Photos by JohnRyan Lockman
Reflection is always my go-to as I leave any festival. It allows for my body and brain to recover from hours of romping and tromping to and fro, seeing endless amounts of music. It also allows the most poignant moments and overall theme to solidify in my mind. As I sit here, the main feeling that keeps flowing through me is awe. Telluride Bluegrass Festival has been making music since the mid Seventies and has been a four day event since 1988. While I have only been a participant for the past two years, the same sense of gratefulness and satiation have stayed with me for weeks after each. It is easy to see why this festival has such longevity and people return en mass year after year to the beautiful box canyon of Telluride Colorado.
This year, as each does, saw a multitude of new acts and many mainstays. The weather was pristine and the people were generous with a place on their tarp or camp and an easy smile. Every day seemed to boast weather better than the last and each act left me thinking, “well there is no way they can top that.” Every time I was wrong. Friends old and new, families of tradition and families making new traditions, all came together for the undeniable love of Bluegrass music.
The houses and condos in town and in Mountain Village were filled and the streets of the small town were bustling. The place to see and be seen however has always been Town Park Campground. This is a coveted ticket that doesn’t come cheap and Festivarians land rush the campground up to a week ahead of time to get desired spots. Town Park has some of the most direct access to the venue. Walk a minute or two to the main stage to hear and see your favorite band perhaps or laze in your perfectly placed hammock and listen clear as day while you nap amid the trees and water. Certain groups have been setting up their camping areas for many years and have come to name and theme their camps as time has passed. Camp Run Amok, Camp Howdy and Camp Tiki Bar are examples of some of these camps, the last of which won the 8th annual “How Green is Your Grass?” Campsite Challenge. By filling out a single page form and visiting the Leave No Trace Booth each day, a grand champion is determined after the campground pack out on Monday. Winners are based on three things: cleanliness, sustainability and creativity and awarded a pair of 4 day passes with camping for the next year.
Speaking of those aforementioned campgrounds. After the main stage acts were cleared and the late night show crowds had dispersed, camping was the place to be. No wonder the ticket is so coveted. Amid the sights and sounds of the grounds, you could find various picks popping-up throughout each night. Sidle up to a site and listen until your heart was content. And, if you chose wisely, you never knew who could be counted on to show up. Members of many former and current TBF bands were found roaming freely and playing enthusiastically and late into the night (or early into the morning depending how you choose to look at it).
Keeping with the green feeling, the grounds were cleaned and well kept each night to aid in the arrival every morning of another TBF tradition: the tarp run. While it is much reminiscent of the, now banned, tarp run at Red Rocks for Widespread Panic, this one has held its roots year after year. People line up chairs, pads and sleeping bags every day to return to them each evening and lay among the stars in order to obtain prime tarp placement for themselves and their cohorts. New friendships are made and old ones are solidified as all hunker down together to sleep the night away or perhaps be awakened by stragglers finding their way home during the wee hours. Tarps are laid at the front and the accouterments increase in height and size as you get farther away from the stage. Tarps give way to low backed chairs which in turn succumb to high camp chairs and large shade structures. As far as the eye can see to keep people use what they can to make themselves comfortable and shaded as the high country sun beats mercilessly down each day.
Local radio station KOTO was on hand for the strum by strum. If you felt the need to leave the grounds for food or water or perhaps a shower? One easy flip of a switch brought you every note, every between set commentary, musician interviews, and even off the cuff (and occasionally off color) banter from random Fesivatrians.
I have been speaking about the land and the people and the place, but the reason that everyone had congregated there is universal. The music. Every year Telluride Bluegrass Festival hosts some of the most impressive musical acts from across the spectrum of Country, Bluegrass and beyond. I will commence with my personal daily highlights.
Thursday, June 16th
Due to economic necessity (read: my job) I was unable to leave for Telluride until mid-morning Thursday. Rumor I heard, as I plodded steadily onward, was that Del McCoury’s afternoon set brought people to tears. Finally rolling in to town just before 5 o’clock, I got in just time to see one of my long time bucket listers, John Prine.
Prine’s song writing has influenced many artists and pulled at my heartstrings for a multitude of years. Two bouts of cancer has given his voice a raspy quality that I have come to love and it was a great honor to finally hear him play “Angel from Montgomery.” I know I was not the only one who was moved. As I sat among the masses, my best friend mentioned how he would love to hear “Paradise.” Not too long after, the familiar chords were struck and I watched as my friend sang his heart out. That is what these musicians and their music do to us – lift us up and bring us together. It is always such an amazing feeling to stand among so many people with such common purpose.
The Bela Fleck and the Flecktones reunion was much anticipated, with people chomping at the proverbial bit to see what would come. Four years has passed since last this band last played together and they did not disappoint. Not seeming to miss a beat was Victor Wooten. He reproved to me, which he has done every single time I’ve seen him, that he is a force to be reckoned with and the combined talents of each of these men has been missing in the music scene.
Friday, June 17th
My first full day of music! I was super excited for the lineup this day. Chocked full of many favorites, who stood out amid them all was undoubtedly Jerry Douglas Band and The Punch Brothers. Jerry Douglas I listened to from a ways away and reveled in the contrast in style from song-to-song. Yes there was that traditional Bluegrass vibe, but the next song had a Soul vibe and the one after that was funky, and yet another was modern and dare I say Poppy? My favorite was a jazzy little instrumental entitled “Cave Bop;” a song Jerry says he wrote after an interesting Colorado experience watching “The Flintsones.”
As always I was excited to see The Punch Brothers, especially since missing Chris Thile’s solo set from the day before. If I have any advice to give it would be this. If you have never experienced a live Punch Brothers show, it is one you should sit down and pay attention to as opposed to twirling freely about while listening. Not that there is anything wrong with twirling! During The Punch Brothers, orchestral is the word that kept popping up in my mind. The quintet uses every musical option available to the fullest. Tempo, volume, phrasing, accentuation (to name a few), so many pieces of a puzzle swirling, changing, pulling you inside a song and then spitting you back out to watch in amazement from afar. They make you sit up and take notice. Thile is a giant of a mandolin player, and wonderful band leader, but is equally lifted and brought to new levels by the assistance of his talented partners in crime.
The Greensky Bluegrass set for the evening showed why they have maintained their status as the modern kings of Bluegrass genre-bending and, lately, the reigning headliners of as many festivals as you could think of. Their covers yoke the audience and their originals keep them rooted. Having Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush join them on stage doesn’t hurt much. Paying homage to Prince and David Bowie via “When Doves Cry>Fame>When Doves Cry” didn’t hurt either.
Saturday, June 18th
I awoke to the blazing morning sunshine and the sounds of the Telluride Band Contest finalists wafting through the window. I knew I had get up and move my booty to see the Lil’ Smokies at their first main stage set. Winners of the Band Contest in 2015, the Lil’ Smokies have been on almost every Bluegrass lineup I have seen this summer. Together Matt Cornette (banjo), “Reverand” Matt Reiger (guitar), Andy Dunnigan (dobro), Scott Parker (upright bass), Cameron Wilson (mandolin) and Jake Simpson (fiddle) create an encompassing sound. This band has the momentum and talent to become a force to be reckoned with. Heating up in the midmorning sun, I listened to the Smokies roll through a now familiar repertoire of songs. We all ate it up. The boys finished their set with Elton John’s “Rocket Man” and brought the already sweating crowd to their feet for a second time that morning. Indeed these Montana based talents are on an upward trajectory. Many congratulations and cheers my friends.
Talent abounded throughout a day spearheaded by the ladies. Mandolin Orange’s Emily Frantz as well as Yonder Mountain String Band’s Allie Kral. How about Nikki Bluhm? Fans eager to see Ryan Adams were pleased to see the entire contingent of The Infamous Stringdusters circle up with Adams as they sat in for not one or two songs, but the entire set. Long and svelte Nikki, who has become a staple sit in with the Dusters this year, stood proud, holding her own alongside her male counterparts.
Later in the day came the proclaimed “king” of Tellurdie Bluegrass, Sam Bush. He has been traveling there since the mid 70’s playing with the New Grass Revival. It was no surprise to see him onstage with up to 17 other people during his afternoon set. Did I mention Emmylou Harris was one of them? Yeah, that happened. As the de facto King, even if you missed his set, you were bound to see him here and there with a multitude of other artists throughout the weekend. At any point you could turn around and see Sam on a stage. Ah, the beauty of the Bluegrass festival.
If Sam Bush is the king of Telluride Bluegrass perhaps Leftover Salmon could be the jester? With their engaging and lighthearted stage presence and their steadfast following of parading costumed miscreants, you couldn’t have TBF without a little Leftover. Especially considering the bands origins were created in that very place. An onstage appearance by “Mayor McCheese” solidified the scene, the silliness, and the love.
Late night Greensky was where it was at for me. Settled in to a row with plenty of dancing space, I got to breathe in and revel the sights and sounds of the last two and a half days. The band pounded away at some of their amazing songs including my all time favorite “Forget Everything.” While others I talked with that evening called out the John Hartford cover “Steam Powered Areoplane” and the Black Sabbath “War Pigs” encore, “Forget Everything” is one I rarely have seen live and kept me in place for the duration.
Sunday, June 19th
As late as my story began, alas, early it had to end. My job for the day revolved around driving a carload of semi-conscious people back to our homeland. Tragically that meant I missed out on my third round of the Infamous Stringdusters, Emmylou Harris and the Telluride House Band. I tuned into KOTO for as long as their little transmitters would allow. At that point, for the first time, but not for the last, that feeling of awe settled over me as I listened to the snores of my fellow Festivarians around me. Each year Telluride Bluegrass Festival has a little to offer for each and at the same time a lot for everyone. Tried and true, we the people will be back and when we do return the mountains, the town, and the music awaits.
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