Stellar lineup set for Telluride

Colorado roots music fans are sure to be pleased by the preliminary lineups announced last week by Planet Bluegrass for its two big summer festivals, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Rockygrass. Both are packed with some familiar and some surprise performers. Tickets for both festivals go on sale December 6 online at www.bluegrass.com and by phone at 800-624-2422.

At the 34th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 21-24, 2007, the lineup features superstars Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris; popular newgrass bands Yonder Mountain String Band and Bela Fleck & the Flecktones; and numerous unique combinations of artists: the genre-crossing of jazz pianist Chick Corea and banjo great Bela Fleck; the inter-generational duets of MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile; the cultural-blending of mandolinists Mike Marshall and young Brazilian Hamilton de Holanda.

Unique to the Telluride Bluegrass experience is the long-running cameraderie of musicians who spend the entire weekend together under the shadow of 14,000 foot mountain peaks in the picturesque mountain town of Telluride CO. Frequent performers Sam Bush, John Cowan, Peter Rowan, and Jerry Douglas all return in 2007. Meanwhile a younger generation of Telluride musicians push acoustic music into fresh directions: the indie-rock-meets-bluegrass leanings of Chris Thile’s How to Grow a Band; the technically innovative Crooked Still; the Chinese-American fusion of Sparrow Quartet; the punk-acoustic edge of the Avett Brothers.

Telluride’s more traditional bluegrass-focused cousin, RockyGrass, welcomes many of the most lauded bands in bluegrass to Lyons, Colorado. The 35th annual festival welcomes Grammy-winners Marty Stuart, Del McCoury Band, Tony Rice, Nickel Creek (giving a special farewell performance), and Sam Bush (marking the only 2007 appearance of his Sam Bush Bluegrass Band).

Eleven-time IBMA winners Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver contribute their gospel vocal blend, while 2005 IBMA Entertainers of the Year, Cherryholmes, make their first appearance at the festival. Several of the festival headliners – including Nickel Creek, Del McCoury Band, Kruger Brothers, Claire Lynch Band, Bearfoot Bluegrass – will spend the week leading up to the festival teaching at the RockyGrass Academy in Lyons.

Complete day-by-day schedules will be announced in the Spring. The full listings for the preliminary lineups are:

34th TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL - June 21-24, 2007 - Telluride, CO
* Alison Krauss & Union Station * Sam Bush Band * Chick Corea & Bela Fleck * Emmylou Harris * Telluride House Band featuring Béla, Edgar, Jerry, Sam, Bryan * Yonder Mountain String Band * Béla Fleck & the Flecktones * Chris Thile & How to Grow a Band featuring Bryan Sutton * Jerry Douglas Band * Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile * John Cowan Band * Peter Rowan & Crucial Country * Dougie MacLean Band * Jackie Green * Mike Marshall & Hamilton de Holanda * Sparrow Quartet * Crooked Still * Infamous Stringdusters * Avett Brothers * Greensky Bluegrass * and many more still to be announced...

35th ROCKYGRASS FESTIVAL – July 27-29, 2007 - Lyons, CO
(Preliminary Lineup)
* Nickel Creek * Sam Bush Bluegrass Band * Del McCoury Band * Marty Stuart & the Fabulous Superlatives * Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet * Chris Thile & the How to Grow a Band * Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver * Claire Lynch Band * Kruger Brothers * Cherryholmes * Biscuit Burners * Bearfoot Bluegrass * Red Molly * Long Road Home * and many more...