Once upon a time, in a beautiful box canyon, four long-haired musicians of the band Fall Creek imagined a music festival. “We were totally clueless,” Kooster McAllister remembers, “and we weren’t the only ones. The town council gave us the okay when we promised free tickets for family and friends, only saying to be sure to clean up the park afterwards.” And so it began forty years ago. Thanks to the founding band’s vision, we still make the annual pilgrimage to Telluride on the longest days of the year. One Festivarian Nation under the full moon! In this 25th year of Planet Bluegrass producing the Festival, nothing captures our myriad emotions more than a simple “Thanks.” The community spirit we’ve come to treasure and the artistry of pure musical adventure continue to this day. And with tickets selling-out in record time, we doubled our efforts to make this year’s music unforgettable. Thanks… We remain committed to treading lightly through simple acts of Sustainable Festivation. And we’ll be listening to your thoughts and stories, helping create the ultimate festival experience for the next 40.... The renowned watercolor artist William Matthews painted this year’s poster—with his most groundbreaking piece yet. Welcome the endlessly inspiring musical madman (and fashion insultant) Joe Craven as this year’s festival emcee. And be sure to sample the specially brewed Planet Bluegrass Summer Bliss, served in a newly expanded beer booth whose proceeds will benefit more local non-profits than ever before.
Festival Director: Craig Ferguson Director of Odds & Ends: Steve Szymanski Festival & Box Office Manager: Shauna Nashak Production Supervisor: Rich Estes Operations Supervisor: Chad Soulia Festival Grounds Supervisor: Michael Stephens Production Crew: Zach Barrett, Ross Caswell, Sean Flynn, Eric Kean, Tony King, Tim Lafferty, Kyle Shelp, Zach Tucker, Jeremy Yanko Sustainable Festivation Supervisors: Kris Holstrom & Walter Wright Festival Trash Crew: David Callicott & Justin Stratman Chief of Security: John Cohn Security Supervisor: Gary Hickcox Crowd Management: Matt Abrahams, Damion Alexander, Josh Blakeman, Frank Hensen, Benjamin Kalman, E.J. Macias, Mike Mitchell, Joe Piche, Becky Robbibs, Cathleen Sowinski, Kevin White & Dan Zemke Customs Gate Supervisors: Franny Cohn, Debby Guarino, Janie Lowe, Tina Tharp & Diane White TP Camp Gate Supervisors: Marilyn Branch & Larry Stewart
Pedestrian Bridge Supervisors: Arthur Sowinski & Eileen Burns Backstage Security: William Buck & DeGrey Phillips Pit Master: Hunt Worth Overnight Security: Shawn Williams, Jake Cohn & Eliel Hindert Camping Supervisor: Denise Mongan Town Park Campground Hosts: Tim & Laura Thomas Warner Field Campground Hosts: Carol, Randy & Aaron Reece Telluride High School Campground Hosts: Fawnda Rogers & Mollie Lane Lawson Hill Campground Hosts: Kathleen Morgan, Amy VanDerBosch, Craig Wasserman & Ariel Selcer Mary E Campground Hosts: Mo Hanna, Aaron Cooklin & Monk Stacey Bjerk Valley E-Team Supervisor: Steve Green Parking Supervisor: Dennis Green Vehicle Gate Supervisors: Matt Kroll, Eileen Cahalane, Ed Janus & Tom Newell Backstage Hospitality/Artist Supervisor: Julie Rakotz Aijala Backstage Hospitality: Lauren Lortie, Laurie Harper & Rick Morris Backstage Catering: Markus Chesla
Artist Transportation: Ed Kean, Buddy Kihm, Lorylee Britt, Kelli Coppage, Nancy Farmer, Grace Hennessey, Crystal Lilya, Chris Newman, Bob Newman, Amy Schwartzbach, John Williamson & Delanie Young Box Office Supervisors: Bill Carlson, Nichole Elmore, Laura Larson, Jasmine Lok & Geoff Wickersham Media Relations: Brian Eyster Concessions Supervisors: Tara Amendola & Jill Brzezicki Communications Supervisors: Luci Reeve, Sandy McLaughlin & Felix Snow Country Store Supervisors: Patrick O’Kelly & Dustin Boyd Artist Consignment Supervisor: Kara O’Kelly Family Tent Supervisor: Patricia Sunfield & David Grace Sponsor Tent/Greentown Supervisors: Wendy McFarland & Pete Russell Contest Supervisor: Charlie Bailey Elks Park Workshop Supervisors: Edee Gail & BJ Suter Elks Park Workshop Sound: Dean Rolley & Tom Fortier Elks Park Workshop Transportation: Tom & Nancy Richards
We celebrate the sacred by remembering the musicians who are no longer with us in the memorial garden. And we invite you to join the Drepung Monks in guided meditations and their creation of a sacred mandala in the festival grounds. Help yourself to a 40th Anniversary guitar pick and use it often; drink plenty of free, locally filtered water in your favorite reusable container; enjoy a spot on an empty tarp until its owners return; slather on sunscreen; and savor the inspiration and friendships of this magical place. On behalf of our hundreds of staff and volunteers, we’re so thankful you’re here.
love, The Folks on PlaneT Bluegrass
Eco-Punch #1: PREPARE
ADjuST THERMOSTATS, TuRN OFF LIGHTS, uNPLuG uNNECESSARy ELECTRONICS.
Stage Design: Kahlie Pinello Park Beautification: Claudia Kean Libation Station Supervisor: Elizabeth Howe NightGrass Supervisor: Lindsey Dubey 2013 Poster Artist: William Matthews
sTage Crew
Stage Manager: Skip Kent FOH Engineer: Tom Holmes Monitor Engineer: Mike Bove Rigging/Stage: John Setzer FOH/Stage: Garth Michael Lighting Director: Dave Hall Lights: Jim Hurst Audio: Mark Miceli Patch/Stage: Melissa Britton Monitors/Stage: Brent Healy Stage Lead: Mark Dennis Stage: Jordan Kenning, Rhett Snyder, Justin Weatherby Piano: John Delpit Labor/Spots: Tim Territo Spots: Tom Worth Public Service Announcer: Joe Craven Sound & Lights: Kingston Audio Backline: Production Services International
Program sTaFF
Editors: Brian Eyster & Steve Szymanski Design & Layout: Pat Creyts
40th Annual
Contributing Writers: Charlotte Bell, Dustin Boyd, G. Brown, Brian Eyster, Amy Haddon, Steve Leftridge, John Lehndorff, Stewart Oksenhorn, Steve Szymanski Advertising: Dustin Boyd Photography: Benko Photographics, Andrew Wyatt, Joshua Elioseff Printing: Lange Graphics Cover Image: William Matthews
PlaneT Bluegrass Year-round sTaFF
President: Craig Ferguson Vice President: Steve Szymanski Director of Operations: Shauna Nashak Director of Communications: Brian Eyster Volunteer Coordinator: Jasmine Lok Vendor Coordinator: Laura Larson Merchandise, Ticketing & Festivarian Relations: Dustin Boyd Festivarian Relations: Geoff Wickersham Ranch Manager: Chad Soulia Gardener: Cindy Kalyan Special Events Coordinator: Julie Rakotz Aijala
Eco-Products, Klean Kanteen, Telluride Alpine Lodging, Shanti Guitars, Gibson Musical Instruments, D’Addario Strings, Martin Guitars, Intrepid Travel, Nechville Musical Products, ASCAP, Leave No Trace, Sunsense Solar, EcoAction Partners, Red Bird, Allegro Coffee, and Eldorado Natural Spring Water
PlaneT Bluegrass would like To Thank The Following:
The Town of Telluride with a special thanks to Stephanie Jaquet, the US Forest Service, the Town of Mountain Village, San Miguel County, Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, Telluride School District
Thanks To our FesTival ParTners: New Belgium Brewing Company, Chaco, Renewable Choice Energy,
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
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Martin playe Seth Avett r, 12 years
Learn how North Carolina’s rich musical heritage influenced Seth Avett’s sound at martinguitar.com/Seth. Order the new Martin D-35 Seth Avett Custom Signature Edition at your local authorized Martin dealer.
Happy 40th Anniversary, Men’s Z2 Unaweep
Telluride!
In celebration of the festival’s anniversary, Chaco is offering limitedtime only belts! And, if your current Chacos need some love, be sure to drop them off at our ReChaco station for a repair or replacement! Women’s ZX2 Yampa
chacos.com
@chacousa
facebook.com/chacousa
HaPpY 4oTh
TeLlUrIdE
AnD ThAnK yOu.
FoR FoUr dAyS EaCh yEaR
yOu BuIlD tHe kInD oF wOrLd wE sTrIvE tO cReAtE
EvErY DaY
Having painted most of the posters for the last forty years, I wanted to do something extra special this year. I knew the kids at Planet Bluegrass would accept nothing less. I tossed around many ideas: from the evolution of man (playing the banjo) to a narrow gauge train ride down memory lane. There were some good ideas, but none shook the foundation. So I meandered over to my friend Gregg Carr’s studio. He’s a visual genius and always thinks outside and beyond the box. As we bantered ideas, he fixed on using a lenticular (3D) print. And I knew we had struck gold. The idea of attaching a lenticular print to a painted poster segued into a musician rehearsing in an old hotel room, like the Sheridan in Telluride. The playbill information would be painted on the weathered brick wall. And of course, the musician had to be Sam. When I first proposed the idea to Craig and Steve, I included an F5 bluegrass mandolin with THANKS painted on the back, like the old guitar Jimmie Rodgers played. When he finished a song in concert, he’d flip the guitar over to acknowledge the audience. Thanking the family of Festivarians needed to be a vital part of this year’s gathering. But that element made the poster image too busy, so we separated it out for other uses. We built a set in my warehouse studio to replicate the hotel room window, set up the lights and brought in Mr. Bush. He swayed and swung in that Samalicious way. Brad Bartholomew, the great Denver-based photographer and master of medium format took the shots. We shot hundreds of sequential images set to a metronome. And in the end we used nine. Lange Graphics printed the poster and Greg Konke worked his magic on the lenticular print. It took the A-team to make it all work. But I think the results speak for themselves. Hope you love the poster and you’ll groove along with us for years to come.
—William Matthews
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The snowcapped peaks and cascading waterfalls of Telluride are as essential to Telluride Bluegrass as Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien. So eleven years ago we formed a GreenTeam to examine the impacts of our festival on this breathtaking environment. here are This Year’s 10 PunCh iTems: 1. Prepare 2. Precycle 3. Toolkit 4. Transportation 5. Camping 6. Compost 7. Micro-Trash 8. Knowledge 9. Stories 10. Share
We began that first year with compost and recycling. Each year since we’ve expanded our efforts to embrace renewable energy, carbon offsets for travel emissions, free locally-filtered water, organic local food, leave no trace camping, and more. Over the years our GreenTeam has grown to encompass all of Festivarian Nation, as the terms “sustainable” and “Festivarian” have become nearly synonymous. This year we’d again like to celebrate you, the Sustainable Festivarian: your thoughtful preparations, your mindful journey, your green-conscious behaviors at the festival, your wealth of green ideas that ring throughout the year. Tell us how you’ve become a Sustainable Festivarian and you might be the lucky winner of a carbon neutral trip for two to Indonesia from Intrepid Travel.
You have alreadY done The work oF BeComing a susTainaBle FesTivarian. ComPleTing The eCo-PunChCard is easY: 1.
Find the punchcard on the back of the Pocket Schedule
2. Check the box next to each of the items you’ve completed. You’ve probably already done a few. Take a few minutes each day to complete a few more.
3.
When you’ve checked at least 7 items, visit any of our partners in Greentown to have them validate your punch card and deposit it in their entry box. Don’t forget to provide your personal info in case you’re the winner.
4. Festivate! You deserve it! And watch for the grand prize drawing on the main stage at 5:45pm on Sunday.
Eco-Punch Boxes
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40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
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At this year’s 40th celebration, Festivarians will be sharing dreams and memories, giving thanks, and gathering momentum for the next 40 years. And, here at Planet Bluegrass, we want to hear your stories. We’re looking to this festival season as the “Year of Understanding” (Y.O.U.): A time to celebrate our accomplishments, to dream of future achievements, and to learn more about you. What do you love about Planet Bluegrass? Where do you see Planet Bluegrass in the future? Your stories will guide our festivals in the years to come. Help shape the future of Planet Bluegrass by following these three easy steps:
1. Grab a “Tell Us About YOU” interview sheet from the EcoAction Partners booth in Greentown
2. Find a friend, new or old, and gather their stories as if you are a reporter for the Planet Bluegrass Times (don’t forget to turn the sheet over and be interviewed yourself!)
3. Return the “Tell Us About YOU” sheet to the EcoAction Partners booth in Greentown
Or…if you feel like telling your story to us in person, we’d love to record your “Tell Us About YOU” interview. Stop by the EcoAction Partners Booth during the day or look for our roving Year Of Understanding volunteers in the festival and campgrounds.
warning: Engaging in story sharing with fellow Festivarians can be contagious. You may feel the urge to interview more than one person. You may experience feelings of excitement and shared joy. You may make a new friend or discover something amazing about someone you already know. You may win something if you include your name and contact information. We hope you experience these side effects and more. Thank YOU! Did you know that methane gas, the kind
produced by our friend the dairy cow, is a highly destructive greenhouse gas? In fact, methane is
25 times more destructive than carbon dioxide!
Methane is a short-living gas, which climate scientists at Colorado’s very own National Center for Atmospheric Research have identified as a major factor in short-term climate change. In a recent study, they found that limiting amounts of gases like methane could help us forestall climate events like rising sea levels. This year, in order to neutralize the carbon dioxide emissions of all Festivarian and artist travel to and from Telluride, Planet Bluegrass is purchasing 2737 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) carbon offsets from a methane sequestration dairy, Green Meadow Farms, located in Elsie, Michigan. That’s an amount equal to the annual electricity emissions from 410 American homes! At its state-of-the-art methane capture facility, Green Meadow Farms uses anaerobic digestion technology to utilize the biomethane generated from its cows manure. They use the methane to generate renewable electricity and then flare the residual gas, keeping it from entering the atmosphere. That means less methane impacting the climate. And that’s something we can all “moo” about.
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By choosing to camp at Telluride Bluegrass, Festivarians reduce carbon emissions from the event by the equivalent of four railcars worth of coal—or one full car for each day of the festival!
40th Annual
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Our new free, filtered water station has more than doubled in size, and now resides under a 20’x20’ shade tent with built-in drainage. Sorry, kids, the mud puddles of recent years are but a soggy memory. For many, the festival is a time to “disconnect” from daily stresses. But recognizing the necessity of cell phones, we’ve added more free charging stations at the Sunsense Solar booth in Greentown. At the wine booth, we have happily switched from bottles to high quality cask wines from reputable California makers. This change represents a huge step-up in quality, taste and freshness for our four flavors of juice; and a huge stepdown in waste as we no longer have to
haul all those bottles and boxes up the mountain, then down the mountain. And for something completely different, we’ll be selling cans of New Belgium Beer from a special bicycle rickshaw pedaling throughout the festival grounds—offering a bit of tarp-side decadence to help celebrate 40 years and beyond!
All Natural Chicken
While this historic anniversary year is certainly a time for Festivarians to honor and reflect on rich traditions, we haven’t stopped the continuing evolution of the festival, in ways large and small… Thanks to the town of Telluride and their recent improvements to the Town Park electrical infrastructure, we are now running ALL our big refrigeration trucks on electricity instead of diesel — a revolutionary change that is both quieter and healthier for Festivarians. We hope you enjoy our newlydesigned cedar and white pine counters at the box office, beer booth, wine and mixed drink booths. We’ve built these sturdy bars to endure many future anniversaries.
The
Visit our booth and support local chef's from Colorado. All proceeds go to the Colorado Chef's Association
www.redbirdchicken.com
Education Fund. www.acfcoloradochefs.org
Since 1949
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We hope you’ll enjoy our freshened-up 40th Anniversary beer booth! We’re featuring even more New Belgium brews — including the “just for Telluride” Planet Bluegrass Summer Bliss—and also changing how your beer booth money gets shared locally. For over 30 years, the biggest part of the festival’s beer proceeds (totaling well over a million dollars!) has gone to support Telluride’s community radio station KOTO. This year we’re opening our arms to spread the love a little wider, contributing to several very deserving local non-profits—not only because it’s “their turn,” but because, like KOTO, they do such important things for the community. Anticipating the thirst created by a full moon summer solstice, we knew we could count on a fun-loving bunch for the fortieth. So we proudly contributed to these local organizations last January…
Telluride volunTeer Fire dePT. received our largest contribution of $25K to complete the restoration of the Galloping Goose No. 4 railcar.
Telluride adaPTive sPorTs Program received a contribution
of $20K to fund their regional athlete program, which allows local special education school groups to participate in disabled skiing, snowboarding and other programs throughout the year.
Telluride mediCal CenTer received a contribution of more
than $12K to bring the “Think Head First” comprehensive concussion management program to Telluride.
koTo again received a contribution of $10K to help keep their unique community voice strong and independent. Beyond the actual beer sales, the tips you leave for our friendly bar volunteers add up to many thousands of dollars. Beginning this year, we’ll be donating these tips to a different organization each day, including San Miguel County’s One to One Mentoring Program, The Telluride Mountain Club, and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. We know you don’t always drink beer (don’t forget the free, filtered local water!). But when you do, you can feel good about where that money is going. Stay thirsty, dear Festivarians.
Our friends at New Belgium Brewing have once again brought some beloved favorites and the specially brewed Planet Bluegrass Summer Bliss to commemorate 40 years of festival fun. Lots of sampling opportunities for your bluegrass weekend in the sun. Enjoy!
FaT Tire
ranger iPa
sunshine wheaT 1554
rolle Bolle
Fat Tire Amber Ale’s appeal is in its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness. Named in honor of our founder’s bike trip through Belgium, Fat Tire is still crafted following its original homebrew recipe.
Ranger India Pale Ale brings out the hops! Simcoe, Chinook and Cascade lead off the beer, with Cascade added again for dryhopping. We’re talking three pounds of hops per barrel. With pale and dark caramel malts that bring out the hop aroma and flavor from start to finish, Ranger IPA is a sessionable beauty.
Sunshine Wheat is a great beer for trouncing thirst. Yet it has a depth of character that inspires a quiet moment’s reflection. Sunshine Wheat swirls in the mouth with ripples of coriander and orange peel tartness, settling nicely into a tranquil sea of apple and honey tones. A filtered wheat beer, Sunshine offers a crisp, refreshing alternative to heavierbodied heffe-weizens.
Rolle Bolle is a delightful summer ale for easy sipping and a classic Belgian yard game for easy enjoyment. Brewed with monk fruit and soursop, this beer pours a brilliant blonde, with a fluffy, white head. Earthy and tropical tones carry the aroma and the taste follows accordingly. Rolle Bolle’s hint of tartness is backed with the citrus bite of Cascade and Centennial hops. Oats add some creaminess to the mouthfeel, and it finishes dry and clean.
Bring your reusable beer cup to the New Belgium booth in Greentown to receive a daily sticker. Collect all four daily stickers for a chance to win a prize on Sunday.
From an ancient, crumbling Belgian text, our intrepid researchers found references to this obscure style dating back to the year 1554. Overcoming obsolete script and obscure units of measurement, our brewers rediscovered an ale with a surprisingly bright taste and a dry chocolaty finish – one evoking dark beers enjoyed in Belgian taverns 500 years ago.
40th Annual
summer Bliss
This German-inspired pale lager brewed just for Telluride Bluegrass features a pronounced malt character, light body and a duo of Hallertau and Tettnang hops. Similar to a Helles, this beer undergoes a double decoction to emphasize the malt character and is cold fermented to highlight the grains. The result is a surprisingly malty, clean lager with a subtle hop spicing.
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BY CharloTTe Bell What do you get when you cross bluegrass pickers with jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish? Jamgrass, of course, although it’s best not to label the purveyors of spontaneous, full-tilt, barrier-free, runaway acoustic jams that way. They aren’t much for labels. Labels create boundaries, and most of these musical adventurers prefer to play outside the lines—way outside the lines.
reensky Bluegrass’s mandolinist Paul Hoffman says, “As much as I say that we don’t like to be called a jam band, we totally are. We also say we’re not a bluegrass band, but we totally are.” Yep, jamgrass. Like many other bands in what is now its own genre, Greensky didn’t set out to be a jamgrass band. The jam band sensibility sort of crept up on them. “As we started to play shows I remember discussing if we’re going to play both ‘Hit Parade’ and ‘Pig in a Pen,’” says Paul. “They’re basically the same song. So we thought, shouldn’t we just play ‘Hit Parade’ twice as long? That might be more interesting. That’s when our set changed.” Dave Johnston, Yonder Mountain “Telluride is really just a perfect place for us to come String Band’s banjoist, echoes Paul in together and play, and the audience was just who saying that his band wandered subconsciously into the jamgrass genre. “I don’t needed to hear what we do.” think it was a conscious decision to be a John Hartford and the Telluride House Band musicians ‘jam band.’ We’re just trying to play the music the best we that brought Vince to Colorado from his home in West can without being too fenced in by the formal restraints of it. Virginia. “That progressive scene became identified with There are times when we sound like a traditional bluegrass Telluride and Colorado by guilt of association. Telluride band and times when we sound like a trance band or an is really just a perfect place for us to come together and electric band. We’re just trying to be intuitive about where play, and the audience was just who needed to hear what we go with the music. We don’t really plan a lot and we we do.” don’t bring a lot to the table that’s all the way put together. Jerry Douglas has probably logged more jamming time We like to assemble it on stage in front of everybody.” on the Telluride stage than just about anybody, except for It may be Telluride stalwarts Leftover Salmon that first Sam Bush. “Sam and I are the biggest offenders,” he jokes. earned the jamgrass label—unintentionally of course. “We His chameleonic ability to step on stage and play just the wanted to work at playing in a typical straight-ahead blueright thing no matter who he’s jamming with helped form grass band,” says guitarist/singer Vince Herman. “But then Telluride’s reputation as jam central. “Telluride definitely we accidentally put together members of [Vince’s band] did spawn the jamgrass thing,” he says. “It’s a huge festival. the Salmon Heads and [Drew Emmitt’s band] Left Hand It’s revered. It’s looked up to by other festivals. People who String Band for our first official gig at the El Dorado Café go to festivals compare everything else to Telluride. There in Crested Butte in 1989. There was no intention of making are so many different kinds of music, and the audience is up it a band. We just played what the two bands had in comfor whatever we throw at them. It was originally intended mon. But kids in the audience started slam dancing. It was a to be a bluegrass festival, but New Grass Revival was the surprise to us. The energy that was going on in the ski towns back then was pretty special. We just happened to be there.” inspiration, and they weren’t traditional bluegrass at all. “When we started doing the Telluride All-Star Band Leftover Salmon joined the ranks of rock jammers Phish might have been when the jamgrass thing sort of coalesced. and Widespread Panic in early 1990s, but instead of rock, That band, I’ve been told by several jam bands, is why they they brought a bluegrass sensibility to the genre. Vince started to play the way they did. Alison [Krauss], Chris says it confused their rock and roll compadres when they Thile and that whole new generation of players took that spontaneously invited guest pickers up on stage to jam with as their model. They built off that blueprint, instead of the them. That just wasn’t something that happened in the rock world. Nonetheless, Leftover’s formula worked—big time— Flatt and Scruggs, Bill Monroe blueprint.” According to Paul Hoffman, the jamgrass evolution goes and more than two decades later, the band is still touring something like this: “Old & In the Way [a band that inand energizing Telluride’s hardiest Festivarians on the main cluded Peter Rowan, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Vassar stage late Saturday night. Clements and John Kahn] opened a lot of doors. New Grass Vince is quick to point out that Leftover Salmon’s inspiraRevival also took bluegrass to new places and influenced tion didn’t come out of nowhere, however. It was the Colorado bands like Leftover Salmon. Leftover influenced Yonder a bluegrass scene, inspired by New Grass Revival, Hot Rize,
40th Annual
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lot. Then Yonder opened up a lot of doors for listeners. They play off each other. You have to follow the other person. It’s carved out a fan base that was ready to listen to us too.” not just kind of running away and playing riffs that are unreThis makes Telluride stalwart Peter Rowan, lead singer and lated to what the other person is playing. It’s a conversation songwriter for Old and in the Way, one of the main cultivators where players are speaking and listening. Just playing anyof this particular species of grass seed. His bluegrass cred is cer- thing doesn’t have the same kind of power as it does within tainly solid, having toured with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass the melodic container. Jamming is how people trade the Boys in the late 1960s. But his 1970s collaborations—Earth melody with each other back and forth.” Opera and Old and in the Way in particular—introduced the idea of boundary-breaking jams into the acoustic scene. “ There’s a real slash-and-burn attitude. Jerry says, “Peter may be the father of all this. I learned a lot from Peter about jamming. Playing with him was prob- That’s what their audience wants—reckless ably the first opportunity I had in my musical career that abandon. ” was a real jam. We’d get on stage and we were expected to jam. We were doing that way early at Telluride. That was Jerry adds, “Jamming is first of all taking a completely part of the gig—improvising, building a solo, trying to keep different attitude about what you’re going to play, losing the the element of surprise going. worry that every note has to be exactly in its place. It has to “You could play your solo for eight bars, but then he’d look be a complete stream of consciousness—a direct line from a at you and say, ‘Keep going.’ We could play ‘Land of the Navajo’ to b. You actually want to leave more bark on that tree than for 40 minutes. He loved that. When he and I toured as a duo he you normally would. It’s losing all the rules that you’ve been would look over at me while I was soloing and say, ‘I have new taught about how to act within a band and how to play a solo.” changes for this part.’ Right then he would launch into them in While Jerry improvises with his own band and his longthe middle of a solo. I was then improvising over something I time cohorts in the House Band, he also shows up for sets didn’t know. That takes the whole jam idea a step deeper.” with the next generation of jamgrassers. While the basics of Even though Peter is known for his spontaneity and improvising remain the same, the attitude is very different, he giving his music plenty of stretching space, he advocates says. “Even with the House Band—and that’s all improvisarespect for the melodic container as well, a concept he tional—I’m more restrained than I would be with Yonder learned when he was a Blue Grass Boy. “Bill Monroe said, or Leftover,” he says. “There’s a real slash-and-burn attitude. ‘You’ve got to love the melody and sing and play it so that the That’s what their audience wants—reckless abandon. It’s people will love it too.’ The melody was enough. You could complete experimentation. Like Peter says, you still retain bring in harmonic grace notes, so it became your way of the melody in your head, but you’re all over the place. You playing the melody. In jazz they call it the ‘head.’ Everyone might approach it from a completely different scale or play a plays it in unison, then they all play something else for a different genre over what they’re playing.” while, and then come back to the head. In the end, improvisational jamming is about tuning into “Jamming is when two or more people get together and the moment, letting the music play you, and in turn, inviting the audience into that moment. “You lose yourself a bit when you’re jamming,” says Vince. “When it’s really clicking you’re watching your fingers do stuff. You’re kind of guided by something beyond yourself. You’re telepathically communicating with your band mates. You become one organism. The music is playing you. Those are the best of times. “It’s a celebration of the present, the here and now. That’s the gift of music. When the world gets really weird with things like terrorism, lock your doors, etc., music brings us together and makes us realize we’re all in this mess together right here and now. That’s why people keep coming back to Telluride, to get that recharge to carry them through the rest of the year.” Charlotte Bell is a writer, yoga teacher, oboist and Festivarian of 31 years. She is the author of two books published by Rodmell Press: Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life and Yoga for Meditators.
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The Family Tent provides whimsical, musical and educational activities for children and their parents from 10:00am to 5:00pm each day except Thursday (noon–5:00pm). Most activities are free, but we ask that parents please accompany their kids at all times.
New from COMPASS RECORDS GROUP PETER ROWAN THE OLD SCHOOL
Featuring Jesse McReynolds, Del McCoury, Bobby Osbourne, JD Crowe, Bryan Sutton, Buddy Spicher, Stuart Duncan and the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band.
NOAM PIKELNY BEAT THE DEVIL AND CARRY A RAIL MY AM GR e ne mi No
With special guests Steve Martin, Chris Thile, Aoife O’Donovan and Bryan Sutton. Produced by Gabe Witcher.
CLAIRE LYNCH
living Folklore
Since 1998, Living Folklore has brought zany characters, clowns, stiltwalkers, giant puppets, and workshops (including clown yoga and kazoo building) to the Telluride Bluegrass family tent. Gala, a spritely wood elf who knows the secrets of plants, returns this year to entertain and educate the munchkins about the magic of nature, taking kids on an afternoon Ladybug Parade. Dennis The Red Eustace will be back with more puppet mayhem including the whacky Mr. Curmudgeon, the benevolent King Beeblebooble, and characters from his forthcoming tv program Teddy The Traveler. Learn more at www.gigglebubble.com
BeTTY hooPs
DEAR SISTER
Featuring her band Mark Schatz, Matt Wingate and Bryan McDowell. With special guests Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, Rob Ickes, Mark T. Jordan, Larry Atamanuik, and Kenny Malone.
THE HILLBENDERS CAN YOU HEAR ME?
Join The Hoop Dance Coach and 4-time World Record Holder, Betty Hoops, for free hooping lessons. Decorate and keep your own kid and adult-sized hula hoop with fuzzy fabrics, rainbow-colored tapes, and 3D stickers. Learn more at www.bettyhoops.com
“They have honed their sound razor sharp with super tight harmonies and solid musicianship.” —Prescription Bluegrass
Jugglers’ grove
New and experienced jugglers will once again be able to join Laurie Watson for juggling lessons and free juggling balls each day.
kids TalenT show
The ever-popular talent show returns Saturday afternoon for the 17th year.
17Th annual kids Parade
Featuring Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Chris Eldridge and Mark Schatz.
Carry a flag, umbrella, or one of the new giant puppets as Gumbo Wobbly leads this beloved Telluride tradition through the festival grounds on Sunday afternoon at 3:45pm.
REBECCA FRAZIER WHEN WE FALL
“An incredibly strong record.” —Bryan Sutton Rebecca Frazier (Hit & Run Bluegrass) teams up with Barry Bales, Ron Block, Shad Cobb, John Frazier, Andy Hall, Shelby Means, Scott Vestal and producer Brent Truitt.
www.compassrecords.com | 800.757.2277 40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
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The 40Th anniversarY musiCians share The Town Park sTage T Tage wiTh Telluride’s own angel Band
BY John lehndorFF
If the Town Park stage looks eerily crowded this weekend, it may be the Festival’s alumni spirits back for a reunion jam. Is that Doc on guitar, Earl pickin’ banjo, Bill on the mandolin, Mike playing the Dobro, and Vassar fiddling up a storm? The performers at the 40th Telluride play shoulder-to shoulder and pick-to-pick with an all-star angel band. It’s the chorus of gifted souls who graced this gathering with their virtuosity and rebellious spark before passing on. We give them a standing ovation and we thank Sam Bush for sharing his memories.
Doc Watson 1923-2012
John Hartford 1937-2001
“When Doc first came to Tel- “John was the first musician luride he brought the respect to play Telluride that most factor. The audience knew American music fans would they were hearing a master,” recognize,” Sam said. “He Sam said. Doc always wel- was knocked out by the place.” comed pickers onstage to jam John brought other notable with him and his son, the late pickers to town. Festivarians guitarist Merle Watson, on still talk about his electrifying tunes like the “Blackberry 1980 set where he fiddled out Blossom.” Although Doc into the audience and back always insisted he didn’t play onstage playing the “Orange “bluegrass,” every acoustic Blossom Special.” Sam and guitarist — flatpicked or finger- others credit John’s 1971 picked — owes Doc their Aereo-Plain album with creeternal thanks for elevating ating the “newgrass” sound the instrument from rhythm that found its first home duties to a fiery lead instrument. at Telluride.
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Earl Scruggs 1924-2012
Bill Monroe 1911-1996
Earl Scruggs only played at Telluride twice, but his spirit infuses the stage and campgrounds every June. Known as a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys and Flatt and Scruggs, Earl was a rebel who chose to play music from across the spectrum. His Earl Scruggs Revue was famously a country rock band. Several generations of banjo pickers at the festival owe their sound – and syncopated three-finger banjo roll – to Earl.
In the early days Telluride was viewed as a rock-style, barely bluegrass festival ruled by a longhaired “King,” Sam Bush. “But Bill didn’t hate the hippies. He enjoyed anyone who bought a ticket,” Sam said. The Father of Bluegrass blessed the Telluride stage in 1990. In 1993 he brought down the house when he asked Emmylou to dance with him onstage. Bill helped establish bluegrass in Colorado, literally funding the early years of the RockyGrass Festival.
Steve Goodman 1948-1984
Mike Auldridge 1938-2012
“Steve was the first solo performer at the festival who could hold the audience like a band would,” Sam said. Best known as the writer of “City of New Orleans,” Steve blazed the trail at Telluride for singer-songwriters to come. His 1980 acapella “Broken String Song” is still remembered as a moment of spontaneous brilliance.
With his Seldom Scene bandmates, Mike Auldridge help de-twang contemporary bluegrass music. The liquid licks he slid from his resophonic guitar were clean and jazzy, like a sax player would blow. He has inspired every dobro player alive from Jerry Douglas to Rob Ickes.
With his garish bowling shirts, “flattop with fenders” and edgy jokes, you couldn’t miss the most colorful lead vocalist in bluegrass. Some said he attacked his mandolin rather than playing it during 10-minute epic “Rider” jams, but the truth was always clear: “John was one of the greatest tenor singers who ever lived,” Sam said.
Vassar Clements 1928-2005
Fred Shellman 1947-1990
No fiddler, present or past, sounds anything like Vassar did as a member of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, Old & In the Way, and on the Will the Circle Be Unbroken album. “Vassar just loved to jam,” Sam said. In one of the early years of the festival, Vassar sat-in with almost every act adding his driving, jazz-inflected licks. That joy of collaboration became a Telluride trademark.
“There wouldn’t be a Telluride if it wasn’t for Fred,” Sam said. “There wasn’t a bigger fan of music and musicians.” Fred played in the Fall Creek Band and fought to keep the Festival going through its first years as it expanded to a bigger audience. His “big tent” musical taste is still reflected in Telluride’s mix of musical genres. That’s why the Festival’s stage, built in 1991, is named the Fred Shellman Memorial Stage.
Charles Sawtelle 1946-1999 His business card said only “Expert.” He was often mistaken for Slade, the silent bassist from Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers. Telluride audiences would hold its collective breath when he took one of his bluesy, flatpicked guitar solos on Hot Rize tunes such as “High on a Mountain.” His obsession with quality live concert sound helped the festival on the road to having the best audience sound in the business.
Telluride’s celestial lineup also features the incomparable Johnny Cash and soul legend Solomon Burke; banjoists Courtney Johnson of New Grass Revival and Doug Dillard of The Dillards; Colorado’s Dan Fogelberg and California songwriter Kate Wolf; Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel of The Band; bassist Roy Huskey, Jr. of
John Duffey 1934-1996
Emmylou’s Nash Ramblers; banjoist Mark Vann of Leftover Salmon; and guitarist Michael Hedges. Let’s lift a toast to them and to the many other beloved musicians, crew members, town residents, family members and friends who’ve stood with us in Town Park and return in spirit every June.
John Lehndorff is a Colorado journalist who has attended and written about the festival since the 3rd Annual Telluride in 1976.
40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
17
Early last year, our festival partner Eco-Products approached us about creating the world’s first reusable beer cup made from 25% post-consumer recycled content. Since our past cups had been made from 100% virgin plastic, this would be an exciting step forward for Sustainable Festivation. Eco-Products searched for a source of post-consumer #2 plastic (the same pliable resin used in our old cups) but ultimately settled on the less pliable #5 (Polypropylene) for the 2012 cups. After frequent cracking and breaking at last year’s festival, we all agreed these cups did not perform as well. So this past winter, Wendell Simonson of Eco-Products took up the challenge to produce a beer cup made from post-consumer recycled #2 HDPE plastic. “I had a source of material, so I just had to find a manufacturer willing to work with it. But there aren’t many companies making cups like these out of HDPE. Planet Bluegrass more or less stumbled upon a hard-to-find yet extremely durable HDPE cup years ago.” Another challenge was the source of the material. Like most post-consumer HDPE, it came from products like milk jugs that are “blow-molded,” yielding a material that would not be as usable as “injection-molded” plastic.
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This left us with a choice: last year’s 25% post-consumer #5 cup that did not perform as well vs. the 100% virgin plastic #2 cup that we know works… We’ve chosen the latter. “We face choices like this all the time in the world of environmental sustainability,” says Wendell. “It’s a good example of how sometimes working with a more sustainable material (post-consumer vs. virgin) doesn’t always yield the most sustainable choice. If cups are breaking, they’re essentially becoming disposables instead of reusables.” “Another advantage to returning to a #2 cup is that the recycler in Telluride will take them,” explains Wendell. “Here we see another consideration – operational efficiency – which frequently is a very real driver of sustainability-related decision making, and for good reason.” “My next mission,” offers Wendell, “is to find a stream of injection-molded post-consumer #2 HDPE to use for the 2014 cups.” We all wish him luck.
PICK THE PLANET
Proud supporter of sustainable festivation in Telluride and everywhere else. www.ecoproducts.com
BuT There’s work sTill To Be done… The Town Park Campground is known for its many celebrations before and during the festival. Along with an exuberant Festivarian community, incessant pickin’ and grinnin’, delicious family style eats and creative camping, Town Park campers can proudly claim the title of “most improved recyclers and composters!” According to our 2012 waste audit, Town Park campers diverted 5 times more compost and 3 times more cardboard than the previous year, diverting nearly 50% of campground waste from the landfill. Campers, you’re well on your way to reaching our ultimate challenge of two-thirds diversion this year. You and your camp can help make it happen by simply separating out your compost / recycling and making a daily pit-stop at a waste station near you. While you’re at it, enter the campground challenge for a chance to win free 2014 Town Park Camping. (One simple request: Please don’t wait until Monday morning when we’re all exhausted and the containers are full.)
simPle Things You Can do reCYCle
Cardboard, #1 - 7 plastics, aluminum, tin, glass. (Yes, cardboard, bottle caps, and all aluminum products are now recyclable.)
reuse
Your plastic beer cup, cutlery, tarps, coolers, chairs & camping gear deserve many more years of reuse.
Take home
visiT wasTe sTaTion dailY.
Avoid overflowing dumpsters on Monday by disposing of waste each day
You’re already making the trip, so make a little room to carry your recyclables with you.
eaT loCallY.
ask & learn
Visit the farmers market on Friday from 11am-4pm
Sustainable Festivation crewmembers will be in the campground daily to help you meet the two-thirds challenge.
ComPosT
Use Eco-Products compostable bags (available in all sizes from your campground host) and/or 5–gallon buckets (available from EcoAction Partners).
How green is your grass? With nearly 4,000 campers in and around Telluride during the festival, it’s vitally important for each of us to embrace the “leave no trace” camping philosophy. In collaboration with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and Eco-Products (supplier of free BioBags for your campground compost), we will again be honoring campsites that excel in creative, sustainable camping.
how do i ParTiCiPaTe?
Campers in any of the Planet Bluegrassmanaged campgrounds are encouraged to enter. To nominate your campsite (or one of your neighbors): 1. Submit a campsite entry form at the Leave No Trace booth in Greentown, including a rough sketch of your campsite and a hand-drawn map to help us find your campsite.
2. Visit the LNT booth each day to com-
ment on the latest campsite entries. Random winners will be chosen each day.
3. Planet Bluegrass will select the grand prize winner after the campground pack-out on Monday. The winner will be announced in the next “Notes from the Planet” e-newsletter.
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how do i win?
We will be judging on three criteria:
1. Cleanliness. Are you repackaging the food you bring? Are you keeping a tidy campsite? Are items secure and not susceptible to wind gusts?
2. susTainaBiliTY. Are you separating recycling and compost? Are you reusing products? Are you using alternative energy sources? Did you bike or carpool to the festival? Are you offsetting carbon emissions? Did you do anything to reduce your home’s energy while attending the festival? 3. CreaTiviTY. Does your campsite
have a theme? Are you utilizing unique and innovative camping techniques?
whaT do i win?
Each day we will randomly choose 1 campsite entry to win: New Belgium Beer, Leave No Trace memberships, Chaco sandals or Planet Bluegrass music. Our judges will choose one grand prize winner to win a pair of Town Park Campground passes for the 2014 Festival.
Congratulations to the 2012 grand prize co-winners: Camp Blow It Out (Warner Field) and Crossroads of Steamboat (Town Park).
3 Days!
2nd l Annua
FEATURING
15 BANDS!
Ricky Skaggs
Sleepy Man Banjo Boys
2 STAGES!
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
& Kentucky Thunder August 30th • August 31st • September 1st Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Sleepy Man Banjo Boys Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band Alan Munde Gazette Dan Crary & Thunderation Jeff Scroggins & Colorado Hard Road Trio w/Bill Evans
High Country Poor Man’s Whiskey Hot Buttered Rum Poor Man’s Poison Chris Jones & The Nightdrivers Gone Tomorrow Bill Evans “Banjo in America”
Canyon Lodge
*In partnership with the Inyo National Forest
Mammoth Lakes California
Bluegrass Express!
www.mammothbgf.org Telluride ad.indd 1
4/30/2013 11:22:42 AM
Every June songwriters and bands from around the world converge on Telluride for the prestigious Troubadour and Band contests. Offering beautiful instruments, cash prizes, and international recognition, these contests showcase the next generation of Telluride Bluegrass artists. Join us in welcoming these talented performers on Thursday and Friday at Elks Park, then celebrate with the finalists Saturday on the Main Stage.
Troubadour Contest
For the twenty-third year, the Troubadour Contest introduces ten inspiring young songwriters to the Telluride audience. One of these artists will join past winners Catie Curtis, Deb Talan, Nels Andrews, and Reed Waddle as the 2013 Telluride Troubadour. Any singer-songwriter not currently signed to a major recording or publishing deal is invited to submit songs beginning in December. In April, our panel of industry professionals selected these ten finalists from nearly 500 submissions. During two rounds of Elks Park performances, Troubadours will be judged on the quality of their songs’ composition, vocal delivery, and overall performance. On Saturday evening the winning Troubadour will receive a handmade Shanti Dreadnought guitar, featuring quilted Big Leaf Maple back and sides, Sitka Spruce sound board, and a special 40th Telluride Bluegrass inlay. Enjoy the Troubadours throughout the festival as they perform songwriter-in-the-round sets at Elks Park, ‘tweener songs on the Main Stage, and live in-studio on KOTO.
2013 TrouBadour sChedule
Preliminary Round Thursday, June 20 at 12:00pm. Elks Park Stage Final Round Friday, June 21 at 2:45pm. Elks Park Stage
2013 TrouBadour FinalisTs
The winning Troubadour performs a fifteen-minute set on Saturday, June 22 at 5:45pm on the Main Stage
Clint Alphin
Pete kartsounes
Chris Alvarado
korby Lenker
Michaela Anne
Brian Oberlin
Spring Hill, Tennessee
Boulder, Colorado
Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
Brooklyn, New York
Cary Cooper Dallas, Texas
Mikaela kahn Denton, Texas
Twin Falls, Idaho
Portland, Oregon
Talia Segal
Washington DC
One of the world’s foremost contests for acoustic stringbands, the Telluride Band Contest has helped launch the careers of Dixie Chicks, Greensky Bluegrass, The Hillbenders, and dozens of other past winners. This year’s bands will be competing around a single microphone for a spot on the 2014 main stage lineup.
Bands sCore in These CaTegories
2013 ConTesT Bands
• 30% Instrumental Performance ability of soloists and overall blend
The Barefoot Movement
Jonesborough, TN
BrownChicken BrownCow String Band Lewisburg, WV
Flatland Harmony Experiment Noblesville, IN
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Front Country Richmond, CA
Sweetwater String Band
kitchen Dwellers
Bishop, CA
Monocle
Denver, CO
Quiles & Cloud
Howell, MI
Bozeman, MT Boulder, CO
San Franciso, CA
That Damn Sasquatch Wayward Roots
The Westbound Rangers Nashville, TN
• 30% Material Selection taste, difficulty, authenticity, originality
• 30% Vocal Performance lead and harmony • 10% Stage Presence
M
Y
CM
MY
Reed Turner Austin, Texas
Troubadours will perform in a randomly selected order. The winner will be announced on Friday at 4:45pm on the Elks Park Stage.
Band Contest
C
2013 Band ComPeTiTion sChedule Preliminary Round Friday, June 21 10:00am Elks Park Stage Final Round Saturday, June 22 10:00am Main Festival Stage Bands will perform in a randomly selected order.
CY
CMY
K
Gibson is proud to be a sponsor of the legendary Telluride Bluegrass Festival in it’s 40th year!
www.gibson.com
ThursdaY
FridaY
saTurdaY
sundaY
10:00 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM Gates Open
11:00 - 12:00 Chris Thile
10:00 - 11:00 Sarah Jarosz
10:00 - 11:00 Band Contest
10:00 - 11:00 The Drepung Monks
12:15 - 1:30 Elephant Revival
11:15 - 12:15 Lake Street Dive
11:15 - 12:15 BlueBilly Grit
11:15 - 12:15 Béla Fleck
1:45 - 2:45 The Milk Carton Kids
12:30 - 1:45 Tim O’Brien
12:45 - 1:45 Sara Watkins
2:00 - 3:15 Trampled by Turtles
2:15 - 3:30 Jerry Douglas Band
12:45 - 2:00 The Infamous Stringdusters
4:30 - 5:45 Steep Canyon Rangers
3:45 - 5:00 Peter Rowan’s Twang an’ Groove
4:00 - 5:30 Yonder Mountain String Band
6:15 - 7:30 Richard Thompson
5:30 - 6:45 Punch Brothers
8:00 - 9:30 Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
7:15 - 8:45 The String Cheese Incident
10:00 - 11:30 Mumford & Sons
9:15 - 10:30 Masters of Bluegrass
June 20Th
3:00 - 4:15 Greensky Bluegrass
Summer SolStice
featuring Del McCoury, Bobby Osborne, J.D. Crowe, Bobby Hicks, and Jerry McCoury
Full moonriSe
11:00 - 12:30 Dispatch
11:04pm on Thursday, June 20 7:56pm on Saturday, June 22
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June 21sT
June 22nd
5:45 - 6:00 Telluride Troubadour 6:15 - 7:30 Feist 8:00 - 10:00 Sam Bush Band 10:30 - 12:00 Leftover Salmon
June 23rd
2:30 - 3:45 Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy 4:15 - 5:45 Hot Rize
featuring Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers
6:15 - 7:45 Jackson Browne 8:30 - 10:30 Telluride House Band
featuring Sam, Béla, Jerry, Edgar, Bryan & Stuart
HelloSustainable Festivarian
LOOk FOR THESE ECO-FRIENDLy BOxES THROuGHOuT THE PROGRAM. COMPLETE 7 OF THEM AND yOu MIGHT WIN A CARBONNEuTRAL INTERNATIONAL VACATION FOR TWO. CHECk OuT THE ECO-PuNCHCARD ARTICLE ON PAGE 7 FOR ALL THE DETAILS.
at Elks Park
workshoPs suBJeCT To Change. Please CheCk For dailY uPdaTes on sign Boards.
ThursdaY
FridaY
saTurdaY
sundaY
11:00 The Congress: Rock & Soul 12:00 Troubadour Competition: Preliminary Round
10:00 Band Competition: Preliminary Round
10:30 Michael Hornick, Bobby Wintringham & Friends: Instrument Building
12:00 Telluride Troubadours: In the Round
June 20Th
2:30 Lake Street Dive: Performance 4:00 Punch Brothers: Happy Hour
June 21sT
12:15 Drepung Monks: Guided Meditation 1:30 Edgar and George Meyer: The Depraved Monkey’s Banana Rash
June 22nd
11:45 Drepung Monks: Guided Meditation 1:00 Telluride Troubadours: In the Round
2:45 Troubadour Competition: Final Round
2:15 Telluride Troubadours: In the Round
3:45 Joan and Pete Wernick: Let’s Jam Slow: Play G, C, and D? Bring your instrument!
3:30 Tim O’Brien, Sarah Jarosz & Beans on Toast: Songwriting
June 23rd
1:45 Sara & Sean Watkins and Friends: Performance 3:00 Dave Bruzza (of Greensky Bluegrass), Andy Falco (of Infamous Stringdusters): aBANDoned 4:15 BlueBilly Grit: Songcraft
4:45 Rosco Bandana: Performance
4:45 Troubadour Competition: Winners and prizes announced 5:00 Albatross: Adam Stockdale and Friends
ParenTs musT aCComPanY Their Children while in The FamilY TenT area.
ThursdaY
FridaY
saTurdaY
sundaY
12:005:00
10:00 Jugglers’ Grove, Hoop Making, Arts & Crafts
10:00 Jugglers’ Grove, Hoop Making, Arts & Crafts
10:00 Jugglers’ Grove, Hoop Making, Arts & Crafts
June 20Th
Jugglers’ Grove, Hoop Making, Arts & Crafts
June 21sT
12:00 Funny Bone Logic & Clown Yoga 1:00 Gumbo Wobbly’s Quackers & Kazoos Class 2:00 Special Musical Guests 3:00 A Teddy Bear’s Picnic: Songs for the whole family with Lesley The Flying Fox
June 22nd
12:00 Puppet Show with Dennis The Red including King Beebleboobles Zoo, Spaghetti Cat & Ted The Traveler 1:00 Storytelling with Gala The Flower Faerie 2:00 Drama Class & Talent Show Sign-ups 2:30- 17th Annual Telluride 4:00 Kids Talent Show
June 23rd
12:00 Clown Yoga with Gumbo Wobbly and Friends 1:30 Puppet Show With Dennis The Red 2:30 Parade preparations (until parade begins)
3:45 17th Annual Children’s Parade (through festival grounds during set-break)
4:15 Closing Circle
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Rodney Crowell and Collings Guitars
Rodney Crowell and his 1993 Collings C10 Deluxe
Visit Telluride Music Company located in the historic business district for a fine selection of Collings guitars and mandolins. 201 E. Colorado Ave, (970) 728-9592
Serious Guitars | www.CollingsGuitars.com | (512) 288-7770
Chris Thile
11:00 - 12:00
elePhanT revival
12:15 - 1:30
“The idea that you go up there and make “I first came to Telluride in 2000 without the first sounds, it’s a weighty respon- a ticket to the festival.” Dango Rose of sibility.” With last fall’s recognition as Elephant Revival remembers. “Sitting a MacArthur (“genius grant”) Fellow, high up on the mountainside, outside Chris Thile has been pushed beyond the gates, I’ll never forget the echo the spotlights of mandolin virtuoso and of Sam Bush as he sang Bob Dylan’s progressive acoustic visionary onto the ‘Girl from the North Country.’ Thereafter, center stage of the international musi- music became the path, and I dreamed cal elite – a weighty responsibility. that one day we would be together Chris was 12 when he first played playing that stage.” Telluride’s main stage with his Nickel Dreams do come true…We invite Creek bandmates. He impressed Bill you to experience Elephant Revival: Monroe with his picking backstage and a band of five songwriters/multilistened in awe to Strength in Numbers. instrumentalists inspired by the wonIn that first introduction to Telluride, der of the natural world and the grace Chris immediately appreciated how of humanity. Ever since the Coloradoa brilliantly played opening tune can based quintet formed in 2006, they’ve forever alter a relationship. Or an entire been steadily gathering a dedicated audience around the country. Their festival. “You’re setting the tone. You name was chosen out of empathy for introduce the idea of music into that a pair of zoo pachyderms who, upon setting, which is a hallowed thing.” being separated after 16 years, died Over the years a carefully chosen within days of each other. few have set this opening tone: Tim The band features Sage Cook (banjo, O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Béla Fleck. guitar, mandolin); Bridget Law (fiddle); For this historic 40th reunion, we’ve Bonnie Paine (washboard, djembe, called on Chris to summon the musical saw, stompbox); Daniel Rodriancient and adventurous tones using guez (guitar, banjo, bass); and Dango just the 8 strings of his Lloyd Loar Rose (bass, mandolin, banjo). and his voice. Onstage, once that first chord is Like the 4 days which are about strummed, those five individuals to commence, there are no musical boundaries. Chris’s hands move flu- become a whole; five souls working as idly from Bach partitas to vintage pop. one, in harmony, creating sounds they could never produce alone. The whole 40 years are distilled into every note; then inevitably expands outward to the Appalachian fiddle tunes dissolve audience, embracing those who listen. into art-punk; the intuitive and the learned are one. Welcome to Telluride, And those who dance. And those who celebrate dreams that come true. – S.S. the magic begins now. – B.E. “Performing at the 40th Telluride Bluegrass is a dream come true. We are so grateful.”
—Dango Rose, Elephant Revival
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The milk CarTon kids
greenskY Bluegrass
1:45 - 2:45
3:00 - 4:15
Listen closely, dear Festivarians, for this acoustic duo creates a most beautiful and soulful sound. They are skillful storytellers who sing and play in ways that both entrance and entwine, a harmonic convergence of the highest order. Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale first came together as the Milk Carton Kids in the spring of 2011. Their name came from a song which they wrote and recorded for their second album, Prologue called “Milk Carton Kid.” “It seems our songs pair best with characters,” Ryan says, “with human beings, and all of the contradictions they embody.” Lately, they’ve been on the road. A couple hundred headline performances punctuated by tours with the Punch Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the legendary k.d. lang, saw The Milk Carton Kids enrapturing audiences with music and wit, rivaling acts with decade-long pedigrees. On their recently released third recording, The Ash and Clay, there is abundant harmony. “I think the natural result of having played so many shows allowed for the collaboration to feel that much more intense,” Ryan said. “There are only a couple of songs where we aren’t singing every syllable together.” It’s their first visit to the Festival and to hear their voices echoing gently off the San Juan Mountains is a rare treat. Listen closely. – S.S.
By calling themselves Greensky Bluegrass, these five rascals from Kalamazoo announce their intentions to mix things up. With their infectiously spirited adventures in wildcat picking and singing, Greensky are clearly Osborne-influenced – Bobby by day and Ozzy by night. As winners of the 2006 TBF Band Contest, Greensky have blazed their way back to the Telluride stage four times since, quickly becoming Festival favorites. Combining inventive audacity with craftsmanlike listenability, the Michigan quintet brings Great Licks from the Great Lakes on their singular brand of Americana, crossing easily into several genres, allowing for sweaty-beard jam extensions, and exemplifying schwag-‘n’-shuffle bluegrass escapades. But despite their crowd-tickling propensity for tension-and-release improvisations, what sets Greensky apart is the quality of their original compositions: 2011’s Handguns earned wide critical praise for its soulful melodies, pensive lyrics, and polished arrangements. Expect the party to hit high gear as GSBG – the breakneck banjo of Michael Arlen Bont, the eye-of-the-tiger mando of Paul Hoffman, the riff-rattling guitar of Dave Bruzza, the molten dobro of Anders Beck, and the iron-horse bass of Mike Devol – turn up the heat on the Festival’s opening afternoon. – S.L.
Eco-Punch #2: PRECyCLE
uSE RECyCLABLES AND REuSABLES WHEN SHOPPING & PACkING.
CONGRATULATIONS TO TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL ON 40 AMAZING YEARS! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING. CHEERS TO ANOTHER 40 YEARS. LOVE, GREENSKY BLUEGRASS
NEW ALBUM COMING THIS FALL STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS www.greenskybluegrass.com
40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
29
Steep Canyon RangeRS
RiChaRd thompSon
emmylou haRRiS & Rodney CRowell
It’s no secret that the Steep Canyon Rangers have enjoyed rising stock thanks in part to their partnership with a certain wild and crazy guy. However, this North Carolina five-piece was already recognized as one of bluegrass’s sturdiest ensembles, an IBMA-decorated band boasting a series of stellar albums since 2001. Those records established the Rangers as musicians of the first order, specializing in instrumental dexterity, impeccable vocal harmonizing, and superb original material. The Rangers – Woody Platt (guitar, lead vocals), Graham Sharp (banjo), Nicky Sanders (fiddle), Mike Guggino (mandolin), Charles Humphrey (bass) – have continued to turn heads with compositions that blend styles – bluegrass, country, gospel, folk, blues – bringing together a wide range of music lovers. Such versatility, putting their unique spin on everything from spirituals to Grateful Dead covers, caught the attention of Steve Martin, who asked the Rangers to collaborate on 2011’s best-selling, Grammy-winning album Rare Bird Alert. It’s an alliance that brought SCR, and bluegrass in general, to a broad new audience. Continuing their hot streak, the Rangers released their own Nobody Knows You in 2012, which resulted in another Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. It’s been a remarkable run, so what heights can the Rangers reach from here? 8,750 feet to Telluride. – S.L.
Richard Thompson’s musical journey started in 1967 when the thenteenaged guitar prodigy co-founded Fairport Convention, popularizing the English folk-rock movement and reigniting interest in traditional music. Thompson’s records with former wife Linda Thompson are consistently ranked among the greatest rock albums ever made. His subsequent solo career has been wildly prolific and creative, resulting in landmark albums like 1991’s Rumor and Sigh, furthering Thompson’s legacy of intelligent songwriting and blistering guitar work. Indeed, Thompson’s songs have been recorded by everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Robert Plant, and Rolling Stone ranks Thompson among the 20 greatest rock guitarists of all time. This year marks Thompson’s second appearance at TBF, but his influence has consistently been felt here. Take last year’s festival, during which Del McCoury tore into “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” and Alison Krauss sang his exquisite 1975 classic “Dimming of the Day.” And Thompspn rides into Telluride hitting another peak: The new Buddy Miller-produced Electric is the highest-charting album in Thompson’s storied career. British folk-rock is back on top (as tonight’s closing band makes thrillingly clear), and so is the form’s originator: Richard Thompson, a master and legend in our midst. – S.L.
“Well I came home, like a stone…” The most surprising fact about Emmy- Tonight the biggest band in the world lou Harris and Rodney Crowell is (and reigning Album of the Year that they’ve never sung together Grammy winners) conclude their US in Telluride. tour as they did their first two: in TelEmmylou has become the “voice” luride. This is where they met many of the festival during many visits of their collaborators and heroes; as she’s harmonized with everyone this is where they had Rolling Stone from Bill Monroe and Shawn Colvin base their soul-bearing profile; this to Counting Crows and her Nash is the inspiration for their own StopRamblers’ bandmate, Sam Bush. over mini-festivals; this is where they Her unabashed affection for the fes- found place and community and a tival has convinced musical friends home, very far from their home. including Linda Ronstadt to make “And I fell heavy into your arms…” the long trip into the mountains of The 4 lads from London – Marcus southwest Colorado. Mumford (guitar), Winston Marshall We’re grateful to Emmylou for introducing us to Rodney Crowell’s ex- (banjo), Ben Lovett (keys), and Ted Dwane (bass) – were never undertraordinary gift for songwriting when dogs, but we pull for them with that she sang his “Bluebird Wine” the first same warmth in the gut because time she took the stage here with the they deeply embody the values of Hot Band in 1985. His tunes have Telluride: collaboration, respect, pasbecome big hits by everyone from sion. Through the simple force of Waylon Jennings (“Ain’t Living Long song, they have filled a void in the Like This”) to Bob Seger (“Shame on hearts of millions around the world. the Moon”) to Keith Urban (“Making Memories of Us.”) Only he would have “These days of dust which we have the chutzpah to ask his ex-father-in- known, will blow away with this law, the late Johnny Cash, to change new sun.” the way he sang his most famous Their performances bring us together song on Crowell’s moving lyrical tribonto one celestial tarp, voices raised ute “I Walk the Line (Revisited).” in unison, hand-played instruments As the nearly-solstice sun sets aspiring to something honest, proon the first day’s festivities, these found, epic. When the moment of Grammy-winning friends of almost Solstice arrives at 11:04pm, love 40 years will blend their voices with the one you hold, for the lovers of the a setlist that will likely feature old light will lift us out of this valley, arm favorites and fresh collaborations. – J.L. in arm, to a higher place.– B.E.
4:30 - 5:45
6:15 - 7:30
“You hear so much about Telluride you figure it has to be hyperbole until you actually get there and find out it’s all true.”
—Erik Berry, Trampled by Turtles
30
8:00 - 9:30
mumfoRd & SonS
10:00 - 11:30
Eco-Punch #3: ToolkiT
Pack your waTer boTTle, bag, uTensils, beer cuPs.
telluride_fp.indd 1
5/16/13 4:01 PM
10:00 - 11:00
11:15 - 12:15
12:30 - 1:45
TramPled BY TurTles
Oh, to be young and cute and bestowed with an abundance of musical gifts. Oh, to be Sarah Jarosz. And if you can’t be Sarah Jarosz – for truly there is only one – well, to be a Telluride Festivarian, with a front-row seat on Jarosz’s emergence. Sharp-eared listeners might have heard Jarosz sharpening her skills around campsites in Telluride and Rockygrass. When she made it to Telluride’s mainstage in 2007, Jarosz was all of 16. Backstage she met her heroes – Chris Thile, Alison Krauss – and producer Gary Paczosa, who invited her to his Nashville studio. Jarosz calls that first Telluride experience a turning point in her life. Jarosz has moved on in her career, education and musicality. Now 21, she is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied jazz singing and ensemble playing. For extra-curricular activities, Jarosz can point to 2011’s Follow Me Down, which featured an impressive guest list, stunning interpretations of Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells” and Radiohead’s “The Tourist,” and a profound young talent pushing musical boundaries. But Jarosz hasn’t moved on from Telluride. The festival is a fixture on her itinerary; she has played ‘tweener sets and Nightgrass opening gigs to be part of the party. How does Jarosz really feel about the town? Ask her to play that Kate Wolf cover she sings. A tune called “Telluride.” – S.O.
How is it that something so unlikely can also be so infectious, so naturally exhilarating? Pulling in familiar elements and irreverently recombining them, Lake Street Dive are at once jazz-schooled, DIY-motivated, and classically pop obsessed. With catchy songs that are by turns openhearted and wryly inquisitive, this Northeastern quartet injects them with an irresistible blend of abandon and precision. Drummer Mike Calabrese, bassist Bridget Kearney, vocalist Rachael Price, and trumpetwielding guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson craft a music that is a vivid, largely acoustic, groove-driven strain of indie-pop. “It seems the only limitation we have,” Kearney explains, “is that we try to make music that we would like listening to.” Lake Street Dive makes the most of pop music virtues; however, it’s a personal strain of pop that is refracted through the band members’ rich backgrounds: a Motown bass line is reborn on Kearney’s upright, Calabrese’s drumming mixes timekeeping with adventurous jazz-inflected outbursts, McDuck’s nimble trumpet is a warm counterpoint to Price’s singing. It all makes for a sound with familiar roots, but with a slant that is entirely their own, entirely fun, and beginning today: entirely Telluride. Find an empty tarp space up front, your new favorite band is taking the stage. – D.B.
Tim O’Brien, as one of Telluride’s most beloved figures, has been on the bill for more sets than any other artist in the Festival’s history, so no commemorative year would be complete without spending some quality time with this seminal member of the Telluride family. Tim is the perfect artist to lead the celebration: He’s the good-natured bluegrass ambassador, a veteran of more than thirty TBFs, the avuncular redhead with his wry-and-relaxed stage persona, professorial mastery of roots music archives, trademark clever banter, jambidextrous instrumentalism, and cozy fireside vocals. The history of the Festival is in many ways defined by Tim: He has brought us the Ophelia Swing Band, Hot Rize, New Grange, The Crossing, duets with his sister Mollie, and dozens of other combos and solo sets. We can also trace the festival through Tim’s original songs, which have been performed by Telluride’s key artists through the years: New Grass Revival (“Hold to a Dream”), String Cheese Incident (“Lands End”), Nickel Creek (“When You Come Back Down”), and Alison Krauss (“On the Outside Looking In”). Tim is the solid rock on which Telluride Bluegrass rests, through his graceful commitment to keeping folk traditions alive, his elegant finesse on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, etc., and his heartwarming embodiment of the simplicity, good will, and community at the heart of the Telluride spirit. – S.L.
It was early in the day, Telluride Bluegrass, 2011. The crowd was still gathering, still powering into full festivating mode, when the five agreeably shaggy musicians who make up Trampled by Turtles took the stage. Instantly, a swell of energy rose from the back of tarpland as fans rushed – nothing tortoise-like here – forward. Instantly a crowd of jumping, fistpumping music lovers were demonstrating their affection for this quintet from Minnesota’s North Country. And another day of Telluride Bluegrass had been kicked into high gear. Trampled by Turtles began when five Duluth musicians decided to trade in their rock ‘n’ roll gear for mandolins, fiddles and the like. It was an inspired move, as a noticeably devout following began assembling behind the quintet. And the group had much to say in the acoustic realm: since their 2004 debut, TBT has been releasing albums at a frenzied pace – six albums in eight years. Part of the appeal is the band’s driving rhythms; a TBT show doesn’t allow for much sitting. But especially with 2012’s Stars and Satellites, the band, and lead singer Dave Simonett, have proved an ability to capture listeners with the craft of songwriting. Trampled by Turtles is about to ride again in Telluride. The fans are stirring. Look out behind you. Don’t get run over. – S.O.
sarah Jarosz
lake sTreeT dive
“Amidst that illustrious box-canyon there
seems to exist a magic and wonder unlike any other festival.”
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—Sarah Jarosz
Tim o’Brien
2:00 - 3:15
Eco-Punch #4: TRANSPORTATION
CARPOOL, uSE PuBLIC TRANSPORTATION, HyBRIDS, BIODIESEL.
3:45 - 5:00
As the Shaman of Telluride Bluegrass, Peter Rowan’s unique style and masterful songwriting certainly seems to fit the hallmark. No matter who joins him on stage, few other performers can cast a spell on the valley the way Peter can. When Peter takes the stage this afternoon for his 33rd Festival appearance, take note of what happens to Festivarian Nation. Worries will drift away during Peter’s carefully crafted vignettes of the American West. Inevitably, Festivarians will become enchanted with the musical legend before them. After all, what other living artist can claim to have traveled with the father of bluegrass Bill Monroe as a member of the Blue Grass Boys, as well as spent time in a band (Old & In the Way) with the father of jambands Jerry Garcia? Not many. With a career spanning more than five decades, The Festival Shaman continues to teach the mystical ways of performance and song to musicians both young and old. This year, Peter brings to the box canyon his newest coven. With bandmates Carter Arrington (guitar), Darrell Commander (piano), Mike Morgan (bass) and Jamie Oldaker (drums), Twang an’ Groove is where rhythm & blues meets reggae at an all day bluegrass pickin’ party. Such a diverse and intricate musical potion can only be delivered by the Shaman, and deliver it he shall. Prepare to be spellbound. – D.B.
w w w. t e l l u r i d e m u s i c . c o m
PeTer rowan’s Twang an’ groove
• New, Used & Vintage Stringed Instruments • C.F. Martin, Collings, Godin, Boss & Roland Products • Music Books, Instruction Material & Accessories • Music CDs & DVDs • Lessons and Stringed Instrument Repair
Seasonal Hours • 201 E. Colorado Avenue • (970) 728-9592
40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
33
PunCh BroThers
5:30 - 6:45
The sTring Cheese inCidenT
No modern stringband has had a 7:15 - 8:45 more fascinating musical trajec- Among the essential cornerstones of Colorado’s grassy landscape tory than Punch Brothers. From the are Telluride Bluegrass and String 40-minute avante-classical suite at Cheese Incident. Could we have a the center of their 2008 debut, to an 40th anniversary Festival without open embrace of their “plays and String Cheese? A better question: sings” bluegrass roots the following Why would we want to? year (counterbalanced by a “plays The history between the two instiand sings Radiohead” NightGrass), tutions begins in 1994. A quartet of to 2 brilliant indie-pop-grass albums mountain-type players travels over a and onstage collaborations with Wilco and Paul Simon, the New York- few passes from their home in Crested Butte to add some genuine Colorado based quintet has been restlessly flavor to the Telluride proceedings. evolving for 6 years. Already, String Cheese is showing a Constant evolution hardly seems a surprise given these 5 forward-think- desire to stretch into Latin grooves, ing artists – Chris Thile (mandolin), urban funk and good ole Grateful Dead-inspired jamming. No problem Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert there: Telluride Bluegrass has never (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo), and claimed strict musical boundaries, Gabe Witcher (fiddle). What remains and String Cheese becomes a homethe most thrilling is the visible camaraderie between the musicians, state favorite, returning in ‘96, ’97, ‘98… You get the picture. and increasingly, with their fans. String Cheese grew in membership “When Punch Brothers stepped off stage after our set in 2012,” (with the addition of keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth), stylistic reach (elecsays Thile, “I felt like we finally put tronica), and popularity (multi-night all the pieces together. We were able sellouts at Red Rocks). They formed to get that feeling of a collaborative performance with the audience. Not side-projects, toured Japan, and went on hiatuses. And somehow they have playing for them, or at them, but gone a full decade since their last with them.” After an unrelenting 2 years on a Telluride Bluegrass appearance. Are Festivarians ready to see tour bus, the Brothers return for Telluhow this Cheese has aged? Are you ride’s 40th not in the midst of another kidding? When the boys come out – tour, but for a band retreat, a chance to plot their next evolution in the pres- barefoot, sun setting, summer solstice, Friday night – it’s going to be a ence of the fans who have inspired hero’s welcome home. – S.O. them from the beginning. – B.E. “Mountain air, shining stars, harmonies, the
whole valley is a stage, and nothing but love!”
—Brad Corrigan, Dispatch
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masTers oF Bluegrass
9:15 - 10:30
Though Telluride may trace its paternity to Bush rather than Bill, for 40 years the festival’s second word has been “Bluegrass.” These 5 masters are the living historians of this living music, legends who built careers by both honoring and rebelling against traditions. At 81 years young, the senior Master is Bobby Osborne, a stunning singer, innovative mandolin stylist, and musical giant who led the Osborne Brothers – best known for the anthemic “Rocky Top” – and planted bluegrass sounds deep in the heart of country music. Two years his junior, Bobby Hicks was one of Monroe’s favorite fiddlers, featured on such classics as “Big Mon” and “Wheel Hoss,” before joining Ricky Skaggs’ band for several decades. One of the monsters of the 5-string, J.D. Crowe led the New South, the most revolutionary bluegrass outfit of its time and a training ground for nextgeneration superstars like Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas. Completing the Masters are brothers who have brought bluegrass music to more new audiences than anyone in recent memory: guitarist and singer Del McCoury (a Blue Grass Boy in the 1960s who has earned 31 IBMA awards on his own) and his bassist brother Jerry. As the sun sets on this Friday evening, we welcome these five Masters to ignite the bluegrass spark glowing under every one of this weekend’s acoustic adventurers. – B.E.
disPaTCh
11:00 - 12:30 “We’ve been called the biggest band nobody’s ever heard of,” says Colorado native Brad Corrigan, one of Dispatch’s three singers and multiinstrumentalists. The biggest band? Their 2004 outdoor show in Boston drew 110,000 people; three shows at NYC’s Madison Square Garden sold-out immediately. So yeah, big. The three musicians of Dispatch – Brad, Chad Stokes and Pete Francis – connected while singing harmonies together in Vermont during the early ‘90s. They released their acousticdriven folk-pop debut in ’96, followed by 2 more reggae- and funk-packed independent albums. This was Napster’s heyday, so their fans began sharing MP3s, and a worldwide community of Dispatch fans was born. Then at the height of their popularity, the three friends, suffering burnout, just walked away. But social responsibility brought them back together: a series of 2007 shows to benefit Zimbabwe relief, a 2009 all-acoustic Kennedy Center show, and a 2011 tour that involved fans in hands-on service projects through Amplifying Education. Much like this nearly full moon, tonight the Venn Diagram of ‘spatch fans and Festivarian Nation become one glowing circle. We are lifted from our tarps to sing and dance by the jovial alchemy these three create onstage – giving warmth, community, and thanks. – B.E.
Eco-Punch #5: CAMPING
VISIT LEAVE NO TRACE BOOTH TO ENTER THE CAMPSITE CHALLENGE.
N PARAID ISE
July 6-7, 2013
Kids Camp July 1 - 5
DREW EMMITT ( HOST ) // HEAD FOR THE HILLS // THE GIBSON BROTHERS SAM BUSH // NASHVILLE BLUEGRASS BAND // BONNIE AND THE CLYDES BARNSTAR! // MOUNTAIN HEART // LARRY KEEL & NATURAL BRIDGE MILKDRIVE // AOIFE O‘DONOVAN // THE PARADISE ALL-STAR BAND Base Area, Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado // bluegrassinparadise.org // 970.349.0619
11:15 - 12:15
BlueBillY griT
12:45 - 1:45
sara waTkins
JerrY douglas Band
Yonder mounTain sTring Band
From the side porch of an old gristmill in the northeast corner of Georgia, to the main stage of The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, BlueBilly Grit has developed quite a buzz in the acoustic music world since their formation in 2008. Their modern style, which blends Bluegrass and Americana music, has a way of appealing to the newer generation of the grassroots movement as well as to fans of a more traditional sound. Three-part harmonies, traditional instrumentation, and the lead vocal work of Amber Starr Hollis, are the recipe for BlueBilly’s success, a sextet that also includes Mark Garrison (banjo), Patrick Chisolm (fiddle), Shawn Hart (guitar), Adam Rambin (bass), and Roman Gaddis (mandolin). The band has already released two full-length records that have garnered the attention of Festivarians nationwide. In February of 2011, an original song written and recorded about the old gristmill was shipped to radio stations all over the world, including the US, Europe and Australia. Success of that single led the band to be included in a compilation CD alongside Steve Martin and The Grascals. They continued their newfound success by winning last year’s Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition, the title that brings them back to the Fred Shellman stage today. Grab the beverage of your choice and get ready for a dose of pure Appalachian AmericanaGrass. – D.B.
Sara Watkins first played Telluride in 1993 as the teenage vocalist and fiddlin’ filly alongside Chris Thile and her brother Sean Watkins in Nickel Creek, the prodigious Grammy-winning trio that converted a legion of new fans to the Telluride sound by repurposing their bluegrass instruments into innovative new musical genres. Sara was back in Telluride in 2009 as part of roots supergroup Works Progress Association and again in 2011 as a utility musician with the Decemberists. Each of those years, Sara mesmerized audiences with her boundless instrumental agility and her honeydewsweet vocals. Her performance of John Hartford’s “Long Hot Summer Days” in 2009, for instance, buckled knees on every tarp on the lawn. So after more than a decade as roots music’s most valuable side-woman, it’s high time Sara gets a solo turn of her own. After all, she has one of the greatest voices on the contemporary scene and is two amazing albums into a critically-acclaimed solo career. Her 2009 star-packed self-titled debut showed off her distinctive interpretive skills and furthered her credentials as a top-notch songwriter, and last year’s gorgeous Sun Midnight Sun found Sara once again pushing the music in new directions, infusing bluegrass, folkrock, and indie-pop with the vibrant beauty we’ve learned to expect from her. At last, on Saturday afternoon, we welcome Sara to center stage. – S.L.
If a single sound most embodies Telluride Bluegrass, it may be the ringing, bending tones of Jerry Douglas’s dobro, which provides the Festival with its most organically peaceful vibrations and its most lacerating sonic charges. It’s the sound we hear mingling with the babbling San Miguel River in the morning, ricocheting off the canyon walls in the afternoon, and slicing through the late-night sky to scrap with the stars. Jerry’s history-altering fluxological prowess – supersonic leads, rattlesnake blues, gorgeous meditations – have soothed and thrilled Festivarians for an amazing 29 years. The Rembrandt of the Resonator, Jerry is every artist’s dream wingman, as he elevates everyone around him, and his headspinning guest-appearances serve as a highlight reel that plays throughout the weekend. In addition to Jerry’s iconic stature in supportive roles, he took another leap forward as a frontman/vocalist with last year’s remarkable album, Traveler. So it’s fitting that we call on Jerry to anchor Saturday afternoon right in the heart of the Festival. This year, he’ll be joined by fiddle marvel Luke Bulla and the all-star rhythm section of bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer Doug Belote. So settle in as one of music’s towering figures supplies the sound that will fuel your Telluride dreams for another year. – S.L.
Last year, mando-maniac Jeff Austin shouted, “If you’re in it with us, we’re in it with you for as long as we possibly can,” a reminder that Yonder Mountain String Band plan to be TBF lifers. Indeed, Austin is probably the Festival’s loudest cheerleader, continually reminding the crowd that this vibe and this collection of artists only happen once a year in one place. Yonder gush about Telluride traditions, but now on their 14th consecutive TBF, they have established some of their own, including their annual kickoff party and their Saturday afternoon set, during which the field shakes in great surges of let-it-rip delight (and, if tradition holds, ends with a maniacal half-hour Sam Jam). Yonder personify the essential Telluride aesthetic, paying authentic reverence to four-piece stringband archetypes while simultaneously rewriting the rulebook. After a couple-thousand shows, Yonder’s four singers/writers/ instrumentalists (Austin, banjoist Dave Johnston, guitarist Adam Aijala, and bassist Ben Kauffman) have achieved an uncanny symbiosis, and their continued dedication to their fans is inspiring. It all adds up to the spinning yonderangement they produce in their audiences, an interplay that pushes YoMo into death-defying improvisations and an unmatched gusto for seizing the moment, nowhere more so than at Telluride – right here, right now. – S.L.
“It’s the best festival on earth. You can trust me. I’m a bass player.”
—Ben Kaufmann, Yonder Mountain String Band
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2:15 - 3:30
4:00 - 5:30
Eco-Punch #6: COMPOST
COMPOST INSIDE THE FESTIVAL AND AT yOuR CAMPSITE WITH ECO-PRODuCTS BIOBAGS
TICKETS ON SALE! H
SEPTEMBER 13-15, 2013
3 DAYS OF MUSIC LATE NIGHT SHOWS GRAND TASTING WITH 50+ MICROBREWS ON-SITE CAMPING KIDS ACTIVITIES
The Black Crowes H Melissa Etheridge H Jim James
Gary Clark Jr. John Hiatt Mickey Hart Band Anders Osborne Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe Rebirth Brass Band Otis Taylor Band H
H
H
H
H
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Allen Stone H ZZ Ward H The New Mastersounds H The Bright Light Social Hour H The Relatives H and more
Guitar by Gibson
FOOD & CRAFT VENDORS
TellurideBlues.com 866.515.6166
David Lindley Tom Russell Eliza Gilkyson The Steel Wheels Marley’s Ghost Elephant Revival Ellis (2012 People’s Choice) Joshua James 3 Penny Acre Moors & McCumber and more artists to be announced!
Full Festival Pass: $120 Single Venue Pass: $35 10% Early Bird Discount if purchased before July 1, 2013 435-259-3198
MoabFolkFestival.com
sam Bush Band
FeisT
8:00 - 10:00
6:15 - 7:30 An expressive, powerhouse vocalist, instrumentalist, and composer, Leslie Feist first caught fire in 2004 with the release of Let It Die, her paradigm-busting breakthrough of chill-pill jazz torch, cosmopolitan quasi-disco, and misty folk-pop. As a dynamic songwriter, interpreter, and creator of sweeping soundscapes, Feist’s stylish singles and cuttingedge music videos quickly made her an indie icon. Its follow-up, 2007’s The Reminder, made her an international superstar. The album was a sensation, selling over a million copies, topping dozens of year-end lists, winning the prestigious Canadian Juno Award for Album of the Year, and spawning the inescapable global smash “1234,” a Top Ten single in the US. With an instant classic on her hands, Feist was the most coveted collaborator in contemporary music, dueting with indie-rock royalty (Wilco, Grizzly Bear) and making memorable appearances everywhere, from A Colbert Christmas to Sesame Street. Contributions to popular soundtracks (The Women, Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2) also helped establish Feist as a modern-rock polestar, as Feist songs began showing up as cover versions as fast as she could record them. 2011 saw the release of Feist’s universallyacclaimed, Top Ten album Metals, a collection that mined ancient traditions into a rich new-millennial amalgam of folk, jazz, and blues, further strengthening Feist’s status as an era-defining artist continually reinventing herself and today’s musical landscape. Still, to truly know Feist is to experience her live, as her innovative, electrifying concert performances showcase an almighty musicality and form a rapturous union with her audiences. Feist and Telluride are about to join forces. – S.L.
10:30 - 12:00
For 39 years King Sam Bush has been swaying (with perfectly-in-the-pocket metronomic precision, of course) inside the upper-floor window of this year’s ruby brick building. From this royal post, benevolent Sam and his trusted 1937 Gibson F-5 “Ol’ Hoss” have been leading the kingdom of Festivaria, nurturing our grooves, fulfilling our most far-out fantasies (Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom”?), providing tremolos and triplets to guide our Nation’s musical journey. And howling at the moon. In 1975 Sam changed Telluride Bluegrass forever by introducing his genre-blending quartet New Grass Revival to the box canyon; and every year since, he has been the first artist invited back. Along the way Sam has been widely recognized as one of acoustic music’s most important artists – collaborating with Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris; earning 3 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association, and even an official resolution from the Kentucky State Senate. On this stage with Scott Vestal (banjo), Stephen Mougin (guitar), Todd Parks (bass), and Chris Brown (drums), Sam’s status as the King of Telluride is resolute. He embodies the joy, the adventure, the passion, and the love of Festivarian Nation like no other. You may be at the Festival all four days, but when the storm is over this is the set that will define our gathering. Sam’s descent from his green window unto the Shellman Stage is the culmination of our 40-year journey into the valley of solstice sun and full glowing moon. Arise from your tarp, we are in the presence of the King. – B.E.
“When you hear the Telluride valley echo for your first time, it leaves a mark on your soul. ”
—Vince Herman, Leftover Salmon
38
leFTover salmon
Leftover Salmon are still at it nearly a quartercentury into a career that infused newgrass music with red-hot electric instrumentation and rockband wallop. When Leftover Salmon arrived – after the members met in a Town Park campground jam – the original five-piece galvanized the post-New Grass Revival scene by representing everything Telluride crowds love: shaggy-haired playfulness, an encyclopedic reservoir of roots-music history, shoot-‘em-up instrumental prowess, Sam Bush worship, and rise-up good-vibe promotion. Salmon frontman and loveable bluegrassmountain-bear Vince Herman has single-handedly caused more sleepless nights in the campground than anyone in TBF history, and his signature clarion call, “Festivaaaal!” is the rally cry of Festivarians everywhere. His counterpart, mandolin warlock Drew Emmitt’s cosmic-coyote vocals and unhinged slamgrass headbanging helped spread Salmon’s mojo from coast to coast and opened the door for a new generation of Colorado bands. Despite their status as revered Telluride legends, LoS refuse any laurel-resting, unleashing the amazing new album Aquatic Hitchhiker in 2012 and adding banjo butt-kicker Andy Thorn, whose hairpin turns last year at Telluride reportedly put several Festivarians in the burn ward. Bass ace Greg Garrison and jazz-steeped drummer Jose Martinez joined in 2000, both expanding the possibilities of Salmon’s musical adventure. Leftover Salmon’s surprise-filled, guest-heavy late-night sets facilitate fabled Telluride revelry, so for TBF-XL, get ready for a Saturday-night homecoming for the ages. – S.L.
Eco-Punch #7: MICRO-TRASH
GRAB A BAG FROM THE CHACO BOOTH AND FILL IT WITH MICROTRASH FOR A CHANCE TO WIN FREE SANDALS. TWO WINNERS DAILy!
Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music Presents
Pickin’
Pines
Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival September 13, 14 & 15, 2013
Crestone Performances Inc. 15th Annual
C resto ne, C olorado 25 Acts on 2 Stages
Multi Genre ~ Multi Cultural
Friday, August 2nd Hit & Run Bluegrass
The Haunted Windchimes Saturday, August 3rd
Tab Benoit
Sunday, August 4th
Vieux Farka Toure Camping ❆ Kids Zone ❆ Arts & Crafts International Cuisine ❆ Colorado Libaions Advanced Ticket Discounts Youth and Senior Prices ❆ Kids Under 12 Free
www.crestfest.org
1 - 8 5 5 - 8 5 - mu s i c ❆ 7 1 9 - 2 5 6 - 4 5 3 3 40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
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The drePung monks
11:15 - 12:15
With its origins in the 8th annual Festival’s Sunday morning jam, the TBF gospel set has long embraced a holistic concept of spirituality – from Bach to Solomon Burke, Klezmer clarinet to sacred steel guitar. But no gospel set has had the enduring impact on Festivarian Nation as the Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery. The monks’ powerful presence is rooted in a dramatic history. The original Drepung Monastery, founded in 1416, was destroyed during the 1959 Chinese invasion of Tibet. Several hundred monks escaped the holocaust to rebuild the monastery in exile. The re-established monastery in South India now houses more than 2,500 monks, preserving both the traditional training program and Tibetan culture. In Telluride, the monks are an integral part of the Festival – leading guided meditations, constructing the mandala, sharing wonderful smiles around the streets and parks. This special Sunday morning of Sacred Music Sacred Dance – with its invocation of the Forces of Goodness, multi-phonic singing, and perhaps even a snow lion – is their most profound expression of spirituality. The monks’ 1992 TBF debut (featured on the Sounds of the Void album) enlightened the collective Festivarian mind. On this final morning let us open our hearts again, embracing peace and harmony to sustain us for decades to come. – B.E.
On the Telluride stage, we take virtuosity for granted. But if there is a virtuosity triumvirate, with “chops” and “plays-brilliantly-with-others” as 2 points of a triangle, then composition is the immortal third. A gorgeously sculpted melody, harmony and counterpoint allow a connection between generations – virtuosity’s lasting legacy. No Telluride artist has captured the eternal melodies of canyon walls and alpine waterfalls better than Béla Fleck. Béla first journeyed to Telluride in 1982 as the young banjo-whiz of New Grass Revival. With his first appearance he revolutionized banjo virtuosity, challenging everyone on stage to be more inventive, more toneful, more attuned to their own instrumental voice. Every year since he has taken us on banjo-led explorations of the expanding musical universe – from the jazz-infused Flecktones to African Kora music. In every instance he has given us not only stunning collaborations – earning him Grammy nominations in more categories than any other artist – but also inspiring new compositions: “Another Morning,” “Big Country.” So in this year in which we congratulate Béla on the birth of his son Juno, we also offer our thanks for a legacy of melodies – beautiful tunes that will outlive us all, defining Telluride Bluegrass for the next 40 years and beyond. – B.E.
10:00 - 11:00
Béla FleCk
“Telluride is the only festival I’ve been to every year. I measure my progress by it, I revisit my tribe at
it, and I hope to grow old at it.”
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—Béla Fleck
The inFamous sTringdusTers
naTalie maCmasTer & donnell leahY
Plenty of today’s bluegrass bands nod backward at traditionalism while pushing the boundaries of the genre. Few, however, can match the meticulous instrumentalism, vocal artistry, or blazing energy of the Infamous Stringdusters. The group’s thrill-ride stringdusting comes courtesy of Andy Hall (dobro), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Andy Falco (guitar), and Travis Book (bass), each of them staggeringly skillful musicians, embraced by both the jamgrass community due to their willingness to delve into musical expansiveness and by the classicists who hold to the band’s drum-tight picking and singing. Boasting three first-rate lead singers, the Stringdusters are one of bluegrass’s most versatile and songful groups, but if it’s wicked, high-wire picking you want, these boys will flip your wig and make a mess of your tarps. In addition to their medullaoblongata-melting live performances, the Stringdusters are remarkable recordmakers who have turned out a streak of acclaimed albums, earning a pile of Grammy nominations and IBMA awards along the way, and raising the bar as the new standard in modern bluegrass. Got those last-day-of-the-festival blues? Fear not: The ‘Dusters are here to keep the party going with a peakpacked exhibition of fiercely musical and relentlessly fun fireworks. Get ready to kick up some dust. – S.L.
For 4 decades we’ve been privileged to witness awe-inspiring fiddling on this stage: Vassar Clements, Mark O’Connor, John Hartford, Byron Berline, Alison Krauss, Jean Luc Ponty. But few have left the entire field of Festivarians quite as breathless and exhilarated as Natalie McMaster did after her 2000 Telluride debut. The Nova Scotia native fiddled up a literal storm while stepdancing full blast, grinning ear-to-ear the whole time. That she managed this stellar performance at high altitude without a trip backstage to the oxygen tank was all the more amazing. We can naturally expect to hear some fine reels, boisterous jigs and gentle airs when Nat and her husband, brilliant Celtic fiddling star Donnell Leahy, team up for this Sunday afternoon set. They may be thoroughly respectful of traditional folk music, but the pair’s approach includes a full set of drums, thumping bass and a fair bit of rock ‘n‘ roll attitude. Today will be a truly rare sighting because both MacMaster and Leahy front their own busy touring bands while also being parents to a growing clan. If we’re especially lucky we’ll see firsthand how the apple doesn’t fall far from the proverbial tree, when some of the couple’s 5 children – ranging in age from 10 months to seven years – join them onstage to fiddle and dance. Just remember to catch your breath before they start. – J.L.
12:45 - 2:00
2:30 - 3:45
Eco-Punch #8: kNOWLEDGE
TAkE THE ENERGy QuIz AT THE RENEWABLE CHOICE ENERGy BOOTH IN GREENTOWN
a d v e n t u r e m u s i c
Maeve Gilchrist “Song of Delight”
Adventure Music “Ten Years”
Coming Soon: Mike Marshall w/Turtle Island Quartet Darol Anger’s New Project, “E-A-N-D-A” Maeve Gilchrist, “20 Chandler St.” All Adventure Music releases available at CDBaby.com
www.adventure-music.com 40th Annual
Adventure Music is pleased to support the
Trust for Public Land in its efforts to conserve the mountains that frame Telluride’s annual bluegrass festival. Support www.TPL.org
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
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hoT rize
JaCkson Browne
Telluride house Band
4:15 - 5:45
His are the songs that provided the soundtrack to a generation – our lives, our loves, our losses, our better natures, our fears, our tentative holds on grace and on justice and on each other. Jackson Browne’s timeless body of work forged the archetypal sound of California in the years after the Summer of Love, when Browne’s ambrosial Laurel Canyon folk-rock captured the mood of a disillusioned America facing the realities of innocence lost. Those early-‘70s albums (For Everyman, Late for the Sky, The Pretender) conveyed Browne’s cerebral introspection of love, doubt, and identity with breathtakingly beautiful melodies and the warm tone of Browne’s poetry and voice. Browne would prove in his middle period that he’s also a rock-and-roll true believer, detailing romantic complexities and life on the road as one of the most popular rock artists of the era. Later, Browne turned toward political activism, using his music as an agent for social change, safe energy, human rights, and environmentalism. In 2004, Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Forty years of Jackson Browne songs. Forty years of TBF. On this anniversary, it’s the perfect time to take personal inventories, to celebrate the present with Fat Tire-hoisting aplomb, and to consider the world we’re building from here. Jackson Browne has always taught us to embrace these ideas, and on closing night, we hear them live – a culmination, a fulfillment, a celebration. And when the morning light comes streaming in, we’ll get up and do it again. Amen. – S.L.
8:30 - 10:30
FeaTuring red knuCkles & The TrailBlazers The history of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the emergence of the genre, spirit, and community loved by those who attend it, cannot be told without the story of Hot Rize. The original quartet – Tim O’Brien (mandolin/fiddle), Charles Sawtelle (guitar), Pete Wernick (banjo), Nick Forster (bass) – were Colorado’s most popular band, galvanizing the bluegrass community in the late Seventies and turning a new generation of music lovers on to what was happening every summer in Telluride. Hot Rize played every TBF from 1978 to 1989, years that saw dramatic growth in both the Festival and the music thereof, thanks in large part to Hot Rize’s lead. If New Grass Revival got this ball rolling, Hot Rize gave it a huge push, helping define a new bluegrass language that was both deeply reverent to classic forms (including their honky-tonk alter-egos Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers) yet progressive and expansive, incorporating elements of rock and jazz into an ever-evolving repertoire. After ascending to the top of the bluegrass world, like so much self-rising flour, Hot Rize disbanded in 1992 but reformed for the Festival’s silver anniversary, a year before the death of Charles Sawtelle in 1999. Today, on the 40th anniversary of the Festival they helped build, Hot Rize, now featuring the astonishing Bryan Sutton on guitar, endures as a reminder of where we’ve been, a tribute to those who have gone before us, and a testament to the permanence of the music and the indelible spirit of this shared experience. – S.L.
“My first Telluride was 1993. Those ten minutes on that stage, in front of that audience, were pivotal in my life.”
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FeaTuring sam, Béla, JerrY, edgar, BrYan & sTuarT
6:15 - 7:45
—Sara Watkins
There are magical musical places around Telluride known only by locals: celtic couloirs, classical creeks, perfectly-pitched jazzy arêtes. The musicians of our House Band have lived this musical terrain, and tonight they are our guides to the unique wilderness that is Telluride Bluegrass – past, present, and future. For this trip we entrust 6 geniuses: Sam Bush (mandolin), Béla Fleck (banjo), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Edgar Meyer (bass), Bryan Sutton (guitar) and Stuart Duncan (fiddle). Their daring expeditions have connected them with every string musician who has come before; the sound of their continuing discoveries will reach every artist who follows. Their guide accreditations are impeccable: Grammys, IBMA Instrumentalists of the Year, MacArthur Fellows, CMA Artists of the Year, National Heritage Fellowships. Each ruby brick on this year’s poster is a testament to their strength in numbers, their thunder, all their stars and all their solo adventures. For decades they have mapped the nether regions where new sounds adjoin Telluride’s alpine meadows of ancient tones. Tonight we are welcomed inside these wild places to share in the knowing interactions, the quests for groove, the melodic masterpieces. Tonight we are all locals. Jerry Douglas calls this only-in-Telluride annual set “one of the most difficult things we ever embark upon.” In these final hours of the 40th, Festivarian Nation comes fully alive, reveling in the full potential of this music, this community, this place. – B.E.
Eco-Punch #9: STORIES
COMPLETE A “TELL uS ABOuT yOu” INTERVIEW AT THE ECOACTION PARTNERS BOOTH
Proving once again that true Festivarians postpone sleep ‘til the week after Bluegrass, these intimate late-night shows make the most of the shortest nights of the year. On Wednesday night, Festivarians board the free gondola to Mountain Village for Yonder Mountain String Band’s soldout 12th Annual Kick-Off party. Plan to make your way up the mountain a few hours earlier again this year for the free FirstGrass Concert in Mountain Village featuring the Steep Canyon Rangers, Lake Street Dive and Rosco Bandana. In addition to the centrally-located Sheridan Opera
House and Fly Me to the Moon Saloon, the late-night musical riches again include nightly shows in the state-ofthe-art Palm Theatre inside Telluride High School on the west end of Colorado Avenue. While most NightGrass shows sold-out in April (including online lotteries for the most intimate venues), tickets may still be available for Saturday’s stunning show at the Palm Theatre. Any remaining tickets will be sold at Telluride Music during the day or at the venue beginning 45 minutes before showtime.
2013 nightgrass schedule wednesdaY
ThursdaY
FridaY
saTurdaY
sundaY
FREE FIRSTGRASS CONCERT:
TRAMPLED By TuRTLES Sheridan Opera House Ages 21+* • 11pm show SOLD-OuT!
yONDER MOuNTAIN STRING BAND Sheridan Opera House Ages 21+* • 11pm show SOLD-OuT!
MuMFORD & SONS W/ SARA WATkINS & BEANS ON TOAST Sheridan Opera House Ages 21+* • 11pm show SOLD-OuT!
PuNCH BROTHERS Sheridan Opera House Ages 21+* • 10:30pm show SOLD-OuT!
June 19Th
STEEP CANyON RANGERS, LAkE STREET DIVE AND ROSCO BANDANA Sunset Plaza, Mountain Village All-Ages • 4-8pm FREE! THE 12TH ANNuAL BLuEGRASS kICk-OFF PARTy WITH...
yONDER MOuNTAIN STRING BAND Telluride Conference Center All-Ages • 9pm show SOLD-OuT!
June 20Th
PETER ROWAN’S TWANG AN’ GROOVE Fly Me to the Moon Saloon Ages 21+ • 11pm show SOLD-OuT! GREENSky BLuEGRASS Palm Theatre Ages 21+ • 11pm show SOLD-OuT!
June 21sT
PERT NEAR SANDSTONE Fly Me to the Moon Saloon Ages 21+ • 11pm show SOLD-OuT! THE INFAMOuS STRINGDuSTERS Palm Theatre Ages 21+ • 11pm show SOLD-OuT!
June 22nd
June 23rd
*unless accompanied by parent
LAkE STREET DIVE W/ BLuEBILLy GRIT Fly Me to the Moon Saloon Ages 21+ • 11pm show SOLD-OuT! ELEPHANT REVIVAL & SARAH jAROSz Palm Theatre Ages 21+ • 11pm show • $25
limiTed TiCkeTs For remaining shows availaBle aT Telluride musiC or Palm TheaTre (Beginning 45 minuTes BeFore showTime.)
40th Annual
Telluride Bluegrass FesTival
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planet bluegrass would like to thank our lodging partners
reserve Your 41sT anniversarY lodging now aT
www.TellurideBluegrass.Com/lodging RidgwayTelluride BGFadEDIT.pdf
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5/24/13
3:05 PM
Music, Mountains and Magic... And now the definitive book. Documenting the colorful history of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival from its humble beginnings in 1974 through our 40th celebration.
F
rom Planet Bluegrass comes a lavishly
illustrated coffee table book, featuring hundreds of photos, a complete collection of festival posters and candid behind-the-scenes stories looking back through an amazing legacy of music and a dedicated festival community. It’s a must-have collection of memories for Festivarians!
With a foreword by Sam BuSh and an introduction by PaStor muStard First-person accounts by JohN CoWaN, ChrIS daNIELS, durFEE daY, JErrY douGLaS, BÉLa FLECK, NICK ForStEr, VINCE hErmaN, Sarah JaroSZ, KooStEr mCaLLIStEr, tIm o’BrIEN, BrYaN SuttoN, ChrIS thILE, PEtE WErNICK and many others.
The ultimate Telluride 1974 Humble Beginnings
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n telluride, Fourth of July extravaganzas started with the first settlers. For nearly a century, the town promoted and partook in a celebration with marching bands and a good deal of ballyhoo that attracted friends and relatives from miles around. By the early 1970s, however, residents had grown increasingly tired of the raucousness. The tipping point came in 1972, when a widely advertised Independence Day celebration featuring carnival rides and a motorcycle stunt rider drew a huge, unruly crowd of drunks, vigilantes and bikers—as well as fights and drugs. The following winter was tough economically on the Telluride businesses that had opened along with the new ski area. When the summer of 1973 rolled around, the Tellu-
ride Arts and Crafts Guild pushed to advance the Fourth of July with music and fireworks, although the Telluride Volunteer Fire Department didn’t endorse the latter. A local bluegrass group, Fall Creek, consented to play at the Saturday, July 6 event. The Fall Creek foursome had formed from the musical get-togethers that reverberated around the mountains in those days. Kooster McAllister and J.B. Matteotti were high school buddies from New Jersey, Fred Shellman had come from Minnesota to ski, and John “Picker” Herndon was a kid from Norwood, Colorado. They played original material at local music halls and occasionally had to pawn an instrument when ticket sales were slow. The group scavenged scraps of barn wood to build a raised platform about 15 feet
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“The idea of a festival was so lighthearted,” said J.B. Matteotti of Fall Creek. “We just went ahead and did it.”
T E L L U R I D E B L U E G R A S S F E S T I VA L
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THERE WE WERE ...
T E L L U R I D E B L U E G R A S S F E S T I VA L
Cast in the last timeslot on Saturday, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played the hits in abundance and clowned around— Jimmy Ibbotson limboed under his mike stand.
1990 THE
In her Telluride debut, Shawn Colvin (below) went onstage and started to play—but there was no sound, and the crowd started shouting, “We can’t hear you!” Colvin stopped and declared, “I’ve been meditating for an hour for this set and it’s all wrecked! Do you still want to hear that Richard Thompson song?” To wild applause, she launched into a passionate performance of “Wall of Death,” and her energy never flagged.
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June 21 – 24
PERFORMERS
The Big Dogs with Tony Trischka Mary-Chapin Carpenter Shawn Colvin Chris Daniels & the Kings with John Cowan William Eaton
Despite persistent thuds and screeches from a balky sound system, New Hampshire folk guitarist Harvey Reid remained calm and gracious.
At the end of Sam Bush’s customarily exceptional set, he strapped on an electric bass and brought out a six-man army of bassists. Reading their parts from lyric sheets placed near their feet, the collective launched into Spinal Tap’s “Big Bottom,” with MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Edgar Meyer going heavy metal on his 300-year-old contrabass.
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Jonathan Edwards
Left Hand String Band, a progressive bluegrass group from Boulder County founded by Drew Emmitt, took the stage Thursday. Mark Vann (above), the winner of the 1989 banjo-picking contest, had met the musicians at the festival and joined them soon thereafter.
“ Telluride has invariably been a growth spot. All of us have played bluegrass on that stage, but we’ve always been developing our own music. People are open to almost any sounds that come from the stage.” —Peter Rowan
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Bryan Bowers
Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass, returned to perform at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The 78-year-old mandolin player appreciated the fact that the players had an abiding respect for his musical style. “It’s good to see all the people that play bluegrass,” he said proudly. “I get along with them good.”
Mary-Chapin Carpenter was receiving airplay on progressive country stations, but she embraced her folk influences at Telluride. “Festivals that are really wonderful become lore amongst musicians,” she said. “Telluride was something I knew about and was thrilled to be a part of. I stood backstage and slobbered to myself that there’s James Taylor walking by. I know that sounds flaky, but that stuff doesn’t wear off.”
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Béla Fleck & the Flecktones Nanci Griffith The David Grisman Quintet Alison Krauss & Union Station Left Hand String Band Laurie Lewis & Grant Street Loose Ties Bill Monroe & the Buegrass Boys New Tradition Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Tim O’Brien Band Powder Ridge Chris Proctor Harvey Reid Peter Rowan & Crucial Country Runaway Express Strength In Numbers The Subdudes James Taylor Michael Tomlinson David Wilcox
T E L L U R I D E B L U E G R A S S F E S T I VA L
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The 9.5” x 12” case-bound collectible book includes over 200 pages, hundreds of photos, a complete yearby-year historical account, and a colorful collection of artist essays.
Bluegrass Festival Keepsake “ When you can stand on stage and see one of the most beautiful sights in the world, it makes you feel like picking. And then, on top of that, to play to good listeners, that’s the icing on the cake.” —Sam Bush
1999 One Tough Mudder
E
pi c rainfa l l dogged the commencement of the 26th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Town Park’s grassy field was reduced to an expanse of puddles, ruined sod, trampled straw and soft mud, but the muck failed to subdue the excitement. Leo Kottke’s solo performance was filled with droll, good-natured banter between songs. “I turn festivals down pretty routinely because of the problems playing outdoors—it’s frequently more of an event than a concert,” the guitar hero said. “But it doesn’t seem to operate that way at Telluride. Anybody’s music can work here.” By the second day, the sky cleared up and the temperature rose. Altan, an Irish traditional band, brought Celtic folk tunes to Telluride, paying tribute to Ireland’s influence on bluegrass and Appalachian music. Saturday, Stacey Earle got across her rugged folk-country composite with her husband, guitarist Mark Stuart, and youngest son Kyle, who played drums. Tim O’Brien, always one of the festival’s most distinguished performers, joined forces with the similarly talented Darrell Scott and nimbly wove swing, country and newgrass styles into their electrifying set. On Sunday morning, banjoist Béla Fleck roused the crowd with a long sunrise jam in the company of Sandip Burman, the accomplished Indian tabla player. “I play with all the bluegrass and jazz players I can, and I love it, but Sandip is the only musician who really pushes me now—very often I don’t even know what time signature we are in,” Fleck commented. New Orleans singer and pianist
Davell Crawford amply represented his blues and gospel influences. That afternoon, fellow Hot Rize cohorts O’Brien, Pete Wernick and Nick Forster and other good friends engaged in a tribute to guitarist Charles Sawtelle, who had died of leukemia at age 52 just a few months before the event. Riding the critical success of The Mountain, an album recorded with singer-songwriter Steve Earle, the Del McCoury Band closed the festival—without Earle. He had left the tour suddenly before reaching Telluride, leaving the band to perform without him. With the festival becoming an increasingly tough ticket, local radio station KOTO simulcast the event for the first time.
1993 Weathering Heights
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n many people’s minds, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival was Sam Bush’s baby. Quite fittingly, then, his mandolin appeared on the front of 1993’s “20 Year Reunion” programs and posters—and the man himself appeared just about everywhere else. On Thursday, Bush led Emmylou Harris’ band, the Nash Ramblers, and played with Strength in Numbers Friday night; he performed with fellow New Grass Revival alumnus John Cowan Saturday night and with Dan Fogelberg’s band Sunday night. “When we first went to Telluride, the music was called bluegrass by name, but it wasn’t bluegrass by the strict standards set back East,” said Bush. “We were vilified by the traditional community for straying so far from the fold. So we were forced to establish our own circuit, and New Grass Revival was always a favorite of the Telluride crowd. Now that new acoustic music movement has gone farther than anyone expected. A lot of acts in the western part of the country basically have the Telluride festival to thank for promoting our music for us. The word has spread—Telluride is one of the premier festivals in the U.S.” The banner hanging from the stage depicted two stringed instruments coupled in a yin-yang arrangement, a “yinjo-yangdalin.”
On Thursday night, a heavy burst of rain took place in the middle of Willie Nelson’s set (which featured Emmylou Harris as a surprise participant), and the audience applauded with every lighting flash.
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It became the icon for Planet Bluegrass, a name the festival corporation adopted after its employees—inspired by the title of the previous year’s live recording, Planet Bluegrass Incredibly Live— had jokingly started answering the phone “Planet Bluegrass.” The relatively quiet weekend was attributed to efficient planning by that crew and the town, although a handful of nudists on bicycles stirred up some commotion. Increased run-off in the high country had resulted in turbid water, and a boil order was in effect for Telluride leading up to the festival. Local merchants reported that business was up—besides bottled water, they sold out of ponchos due to the weather Thursday and Friday, when rain changed over to light, Zachary Richard offered hail-like snow. The wind his unique Cajun rock ‘n’ and temperature changes roll fusion. played havoc with the sound system, which took a couple of days to get fine-tuned. Friday’s sleet yielded to Saturday’s sunny skies, which in turn gave way to a spectacular Sunday night electrical storm. Festival pioneer Kooster McCallister again operated out of Record Plant Remote, a state-of-the-art mobile recording studio, documenting the 32 acts that appeared over the long weekend. The recordings became an NPR radio program hosted by Emmylou Harris. The event ran smoothly, aside from T E L L U R I D E B L U E G R A S S F E S T I VA L
virtuosity on the double bass, a singularly difficult instrument; in 1982, he took top honors in the fiddle competition at the Pitkin County Fair—playing fiddle tunes on his bass. The use of “delay towers”—placing speakers in several locations in the crowd to keep the sound balanced throughout Town Park—was a marked improvement over having one massive bank of speakers in front. Moving the fence on the edge of the Bear Creek softball field almost to the infield Saturday eased crowding, and opening the Valley Floor, a tract of land located before the entrance to the town, allowed parking for about 1,000 cars. For years the town had objected to the traffic and crowds of Festivarians. But those concerns seemingly evaporated, as Telluride residents that spring voted to allow the Grateful Dead—whose longtime promoter, Bill Graham, happened to own a house in Telluride—
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to play later that summer. The town’s courtship with the Dead had Telluride Bluegrass Festival promoters feeling a little resentful. “We feel like the wife that put the doctor through medical school,” attorney Craig Ferguson told the Telluride Town Council in August. “The message we get is, Thank you, but we have found other cute things to look around at.” Chris Daniels led the traditional Friday night jam, a rock-soul-jazzblues-bluegrass romp that featured various virtuoso acoustic musicians getting funky.
The festival lineup provided a dose of country music mavericks such as Michael Martin Murphey (left), Lyle Lovett and Texas-born Nanci Griffith (right), an engaging live performer with a beautiful crooning vocal style and sweet, knowing love songs.
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June 19 – 21
PERFORMERS
Byron Berline, Dan Crary, John Hickman Rodney Crowell & Rosanne Cash Chris Daniels Easy Pickins Jonathan Edwards Nanci Griffith David Grisman Quartet John Hartford Hot Rize Leo Kottke Lyle Lovett
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Michael Martin Murphey
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Nashville Bluegrass Band New Grass Revival Tony Rice Unit (Opposite) “This community of younger pickers—folks like David Grisman, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Mark O’Connor and my bandmates in New Grass Revival—is the new wave of acoustic musicians,” Béla Fleck (right) said. “It’s where the music is going, not where it’s been.”
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Riders in the Sky Runaway Express
Leo Kottke, the innovative 6- and 12-string acoustic guitar hero, performed at his first Telluride festival.
Telluride All-Stars (Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Mark O’Connor) Doc Watson
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tELLurIdE BLuEGraSS FEStIVaL FortY YEarS will be available in late Fall 2013, just in time for holiday gift giving. Visit the Country Store during the festival to learn more and see a likeness of the book. Sign-up to be notified when the book is ready to ship at www.telluridebluegrass.com/book
daTes To rememBer Telluride Bluegrass June 19-22, 2014 June 18-21, 2015 June 16-19, 2016
roCkYgrass aCademY roCkYgrass
susTainaBle FesTivaTion & This FesTival Program
July 26-28, 2013 July 25-27, 2014
The song sChool August 11-15, 2013 August 10-14, 2014
roCkY mTn Folks FesTival August 16-18, 2013 August 15-17, 2014
online surveY Even after 40 years, we continue to refine every aspect of Telluride Bluegrass. Help us out by sharing your comments about the festival experience. Complete our 5-minute online survey and you’ll be entered to win a pair of 2014 passes.
www.Bluegrass.Com/TBFsurveY
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Throw down your virtual tarp year-round, commune with your fellow Festivarians, and be the first to hear about lineups, tickets, and giveaways…
FesTivarian.Com FaCeBook.Com/PlaneTBluegrass TwiTTer.Com/PlaneTBluegrass
July 21-25, 2013 July 20-24, 2014
Lotteries for Town Park and Warner Field camping begin in November. All other 2014 Telluride Bluegrass tickets go onsale on Friday, December 6. Visit Bluegrass.com beginning in October for more details.
virTual TarP
This year’s program and pocket schedule are printed on FSC-certified Neenah Conservation 80# Cover and 70# Text paper at Lange Graphics, a family-run FSC-certified printer in Denver. By using this 100% postconsumer recycled fiber made with 100% renewable energy, we saved 21,872 pounds of wood, 31,940 gallons of water, and 6,632 pounds of carbon emissions. Help extend the life of this program by sharing it with your tarpmates, protecting it as a lasting souvenir, or recycling it in the specially marked bins by the festival exit.
Eco-Punch #10: SHARE
SHARE SuSTAINABLE FESTIVATION INSPIRATION By WRITING A POSTCARD AT THE NEW BELGIuM BOOTH
fat tire amber ale is brewed by new belgium brewing fort collins co
Pairs well with people. People enjoying Fat Tire with other people. It’s why we put more than one in every six-pack.