Photos by JohnRyan Lockman
The fourth annual Winter Wondergrass Festival enraptured the small town of Avon, CO during a beautiful, bluebird weekend. In years’ past, snow, ice and freezing temperatures made the festival a struggle, but never impeded its reception. The combination of the near-perfect weather and stellar lineup made this year one of WWG’s best years yet.
Despite the mud, Winter Wondergrass brought another epic experience to musicians and fans alike. Friday kicked off the weekend with up and coming acts like Horseshoes & Hand Grenades on the main stage, followed by the ever-blossoming Way Down Wanderers. The Wanderers are an act to catch as their youngest is still in his teens, yet highly proficient in song-writing – and it shows. Their lyrics are eloquent and metaphoric, while their picking is tried and true to the origins of Bluegrass. And even though the set was at an early 3pm, the audience was keen on sloshing through the mud and splashing their fellow dancers. It was a downright dirty dance party early on. Following the Way Down Wanderers, Larry Keel’s WWG All-Stars had a good ‘ole classic sunset party. However, the biggest, boldest act of Friday night was The Wood Brothers. I think every audience member will agree when I say that Chris Wood, Oliver Wood and Jano Rix create an electric mystification; they provoke a Rock-n-Roll ho’down at any festival they attend.
Saturday was a new day and, once again, a bold, blue sky fell upon the fairgrounds. The day began with Drew Emmitt and Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon at the Pickin’ Perch, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades at the Jamboree Tent, and Billy Strings at the new Soapbox Stage. The three bands would play back to back from 2:30pm to 5pm and, as skiers and snowboarders departed from the mountain and made their way to the festival, you could feel the energy begin to build. Bluegrass legend, Peter Rowan graced the stage just shy of 5pm and sang the classics, including a gorgeous rendition of “Moonlight Midnight.” After that, people bolted to the Soapbox Stage to see their favorite Trampled by Turtles members in an intimate, coffee shop-like setting. Dave Carroll and Dave Simonett, TBT’s banjo player and lead singer, sang beautiful samplings of new and old music. Sandwiched in between their two sets was a powerfully fun Fruition set which brought out friends like Andy Thorn and Larry Keel for “The Harder They Come,” and Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass for the wonderfully catchy hit, “Mountain Annie.” This was a nice little segway into Greensky’s first of their double-header shows. They began the weekend with “One More Saturday Night,” a clear nod to The Dead, and an intense delivery of “Burn Them” featuring Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon. The night ended with a beautiful “Leap Year” and teases of Nelly’s “Hot in Here,” but rounded out with the band’s popular cover of “Atlantic City.” The sound was clear and the lights were hands-down the best of the weekend.
Then, Sunday came. The ever elusive Ullr, God of Snow, decided to stay home the entire festival, seeing that the skies were still crisp and clear as ever. Sunday seemed a bit more sluggish, but Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds picked up the tempo at the main stage. This band is dynamic and fun—led by a soulful singer that can’t weigh more than 100 lbs. Sister Sparrow’s vocals are similar to that of Lake Street Dive’s Rachel Price, but she has the band to bring out the heat. The Dirty Birds are something real, but Sister Sparrow evokes the complete & utter truth in music. Her vocal chords are rock solid, and her presence is wholly captivating. She’s clad in leather, but sweet as can be. Her voice is intimidating but she carries in gracefully. Check them out when they come to the Boulder Theater in April.
Sunday brought on more ooh’ing and ahh’ing sets with Paul Hoffman’s solo set at the Soapbox Stage and Nahko and Medicine for the People’s riveting performance. While Hoffman sang old (and new!) Greensky songs, Nahko brought out an uplifting energy that had the audience entranced. People love the Nahko and his pop-flare.
Finally, the festival was brought to an end with one of the most vigorous sets of the weekend. Dubbed “Not Your Grandpappy’s Bluegrass,” Greensky Bluegrass closed out the weekend with DJ Logic, a local Denver turntablist. Logic joined the boys for a new take on “Broke Mountain Breakdown” and Anders did a nice little Q&A sesh for Paul to respond with his classic “Fo Sho Uh Huh.” But the real beauty was brought out by originals like “Jaywalking” and “Windshield” coupled with perfect covers including a “Tweezer Reprise” rendition and Ween’s “Your Party.” It was a great mix of new-aged Bluegrass and old-school jam. That is the Greensky we all know and love.
To round out yet another surreal weekend of Bluegrass and mountain-dwelling, I was able to meet up with Oregon-based Fruition. We bonded over Detroit’s low real estate pricing, Vulfpeck and Bernie Sanders. Mimi, Jay and Kellen chatted casually and – let me just say – these humans are the real thing. They are funny, fresh and genuine. They’re excited about what’s to come and appreciative of where they came from. Check it out.
Listen Up Denver!: Let’s start from the beginning. Where are you guys from? How did you guys meet? Do you guys even like each other?
Jay: Ha! No we hate each other.
Mimi: Shut it. We love each other! We love each other so much that it’s weird. Well, to start, we all met each other in Oregon. We embarked on Portland to create music. It’s a wonderful place to create. I was doing my own thing and Jay was doing his own thing. We were intimidated of each other. And then one day we said hey, why don’t we team up and intimidate the world?
LUD!: How has the Colorado following inspired you? Do you feel a strong connection to our snowy state?
Mimi: Well, don’t let Oregon see this publication. But Colorado fans are the best.
Jay: I feel like it would be cheating to move here. It’s like, I want to be in an unhealthy relationship with my state. I want to be treated like shit sometimes, ya know. That’s why I can’t move here. It would be too perfect.
LUD!: Yeah, I get that. Sometimes I want to move to Detroit just for that. Just to mix things up a bit.
Mimi: Haha hell yeah. I want me and my friends to buy a plot of land there. Cause why not?
LUD!: Yeah, why not? It’s a nickel.
Mimi: Exactly.
LUD!: So what do you guys have planned for this weekend? I know you have a new album coming out April 22nd, titled Labor of Love. Can we expect to hear some of it?
Jay: Definitely. The stage is the best place to practice some of these songs. We love playing new music during shows. And also, just to speak toward Labor of Love, we are so excited about it. This album is way more accurate for what we do live. It’s rock. It’s grass. It’s blues. It’s everything. We were doing Just One of Them Nights for a long time, which was great. Then we came out with the Whole Hearted Fools EP as a prerequisite to this new album. So it’s been a slow build. We’re just so stoked for it to finally come out.
LUD!: I think I can speak for the rest of the fans when I say, “We are too.” To wrap things up, who are some of your favorite musicians right now?
Mimi: Alabama Shakes all the way.
Jay: Vulfpeck for sure.
Kellen: Loving this band, Bahamas. Check out his album “Barchords.” It’s beautiful. It’s on another level.
Fruition is coming in hot, so be sure to check them out on their tour for Labor of Love. And also, go to Winter Wondergrass next year!
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