TBF 2007 Thursday, Part 1

Thursday dawned cool and clear with a promise of some weather, which was fulfilled early during Crooked Still's debut set at Telluride. The faithful started lining up for the choice real estate early Wednesday and by midmorning today the line had, as expected, stretched down the street, around the corner, and another three blocks with more additions arriving by the minute. It's always a mellow crowd, serviced by junior capitalists offering coffee and cookies from the beds of their Radio Flyer wagons. Fortunately, there are way to be amused in line, like this impromptu trio.

The day's first scheduled acts posed a dilemma for your Humble Blogger - Chris Thile doing a solo opener for the first time or taking the gondola across the mountain to the Heritage Square stage set up in Mountain Village and featuring Houston Jones. Well, Thile has been thoroughly corrupted by the TBF influence and can be counted on to drop in on anybody's set - Houston Jones it is.





This California quintet includes several graduates of The Waybacks, which may give you an idea of the acoustic influences HJ presents, but there's a healthy dose of Cajun spice and blues influences as well. Former Waybacks fiddler/mandolinist Chojo Jacques joined HJ for this gig. A tiny crowd greeted the fullbore set with enthusiasm. Watch for a new CD release from Houstin Jones very soon.

Over at the Main Stage, Crooked Still took the stage for their premier in Telluride. Still relying on material from last year's "Shaken by a Low Sound" studio release, this quartet performed to an appreciative crowd that seemed to particularly enjoy cellist Rashad Eggelston's tribute to Cheeko Marks.

Next up - the Avett Brothers. There's a real anticipatory buzz for these guys.