: $100 3rd Prize: $50
1st Prize: San Juan Mandolins F-5 Prelims: Friday, 2:30pm, Wildflower Finals: Saturday, 10:00am, Main Stage
fiddle
flatpick guitar
dobro
1st Prize: Preston Thompson D-MA Guitar Prelims: Friday, 1:00pm, Wildflower Finals: Saturday, 10:15am, Main Stage
25% RHYTHM 25% TONE
mandolin
banjo
1st Prize: Deering John Hartford Banjo Prelims: Friday, 11:30am, Wildflower Finals: Saturday, 10:30am, Main Stage
50% OVERALL ABILITY
(difficulty, expression, execution)
1st Prize: Thomas Verdot Paragon Fiddle Prelims: Friday, 4:00pm, Wildflower Finals: Saturday, 9:45am, Main Stage 1st Prize: Paul Beard Deco Phonic Model 57 Prelims: Friday, 5:30pm, Wildflower Finals: Saturday, 9:30am, Main Stage
Band Competition
Cheer on these inspiring young bands from around the country as they gather around a single microphone to compete for a spot on the 2020 RockyGrass lineup.
schedule
Prelims: Saturday, 1:30pm, Wildflower Finals: Sunday, 1:30pm, Wildflower
band competition prizes 1st Prize: $750, strings & 2020 RockyGrass main stage performance 2nd Prize: $500 & strings 3rd Prize: $300 & strings
2018 band contest winners The Bow Ties
2019 contest bands 300 Days Black Hawk, CO
Bobby Dazzler Denver, CO
Never Come Down Portland, OR
Pick & Howl Arvada, CO
Scott Slay & the Rail Centennial, CO
Avenhart Denver, CO
IndyCrew Spencer, IN
North Country Blue Northern California
Red Dog Ash Turlock, CA
Steel Betty Austin, TX
14 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
Trouble Town San Francisco, CA
Sam Bush Band • Mandolin Orange • Meadow Mountain • Hot Rize • Wood & Wire The Earls of Leicester • Becky Buller • Crooked Jades • Grateful Dead • Wood Belly Andy Thorn • Keller Williams • Lonesome Days • Rapidgrass • Ben Winship Molsky’s Mountain Drifters • Alan Munde & Billy Bright • Tenth Mountain Division Yonder Mountain String Band • Railsplitters • Jamestown Revival • Head for the Hills Chain Station • Billy Strings • Jeff Austin • Stillhouse Junkies • T Michael Coleman Tyler Grant & Robin Kessinger • FY5 • Smithsonian Folkways • Rebel Records
Thanks, Pickers!
Head for the Hills • Allison deGroot & Tatiana Hargreaves • Mile Twelve • John Lowell Trout Steak Revival • 300 Days • Honey Dewdrops • Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger
Mastering all shades of Bluegrass for 37 years Dock Boggs • Ralph Stanley • Pete Seeger • Herschel Sizemore • Mike Seeger “The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records” • “The Anthology of American Folk Music”
To book a session, contact: studio@airshowmastering.com 303-247-9035 www.airshowmastering.com DAVID GLASSER / ANNA FRICK
july 26th through 28th • 15
main stage schedule friday
july 26
th
saturday
july 27
th
sunday
july 28th
10:00am Gates Open
9:00am Gates Open
10:00am Gates Open
11:00 - Noon The Bow Ties
9:30 - 11:15 Instrument Contests
12:15 - 1:30 Lonesome Ace Stringband
11:30 - 12:30 Che Apalache
10:45 - 11:45 Nick Forster’s Hippy Bluegrass Church
1:45 - 3:00 The Barefoot Movement 3:30 - 4:45 Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen 5:15 - 6:30 Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall & George Meyer 7:00 - 8:30 The Earls of Leicester featuring Jerry Douglas
9:00 - 10:30 Soggy Bottom Boys
free yoga
12:45 - 1:45 The Jacob Jolliff Band 2:00 - 3:15 The Tim O’Brien Band 3:45 - 5:00 Kruger Brothers 5:30 - 6:45 Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers 7:15 - 8:30 I’m With Her:
Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz & Aoife O’Donovan
9:00 - 10:30 Sam Bush Bluegrass Band 7:30am
Fri, Sat & Sun
16 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
Noon - 1:00 Hawktail 1:30 - 2:45 Peter Rowan’s Carter Stanley’s Eyes 3:00 - 4:15 Noam Pikelny & Stuart Duncan 4:45 - 6:00 Rhonda Vincent & The Rage 6:30 - 8:00 The Del McCoury Band 8:30 - 10:00 Punch Brothers
Play & Sing Bluegrass
Inside the festival
friday
july 26
th
11:30am Banjo Contest: Preliminary Round 1:00pm Flatpick Guitar Contest: Preliminary Round 2:30pm Mandolin Contest: Preliminary Round 4:00pm Fiddle Contest: Preliminary Round 5:30pm Dobro Contest: Preliminary Round
saturday
july 27
th
12:15pm Tom Peng Newgrass Band: Bluegrass in China 1:30pm Band Contest: Preliminary Round 3:30pm Lonesome Ace Stringband: Music of John Hartford 5:00pm The Jacob Jolliff Band
sunday
july 28th 12:15pm Boulder Valley Waldorf School Strings 1:30pm Band Contest: Final Round 2:45pm Frank Solivan & Friends 4:15pm Pete & Joan Wernick with Kevin Slick: Basic Bluegrass Jamming Bring your instrument! Easy chords & slow tempos
july 26th through 28th • 17
OCTOBER 35 , 2019 Colorado Convention Center | Denver, CO
tickets on sale
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RockyGrass
2019
THE BOW TIES Friday 11:00-Noon
LONESOME ACE STRINGBAND Friday 12:15-1:30
THE BAREFOOT MOVEMENT Friday 1:45-3:00
Says The Bow Ties leader Yoseff Tucker: “Rockygrass is the most prestigious band contest for our style of music.” What a style of music it is: voracious bluegrass pickin’ dedicated to the precision playing and aggressive spirit of the original masters. Since 2014, the San Francisco quintet of Yoseff (5-time Northern California Bluegrass Association’s Guitarist of the Year!), Billy Moore (banjo), Jan Purat (fiddle), Andrew Powers March (mandolin),
and Zach Sharpe (bass) have been earning California bluegrass cred with a monthly residency at the redlit Mission District club Amnesia and their Sally Van Meter-produced CD Old Morphine. Last July they delivered two rowdy contest sets in Lyons, emerging with the RockyGrass band contest blue ribbon. This morning we open the 47th RockyGrass with dust in the dance section and 60 minutes of no-nonsense, all-drive, capital-B bluegrass.
Three Canadians lost in the weird and wonderful traditional music of the American South, Lonesome Ace Stringband is an old-time band with bluegrass chops that play righteous folk and country. For 7 years as the house band at Toronto’s legendary Dakota Tavern, the trio played 10 sets of music every weekend. This workaday approach allowed for a looseness and intuition that can only come from experienced musicians clocking hundreds of on-stage hours together.
Featuring 3 compelling lead singers, Chris Coole (clawhammer banjo), John Showman (the first foreign-born musician to win the Clifftop fiddle contest) and Max Heineman (bass), LAS shift vocal textures to suit the song, from fragility to unshakable 3-part harmony. With 2018’s brilliant When the Sun Comes Up, the trio continue to take their sound to new places, a progressive interpretation of old-time music ideally tuned to this RockyGrass Friday afternoon.
Take off your flip flops, Festivarians... Noah Wall (fiddle) and Tommy Norris (mandolin) met in high school, brought together by musical chemistry and mutual ambition. With the addition of Alex Conerly (guitar) and Katie Blomarz (bass), the Barefoot sound was complete: lush harmonies, thoughtful instrumentation, and memorable melodies. It’s now been 8 years since the Nashville-based quartet took off their shoes and took to the stage, and the bluegrass world has taken notice:
IBMA Momentum Award for Band of the Year, worldwide touring (including an embassy tour of Africa!), and critical acclaim (CMT Edge calls them “one of the most promising bands on the bluegrass scene”). The Barefooters combine charming original songs, emotional ballads and rip-roaring barn-burners, all delivered with creative arrangements and approachable virtuosity. Whether on tarps or in the river, barefoot is better; let’s join the movement!
20 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
2019 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
SOLD OUT
TICKETS ON SALE NOW! c h a u ta u q u a . co m
RockyGrass
2019
FRANK SOLIVAN & DIRTY KITCHEN Friday 3:30-4:45
EDGAR MEYER, MIKE MARSHALL & GEORGE MEYER Friday 5:15-6:30
THE EARLS OF LEICESTER FEATURING JERRY DOUGLAS
Friday 7:00-8:30
There’s a lot of heat invoked by Frank Solivan: The fiery pickin’ of the Washington, D.C. via Alaska mandolinist and bandleader; The simmering virtuosity of his 2-time IBMA Instrumental Group of The Year—Mike Munford (2013 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year), awardwinning guitarist Chris Luquette, and bassist Jeremy Middleton; Even the title of their innovative new album If You Can’t Stand the Heat (debuting at #3 on the Billboard bluegrass charts!).
On this Friday afternoon, FSDK return for their 4th RockyGrass appearance to cook up a 21st century allgrass stew featuring from-the-heart songwriting, deep understanding of tradition, soulfully soaring vocals, jazz-inspired jams, and maybe even a Steely Dan tune to further stoke the flames. If you can’t stand the heat, Festivarians, dip your limbs in the cooling St. Vrain River, for the Dirty Kitchen is about to ignite a bluegrass fire on the RockyGrass stage.
“George grew up with Mike rehearsing in the house,” says Edgar, “and George would always play along a little bit.” Sounds like we’re in for a casual front porch pick with old friends—except that these friends are 3 of the most meticulous and visionary virtuosos in acoustic music. A MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient, bassist Edgar Meyer has been hailed by The New Yorker as “the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument.” Mandolinist Mike
Marshall has been at the forefront of New Acoustic music for over 40 years, as a member of the David Grisman Quintet and founder of Psychograss and Modern Mandolin Quartet. Violinist George Meyer is a graduate of Juilliard who has premiered original works at chamber festivals around the country. This evening the 3 old friends dig into their ever-growing repertoire, including their landmark collaborations Uncommon Ritual and Short Trip Home.
Jerry Douglas remembers the Earls’ first rehearsal: “I had to stop the band in the middle of the first song, because I was scared to keep going. It felt like Flatt and Scruggs were going to jump right out of the wall!” Inspired by their lifelong passion for the Foggy Mountain Boys, guitarist Shawn Camp (Lester), banjoist Charlie Cushman (Earl), fiddler Johnny Warren (son of original fiddler Paul Warren), Jerry (Uncle Josh), mandolinist Jeff White (Curly),
and bassist Barry Bales (Cousin Jake) bring this music into the present, naturally embodying their roles with personality and joy. Originally formed for the 2013 RockyGrass, the Earls have become one of bluegrass’s most beloved bands—earning a Grammy and 3 IBMA Entertainer of the Year awards. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs each played this Festival twice, but this fourth appearance by the Earls is the vintage Foggy Mountain Boys, grooving like we’ve never felt before.
22 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
RockyGrass
2019
SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS Friday 9:00-10:30
CHE APALACHE Saturday 11:30-12:30
THE JACOB JOLLIFF BAND Friday Saturday 11:00 - Noon 12:45-1:45
In the roots music world, Y2K is better known as the year of O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Coen Brothers crime-comedy about 3 escaped convicts in the 1930’s Deep South created a sensation for old-time and bluegrass music, forever altering the Americana music landscape. At the heart of the film is the fictional Soggy Bottom Boys and their runaway hit “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Tonight we welcome the all-star musicians who performed the actual music
on-screen, a mash-up of Union Station and Nashville Bluegrass Band: Dan Tyminski (guitar), Pat Enright (guitar), Mike Compton (mandolin), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Ron Block (banjo), and Barry Bales (bass). It’s a Friday night throwdown with some of our alltime favorite musicians, performing songs from that legendary soundtrack (8+ million copies sold!) in the spirit of Dapper Dan, fake-beard wearin’, pre-bluegrass old-timey-ness— mixaphorically speakin’!
Joe Troop was raised in the North Carolina Piedmont, coming of age to the sound of all-night festival jams. But being a young, queer man in the South, he eventually felt unwelcome in his own home region. So Joe took refuge abroad, carrying his fiddle with him to Spain, Morocco, Japan. In 2010 he immigrated to Argentina, fostering a bluegrass scene which eventually led to Che Apalache: Franco Martino (guitar) and Martin Bobrik (mandolin) from Argentina, and Pau
Barjau (banjo) from Mexico. Together with Joe, the quartet bridge the gap between North and South America, creating a vision of a truly “American” music. Béla Fleck felt so inspired, he offered to produce their striking new album Rearrange My Heart. Returning to the US after 10 years abroad, Che Apalache’s mission is to subvert the narrative from within. “We’re reeling people in with music they understand,” explains Joe, “but then we give them a twist.”
At age 7, Jacob Jolliff’s dad gave him a mandolin. After a few months of practice, something clicked; and the little eight-string magic maker hasn’t left his hands since: From teenage years pickin’ and singin’ with his father’s band, to a full scholarship to Berklee, to winning the 2011 RockyGrass mandolin contest, to numerous Planet Bluegrass sets as a member of Yonder Mountain String Band and Joy Kills Sorrow. In fall 2015, Jacob summoned a few
of the most distinctive musicians of his generation—Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), Stash Wyslouch (guitar) and Jeff Picker (bass)—to his mandolin laboratory in Brooklyn. The result is a fascinating progressive ensemble pushing deep bluegrass roots into nuanced improvisation and full-on shredding. Though their impressive debut CD is titled Instrumentals, Vol. 1, expect Jacob and Stash to share vocal harmonies as The JJB make their highly anticipated RockyGrass debut.
24 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
2 ND ANNUAL
Fo l k / A m e r i c a n a
Music Festival Sept 6-8 , 2019
Featuring
Judy Collins
Martin Sexton Richard Shindell Hubby Jenkins Tracy Grammer The Accidentals Max Gomez Lula Wiles May Erlewine Erin Costelo and 2 more TBA
Festival Pass: $140 Single Venue: $45 MoabFolkFestival.com
Bonnie
& Taylor
Sims
Michael Kirkpatrick & the
Honey Rider Band Justin Roth And
Antonio Lopez Band Highland Ramblers Ten Dollar Pony john Bunzli Band Tyler T & Sasha Stone Silent J and the Whispers Caitlin Cannon • David Coi le Kate Farmer • Steve Murray Tim Ostdiek • Alex Rhodes Shanna in a Dress John Spengler • Bob Wood
Parrish Ranch
5 mi. NE of Lyons, CO
On-site camping Workshops • Open Stage Songwriting Contest CaseyJonesMusicFest.com
july 26th through 28th • 25
RockyGrass
2019
THE TIM O’BRIEN BAND Saturday 2:00-3:15
KRUGER BROTHERS Saturday 3:45-5:00
LARRY SPARKS & THE LONESOME RAMBLERS Saturday 5:30-6:45
Through his 18 RockyGrass sets with Hot Rize (the official “host band” during the ‘80s) and more than 20 leading other projects, no artist has done more to define the traditional-yet-progressive sound of Rocky Mountain Bluegrass than Tim O’Brien. A native of Wheeling, WV, Tim landed in Colorado in 1974, where he began to follow his muse into a life of music—writing songs, mastering everything with strings, relentlessly touring the world. Beyond
his Grammy-winning catalog of 16 solo albums (including the returnto-guitar roots of 2019’s bluegrassy Tim O’Brien Band) Tim’s songs have been chart-toppers for the likes of Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks, and the Dixie Chicks. This Saturday afternoon Tim is joined by Shad Cobb (fiddle), Patrick Sauber (banjo), Mike Bub (bass), and Jan Fabricius (vocals) for his annual RockyGrass homecoming. Find a spot on your tarp, Tim O’ is about to take the stage!
“You have to play your music. Play it clean, play it powerful, play it with commitment.” Such was Bill Monroe’s advice for Swiss-born banjo virtuoso Jens Kruger. After years spent mastering bluegrass music while busking around Europe with his brother Uwe (“Oo’-vay”), Jens began the discovery of his own music: a natural fusion of American bluegrass and European classical—”Bach is pretty much our folk music, you know?” Led by Uwe’s guitar and baritone voice,
Jens’ remarkable banjo (recipient of the 2013 Steve Martin Prize), and Joel Landsberg’s bass, the trio create glorious music, inspired by the romance of the American landscape. Says Jens: “The world is divided between those who invent another world, and those who want to just recreate the world that is already there.” The Kruger Brothers invite us to visit their magical world this RockyGrass Saturday afternoon; your musical world may never be the same.
When Alison Krauss opened her 2015 IBMA Hall of Fame induction speech— “Larry Sparks’ genius is undeniable” —she spoke for a devoted fanbase who celebrate the 71-year-old as one of bluegrass music’s most influential and original artists, both as a gutwrenchingly soulful singer (“The Elvis of Bluegrass”) and an innovative guitar stylist with an unsurpassed ear for a song. Raised in Ohio and Indiana, Larry hit the road as the lead guitarist for the Stanley Brothers at
age 16. After a 6-year stint singing lead vocals for Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys, Larry made his solo recording debut in 1969. Now 50 years into his career as “the youngest of the old-timers,” Larry has created a body of work that stands alongside the first-generation greats. Making just his third RockyGrass appearance, Larry is joined today by Mike Feagan (fiddle), Evan Wilson (mandolin), Jacob Wright (banjo), and Mike Bub (bass).
26 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
RockyGrass
2019
I’M WITH HER: SARA WATKINS, SARAH JAROSZ & AOIFE O’DONOVAN
Saturday 7:15-8:30
SAM BUSH BLUEGRASS BAND Saturday 9:00-10:30
NICK FORSTER’S HIPPY BLUEGRASS CHURCH Sunday 10:45-11:45
I’m With Her is a band rooted in a rare alchemy: 3 songwriters revealing new possibilities in each other’s distinct and deep-seated talents. Since first singing together at a 2014 Telluride Bluegrass workshop, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan recognized an instant chemistry. When I’m With Her debuted at RockyGrass in 2015, they were a beautiful experiment, tastefully discovering their vocal blend on thoughtfully arranged songs from their individual
catalogs. But today, on the heels of a year of touring and their universally acclaimed 2018 debut See You Around, I’m With Her are a bona fide supergroup. Their superpowers burrow deep into every song: sharply detailed lyricism, graceful musicianship, and—perhaps most powerfully—mesmerizing harmonies. Says NPR, “They know how to gather round a microphone and sing directly from their heart to yours. Purity is the brilliance behind I’m With Her.”
“When it comes to the world of bluegrass, it’s such an open field now,” says the legendary mandolin (and fiddle) prodigy from Bowling Green, Kentucky. “That’s the way I like it: open.” As the co-founder of seminal progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, an in-demand collaborator with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Lyle Lovett, and solo bandleader with 8 albums to his credit, Sam Bush is the big mon of 21st century ‘grass. His pocketdefining chop, shimmering full-arm
tremolo, and cascading single-note improvisations incorporate all that came before—with an ear toward what is yet to come. On this Saturday night, Dr. Sam Bush (2019 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Western Kentucky University!) and his band— Scott Vestal (banjo), Stephen Mougin (guitar), Todd Parks (bass), and Chris Brown (percussion)—open up the bluegrass songbook to celebrate RockyGrass’s ancient tones and future grooves.
From the intimate eTown Hall to Nick. “People have always sought the larger Boulder Theater to the out community and joined in song.” RockyGrass main stage, Hippy Though Nick is an ordained reverend Bluegrass Church has struck a (he officiated the ceremonial union deep chord of community. After 40 of iconic musicians Lou Reed and years in Hot Rize and almost 30 Laurie Anderson), community singing years as the host and producer of reigns supreme this Sunday morning. eTown, Nick Forster was inspired by Festivarians, raise your voices with Pete Seeger’s famous sing-alongs this all-star band—Justin Hoffenberg, to celebrate, reflect and praise the Jordan Ramsey, Dusty Rider, Eric Thorin, subtle joys of the everyday. “There’s Madelyn Woodley, Helen Forster, KC no obvious precedent for something Groves—for a Sunday morning of guiltlike this, but it’s also ancient,” said free Colorado gospel on the St. Vrain.
28 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
RockyGrass
2019
HAWKTAIL Sunday Noon-1:00
PETER ROWAN’S CARTER STANLEY’S EYES Sunday 1:30-2:45
NOAM PIKELNY & STUART DUNCAN Sunday 3:00-4:15
After the healing gospel hootenanny, we invite you to recline into your tarp for a set of subtle instrumental virtuosity. No Depression called Hawktail their favorite set of AmericanaFest: “a labyrinthine of complex yet accessible acoustic music that had me in a trance.” Featuring members of Punch Brothers, Crooked Still, and Dave Rawlings Machine, the quartet of Brittany Haas (fiddle), Paul Kowert (bass), Jordan Tice (guitar), and Dominick Leslie (mandolin) had
been friends for 10 years before forming Hawktail (a name inspired by the acronym of their last names). Their gorgeous 2018 debut Unless features artfully developed old-timey melodies with Scandinavian twists, gracefully passed between instruments. This is introspective Sunday music custom crafted for RockyGrass. “I’d be lying,” says Paul, “if I said I didn’t imagine this music coruscating over those grounds and bouncing off that rock cliff as we wrote it.”
Peter Rowan will never forget the day Bill Monroe took him to meet Carter Stanley. “I have returned to the moment I first locked eyes with him, over and over, as a touchstone of inspiration.” For over 5 decades, the one-time Blue Grass Boy has branched out from his traditional bluegrass roots, exploring folk, rock, Tex-Mex and even a recent album of Hawaiiana. But through it all, the 77-year-old has left his mark on the walls of time, curating his own
bluegrass songbook rich in midnight moonlights, Gypsys, Navajos, and high tenor yodels. To celebrate his 27th year on the RockyGrass stage, Peter has gathered a group of longtime friends—Jack Lawrence (guitar), Chris Henry (mandolin), Patrick Sauber (banjo), Blaine Sprouse (fiddle), Paul Knight (bass), Jamie Oldaker (percussion)—to honor the Stanley whose voice and songs provided the second foundational light in Peter’s enduring musical life.
After 2 days of full bluegrass bands, we pare things back for a breathtaking set of banjo & fiddle duets. Grammywinner Noam Pikelny is a founding member of Punch Brothers and the recipient of the first annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo. A studied fiddle connoisseur—Noam’s landmark 2014 IBMA Album of the Year-winning Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe features note-perfect renderings of Kenny Baker fiddle solos—Noam calls Stuart
“the pinnacle of the American fiddle tradition.” The Grammy-winning 9-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year has played on more than 1,000 recordings, from Larry Sparks’ 1985 Lonesome Guitar, to sessions with Garth Brooks, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Costello, and Yo-Yo Ma. Together these two masterful musicians pick (and sing!) bluegrass, classic country, and gems from the American songbook, showcasing the subtleties and rich tonalities of fiddle and banjo.
30 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
SAM BUSH DEL MCCOURY & DAVID GRISMAN
BLUE HIGHWAY SIERRA HULL BECKY BULLER BAND MIKE MARSHALL & Darol Anger
FRANK SOLIVAN & DIRTY KITCHEN
LOVE CANON • MAKANA THE FREIGHT HOPPERS SUGAR & THE MINT • OLD BLUE BAND SWING COCO • CRYING UNCLE • & More
Flagstaff, Arizona WORKSHOPS • CAMPING •
• PICKININTHEPINES.ORG
july 26th through 28th • 31
RockyGrass
2019
RHONDA VINCENT & THE RAGE Sunday 4:45-6:00
THE DEL McCOURY BAND Sunday 6:30-8:00
PUNCH BROTHERS PLAY & SING BLUEGRASS
Sunday 8:30-10:00
One of bluegrass’s central tenets is Journal. Joined by equally talented that an appreciation for the music bandmates Hunter Berry (fiddle), is passed down from generation to Brent Burke (dobro), 3-time IBMA generation: Rhonda Vincent is one Guitar Player of the Year Josh Williams, such story. A fifth-generation Missouri Mickey Harris (bass), Aaron McDaris musician, Rhonda was just eight when (banjo), and Rhonda’s daughter she recorded her first single, a cover of Sally Berry (guitar), this afternoon “Muleskinner Blues.” Nearly 5 decades we’re reminded why they are one of later she is one of bluegrass’s most the most award-winning bands in decorated musicians, collaborating bluegrass history—totaling over 100 with the likes of Dolly Parton and awards, including a Grammy and 8 Willie Nelson, and dubbed “The New consecutive IBMA Female Vocalist of Queen of Bluegrass” by the Wall Street the Year trophies. “I consider myself traditional at heart, but I don’t have any boundaries,” says Del McCoury. In 1963, Del became the lead singer of the Blue Grass Boys. During that year, Monroe gave Del a lifetime’s worth of bluegrass tutelage, setting him on a course as a high lonesome singer, bandleader, and seeker of his own bluegrass sound. Now more than 50 years later, the 80-year-old (Del celebrated his birthday last February on the “Grand Del Opry”!) has defined authenticity
for hardcore bluegrassers—earning multiple Grammys and more than 30 IBMA awards (including membership in the Hall of Fame). This Sunday evening, Del and the boys—sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo), fiddler Jason Carter, and bassist Alan Bartram—pick and harmonize their way through the McCoury songbook for the 15th time on the RockyGrass stage. “Whatever strikes me to do, I’ll do it,” chuckles Del, “without wrecking things.”
“In bluegrass, the more your music sounds like Bill Monroe,” says Chris Thile, “the less it embodies the spirit of Bill Monroe, who was a total maverick.” Tonight the 21st century’s most remarkable progressive stringband returns to the spirit of bluegrass, rubbing some sacred dust off the quarter Bill Monroe gave to 12-year-old Thile at the 1993 Telluride Bluegrass. Sure, that quarter has seen the Punch Brothers use bluegrass’s limited instrumentation to explore a limitless
repertoire—from Bach to Radiohead. But over 5 groundbreaking albums, including 2018’s Grammy-winning All Ashore, they’ve transcended genre to create their own unique music. We close the 47th Festival with a wink toward Bill Monroe and Tony Rice, as the Punch Brothers—Chris Thile (mandolin), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), and Paul Kowert (bass)— summon the ancient tones for an only-at-RockyGrass finale.
32 • forty-seventh annual rockygrass
rocky mountain
folks festival August 16-18, 2019
3-day passes and single-day tickets still available!
mabon celebration September 21, 2019
telluride bluegrass festival June 18-21, 2020
the song school August 11-15, 2019 Sold-Out!
2020 tickets
rockygrass academy July 19-23, 2020
rockygrass
Visit Bluegrass.com in October for details about purchasing tickets through our online lotteries, including RockyGrass Academy Printed on FSCÂŽ-certified 70# Neenah Conserand RockyGrass on-site camping. All other vation text - a 100% post-consumer recycled 2020 tickets go onsale in early December. fiber, made with 100% renewable energy
July 24-26, 2020
july 26th through 28th • 33