We’ve heard it said many times; distance makes the heart grow fonder. But how does such a fondness grow when it is already so vast? For forty six consecutive years, we never had to imagine a summer without a pilgrimage to this illustrious box canyon. It was a part of life, just as you might celebrate your birthday every year. Predictable, yes, but not at the detriment of our shared experience. In fact, it remained difficult to fathom how our fondness for this valley, with Ingram Falls carefully cascading under the watchful eye of Ajax Peak, could grow any larger. But time changes everything. Could we have imagined such a change that would prevent us from gathering? A change that meant our beloved festival must be laid fallow? Most certainly not. But the solstice came and went, and gather in harmony we did not. In the face of this newfound separation, our hearts began to seek the music, the mountains, and the magic. This fondness within us grew to new heights with each passing day. Our hearts eager, our lives uncertain, we found solace in the hope that one day we could share a tarp with our fellow Festivarians again. And that day, friends, has come! Now here we are, at the culmination of this journey. It’s hard to be sure just when the gravity of it all might hit you. Was it when you crested the hill and laid your eyes on the valley once again? Was it as the tarp run overture first echoed off the canyon walls? Or will it be when Sam Bush first steps out on stage? Whenever it hits you, wherever it hits you, just remember that you’ve made it. You’re home, and we’re so glad you’re here.
Festival Director: Craig Ferguson Festival Ambassador: Steve Szymanski Festival Manager: Zach Tucker Operations Supervisors: Sean Flynn, Jordan Bushouse Festival Grounds Supervisor: Rich Estes Operations Crew: Nate Henderson, Brian Flynn, James Hinker, Ty Lafollette, Wyatt Lafollette Sustainable Festivation Supervisors: Walter Wright, Tyler Simmons Festival Waste Crew: Andrew Kolberg, Alex Douglas George, Andrew Berger Chief of Security: John Cohn Security Supervisors: Joe Piche, Jonathan Greenspan Crowd Management: Damion Alexander, Sophia Alexander, Jack Bonkers, Sheri Brieski, Steve Buchanan, Eileen Burns, Doug Ferguson, Darrall Huber, Heather Keith, Randy Reece, Carol Reece, Fran Windsor Customs Gate Supervisors: Debby Guarino, Franny Cohn, Consuelo Reyes, Micaela Fleming Town Park Gate Supervisors: Marilyn Branch, Larry Stewart Pedestrian Bridge Supervisor: Calvin Poon Backstage Security Supervisor: Kelly Gratz
Backstage Security: Eric Abramson, Joshua Appelbaum, Olivia Breen, Tara Doran, Ian Frodesen, Colin Goldstein, Tom Hannahs, Chris Klatt, Shane Oltmanns, Aaron Payne, Rich Phan, Danielle Pollack, Steven Sherman-Boemker, Mark Smither, Shea Szymanski, Josh Thomas, Rosalee Walsh, Bill Wilson Pit Master: Hunt Worth Pit Crew: Stiff Patterson, Jon Foote, Bernt Riffe, Socko Sokolowski Overnight Security: Shawn Williams, Gary Broughall, Ben Rich Camping Supervisor: Kathleen Morgan Town Park Campground Hosts: Jessica Heady, James Kell, Fawnda Rogers, Alex Wissing Zone 1 Camping Hosts: Aaron Cooklin, Mo Hanna Warner Field Campground Hosts: Kimberly Galler, Bridget Schuler Lawson Hill Campground Hosts: Tucker Lane, Amy Vanderbosh, John Wontrobski, Adriana Galue Tyler Sweet Mary E Campground Hosts: Ben Kirk, Britney Traucht, Kristi Wheeler, Amy Hardy, Aiden Sterling Valley E-Team Supervisor: Steve Green Parking Supervisor: Dennis Green Vehicle Gate Supervisors: Mary Alice Wagner, Kristin Milord, Julie Evans, Ed Janus
Barricade Supervisors: Zanna Dobbs, Eleasha Hemphill Offsite Parking Supervisors: Susan Ensor, Hans Borbe, Doug Hendrickson Backstage Hospitality/Artist Supervisor: Amy Mendonca Backstage Hospitaltiy: Cece Delhaute, Iris Ruckel, Tessa Wieszcholek Backstage Executive Chef: Markus Chesla Backstage Sous Chef: Tom Corrado Artist Transportation Supervisors: Jeremy Matsen, Edward Kean Box Office Manager: Geoff Wickersham Box Office Supervisors: Natalie Kidd, Jelena Caplan, Nichole Elmore Volunteer & Vendor Supervisor: Allison Grimes Media & Partner Relations: Grace Barrett Harmony Greene Supervisors: Wendy McFarland, Suzanne Teele, Kyra Holt Concessions Supervisors: Jill Brzezicki, Laura Thomas, Michael Colon, Mike Pingel Communications Supervisors: Luci Reeve, Shine Pritchard, Melissa Kennington Assistant to the Regional Country Store Manager: Dustin Boyd Country Store Supervisors: Pat O'Kelly, Robert McSwegin, Sean Sissel
In Love & Harmony. The Folks on Planet Bluegrass Artist Consignment Supervisor: Kara O'Kelly Family Tent Supervisor: Melissa Sumpter Harris Elks Park Workshop & Contest Supervisors: Edee Gail, Chandler Holt Elks Park Workshop Sound: Dean Rolley, Vicki Phelps, Colin Casanova Elks Park Workshop Transportation: Tom & Nancy Richards Stage Design: Ann Hall, Jacob Leeuwenburgh Park Beautification: Claudia Kean Libation Station Supervisors: Pam Bennett, Scott Kelley, Ashley Story, Dennis Andrejko Nightgrass Supervisor: Elle Kane ClubRed Supervisor: Denise Mongan Master of Ceremonies: Chris Daniels
STAGE CREW
Stage Manager: Skip Kent FOH Engineer: Tom Holmes Monitors: Mike Bove Backstage Manager: John Setser Stage/FOH: Garth Michael Lighting Director: Dave Hall Lights: Jim Hurst Audio: Mark Miceli Stage Lead: Steve Anderson Stage/Monitors: Brent Healy Stage Patch: Ric Teller Stage: Justin Milner, Talia Krause, Mark Altomare, Rhett Snyder Labor/Spots: Tim Territo Spots: Tom Wirth
PROGRAM STAFF
Editors: Grace Barrett, Kyra Holt Design and Layout: Pat Creyts Contributing Writers: Steve Leftridge, Charlotte Bell, Grace Barrett, Kyra Holt, Zach Tucker, Steve Szymanski Advertising: Grace Barrett Photography: Benko Photographics and NOCOAST Printing: Matt Coburn, OneTouchPoint Cover Image: Babe Gallegos and Norman Lansing
PLANET BLUEGRASS YEAR ROUND STAFF
President & Night Watchman: Craig Ferguson Director of Educational Programming: Steve Szymanski Director of Operations: Zach Tucker Sales Manager: Geoff Wickersham Director of Communication & Partnerships: Grace Barrett
Artist Relations and Wedding Coordinator: Amy Mendonca Festivarian Ambassador & Volunteer and Vendor Coordinator: Allison Grimes Festivarian Relations: Natalie Kidd Gardener Jelena Caplan Sustainability Coordinator: Kyra Holt Talent Buyer: Chandler Holt Ranch Crew: Griffin Ferguson, Tony King, Ty Lafollette, Wyatt Lafollette Office Dogs: Luca & Hazel
THANKS TO OUR FESTIVAL PARTNERS
Upslope Brewing Company, Eco-Products, Canyon, Stem Ciders, Spirit Hound Distillers, Klean Kanteen, Meier Skis, Chaco, Rocky Mountain Cannabis, Mountainsmith, Leave No Trace, Sunsense Solar, Mountain Meadow Farms, EcoAction Partners, Ozo Coffee, Eldorado Natural Spring Water, Sierra Sage/ Green Goo, Yoonit Wine, and Telluride Express
PLANET BLUEGRASS WOULD LIKE TO THANK... 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, Lawson Hill Property Owners, and the Telluride School District
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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An Artistic Celebration OF
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COMMUNITY
&
HISTORY
Who said it first? Guess the artist associated with the lyric on each footer.
Music is the focus of the festival, however the power of the surrounding landscape and its rich history cannot be denied.
The jutting peaks dwarf us and remind us that we are part of something larger. The canyon walls cradle and confine us into a community where we are inspired to sing, dance, wander the campgrounds until the early hours of the morning, and howl at the moon. The San Miguel River refreshes us while Bridal Veil Falls captures us in awe. We recognize that the festival is inseparable from the landscape itself, that this majestic scenery is what makes Telluride Bluegrass so special. For this reason it is important to acknowledge that the festival grounds and surrounding areas were historically inhabited by the Ute Indian Tribe. The Ute lived off the land in harmony with their environment. They came to know not only the terrain, but the plants and animals that inhabited the lands. The Utes developed
a unique relationship with the environment, learning to give and take from Mother Earth. As a result of westward expansion, this land was forcibly taken from them. It’s a bloody history, one rife with greed, broken promises, and cultural suppression. We cannot gather in this sacred space without acknowledging and recognizing this destructive and damaging history. This year, we chose to honor Telluride’s native history by partnering with Ute artists to commission our festival artwork. This piece embodies the intersection between history and music, education and art. This artwork was co-created by father and daughter artists, Norman Lansing and Babe Gallegos.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Norman Lansing, born in Towaoc, CO, is a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Growing up in a creative home, art was always part of his life. After graduating from high school, Norman expanded his technique and expression for art by attending both Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO and Haskell Junior College in Lawrence, KS. Throughout his journey, his wife and children have been inspirational and supportive of his dream to become a professional artist. Norman refers to himself as a “traditional contemporary artist.” His work portrays his Native American culture and background as well as the individual expression of his own life views as an artist. “I feel that I achieve a spiritual message through realistic imagery with the use of color, texture, and imaginative expression. I am inspired to continue to create art with the natural beauty in everyday life and the gifts that it brings. Each day with a new rising sun is a blessing, and one only has to open one’s eyes and look about with appreciation.” Babe Gallegos, daughter of Norman and Kristine, was raised, along with her siblings, in Ignacio, CO. Engaging in art projects from an early age, Babe inherited her artistic abilities from both parents and followed this passion into college, earning a bachelor's degree in art with an emphasis in Graphic Design from
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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Fort Lewis. Upon graduating she had a ten-year career as a law enforcement officer and is now pursuing a degree in nursing. Although art has not been her primary profession it has always been her favorite form of expression. “I have always turned to art to help express myself. I feel art is a connection to the soul that reflects what a person is feeling or going through at that moment. I don’t feel my style is traditional, but I am influenced by many artists and media. I enjoy trying new methods and grow as an artist through them. Art is truly a blessing in my life, and I am so grateful to have grown up in a family that helped me become an artist.”
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
This year’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival artwork is a depiction of how music intertwines with the strength and unity of people and land. The profile of a person represents the homeland of the Ute people and the positive energy flowing throughout. The colored line next to the face is a blanket, and the yellow blocks from the face on top are a pathway. This signifies the many roads people travel to partake in this event, coming from all walks of life. The piece uses a variety of bright colors to represent this remarkable box canyon we have the privilege of making our home during the solstice weekend. Red is the color of strength and resilience, while the blues represent
water and the universe. Gold and silver represent the rich mining history of Telluride and the gifts that were bestowed upon us from the earth. Green welcomes the summer months and new life as seasons change. Pinks, oranges, and reds are the sunrise into a new day, welcoming us back to the festival after several years. Ajax Peak and Ingram Falls, which flow into the banjo, show how the flow of water is life, and the resulting energy generates a positive musical experience for everyone. The universe at the top is the balance of all life forces and ties into the blue spruce trees and columbine, which are native to Colorado. An eagle is representative of the Free Spirit of all nations gathering together as one at the festival.
ADDITIONAL WORKS BY NORMAN LANSING & BABE GALLEGOS, BOTH COLLABORATIVELY & INDIVIDUALLY MADE.
Planet Bluegrass has chosen to allocate the profits from this year’s poster sales to two places. Half will go to La Plata Youth Services, an organization chosen by Norman and Babe, whose mission is to empower and support at-risk youth in La Plata County. The other half will go to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe with the goal to support a variety of projects they are currently working on. Learn more about these initiatives on page 17 and at the Ute Mountain booth in Harmony Greene.
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Cause I'm gonna get a cocktail: vodka and ginger ale / Gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
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Ready to learn a little, chat with some of our partners and guests, and have fun while you’re at it? Answers to the puzzle questions can be found by visiting and engaging with folks in Harmony Greene. Using the questions below, fill in the crossword puzzle in the pocket schedule and turn in your completed card at the Planet Bluegrass tent in Harmony Greene. Daily prizes will be selected as well as a Grand Prize – Meier Skis (with special Planet Bluegrass design!). You need not be present to win.
Do you know… ACROSS
1 …that bluegrass was "born" in December of 1945 when Bill
Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys played at the Ryman Theater in Nashville around a single ______? Bring your friends to the photobooth in Harmony Greene, grab an instrument, and take a "band" photo in the traditional bluegrass style.
3 …your climate ______? Sustaio helps you quantify and improve your climate impact by building better habits.
5 …that the Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery are here for the entire festival working on a special ______ in Harmony Greene? Check out their full schedule on page 22.
6 …that it takes an orange peel up to ______ years to decompose? 7 …you can win (2) free camping passes for Telluride 2023 by
participating in the ______ Challenge? Head to the Leave No Trace booth to participate. It's never too late! There will be daily prizes. Tell us your sustainable camping hacks!
10 …that Upslope is a certified B-corporation and that 1% of all Craft Lager can sales are donated to ______ Unlimited to help conserve, protect and restore cold-water fisheries and watersheds?
15 …the difference between equality and ______?
(Hint, stop by the Planet Bluegrass tent in Harmony Greene)
16 …that Meier skis are made from Colorado ______ ?
GRAND PRIZE!
DOWN
2 …that all of the dishes and silverware from the food vendors can be tossed into the ______?
4 …that the folks in the ______ shirts are part of an invaluable volunteer waste diversion crew. If you see them give them a shoutout of appreciation, high five, or raised glass. They deserve it.
5 …that _______ trash may seem small but can have big
consequences? Stop by the Mountainsmith booth, grab a bag, and help us keep the festival grounds clean. Turn back in your bag for a chance to win a prize.
6 …that 90% of Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s CO2 footprint is
created by your ______ here? Participate in the carpool contest to win a $500 gear package from Mountainsmith. It's not too late!
8 …that the ______ Indian Tribe occupied the San Juan Valley for
1,000 years before being forcefully removed? Artists, Norman Lansing and Babe Gallegos, created this year's artwork in honor of Telluride’s history.
9 …that clean ziplocks, ice bags, and bread bags are all examples of plastic film, which can be upcycled at the EcoAction Partners table in Harmony Greene? From there it is sent to Trex to become composite ______!
11 …you can ______ your Chaco sandals right here, right now, at the festival?
12 …that YOU won an award this year by being an amazing
Sustainable Festivarian? Folk Alliance International awarded Planet Bluegrass with the 2022 “Clear______ Award” for prioritizing environmental stewardship and leadership.
13 …Planet Bluegrass is partnering this summer with ______ of Trees to plant 2,000 trees in Telluride?
Pair of Meier Skis 6
14 …that you can charge your phone and chat about everything
under the ______ from tax credits to new battery technologies at the Sunsense Solar Education Station?
Somebody said, Keep your eyes open / gotta keep your feet on solid ground
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago... The second-best time is now.” — Anonymous
Now is here! Planet Bluegrass is excited to partner
with Seas of Trees, a local nonprofit tree planting organization, to create a large demonstration forest in Telluride this summer. Seas of Trees was founded in 2020 by a local high school junior, Ayla Kanow, and her family with the mission to educate youth planters about climate change, environmental stewardship, and carbon sequestration. Already the organization has planted 2,000 sapling trees locally, another 1,500 abroad, and is branching out to take on their largest project yet. The 2,000 tree demonstration forest consists of local species including native quaking aspen, blue spruce, douglas fir, lodgepole, and ponderosa pine. The forest will be taking root on private property on the sunny side of Aldasoro adjacent to the airport where it will have access to water and a fence system to keep the resident elk from grazing on the tender saplings in their first few years. Planet Bluegrass, the Town of Telluride, San Miguel County, and the Telluride Foundation have all contributed to the purchase of the trees and supplies as well as a long-term maintenance plan to ensure the forest’s success. “We don’t see the project as just about tree planting. We see it as tree-growing,” notes Natalie Fijalkowski, Co-owner of Telluride Arborist, who is donating the creation of a permaculture design to nurture the forest until it is established. “Forests everywhere are in jeopardy and here in Telluride sudden aspen decline (SAD), the invasive bark beetle, wildfires, and drought significantly threaten our forests,” said Ayla’s mom and Board President, Joanna Kanow. “Even though it looks like you are surrounded by trees everywhere, if you look closer, the forests need our help.”
Planting has begun and Seas of Trees is looking for volunteers. If you want to take climate action and learn about reforestation, Planet Bluegrass will be taking a group up to the forest to get their hands in the dirt and plant some trees during the festival. Find out more by visiting the Seas of Trees table in the Planet Bluegrass Tent in Harmony Greene. At maturity, a single tree will remove 48lbs of carbon dioxide per year from the air. This means that the fully grown 2,000 tree forest could sequester up to 48 tons of carbon dioxide each year. It is more important than ever to invest in the now, and in 20 years, at the 69th Telluride Bluegrass Festival, we will be grateful we did! As Festivarians, you can support Seas of Trees with your tips at the beer booth. So drink up, knowing your donation will continue to grow and grow.
YOU CAN ALSO DONATE DIRECTLY TO SEAS OF TREES AT WWW.SEASOFTREES.ORG OR VENMO @PLANTTREES
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We challenge you to a rock-off! / Give us one chance to rock your socks off!
SET-BREAK SESSIONS
Thursday 1:15 Here at Upslope Brewing, we’ve always had a passion for two things: living life outdoors and brewing the perfect beer or hard seltzer to cap off any adventure. And, yes, enjoying days on days of live music in legendary and picturesque Telluride more than counts as an outdoor adventure worth raising a pint to. That’s why we’re thrilled to be joining the Planet Bluegrass family and serving up cold brews and Spiked Snowmelt all festival long! Beyond the incredible lineup and magical festival moments ahead, this partnership comes with great pride and excitement for us. We’re always looking to collaborate with like-minded friends who share our commitment to sustainability and providing quality experiences. As a Certified B Corporation, we’re proud to embrace the idea that businesses can and should be used as a force for good while continuously improving our high-quality social and environmental business standards. So let's do our part while keeping the good vibes and cold drinks flowing. Stop by our booth in Harmony Greene each afternoon for small batch samplings, tap-side hangs, and intimate performances with festival artists. Plus, you can enter for a chance to win a custom Spiked Snowmelt stand up paddle board by Telluride local SOL Paddle Boards so you can #KeepItFlowing all summer long.
1:30-2:00
Friday 1:00-1:15 1:15-1:45
Planet Bluegrass Year in Review Festivarian Conversation Contra Dance
How to Leave No Trace at Telluride Bluegrass Sound of Honey
Saturday 12:00
Climate Action Plan with EcoAction Partners 12:15- 12:45 To Be Announced
Sunday
12:30-12:45 Seas of Trees 12:45-1:00 Joanna Spindler Poetry Reading * Show times subject to change
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In addition to our selection of Colorado-brewed Upslope beers & seltzers, we’re pleased to offer several unique and delicious Colorado-inspired cocktails, locally sourced ciders, and eco-friendly wines. VODKA LEMONADE
CITRUS TONIC
with Spirit Hound Gin or Vodka
GINGER LIME SHRUB
with Spirit Hound Vodka or Gin
COYOTE GOLD MARGARITAS
Citrus Tonic and Ginger-Lime Shrub are provided by Lost Identity, a craft beverage producer in Vail. (For those novice mixologists among us, Shrubs are a blend of fruit, sugar, and vinegar dating back hundreds of years.)
Coyote Gold All Natural Margaritas were invented by a pair of engineers from Fort Collins with a passion for great tasting, authentic margaritas. What began as a "kitchen brew," has been available since 2008 as an authentic, all natural beverage that is free of preservatives, gluten, and artificial flavors and colors.
PALOMA
A dazzling display of grapefruit & key lime purees with a subtle yet intriguing note of spice. Off Dry. 5.0% ABV
Our Gin & Tonics, Gin Mules, and Vodka Lemonades feature handcrafted vodka or gin from Spirit Hound Distillers. This craft distillery in Lyons, CO uses custom-built distillation equipment to capture all of the purity and flavor of their locally-sourced Colorado ingredients, such as freshly picked juniper berries and Colorado barley.
REAL DRY
A delicate and crisp expression of our fresh pressed apples with a refreshing tart finish. Dry. 6.8% ABV
Stem Ciders is a craft cidery best known for its unorthodox approach to cider. Guided by three main principles: good company, fearless innovation, and real quality, Stem supports communities, explores new flavors endlessly, and carefully selects quality ingredients. Stem Ciders is meant to be cheersed and enjoyed in the company of friends.
PASO ROBLES SANGIOVESE
YOLO COUNTY CHARDONNAY
CLEAR LAKE MERLOT
CHILES VALLEY/NAPA VALLEY SAUVIGNON BLANC
CLARKSBURG PINOT NOIR
NAPA VALLEY ROSE OF PINOT NOIR
Our premier wine selection is provided by YOONIT wines for the fifth year running. YOONIT is an ecofriendly company providing an experience in every glass where notes of music and flavor dance together. With environmental packaging and gravity fed wine on tap, this local colorado company has removed the need for glass bottles, kegs, and electricity for storage. Find their lovely assortment at the wine bar, or have it shipped carbon free to your doorstep.
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Si vous voulez que je chante, versez-moi un verre de vin
CRAFT LAGER
ROCKY MOUNTAIN KÖLSCH
CITRA PALE ALE
WEST COAST STYLE IPA
Our Craft Lager is a premium American lager brewed entirely of malted barley. This Colorado-style session beer stands side-by-side with our family of premium ales to bring you a clean, easy, light-bodied lager for the ages. 2019 Great American Beer Festival Silver Medal winner in the ‘International-Style Pilsener’ category. 4.8% ABV
Prominently featuring Citra hops, our Citra Pale Ale delivers pungent grapefruit and tropical fruit aromas on the nose with a semi-dry finish. Juicy notes imparted by the hops pair with the light caramel malt character to balance this drinkable, “go-to” American Pale Ale. 5.8% ABV
SPIKED SNOWMELT:
PEACH LEMONADE ELECTROLYTE SERIES
The Spiked Snowmelt Electrolyte Series delivers thirstcrushing flavors artfully crafted with Boulder-based Skratch Labs' sport hydration drink mix. Power your passion for adventure (& dancing) with a one-two punch of electrolytes and real fruit flavor so you can keep it flowing from day to night. Gluten free. 105 calories. 5% ABV
Layered in flavors inspired by the backcountry, our Rocky Mountain Kölsch merges the easy-drinking character of traditional Kölsch yeast with our innovative spin. Colorado honey, sage, and Mosaic and Lemondrop hops create a bright, lemon citrus character with a touch of hops. 5% ABV
Navel orange, ruby grapefruit, and pine flavors dance with bright tropical fruit character and notes of juicy melon. West Coast IPA finishes dry with firm bitterness to draw you into that next, refreshing sip. Enjoy all year round! 6.5% ABV
SPIKED SNOWMELT:
TANGERINE & HOPS
Crafted from pure snowmelt, all natural flavors, and a bubbly kick with no fake sugar, ingredients, or gluten to slow your roll. Tangerine & Hops is a citrusy call to get this party started. A hint of hoppy bitterness to brighten the tangerine and keep things interesting. Gluten free. 100 calories. 5% ABV
If so, better enter the Carpool Contest for a chance to win a $500 gear package from our friends at Mountainsmith! Entering is easy, just: Post a pic of your #carpoolcrew in front of your vehicle (make sure there's a Telluride landmark or festival sign prominently featured in the photo!). Tag @planet.bluegrass, tell us where you’re coming from, and use the hashtag #sharearidetotelluride. That’s totally it. So easy it would honestly be silly if you didn't join in. The winning group will be selected at random and announced Sunday on the Main Stage. May the carpooling odds be ever in your favor!
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San Juan Mountains On a luminous Sunday morning 30 years ago, Telluride’s verdant peaks awakened to an altogether new vibration—the “awesome voices,” horns and percussion of Tibetan monks, woven into a vast ground of silent Festivarians. In 1992, the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta, Georgia, made their first appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. According to one longtime Telluride resident and Festivarian, the valley was forever changed after their performance. Not exactly bluegrass, you might say, but in the more spacious scheme of things, Tibetan sacred music and dance are actually a perfect fit. By the time the monks first appeared on the main stage, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival had already established itself as a not-strictlybluegrass sort of gathering. Inviting Tibetan monks to share their sacred traditions simply marked a surprising, but logical, next step.
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Festival Director, Craig Ferguson, first explored the idea of inviting Tibetan monks to Telluride in 1991. “The idea came from the desire to recognize a spiritual component to our gathering, but not wanting to be exclusively Christian. I wanted the festival to be open to spiritual gatherings of all humans.”
Now the time stands still / We drink our fill / Out of silver / God will never tarnish like we will
A Non-Traditional Tradition
In the festival’s early years, Sunday morning’s opening set featured mostly traditional bluegrass gospel music. Starting in the early ’90s, Planet Bluegrass invited Black gospel artists such as The Blind Boys of Alabama, Mighty Clouds of Joy, and Mavis Staples to invoke the spirit in Festivarians. The Sunday morning set has also featured Native American flutists Howard Bad Hand and R. Carlos Nakai. In 2017, “We the People,” an international showcase organized and orchestrated by Abigail Washburn, featured musicians representing India, China, and Nigeria. The Gospel Set is not the only place where diverse cultures have raised their voices at the festival. Several of Telluride’s mainstays have introduced Festivarians to unexpected international talent. For example, Peter Rowan, who often brings musical surprises to Telluride audiences, performed as the Free Mexican Airforce with Los Texmaniacs in 2021, and introduced Festivarians to Tibetan singersongwriter Yungchen Lhamo in 2014. Béla Fleck has collaborated with Tuvan throat singer Kongal ol-Ondar, tabla artist Zakir Hussain,
and Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté. Both Peter and Béla will return to their bluegrass roots this year on the main stage. Also this year, Telluride anchors—including Peter, Béla, Sam Bush Band, Telluride House Band, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, the Punch Brothers—will share the stage with such diverse artists as Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi, Le Vent du Nord, Twisted Pine, Tenacious D and Sihasin, among many others.
Where Parallel Cultures Meet
This year, two parallel cultures will share the Telluride stage when Diné duo Sihasin and the Drepung Loseling Monks open Friday’s and Sunday’s festivities. Anthropologist Peter Gold documented connections between Diné (Navajo) and Tibetan spirituality in a book titled Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit. The author notes that both traditions create sacred sand paintings. Both share similar creation myths, cosmology, geomancy, psychology, visionary arts, and healing and initiation rituals. Both traditions recognize four sacred mountains in their native regions, which perhaps makes their convergence here in these mountains even more auspicious. According to the book, neither language includes a word for “religion” as such; spirituality is not separate from daily life. Finally, both traditions have had to work hard to sustain and preserve their cultural traditions as their homelands have been colonized by outside cultures. Geshe Lobsang Tenzin is the spiritual director for the Drepung Loseling Monastery. He traveled to Telluride for the monks’ first appearance in 1992. He describes the threefold purpose of the monks’ Mystical Arts of Tibet tour: “The first purpose is to contribute to the peace and healing of the environment and the people, through sharing sacred Buddhist arts and culture,” he says. “Second, the monks travel to raise awareness about the Tibetan situation. Even in this 21st century, people in Tibet
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“...For me it simply signals how the audience itself is committed to their spirituality. In that sense, it feels like you are in community, family.” are deprived of basic human rights, due to the Chinese invasion that took Saturday mornings at 9am they will be offering meditation and place in the 1950s. The hope is that as world citizens learn more about chant workshops at the Arts Transfer Warehouse (201 S. Fir Street). the Chinese government’s abuse of basic human rights in Tibet, perhaps it Sihasin will share their culture and music in the Family Tent, will translate into support for the Tibetan cause. Maybe it will help resolve which will include a demonstration of traditional hoop dancing. the Tibet issue through non-violence. That’s what the Dalai Lama has Like his father, Clayson grew up practicing this traditional worked on for the past 67 years, to resolve the issue through dialog and ceremonial art. nonviolence. Finally, as a monastery in exile, we travel to raise funds so that our monasteries can be self-sustaining. India is a gracious host, but The Festival Family we want to be self-reliant.” Whatever you want to call it—synergy, community—something Sihasin, a brother and sister duo, will appear at the festival for their about these mountains attracts adventuresome music and an first time to share their Diné music and culture. Jeneda and Clayson open-hearted audience to match. Festivarians have learned to Benally performed with a guitarist as a politically charged punk band, expect the unexpected here. At the same time, it all fits together Blackfire, before forming Sihasin, whose name means “hope.” somehow. Good music is good music, after all. And sound is, at On shifting their musical focus, Jeneda says, “I realized that I didn’t its core, vibration. When music, mountains and humans come want to leave just a legacy of justifiable anger. There needs to be more together, that vibration creates a resonant community. hope in the world. We began to focus on music that would inspire hope, The Drepung Loseling monks’ ancestral lands may be on the and to empower people to be the positive change they want to see.” opposite side of the globe, but they feel a sense of community Jeneda and Clayson were born to Diné medicine man and renowned here. “My first impression arriving in Telluride was of the positive hoop dancer, Jones Benally; and denizen of the Greenwich Village and LA audience,” recounts Geshe Lobsang Tenzin. “We saw all the folk scenes, Berta Benally. They grew up singing at Diné sacred ceremonies people sitting and meditating during our morning chanting and listening to folk music. Steeped in both traditions from a young age, from the stage. It was a very poignant moment to see so many their music melds traditional Diné rhythms and chanting with folk/rock/ people sitting on the ground as we were chanting. That created punk sensibilities. But they don’t think in terms of genres. “For me, I don’t an immediate sense of bonding. For me it simply signals how the see the differences of culture and musical genres,“ says Jeneda. “It’s not audience itself is committed to their spirituality. In that sense, it a choice of this style or that style. It’s the style of music that I am.” feels like you are in community, family.“ The duo performs on bass and drums. Clayson builds the drums he Which brings us full circle to Planet Bluegrass’s commitment plays, which are based on traditional drums from the Colorado Plateau. to creating community for artists, Festivarians, and the rarefied “The Diné rhythmic concepts are unique,” he says. “They seem simple, mountain environment. “The artists we present at the festival have but they are based in so much of our movement, and they are a way to given their lives to music,” says Craig. “The monks have given their inspire movement. They are rhythms that are ingrained in us. The rhythms lives to the moment, the practice of presence. It’s a powerful reminder. resonate with the rhythms of the heartbeat in the womb. We’re using these That’s why we’re here, to dwell in this moment together.” rhythms to tap back into that original heartbeat.” Jeneda plays bass in the duo. “I don’t play any other instruments and I never wanted to. To me, the tones in the bass have a spiritual sense. It’s a sound I wish I could make with my voice. Because I can’t, my bass fills in those inflections and tones and emotions that my heart carries but that my voice can’t.” The Drepung Loseling monks tap into a similar spiritual frequency with their long horns, percussion, and low-down throat singing. Tibetan throat singing utilizes the anatomy in the throat in a way that produces very low vocal tones, along with overtones. The technique creates two or more pitches with one voice. Like the elemental sounds of bass and Diné rhythms, throat singing is a way to synchronize body and mind. This supports deep meditation. In addition to performing on the main stage, the monks will produce a sand painting on the festival grounds. It takes four monks about 30 hours to produce the mandala that they will then destroy in a Sunday ceremony, as a reminder of the enduring truth that all things are impermanent. On Friday and Charlotte Bell is an author, oboist, yoga and mindfulness teacher, and Festivarian of 39 years who lives in Salt Lake City. Her three yoga/meditation books are published by Shambhala Publications.
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The road cones blur like memories of the miles we shared between
Happy 49th Telluride Bluegrass Festival
www.eTown.org The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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Our hearts are full. Overflowing in fact, that the Festival endures into its 49th year and we are able to bathe again in rays of song with our festival family. Against the backdrop of current events, we have sadly seen other festivals and venues not able to keep their doors open and missions intact. It was painful to cancel all of our festivals in 2020. Thankfully, in 2021, we were incredibly fortunate to receive the Colorado Arts Relief Grant, which helped sustain us through a festival season at reduced capacity. We are forever grateful for our State Representatives being such dedicated advocates for the arts. “The grant allowed us to bring music back to the Festivarians around the state and bring artists to the stage that hadn’t been able to play,” notes Craig Ferguson. “It was powerful to feel the impact the festivals have on so many different people. It was a good reminder that what we do is meaningful.” Recently, we’ve been reflecting on what it means to be sustainable with a new perspective. What’s become clear is the stakes couldn’t be higher. Environmental sustainability has always been woven with intention into the fabric of our festivals. Many of the actions that Planet Bluegrass takes are voluntary. Thanks to a culture we call “Sustainable Festivation,” each Festivarian remains an empowered partner in our quest to lessen impacts. Steve Szymanski has championed this effort over the past twenty years, and last month accepted Folk Alliance International’s “Clearwater Award” on behalf of our environmental stewardship and leadership in the music festival industry. Steve says, “It feels like a new beginning in a lot of ways, and I truly hope this inspires new efforts to meet today’s challenges.”
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“It was powerful to feel the impact the festivals have on so many different people. It was a good reminder that what we do is meaningful.” While there’s no denying that our natural environment is stressed like never before, the sustainability of our communities and our very social fabric face new challenges as well. We recognize that our society is suffering from polarization, and our team has been engaging in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training to understand how to be better community members and advocates. The festival experience is a unique opportunity to draw people together under the common umbrella of love for music. In that light, we encourage you to take time to talk with your fellow Festivarians about things that matter. By listening closely and engaging in meaningful conversation, we hope you find an understanding and create a harmony all your own. While you’re here, we encourage you to join in and take part in talks and music at the Upslope stage in our new Harmony Greene area located in the back of the festival grounds. This area will feature our festival partners, representatives from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Drepung Monks of Tibet. The Monks will be creating a Buddha Akshobhya Mandala with the purpose of giving us strength and resilience as we navigate our way through times of pandemic, war, conflict, and natural disasters. Through connection we are more powerful. Come participate and join the discussion at the Planet Bluegrass tent in Harmony Greene. Sustainability is a conversation worth having.
Look out of any window / any morning, any evening, any day / Maybe the sun is shining
With a population of a little over 2,000 members, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe are the Weeminuche band of the Ute Nation of Indians. The Mouache and Capote bands became the Southern Ute Tribe. The Northern Ute Bands (the Uncompahgre, the Grand River, the Yampa, and the Uinta) are located on the Uinta O uray Reservation near Vernal, Utah. The Ute Indians are distinguished by the Ute language Shoshonean. The Paiute, Goshute, Shoshone, and several California Tribes also speak Shoshonean. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is governed by a Tribal Council. Seven council members and a Chairman are elected by popular vote of Tribal membership. The Council governs the Reservation and manages the tribal government.
Photo by D’Angelo Padilla
At the base of the legendary Sleeping Ute Mountain, between the Four Corners National Monument and Mesa Verde National Park, lies a beautiful reservation known as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Half of all poster sales will be donated to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to support their ongoing enterprises and projects.
Left to Right : Bernadette Cuthair, Stephanie Self, Chairman Manuel Heart, and Julie Hinkson.
UTE MOUNTAIN UTE TRIBAL ENTERPRISES
UTE MOUNTAIN UTE UPCOMING & EXISTING PROJECTS
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm & Ranch Enterprise Established in 1962, the Bow and Arrow Brand proudly produces safe, quality products on their 7,700 acre irrigated farm owned and operated by the tribe. As good stewards of the land, they practice sustainable farming and use state of the art technology to grow and mill corn without GMOs. They raise cattle, alfalfa, and more.
Kwiyagat Community Academy Kwiyagat Community Academy has been a dream for decades. Opened in Fall 2021, they currently enroll 27 students in kindergarten and first grade. The school is the first Colorado charter school on an Indian reservation. The school plans to add one grade of approximately 15-20 students each year until they enroll 90-120 students in grades K-5.
Weeminuche Construction Authority WCA is dedicated to employing, training, and developing vocational skills for tribal members and Native Americans. WCA provides the knowledge, resources, and financial stability of a large contractor while maintaining the personal relationships and attention clients deserve. WCA prides itself in providing quality work for our community and beyond. 70% of WCA's total workforce is Native American. Ute Mountain Casino Hotel The Ute Mountain Casino Hotel proudly offers warm Southwestern hospitality, delicious dining, affordable and comfortable hotel accommodations as well as exciting casino action and sports betting thrills. Be sure to experience everything the Four Corners’ region has to offer to make your stay the perfect vacation or weekend getaway.
The Ute Mountain Ute Health Center is expanding! This project will provide an additional 5000 sq ft of clinic space with both dental and primary care medical services for the patients. The new medical space will include 3 exam rooms, 1 treatment room, and 1 laboratory space. The dental space will include four dental operatories with a sterilization area and small dental lab. Grocery Store The Rocky Mountain Health Foundation recently awarded the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe $30,000 to prepare a Grocery Store Capital Campaign Plan, with the goal of funding a grocery store and workforce innovation center. “When complete, the facility will provide entrepreneurship opportunities, workforce training in the food industry, and new jobs for our members,” says Chairman Heart. “The entire community in Towaoc had the opportunity to participate in focus group sessions or attend steering committee meetings to provide input.” – Bernadette Cuthair
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE INITIATIVES AND PROJECTS, VISIT THE UTE MOUNTAIN UTE TRIBE AT THEIR BOOTH IN HARMONY GREENE
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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With nearly 4,000 Festivarian campers sharing the gorgeous mountain environment in Telluride, it is vitally important for each of us to be mindful of our camping footprint. In collaboration with Leave No Trace and Eco-Products, we will be rewarding campsites that excel in creative, sustainable camping!
How Do I Participate?
This contest is open to all campers in any of the Planet Bluegrass-managed campgrounds. To nominate your own campsite or one of your neighbors, complete the 1-page campsite entry form at the Leave No Trace booth in Harmony Greene.
How Do I Win? Campgrounds will be judged on three simple criteria: CLEANLINESS
Are you keeping a tidy campsite? Are items secure and not susceptible to wind gusts? Are you safely disposing of cigarette butts? Are you securing your food from wildlife? Will you pack out as much as possible when leaving?
CREATIVITY
Are you utilizing any unique and innovative camping techniques to reduce your impacts? Are you upcycling any items from home?
SUSTAINABILITY
Are you separating your recyclables, compostables, and then placing them in the correct bins at the campsite waste stations? Are you reusing products (cups, utensils, water bottles, bags) instead of trashing them? Are you using any alternative energy sources to power your campsite? Did you bike or carpool to the festival; are you offsetting carbon emissions using wind credits or carbon offsets? Did you do anything to reduce your homes’ energy while attending the festival?
What Do I Win?
Random winners will be chosen throughout the weekend to win prize packages with goodies from our sponsors, including Leave No Trace, Mountainsmith, Chaco, Klean Kanteen, Mountain Meadow Farms, and more. One grand prize winner will be selected after the campground pack-out on Monday. This grand prize winner will receive a pair of FREE 4-day passes & camping (in the campground of your choice) for next year’s Festival!
Congrats to the TWO 2019 winners, Stupid Imagination + The Red-Headed Bastards, and Whiskey Pond!
Telluride Bluegrass Festival!
Visit our booth to: Join our Cleanest Campsite Challenge Learn more about Leave No Trace’s 7 Principles How to do your part in preserving the outdoors!
Become a Member!
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From the ashes grew sweet liberty / Like the seeds of the pines when the forest burns
Thanks to your thirst for delicious Colorado craft beer, locally-produced cocktails, cider, hard seltzer, and wine, we have been able to donate more than $600,000 to San Miguel County organizations over the past 8 years. These include: Telluride Volunteer Fire Department, Telluride EMT Association, Telluride Adaptive Sports Program, Telluride Community Television, Angel Baskets, One to One Mentoring, Telluride Mountain Club, Telluride Academy, San Miguel Resource Center, Ah Haa School for the Arts, Telluride Arts District, and EcoAction Partners. In addition, last year we successfully helped our friends at KOTO Radio to reach their fundraising goal, which they used to pay off their mortgage! The little purple house on Pine is all theirs. Way to go, team!
AGAIN THIS YEAR, THE TIPS YOU LEAVE FOR OUR BEER BOOTH VOLUNTEERS SUPPORT A DIFFERENT LOCAL NON-PROFIT EACH DAY:
Thursday
EcoAction Partners
Friday
Seas of Trees
Saturday KOTO
Sunday
San Miguel Resource Center
RAISE YOUR REUSABLE CUP HIGH! THANKS FOR SUPPORTING THE TELLURIDE COMMUNITY.
To All in Telluride, 5 years with you, wow! Something must be just right… together we've doubled the prior annual wine sales records. We've also reduced wine-waste-weight by 99%, and have fractionalized recycling furnace emissions! Cheers all, to fine wines so accessible, they're right here in this peachiest little nook of musical summer… but now also, should you please… we're excited to announce… available at your doorstep. With love, Jack, Yoonit Wine
Learn more
yoonit.com The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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THE FAMILY TENT PROVIDES WHIMSICAL, MUSICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS FROM NOON-5PM ON THURSDAY & 10AM-5PM FRIDAY THRU SUNDAY. Most activities are free, but we ask that parents please accompany their kids at all times. Living Folklore takes kids on a journey to explore the magic beneath the sea with this year’s Family Tent theme: “An Octupus’s Garden.” This educational odyssey with puppets, clowns, games, and music teaches children about the interconnectedness within nature and how to become good stewards of our oceans, all while taking a deep dive into the imagination! Kids will learn about the importance of coral, the rainforests of the sea, and sea mammals who have their own language. Also about whales that sing and fish that clean the corral! Our friends at Leave No Trace will come by to help kids tread lightly in nature. Once again, join us in costume or carry a flag for the 24th Annual kids parade on Sunday afternoon.
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I’ve been learning that believing / that barely breaking even / It’s just a part of life for you and me
One of the foremost contests for acoustic stringbands, the Telluride Band Contest has helped launch the careers of The Chicks, Greensky Bluegrass, The Lil’ Smokies, and dozens of other past winners. As always, this year’s bands will be competing around a single microphone for a spot on the 2023 main stage lineup and an EP recording package from The Studio at eTown Hall and Airshow Boulder.
2022 CONTEST BANDS
Bands will perform in a randomly selected order.
HIGH COUNTRY HUSTLE
ROCKY MOUNTAIN TOPS
FULL CORD
PRETEND FRIEND
BIRDS OF PLAY
THE HIGH WATER LINE
RED MOUNTAIN BOYS
SHAKY HAND STRING BAND
THE PICKPOCKETS
BARN YESTERDAY
Durango, CO
San Francisco, CA
Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs, CO
Grand Haven, MI
Wichita, KS
Alma, CO
Salt Lake City, UT
BANDS SCORE IN THESE CATEGORIES
BAND COMPETITION SCHEDULE
30% Material Selection
30% Vocal Performance
30% Instrumental Performance
10% Stage Presence
Preliminary Round Friday, June 17 10:00am Elks Park Stage
taste, difficulty, authenticity, & originality ability of soloists & overall blend
lead & harmony
Telluride, CO Austin, TX
Final Round Saturday, June 18 9:30am Main Stage
2019 Winner BOWREGARD
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Noon Mandala Opening Ceremony
9:00AM Meditation and Chants Workshop
9:00am Meditation and Chants Workshop
10:30am Main Stage Performance
June 16th
Harmony Greene in festival grounds
June 17th
Arts Transfer Warehouse 201 S. Fir Street
June 18th
Arts Transfer Warehouse 201 S. Fir Street
Noon Meditation and Chants Workshop Elks Park
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June 19th
4:00pm Mandala Closing Ceremony Harmony Greene in festival grounds
And though they looked so different / They enjoyed the rain the same / Side by side
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
10:00am Gates Open
10:00am Gates Open
9:00am Gates Open
10:00am Gates Open
11:00am - Noon Chris Thile
10:30 - 11:30am Sihasin featuring Jones Benally
9:30 - 10:30am Band Contest Finals
10:30 - 11:30am Drepung Loseling Monks
June 16th
12:15 - 1:30pm AJ Lee and Blue Summit 2:00 - 3:15pm Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band 3:45 - 5:00pm Aoife O’Donovan 5:30 - 7:00pm Watchhouse 7:30 - 9:30pm Béla Fleck My Bluegrass Heart 10:00 - 11:30pm Tenacious D
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June 17th
June 18th
June 19th
Noon - 1:15pm Kitchen Dwellers
11:00 - 12:15pm Sierra Hull & Justin Moses
1:45 - 3:00pm Rising Appalachia
12:45 - 2:00pm Le Vent du Nord
1:00 - 2:15pm The Duhks
3:30 - 4:45pm Tim O’Brien Band
2:30 - 3:45pm The Jerry Douglas Band
5:15 - 6:30pm The Lil Smokies
4:15 - 5:45pm Punch Brothers
2:45 - 4:00pm Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
7:00 - 8:00pm Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
6:15 - 7:30pm Big Richard
8:30 - 10:00pm Tyler Childers 10:30pm - Midnight Greensky Bluegrass
11:45am - 12:45pm Twisted Pine
4:30 - 6:30pm Telluride House Band featuring Sam, Béla, Jerry, Edgar, Bryan & Stuart
8:00 - 10:00pm Sam Bush Band
7:00 - 8:30pm Turnpike Troubadours
10:30pm - Midnight The Infamous Stringdusters
9:00 - 11:00pm Phil Lesh & Friends
I can’t remember what you even look like / But I think I may have seen you in a dream last night
Workshop schedule subject to change. Please check for daily updates on sign boards.
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
1:30pm The Porch Couch Trio Local Flavor
10:00am Band Contest Preliminary Round
Noon
1:00pm Christian Sedelmeyer and Friends Tunes from Ravine Palace & Beyond
1:30pm Twisted Pine Gettin Funky with Twisted Pine
11:00am Sisters, Chloe Smith & Leah Song of Rising Appalachia Resiliency in Song
June 16th
June 17th
3:00pm AJ Lee & Blue Summit Get Back to Bluegrass 4:30pm Le Vent du Nord 20th Anniversary Celebration
June 18th
Drepung Loseling Monks
2:30pm Big Richard An Intimate Set
3:00pm The Duhks Song and Stories: 20th Annual Reunion
4:00pm Happy Hour with Punch Brothers
4:30pm Anders Beck & Friends
June 19th
12:15pm Mr & Mrs. O’Brien Alone Together 1:45pm Andrew Marlin, Noam Pikelny & Chris Eldridge 3:00pm Sierra Hull Maybe Solo, Maybe Not 4:30pm The Lil Smokies Where There's Smoke There’s Fire
Most activities at the family tent are free. Parents please accompany your kids at all times.
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Noon - 5:00pm Arts and Crafts
10:00 - 5:00pm Arts and Crafts
10:00am - 5:00pm Arts and Crafts
10:00am - 2:00pm Arts and Crafts
3:00pm Create Your Own Leave No Trace Pack Out Bag
Noon Clown Yoga
12:00pm Funny Bone Logic Games & Stories
Noon Kids Music with Sol & Eve
June 16th
June 17th
with Gumbo Wobbly & Friends
12:30pm Make Your Own Quacker with Gumbo Wobbly
1:00pm Zany Puppet Mayhem with Dennis the Red
1:30pm Story-Time
with Gala the Flower Faerie
2:00pm Kids Music
with Gala the Flower Faerie, Sol, & Eve
3:00pm Create Your Own Leave No Trace Pack Out Bag
June 18th
with Gumbo Wobbly
1:00pm Mini Parade
with Gala the Flower Faerie & Coco
1:45pm Jones Benally Family Dance Troupe 2:15pm Drama Class & Talent Show Sign-ups 2:30 - 4:30pm The A Cappelicans present:
The 24th Annual Telluride Kids Talent Show!
June 19th
12:30pm Puppet Show
with Dennis the Red
1:00pm Story-Time
with Gala the Flower Faerie
1:30pm Parade Preparations 2:15pm 24th Annual Kids Parade
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Music in the mountains. Nothing Compares TE L LU RID EB ROK ER.COM
I take great pride in using my expertise, experience, local knowledge and love of Telluride to help others discover the beauty and joy of this place that I call home. Join me in celebrating the best of Telluride at my 48th consecutive Bluegrass Festival along with four decades of proven success in Telluride Real Estate.
SALLY PUFF COURTNEY | 970.728.3086 | sally@telluridebroker.com | telluridebroker.com
Thursday, June 16th
Chris Thile
11:00am - Noon
This is the one. After a fallow 2020 and a scaleddown 2021, the 49th Telluride Bluegrass Festival is the one that brings us back together in total force. And for the 8th consecutive TBF, the incredible Chris Thile will stand at center stage amid morning’s blue brilliance and welcome the reunited Festivarian family back to the valley. And who better to bring it all back home? Chris is his generation’s most celebrated musician and the festival’s most vivacious fan, uniting us all with his unmatched instrumental mastery, his riotous musical range, and his joyful commitment to ahoymatey merrymaking. It’s been a thousand Thile thrills across 21 Tellurides—in his revolutionary bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers, in his astounding collabs with the world’s musical virtuosi, in the live-radio staging of Live From Here, and in countless cortex-remodeling solos as a cameo specialist par excellence. His onlyat-TBF solo sets cross the cosmos, from fiddle tunes to indie-rock covers to go-for-baroque fugues to Chris’s grassy-chic originals. It’s Day One. Who pops the cork on this big bottle of bluegrass bubbly? One genius. What do Thile’s tea leaves augur this time? Only one person knows. How many chances will we have to see it? Just one. And which Telluride Bluegrass is Chris Thile about to make the most magical of all time? This is the one.
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AJ Lee and Blue Summit 12:15 - 1:30pm
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band 2:00 - 3:15pm
If TBF had its own currency, Peter In these divisive times, it’s refreshing Rowan would be on the hundredto have something that we can all dollar bill. That’s right: Peter Rowan agree on. Case in point: the unanimous is the Benjamin of Bluegrass, the opinion that being sung to in this Franklin of the Fest. After all, Rowan box canyon is a uniquely exquisite is a Founding Father of the Festival, experience. And in that spirit, get Telluride-ready for AJ Lee, the 23-year- a statesman upholding its principles, and an inventor of its revolutionary old vocal and mandolin prodigy now character. making her TBF debut. Both men were born in Boston. Like Lee first became a Cali-grass star Pete, Ben played the guitar. Like Ben, as the young mando maiden with Bay Area family band the Tuttles, Pete experimented with electricity (psychedelia, reggae). And like the featuring sibling guitar gurus Molly American Sage, Rowan ushered in and Sully. In the process, Lee was a new age of enlightenment—one named the Northern California that championed freedom of musical Bluegrass Female Vocalist of the Year nine times by the time she turned 21. expression, artistic independence, brotherly love, and the unalienable Going solo, comparisons to Alison Krauss—the feathery midrange, right to pursue felicity from sea to shining sea. the powerful upper register—were Just as Franklin coined witty inevitable, but Lee quickly forged her own path with stellar songwriting, aphorisms—“a penny saved is a penny vibrant vocals, and a bunch of BS. earned”—Rowan is likewise revered Blue Summit, that is: fiddler Jan for his timeless words of wisdom: Purat, bassist Chad Bowen, and the “The last good morning sunrise will be dexterously-digited duo of guitarists the brightest you've ever seen” and Sully Tuttle and Scott Gates, a unique “Freedom for us is a prison for the rulers double-axe newgrass attack from of might” and “I'll bet your woman's up pickers who can let it rip with beer- in bed with Panama Red.” boiling instrumental heat. And Rowan is still inventing, So let’s all come together on educating, inspiring: His brand-new Thursday for a Blue Summit. Saint album, Calling You From My Mountain, Festivaria will supply the blue skies is out this month. The legend will turn and the majestic summits. AJ Lee 80 this year, and, on a good hair day, will bring the band and songs from he even looks a little like the First their soaring sophomore album, I’ll American himself. Come Back. And we all did. We came And Rowan’s birthday? You guessed back together for Telluride Bluegrass. it: He was born on the Fourth of July. Feels amazing, don’t you agree? From every Telluride mountainside, let Peter sing, let freedom ring.
Aoife O'Donovan 3:45 - 5:00pm
Aoife O’Donovan’s stunningly elegant new album is Age of Apathy, an ironic title for a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who is thrillingly alive with passionate musical inspiration. In a burst of pandemic productivity, Aofie released a string-quartet EP (Bull Frog’s Croon), wrote a women’s suffrage-inspired song cycle (America, Come), recorded her own version of a classic Bruce Springsteen album (Aoife Plays Nebraska), and cut a live album (Live From Black Birch). And now her third solo LP (and Joni-est effort to date) has critics raving, an astounding achievement from a true TBF all-star. Aoife has long dazzled us with her seminal band Crooked Still, duets with Chris Thile on Live From Here, her Grammy-winning I’m With Her trio with Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watson, and her own enchanting solo sets. (It’s “EEE-fa,” by the way. Not to be confused with “eefing,” the hillbilly beatboxing popularized on Hee Haw, but if you want to hambone along to her set—your tarp, your rules.) And hey, it’s Beantown Thursday! Peter Rowan and Aoife were both born in Boston, where Aoife and Sierra Hull (playing later) studied at conservatories. It’s all part of the interconnected circle of Festivarianism that brings us all together again. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. So raise a pint to the amazing Aoife O’Donovan. Cheers.
I’ll have another cocktail, I couldn’t get enough / Wouldn’t let our worries get the best of us
JERRY GREENE LEGACY FUND Established with a generous gift f rom KOTO’s late co-founder Jerry Greene aka
NORDIC COMMANDO 1947-2021
Created for the long-term sustainability of the radio station RADIO and managed by Alpine Bank Wealth Mgmt., this fund is an opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting gift to KOTO.
Please contact Executive Director Cara Pallone to discuss giving options. cara@koto.org I (970) 728-8100
Photo credit: Axel Koch
Established in 1975, KOTO Community Radio’s mission is to inform, educate and entertain while reflecting the needs, desires and diversity of our community.
A VISIONARY AND A LEGEND KOTO was Jerry Greene’s proudest achievement. May his memory be a blessing.
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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Thursday, June 16th
Watchhouse 5:30 - 7:00pm
Quick! Name a band that has played TBF that changed its name after already achieving widespread success. If you said the Chicks, who won the TBF Band Contest in 1990, go claim your prize (a free cup of Telluride Tom’s beard drippings)! We are also being told by our judges that we will accept Jefferson Airplane, as bassist Jack Casady played the Fest with Peter Rowan in 2017. And then there is Watchhouse, the marvelous duo formerly known as Mandolin Orange. Under the old name, the North Carolina duo of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz released six albums of lovely acoustic alchemy, pairing Marlin’s gentle mandolin and Frantz’s bucolic fiddle while blending honeyed harmonies over wistful, poignant Americana. The married couple have drawn comparisons to such cosmic Americana twosomes as Rawlings & Welch and Gram & Emmylou, and the literate, floating folk and graceful alt-folk of 2019’s Tides of a Teardrop reached the Top Five on three different Billboard charts. Their intimately beautiful new album, simply titled Watchhouse, came out last year and continued the band’s stylish musical evolution, debuting at #1 on the Bluegrass Albums Chart. The band’s new name refers to an isolated cabin on the Chesapeake Bay that Marlin visited as a teenager. Free of any electricity or phone lines, the Watchhouse was a place that allowed for peaceful reflection and genuine connections. Very Telluridian. So on opening night, we invite Festivarians to step into Watchhouse for twilight textures that wrap us in an intimate musical experience among friends.
Béla Fleck My Bluegrass Heart
7:30 - 9:30pm
Béla Fleck is not only history’s greatest banjo player but also the instrument’s boldest genre explorer. As a synthesizing conceptualist, he has become the sole proprietor of any number of postbluegrass genres, uniting with the world’s greatest jazz, world, and classical masters to such an extent that Bélaphiliacs can hardly keep up with the breadth of Béla’s talent and ambition. It’s a boundless musical virtuosity that has bagged Béla 15 Grammys and 33 nominations. But this year, the Fellini of the Five comes home to Telluride with his first bluegrass album in over 20 years. My Bluegrass Heart is a feloniously complex set of instrumentals featuring the only pickers on the planet who can play them, a roster of TBF icons and heir-apparents. A thrill-a-second mix of composition and improvisation, the album is the jaw-droppingly hot, death-defyingly fast, in-Flecking-credible Bélagrass record of your dreams. Thursday night, Béla brings the project live to Telluride backed by an all-star crew of phenoms: the astonishing Michael Cleveland, the most IBMA-decorated fiddler in history; mandolin queen Sierra Hull, a newgrass megastar as a solo artist; blazingly talented dobro hotshot Justin Moses, a sorcerer on anything stringed; Telluride House Band guitarist Bryan Sutton, the flatpicking hero of his generation; and journeyman bassist and worldclass clogger Mark Schatz, a true bluegrass legend. Six of the world’s greatest musicians teaming up in Telluride for a Fleckivarian fireworks show for the ages? Be still our bluegrass hearts.
Tenacious D 10:00 - 11:30pm
Planet Bluegrass has obtained the following statement from Satan, Prince of Darkness: Bow down, you dirty hippies. And prepare ye for The Greatest Band in the World, riding into Telluride on the wings of a demon to rock your very souls! And I should know. For I, The Devil, once battled Tenacious D in history’s most wickedly awesome rock-off! Everyone knows the wretched tale: Jack Black and Kyle Gass challenged me, Lucifer, to a rock battle, and, amid all the ensuing rocking, they managed to send me back to Hell after severing one of my horns, which they later turned into a bong. Kind of a long story. Anyway, I, the Antichrist, have come to the To-Hell-You-Ride Bluegrass Festival seeking revenge! By the way, I don’t really make deals with musicians. Okay, yes, there was Robert Johnson. And Jimmy Page. But that’s it! Oh and that smartass with the fiddle down in Georgia. I was in a bind! I’m still steamed about that one. I never want to see another fiddle player. Keep that Stuart Duncan the hell away from me! But I, Ole Slew Foot, have unfinished business with the D! Wait, is it always this hot in Telluride? Sweet Jesus! I thought Colorado was supposed to be cold and snowy. Forget your soul—what will you trade for your shade cabana? So what will Jables and Kage have in store for you yokels? Even I, Beelzebub, do not know. But it’s going to be a hot one. And NSFTFT (Not Safe for the Family Tent). Abandon all hope, ye who enter the Festival! Surrender, Sam Bush! Begone, Béla Fleck! Concede, Chris Thile! And make way for the D! Hail me!!
Did you know that the largest Telluride Bluegrass Festival in history happened in 1991? With 16,000 attendees, it was wild to say the least. We’ve stuck to 10,000 since then! 30
My time has come to sail away / I know you’d love for me to stay
Joanna Spindler, with a bow to Rumi
© 2022
Look up. The sky above you floats awash in all the swirling tendrils of the sun. Look down. Without you asking, Earth is holding to your feet. And all around you! Look around! The mountains swept you in their arms the instant you came into view. Get in here, you, they say, and hold you close. Hear me now: this is the place where magic lives. Each tune that drifts upon the breeze, each dance shared with a stranger, the harmony of hearts that resonates, that designates our shared humanity.
//caesura: in unison, share heartbeats // Feel the space within your ribs, the oxygen we breathe of freely, Feel the space where magic lives. I ask you: open wide that ancient window in the center of your chest, and look inside. Rummage around: there- deeper- is the secret The magic lives within you all.
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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Friday, June 17th
Sihasin featuring Jones Benally 10:30 - 11:30am
Friday morning is a glorious time at TBF: It’s only Day 2, the weather is solstitial, and an incredible day of music and spiritual sharing awaits. And no event this weekend is more unmissable than this very special sunrise gathering with Sihasin and Jones Benally. Award-winning brother/sister duo Clayson and Jeneda Benally from the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation in Northern Arizona quilt a beautifully impassioned music out of just bass and drums, threading punk rock with folk and world embroidery fashioned from Navajo rhythms. After growing up among the environmental degradation and cultural annihilation of their traditional way of life, the siblings formed Sihasin (Dine’ for “hope”) to create a community of love and support in order to understand issues we are facing and the changes we together can create. Thrillingly, Sihasin will be joined in Telluride by their father, the great Jones Benally, now in his 90s, a living Dine’ legend, medicine man, hoop dancer, and keeper of Navajo wisdom. Jones, a former US Marine and WWII survivor, is a champion of Navajo dance as a sacred tradition intended to heal the body, mind, and spirit. We are honored to invite everyone to attend with Southwestivarian love and respect for Ho’zho, the Navajo concept of Balance and Beauty and in the spirit of working together to take care of our planet and each other.
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Kitchen Dwellers Rising Noon - 1:15pm Appalachia
Tim O'Brien Band
Hey, it’s your turn to walk into town to get ice. And while you’re at it, can you stop by Baked in Telluride and pick up one of those chorizo-and-egg burritos? We’re getting a bit peckish ahead of Kitchen Dwellers. We’re all Alfrescoverians out here, eating under open skies like the cowboys. So here’s the recipe for Kitchen Dwellers: A gallon of bluegrass, a quart of folk, a liter of indie rock, several tinctures of psychedelica, a mega-pint of jam, and a heaping helping of Telluridestyle musical adventurism. Spin and jig vigorously. But be careful: Kitchen Dwellers come out hot. For a sample, belly up to their third full-length, the savory new Wise River. Despite Friday’s brunchy timeslot, the Dwellers are no appetizer; they serve up a main course. With a sound as expansive as their native Montana sky, the quartet—Shawn Swain (mandolin), Torrin Daniels (banjo), Joe Funk (bass), and Max Davies (guitar)—dish stories of the West concocted from soulful bluegrass marinated in Pink Floyd and infused with psilocybinic effects. The resulting soundscapes might scare the hell out of the kids doing clown yoga in the Family Tent, but the folks at the grown-up table are going to be begging for seconds. Upstairs, downstairs, out in the Kitchen/Rise and shine, Telluride, see them Friday morning, yes sir. Dig in.
Take a big whiff out there, folks. You smell that? Yes, okay, that’s weed, but we’re talking about that other smell. That’s right! That is love in the air. And that can mean only one thing: It’s Tim Time in the timbers once again. Lord, we just can’t get enough of that Tim O’Brien. His deep amber eyes. His thick wolverine-pelt of hair. The way the sweat glistens on his upper lip when he caresses sounds out of his bouzouki. His supple… O’Boy! Sorry—got a little carried away there. It’s just that with all of the musical lovebirds on stage this weekend (Andrew & Emily from Watchhouse, Sierra Hull & Justin Moses, Rhiannon & Francesco), it’s easy to turn into a Friskyverian out here. Which brings us to Tim and his wife/mandolinist/harmonizer, Jan Fabricius. We totally ship them. But Tim inspires more than just sweet turtle dovin’. He has provided us with 45 years of priceless Tim-atTBF memories—from Hot Rize to solo sets to countless combos to the Tim O’Brien Band, now with Jan, Shad Cobb (fiddle) Mike Bubb (bass), and Gaven Largent (dobro/banjo). And the legend never slows down: His terrific, timely new album, He Walked On, is out now. So what do we need today? Tim will tell you himself in one of his most beloved songs: “More Love.” (And, as always, please observe the #1 TBF campground rule: If a tent is rockin’... don’t bother knockin’.)
1:45 - 3:00pm
Brothers and sisters, Telluride Bluegrass is always a family affair, and this year, along with siblings Molly and Sully Tuttle, the Brunet brothers from Le Vent du Nord, and, of course, those Brothers Punch, we are tickled pink to present the TBF debut of extraordinary Sisterverians, Leah Song and Chloe Smith. As Rising Appalachia, Leah and Chloe brew an intoxicating blend of folk, soul, and world music through sororal harmonies, intricate arrangements, globetrotting elegance, grass-roots activism, and organic allure. Both women are talent-teeming multiinstrumentalists—swapping guitar, fiddle, clawhammer banjo, bodhran, and more—in a rich musical fusion of cultural heritages. Their latest album, The Lost Mystique of Being in the Know, is a ravishing renewal of the group’s distinctive braiding of traditional archetypes and modern reconstructions. By honoring the duo’s classic folk/ Appalachian roots while pushing musical boundaries, the pair blends rural and urban aurality rooted in resilient advocacy and care for the natural world. Join these amazing ladies (alongside fiddler/guitarist Duncan Wickel, bassist David Brown, bara ninja Biko Casini, and West Indian n’gonist Arouna Diarra) for a multicultural set sure to be one of the weekend’s most sonically gorgeous experiences and one filled with an infectious spirit of hope and peace.
3:30 - 4:45pm
I’m a wandering woman, I’m a tired light / I’m a soul second guessing out in the night
We’re Making A Change. We’re saying so long to single-use steel. Early this year, we began manufacturing our products using certified 90% post-consumer recycled 18/8 stainless steel. This monumental change has reduced our greenhouse gas emissions from stainless steel by 50%. And we’re not stopping there. By 2023, 95% of our products will be made from our new recycled steel.
kleankanteen.com
Friday, June 17th
The Lil Smokies 5:15 - 6:30pm
Missoula, Montana sits at the convergence of five mountain ranges and is thus often described as the “Hub of Five Valleys.” Likewise, the city gave rise to a five-piece band—Andy Dunnigan (dobro), Jean Luc Davis (bass), Caleb Dostal (banjo), Jake Simpson (fiddle), and Matt “Rev” Rieger (guitar)—to form the Lil Smokies, a group that blends five genres (bluegrass, rock, folk, jazz, soul) and are guaranteed to provoke high fives all over Town Park for Friday’s fifth mainstage act and during a NightGrass show destined to be a highlight of Telluride Bluegrass’s five nights of music. These aren’t your father’s Lil Smokies. (Those are bite-sized cocktail sausages.) No, these Smokies are a whole new kielbasa of string-band goodness and the wieners, er, winners of the 2015 TBF Band Contest. Since then, the Smokies have joined fellow past champs Greensky Bluegrass as red-hot flag bearers of the jamgrass scene and fan-favorite Telluride warriors. If you’ve seen ‘em, you know. These boys can flat cook with pronghorn speed, pivot to harmony-rich folkicana, then head into the woods for a thorny round of roll-another’n groovegrass. Look also for a fun cover or two atop originals from their three studio LPs, including 2020’s critically acclaimed Tornillo, as you prepare for a lit midday pick-and-pipe party. Because where there’s Smokies, there’s fire.
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Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
7:00 - 8:00pm
It was 2019. She had just won Instrumentalist of the Year at the Americana Music Awards, earned rave reviews for her lush alt-folk debut When You’re Ready, and broke the grass ceiling as the first-ever female winner of the IBMA’s Guitar Player of the Year. Then she laid waste to Town Park in a blaze-of-glory TBF debut. Well, buckle in, Fretavarians. She’s back. It’s the tantalizing Telluride return of the remarkable Molly Tuttle. It’s 2022. She’s given us …But I’d Rather Be With You, on which she covered artists as diverse as the Grateful Dead, Rancid, Harry Styles, and the Rolling Stones (Psst: Harry reached out afterward) and her new back-to-bluegrass triumph, the Jerry Douglas-produced Crooked Tree, a delightful romp through Molly’s childhood from her California beginnings to her grandpa’s Illinois farm to her current home base in Nashville. This TBF, Molly will take the journey via Golden Highway, her new band comprised of some of bluegrass’s most dynamic and versatile young players: Dominick Leslie (mando), Kyle Tuttle (banjo), Shelby Means (bass), and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle). “When I wrote the songs for this album, I pictured myself singing them in Telluride,” Molly told us. Well, today is the day. Don’t miss this singular celebration in the exact place where these songs were meant to be heard: Telluride’s Big Backyard.
Tyler Childers 8:30 - 10:00pm
For the neotraditional faithful, Tyler Childers is the savior of gravel-road Southern-twang outlaw-revival country with enough Willie whine and Waylon thump to float a battalion of corn-liquor cowboys on a sea of dip spit. But as much as Childers gets christened as the keeper of the honkytonk flame, there’s nothing quite like him, past or present. The East Kentucky tunesmith is among his generation’s most astute storytellers, a humanizing creator of characters who are struggling, loving, breaking backs, raising hell, and surviving. The stellar songs pour out of him with a holler-full of hooks and relentlessly unshitty lyrics, all delivered with a feral stare and a squiggling tenor drawl that dances on a knife-edge. His album sales are higher than the grocery bill: 2017’s Purgatory went Gold; 2019’s Country Squire shot to #1 on the country charts. And on 2020’s Long Violent History, Childers came out as an old-time fiddler on a set of standards along with a song that voiced support for Black Lives Matter with empathy and cinder-and-smoke authenticity. Telluride Bluegrass has been chasing him for years, and we know Friday night’s set will be a classic for you and your’n. After all, listening to Tyler Childers is to travel paths both beer-hoistingly familiar and incendiary brand new. And it’s a damn good feeling to run these roads.
Greensky Bluegrass
10:30pm - Midnight This makes it a dirty dozen. That is, this will be the 12th Telluride for Greensky Bluegrass, and what a long, stringed trip it’s been. We remember when they were just kids, a group of Kalamazoo long-hairs showing up to slay the competition in the 2006 Band Contest. We remember when they played a decade of daytime sets, during which Greensky would have Furryverians jigging so maniacally in the sun that they were making their own gravy, and several hula-hoopers had to be carried to the medical tent after suffering from femoroacetabular impingements. We remember back in 2016 when we handed over the nighttime to them. They played their first closing set, filled with multi-layered, consciousnessexpanding rock-and-roll bluegrass and triptastic tension-and-release grassadelica, instantly becoming the freak-flag flyers of Friday nights. We’ve been dancing in the dark ever since. Then again, you know what they say: If you remember a Greensky Bluegrass show, you weren’t really there. Luckily, we get another shot this Friday night to party with mandolinist Paul Hoffman, dobroist Anders Beck, guitarist Dave Bruzza, banjoist Michael Arlen Bont, and bassist Mike (“Fatty B”) Devol. (And maybe Sam Bush will show up with his fiddle? I mean, this is Telluride.) And if you end up not remembering much about it? Trust us: You had the time of your life.
The girl I love, she left me all alone / These days, you’re the only place I feel at home
FOUR F LK CORNERS SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2022 * RESERVIOR HILL * PAGOSA SPRINGS * COLORADO
FESTIVAL Yonder Mountain String Band * Darrell Scott’s Electrifying Trio Heartless Bastards * Dirtwire * Gangstagrass * Amy Helm Armchair Boogie
* Cristina Vane * The Honey Dewdrops * The Badly Bent
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TH ANNUAL
William Prince * Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters * JigJam War & Pierce * Sarah Borges * Eliza Gilkyson * Seth Walker
PASSES ON SALE NOW: www.ksutpresents.org
Saturday, June 18th
Sierra Hull & Justin Moses 11:00 - 12:15pm
Whoa. Are you feeling it this morning? Us too. We really Tylered one on and got Greensky high last night during an epic Friday of fierce Festivation. But fret not! We have just the thing to perk you up for a string-band Saturday marathon the likes of which we’ve never seen. Sierra is the former child-prodigy who has since become one of the most talented and accomplished mandolinists in history. The reigning title-holder of the IBMA’s Mandolin Player of the Year (and four-time winner overall) is also a singersongwriter of fresh folk-pop treasures, most recently the elegantly complex 25 Trips. Justin is the multi-instrumental dynamo who has recorded and toured with everyone from Garth Brooks to Emmylou Harris to Barry Gibb to Peter Frampton. He’s a twotime IBMA Dobro Player of the Year, and his solo records, showcasing his top-shelf tenor vocals, are widely considered among the best in the biz, including last year’s star-studded Falls Like Rain. Hully Moses! Festivaria commands there shalt be no exodus as you wait for Sam “Burning” Bush later tonight. One Moses parted the sea; this Moses joined the Si-erra. The two got married, pairing rings ‘n’ strings for a love-and-music-making duet that puts them on top of the bluegrass mountain. Behold their mighty hands and voices on Saturday morning! It’s going to be one Hull of a good time.
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Le Vent du Nord
THE
Jerry Douglas BAND
12:45 - 2:00pm
2:30 - 3:45pm
Q: Why don’t the guys in Le Vent Du Nord ever eat two eggs?
Jerry Douglas loves to mix things up. In fact, if we mix up the letters in Douglas we can form the anagram loud gas! That’s totally appropriate, as Jerry never fails to put the pedal to the metal. (Then again, perhaps his busmates can think of a different interpretation.) More TBF anagrams: To be a Festivarian is to revisit a fan. Bridal Veil overlooks a varied bill. To be in Town Park is to know tarp. Mountain Village homeowners have a valuation mingle. What did Planet Bluegrass’s Brian Eyster do to manage Festival headaches? Insert Bayer. Craig Ferguson’s job? To configure grass. Jerry is the dobro master whose stream of notes and tones leap to the stars and peal across the valley. When Jerry slides his elbow below his strap, he plays parts with the trickiest tabs that stab the bluest phrases and the most subtle ostinatos. He reigns as a writer, slays as a singer, and every picker has praised him and aspired to play like him. Jerry will deal a lead that will rock and sway in ways that prove why he is among our most colossal figures. Prepare for lots of surprises during Saturday’s slot, as Flux has aligned the industry’s leading instrumentalists for the incredible Jerry Douglas Band. So lift a lager to Jerry, the legend who looms large as the dobro beast who beats them all.
A: Because in French, “one egg” is un oeuf! But if we can be serious for a moment, sometimes you just have to get yourself right with the hurdy gurdy. And these Quebecers are just the group to facilitate all of your francophone needs. Are you a fan of Québécois folk music? You will be after a feisty Friday fête with Le Vent Du Nord, those iconic purveyors of the movement. (Heavy on movement: 75 minutes with this band could turn you into a Cardiacarrestiverian.) Drawing on Celtic, British, and French traditions, the all-star quintet uses fiddles, guitars, mandolins, accordions, bouzoukis, and hurdy gurdys to scatter a hard-driving, step-dancing, call-and-responding, harmonizing bouillabaisse from here to Mount Sneffels. Holy merde, are they good! With an unlimited repertoire of traditional songs, delightful original compositions (sung in French), and an energetic, jocular live show, the band has circumvented the globe and won enough Canadian Folk Music Awards and Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy) to overload our gondola. Le Vent Du Nord (guitarist Simon Beaudry, accordionist Réjean Brunet, hurdy-gurdist Nicolas Boulerice, and fiddlers André Brunet and Olivier Demers) translates as “The Wind From the North.” And sure enough, they are coming down from Canada to blow you away.
In honor of TBF ‘22, this bio contains 22 anagram pairs.
On his white horse, mescalito / He come breezin’ through town
Punch Brothers 4:15 - 5:45pm
It’s one of the most-anticipated sets of each year—for the band, the Fesivarians on hand, and KOTO listeners everywhere. Indeed, expectations are always astronomic for Punch Brothers, spoiled as we are by their stunning songs, their complex arrangements, their penetrating intelligence, their exuberant spirit of musical exploration, and the incredible skill it takes to execute it all. Amazingly, each time the Punchers take the stage, they end up raising those expectations even more. They also keep wowing us with LPs— most recently with 2015’s innovative The Phosphorescent Blues and 2018’s Grammy-winning All Ashore. Just when we think we know where they’re going, they take compositional bevels, flexures, doglegs, and diagonals that remind us that there has never been a band like the Brothers. So have the PeeBees left bluegrass behind? The answer is in the fantastic Hell on Church Street, a Punched-up full-album remake of Tony Rice’s classic Church Street Blues. It’s a Telluridian confluence of one all-time great paying tribute to another. “Movement and Location”? That means dancing in Telluride. And this is it. The clock is tick tick tocking to the time. The fabulous Punch Brothers—Thile, Pikelny, Witcher, Eldridge, Kowert—are suited up for another transformative two-hour Saturday blowout. Bring your best Fest game to Punch, the peak of the party.
SHARE THE BLUES NOT THE GRASS BE MINDFUL OF THE YOUTH IN OUR COMMUNITY VISIT THE PLANET BLUEGRASS SUSTAINABILITY BOOTH IN HARMONY GREENE TO LEARN MORE
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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Saturday, June 18th
Big Richard
Sam Bush Band
We might as well address the Elephant in the room here. By now, you know that a certain Revival set planned for Telluride will have to be rescheduled for another time. Don’t worry, Festy—we won’t leave you hanging. We have a blue(grass) pill that will get you up and dancing. Admittedly, finding a suitable replacement was hard. But speaking of hard: Big Richard! Yes, the gals in this spanking-new northern Colorado quartet are steel-rod strong. Bonnie Sims is a Texas-tough mandolin slinger who can yodel for nine hours straight. Upright bassist Emma Rose is a seismicity-inducing powerhouse with a smoldering larynx. Eminent cellist Joy Adams is attempting to play all 36 movements of the Bach Cello Suites on top of 36 fourteeners. Classically trained fiddle whiz Eve Panning spent years as a public school teacher, and it doesn’t get tougher than that. The patriarchy had better watch its ass. Since joining forces last year, Big Richard have shown the bluegrass competition the business end of their fierce musicality with bullet-train speed. With teflon-tight instrumentalism, stringed synchronicity, and a snappy sense of humor, these gals feel equally at home with a Jimmy Martin standard as with a Britney Spears cover. Now at work on their debut album, the quartet’s whip-smart original songs and scintillating live shows have created such buzz that we couldn’t wait to get them on the Shellman Stage. So what to expect when Big Richard, these rising stars of bluegrass, start stimulating those strings on Saturday? It’s going to be huge.
On June 28, 1975, an unshorn band of young bluegrass ragamuffins called New Grass Revival drove from Kentucky to some mountain town they’d never heard of to play something billed as the 2nd Annual Telluride Bluegrass & Country Festival. They arrived in the middle of the night, and when their mandolin player woke up the next morning and took a look around, he thought he “had died and gone to Switzerland.” But a cool thing happened: Sam Bush did not die. In fact, he returned the following year. Then the next. And the next. He came back every year for a decade. Which became two decades. Then three. Four. And now approaching five. This year will mark an astounding 48 consecutive TBFs for Sammy Bush, the King of Telluride. Yes, Sam’s survival changed everything. His annual appearances gave rise to newgrass, which begat jamgrass and jazzgrass, funkgrass and dubgrass, chambergrass and acidgrass. Call it all Samgrass. He spearheaded the TBF spirit of improvisational daredevilry, opened the gates to the Fest’s adventurous variety, and made bluegrass younger, wilder, hairier, cooler, faster, louder. He popularized surprise-guest sit-ins, headliner traditions, camp-jam circles, two-hour sets, Nightgrass, and All-Night-Longgrass. To this day, nobody outjams him, outslams him, outpicks him, outchops him, outlasts him. He inspired everyone after him to get better, to reach musically ever higher, to try to get to Telluride. And it’s thanks to Sam Bush that you are here right now, Festivarian. It’s Saturday night. Let’s make it a party fit for a King.
6:15 - 7:30pm
8:00 - 10:00pm
“Bluegrass is very much a community effort, where each player has his chores to do in order to make the whole thing work… There’s no such thing in Bluegrass as going it alone.” ---- Charles Sawtelle 38
The Infamous Stringdusters 10:30pm - Midnight
You know the words: I was just thinking ‘bout calling on you 'cause I'm Dusted/The band is on fire and I can’t find our tarp ‘cause I’m Dusted/I’ve danced until I’ve worn holes in my shoes/with a head full of songs and a gut full of booze/and I just broke through these ol’ long-Covid blues ‘cause I’m Dusted… Infamous? Well, after 7 legendary TBFs, including a Nightgrass throwdown last year that made the San Miguel River flow backwards for several hours, the Stringdusters have earned whatever superlatives we can throw at them. The Dusters are at the tippiest-top of the bluegrass world: critical and commercial smashes, perennial touring behemoths, and savant-level instrumental wizards. The quintessential quintet have upended jambanditude as the genre’s standard-setting studio band, crafting deeply complex original compositions on album after album, including 2017’s Grammy-winning Laws of Gravity and this year’s stunning Toward the Fray. So bundle up, Frostiverians: The Dusters are this year’s Saturday-night conjurers of moonlit mayhem. Behold as Book, Falco, Garrett, Hall, and Pandolfi put on a masterclass of Rockies-robust picking, psychic intraband communication, the finest lead singing in the biz, and kaleidoscopic musical transmogrification. Everybody sing! I’ve dobroed my spine and I’ve banjoed my brain and I’m Dusted/ I’ve fiddled my heart and I’ve guitared my spleen and I'm Dusted/ But lord I am having an Infamous night/They’re dusting the strings and I’m feeling all right/So I’ll Festivate for the rest of my life ‘cause I’m Dusted.
Standing on the corner with the lowdown blues / A great big hole in the bottom of my shoes
When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder, lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety. When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile. We breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity. Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines, gnaws on kind words unsaid, promised walks never taken.
Great souls die and our reality, bound to them, takes leave of us. Our souls, dependent upon their nurture, now shrink, wizened. Our minds, formed and informed by their radiance,fall away. We are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of dark, cold Caves.
And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed
Sunday, June 19th
Drepung Loseling Twisted Pine 11:45am - 12:45pm Monks
10:30 - 11:30am
When the Drepung Loseling Monks performed at the 2013 TBF, yogis from as far away as Gunnison reported widespread spontaneous chakra alignments. Well, lotus up, Festommmverians. We are honored to welcome the Monks back to Telluride to perform the Mystical Arts of Tibet. To generate healing energies through Tibetan spiritual ceremonies, the Monks will perform traditional dances, play ancient temple music on Tibetan instruments, and demonstrate their renowned multiphonic chanting, as chantmasters simultaneously intone three notes to form complete chords; the Tibetans are the only culture on earth that nurtures this remarkable vocal technique. In addition, the Monks will spend four days creating an intricate mandala by laying millions of grains of colored sands into place on a platform to form ancient spiritual symbols expressing a reconsecration of the earth and its inhabitants. On Sunday, some of the sand will be swept up and distributed to the audience, while the remainder will be deposited into the San Miguel River to carry the healing blessing forward and to represent the impermanence of life. On Sunday morning, the Mystical Arts of Tibet provides the extraordinary opportunity to witness this hallowed ceremony rarely performed outside of the monasteries. Make your wai there to share in this sacred event to promote peace and wellness.
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Look, we know it’s the last day. And it’s easy to become Depressedivarians when thinking about the end of the Festival. But it’s like those portapotties back there: You might say the waste tanks by midday are half-full… but we prefer to look on the bright side and think of them as half-empty. So here’s something else that will turn your frown upside-down: Twisted Pine, a band whose name suggests sylvan rusticity and organic instrumentalism, properties this gifted Berklee-trained quartet embodies in spades. And the Twisted part? Look out. With a staggering musical IQ, this multicultural, coed combo shuffles inconceivably complex writing, arranging, and execution with highspirited versatility, fun, and wit, all with such expert precision that you’d think they’d been mastering their instruments since Mondale was Veep. (Never heard of Mondale? Okay, Zoomer.) Who’s your favorite bluegrass flautist these days? Ours is Anh Phung, definitely. Her G-runs are outrageous. And how about mandolinist Dan Bui and his finely-honed phalanxes? Or check out bassist Chris Sartori, a rhythmic dynamo and pizzicato specialist. And you’ll flip over Kathleen Parks, a dazzling double-threat on violin and lead vocals. So let’s Twist again: It’s good-vibes-only time as Twisted Pine arrive to foster some serious hygge and send your Sunday spirits soaring.
The Duhks 1:00 - 2:15pm
All of you Canadaphiles who can’t get enough of the Great White North are in for a double-doozy this weekend. We get Le Vent du Nord on Saturday and then a holy-crap, ultra-rare reunion show on Sunday from some beloved old friends. A Duhks reunion!? Crazy, eh? We could hardly believe it ourselves. But if it looks like the Duhks, sings like the Duhks, and plays like the Duhks? It’s the Duhks! And they are reuniting their original lineup (Leonard Podolak, Jessee Havey, Jordan McConnell, Scott Senior, Tania Elizabeth) for only two big 20th-anniversary shows: One in Winnipeg and one right here at Telluride Bluegrass. It’ll be an A-to-Zed Best-of-theDuhks extravaganza, which means all the soul-grass, world-beat, old-timey, urban-pop, gospel, Appalachian, French Canadian, Brazilian, Celtic, Afro-Cuban salsa-blues you can handle. With their singularly infectious fusion of styles, these Junoand Grammy-decorated folk heroes will have old fans singing along to classics and new initiates dancing to the intoxicating syncopation of the Duhks’ thrilling musical adventures. It’s been 14 years since they’ve played TBF, where they won over a field full of new Festivarian fans, and we’ll bet a loonie that these Canadians will do it all over again on Sunday. O Canada: With glowing hearts we see the Duhks rise.
Rhiannon Giddens with
Francesco Turrisi 2:45 - 4:00pm
Around 3 p.m., we often see folks heading to camp or condos for a quick nap. Not today, Siestaverian. Because the rhapsodically divine Rhiannon Giddens has returned for her third TBF performance. Giddens, a MacArthur Genius, first hit our stage in 2010 as the singer and multi-instrumentalist for the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the popular trio that revived century-old skiffle and jugband folk with their Grammy-winning Genuine Negro Jig. Next, we were plum Giddens giddy for her 2015 TBF set highlighting Tomorrow is My Turn, her stunning solo debut and showcase for her vocal mastery, all field-holler grit, and operatic grace. Now, Rhiannon arrives alongside her musical and romantic partner, Francesco Turrisi, the award-winning jazz pianist (and lutenist, accordionist, cello-banjoist, you name it), famed for his innovative blend of Irish, Italian, and Arab music. Together, Giddens and Turrisi form a duo of aural alchemies that reinterpret the African and Arab diaspora in the Americas, as heard on 2019’s universally praised There is No Other and this year’s They’re Calling Me Home, which won the pair yet another Grammy. So do not sleep on Rhiancesco— they are calling you to the stage for a polyglot, ASMR-triggering afternoon featuring two towering creative forces blending beauty and contemplation beneath a sky of boundless blue.
I’ve looked low and I’ve looked high / Tell me where does the spirit go when you die?
Every year, our Foof team creates an artful, creative atmosphere for the fest. If it’s colorful and brings a smile to your face, they were behind it! Ann Hall and Jacob Leeuwenburgh were inspired to bring the expression of dance, movement, and community to the Telluride Bluegrass festival this year as we emerge from the darkness of the pandemic. They want to spread feelings of playfulness, magic, and love to all engaging with their art this weekend. Get a band together and go take a photo on the Upslope stage in Harmony Greene using the magnificent musical props they made!
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The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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Sunday, June 19th
Telluride House Band
FEATURING SAM, BÉLA, JERRY, EDGAR, BRYAN & STUART
4:30 - 6:30pm During our IV infusions backstage this morning, we had time to perform some brain mapping on the six legendary virtuosi who make up the Telluride House Band, and we can confirm what we have long suspected: These men are mutated freaks. Sam’s corpus callosum is morbidly engorged. Béla’s right temporal lobes have twice the normal number of dendrites. Jerry’s acetylcholine levels? Off the charts. The circuits in Edgar’s limbic system are acutely tumescent. Bryan’s salience detention is at overflow capacity. Stuart has obscenely turgid and excitable postsynaptic cells. How else to explain these geniuses, the finest to ever play the six instruments that define Telluride Bluegrass? But beyond their neurological advantages, these musical monsters have dedicated their lives to the work, the sacrifice, and the constant artistic striving that define such all-time greats. With these superstars, it’s been 100% inspiration and perspiration. And that includes meeting in Telluride every summer solstice as the House Band, the best bluegrass ensemble in history. 2022 marks the 12th consecutive year with the Tantric Sextet, who are set for another furiously fast-paced stunner to bring on the final night of the 49th TBF as only they can. When will it end? Not this year. We’ve got tonight. And we still have the masters who have kept this dream alive all these years. So we gather again, all of us together, to celebrate their achievements, these gifts, this tradition, and the almighty brainmelting awesomeness of the jam of the century. Let’s go.
Turnpike Troubadours
Phil Lesh & Friends
Y’all camping this weekend? If so, look up tonight. You are sleeping in a Thousand-Star Hotel! And those stars have aligned this year not only to reunite Festivation Nation but also to put wayward bands back together again. We’ve already gotten a reunion from the Duhks, and now tonight? Good Lord, Lorrie, it’s Turnpike Troubadours. In the ‘10s, these Oklahoma-bred red-dirt kickers took up the mantle once carried by Nineties icons like Uncle Tupelo, Old 97’s, and Whiskeytown as altcountry standard bearers. Turnpike Troubadours, led by singer-songwriter Evan Felker, won over a legion of roadhouse boot-scooters through Townes Van Zandt-style tunesmithing, Steve Earle-y heartland country-rock, fiddle-happy western swing, zippy Telecasters, red-blooded concerts, and a prized catalog of lovesick storytelling and rip-roaring small-town Americana. Then in 2019, Turnpike announced an indefinite hiatus, leaving bereaved fans wondering if they’d ever see their favorite band again. But a funny thing happened: In their absence, the Turnpike legend only grew larger. So when the band announced reunion shows earlier this year, tickets were gobbled up faster than you can bite into a hot gyro. Turnpike are back—bigger, badder, healthier, heartier than ever—and everywhere they go, the whole damn town’s in love with them. Couldn’t get tickets to see them? We’ve got you. We’re bringing Turnpike to Telluride Bluegrass to help headline a monumental Sunday and to put an exhilarating, emotional cap on a long hot summer day.
It all comes down to this. The 49th Telluride Bluegrass Festival culminates with a colossus, one of the seminal figures in rock history, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and a guiding light of Telluride Festivarianism. For 49 years at TBF, the legacy of the Grateful Dead has informed everything at the Festival, from the euphoria of the music, the improvisational experimentation, the free-spiritedness, the loveone-another communion, the hippie-homage fashion, the mind-expanding imbibition, and the blissed-out shuffle-’n’-grin dancing. The Festival each year is an expression of the artists shaped by the Dead’s legacy, the Dead covers that delight us in set after set, and the Acid-testivarians who have lived through it all. Finally, for the first time, TBF presents a founding member of the Grateful Dead, the great Phil Lesh, the bassist who provided the foundation for every Dead song and every Dead show ever. Phil is a living document of rock history—he saw it, built it, lived it—from Haight-Ashbury to Monterey Pop to Woodstock to Altamont to Fillmore East to Europe ‘72 to Winterland to Soldier Field—all of it. We’ve been down so many roads to get here, across every shakedown street, under every dark star. Phil & Friends are here as a jubilant testament to the freedom, the values, and the richness in our souls that have been central to this long strange wonderful trip we have together shared. Come hear the mighty melody that rings down from the sky. For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago. And the music never stops.
7:00 - 8:30pm
9:00 - 11:00pm
All artist bios written by Steve Leftridge, a St. Louis-based writer, teacher, and musician who has written for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, PopMatters, and No Depression and has attended TBF since 1997.
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I used to wake up bright and early. Got my work done quickly, held my baby tightly
Dan Tyminski Tyminski Band Band •• tHe tHe Jerry Jerry Douglas Douglas BanD BanD Dan tHe Infamous Infamous Stringdusters Stringdusters tHe tHe Travelin’ Travelin’ McCourys McCourys •• tHe tHe Grateful Grateful Ball Ball tHe The Lil’ Lil’ Smokies Smokies •• The The Brothers Brothers Comatose Comatose The The Special Consensus • Appalachian Road Show Show The Special Consensus • Appalachian Road
Trischka, Molsky Molsky & & Daves Daves •• Mile Mile TwelvE TwelvE Trischka, Foghorn Stringband Stringband •• AJ AJ Lee Lee & & Blue Blue Summit Summit Foghorn Liam Purcell Purcell & & Cane Cane Mill Mill Road Road Liam CADillac MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN •• Ace Ace Slim Slim •• And And MORE! MORE! CADillac
SEPT. 16–18, 2022 • FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA TICKETS ON SALE NOW • PICKININTHEPINES.ORG camping • jamming • kid’s activities • educational workshops • band contest
TUNE IN
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
43
The sun may set and the temperature may drop, but the music doesn't stop at Telluride Bluegrass. We make the most out of the shortest nights of the year! NightGrass continues its 40-year tradition of After-Hours Jamming in intimate venues around Telluride and Mountain Village. On Wednesday afternoon, ride the free gondola to Mountain Village for the 12th Annual free outdoor FirstGrass Concert in Sunset Plaza featuring AJ Lee & Blue Summit followed by psychedelic galaxygrass supergroup Kitchen Dwellers. Then head over to the Telluride Conference Center for an added bonus show with Cris Jacobs Band. For the rest of the weekend, Telluride’s most storied venues host indoor shows—including the historic Sheridan Opera House, intimate ClubRed, state-ofthe-art Palm Theatre, and the newly minted Moon at O’Bannon’s. Tickets to NightGrass shows are completely separate from Festival tickets. We still have select tickets available - take a look at shop.bluegrass.com for more information.
WEDNESDAY
June 15
th
FirstGrass Concert AJ LEE & BLUE SUMMIT AND KITCHEN DWELLERS Outdoors at Sunset Plaza, Mountain Village 5pm - 8pm • All ages
BLUEGRASS EVE PARTY!
CRIS JACOBS BAND Telluride Conference Center 10pm show • All ages
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
RISING APPALACHIA Sheridan Opera House 11pm show†
ANDREW MARLIN AND THE DUHKS Sheridan Opera House 11pm show†
RHIANNON GIDDENS AOIFE O'DONOVAN SIERRA HULL & FRIENDS Sheridan Opera House 11pm show†
PUNCH BROTHERS Sheridan Opera House 11pm show†
June 16
th
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS Palm Theatre 11pm show* MOLLY TUTTLE & GOLDEN HIGHWAY ClubRed
at The Telluride Conference Center
11pm show†
LE VENT DU NORD The Moon at O’Bannon’s 11pm show* * STRICTLY 21+ • † 21+ UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY A PARENT
June 17
th
THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS Palm Theatre 11pm show*
June 18
th
WATCHHOUSE Palm Theatre 11pm show*
THE LIL SMOKIES ClubRed
MIDNIGHT NORTH ClubRed
11pm show†
11pm show†
KITCHEN DWELLERS The Moon at O’Bannon’s 11pm show*
BIG RICHARD The Moon at O’Bannon’s 11pm show*
at The Telluride Conference Center
June 19th
at The Telluride Conference Center
Looking for NightGrass Tickets? SELECT TICKETS AVAILABLE AT SHOP.BLUEGRASS.COM 44
Leaving town to put my feet down in the sand / Pickin’ a banjo in this old-timey string band
Our communities have experienced massive losses since we last saw each other. Our hearts are heavy with the absence of so many treasured artists, festivarians, friends, and family. Here are just a few that we have lost, we feel lucky that we were able to know them.
Griffin Ferguson
John Prine
JD Crowe
Sonny Osborne
Byron Berline
Bill Emerson
John Starling
Mark Dennis
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Nanci Griffith
Fine tune me with patience/ And I'll write your / Novels of acquaintance
Tony Rice
Roland White
Jeff “Wilbur” Weatherby
THEY SURE ARE! This year, we transitioned
to using RFID wristband technology. RFID stands for “radio frequency identification,” and it’s a method of transmitting and receiving data. RFID-enabled wristbands carry a small amount of data such as your order number, and they allow us to operate more securely. If someone loses their wristband, we are able to look it up and remotely deactivate it so it does not fall into the wrong hands. We use “passive RFID,” which means the chip does not have a built-in battery and can only transmit data when it is held up to a scanner. Don’t worry, it can’t be used to track location! We love getting your feedback as we try new things. Let us know what you think of this change!
Sustaio Score
Action Rating
93 2.5%
EASY
1.3%
?
6.3%
+10
points
This year’s program and pocket schedule are printed on FSC-certified Neenah Conservation paper at OneTouchPoint Mountain States, an FSC-certified printer in Denver. By using this 100% post-consumer recycled fiber made with 100% renewable energy, we saved: 22,000 pounds of wood (that’s 66 trees!); 5,270 gallons of water (more than 403 5-minute showers!); 28,560 pounds of carbon emissions (equivalent to the annual emissions from 2.595 cars); and 218 pounds of solid waste. Placeholder Help extend the life of this program by sharing it with your tarpmates, protecting it as a lasting souvenir, or recycling it at the Festival.
FSC
Measure & reduce your climate impact at:
The 49th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival
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PLANET BLUEGRASS WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR LODGING PARTNERS
Dates to Remember TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS June 15-18, 2023
(50TH ANNUAL)
June 20-23, 2024 June 19-22, 2025
And Our Events In Lyons, Colorado ROCKYGRASS ACADEMY July 25-28, 2022
ROCKYGRASS July 29-31, 2022
THE SONG SCHOOL August 8-11, 2022
Reserve your 2023 lodging now at
TELLURIDEBLUEGRASS.COM/LODGING
VIRTUAL TARP
ONLINE SURVEY
web festivarian.com @planetbluegrass @planet.bluegrass
2023 TICKETS
Throw down your virtual tarp, commune with your fellow Festivarians, and be the first to hear about lineups, tickets, and giveaways...
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ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOLKS FESTIVAL August 12-14, 2022
MABON CELEBRATION September 17-18, 2022
We’ve been continually refining every aspect of the Festival experience. Your voice is a vital part of this ongoing process. Complete our online Festivarian survey and you’ll be entered to win a pair of 4-day passes to the 50th Annual next June.
Visit Bluegrass.com beginning in October for details on our upcoming events. Tickets for 2023 will go on sale between December and February.
Once every hundred thousand years or so/ When the sun doth shine / And the moon doth glow