Telluride house band

The all-stars of newgrass reprised the sounds that made Telluride famous. Introduced by festival impressario Craig Ferguson as the "Telluride house band," master musicians Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, and Bryan Sutton tore up the stage.

Before the set, Ferguson honored Bela Fleck for his 25th consecutive Telluride appearance.Here's a quick selection of images.

Casey Driessen tweener

As I'm posting these items from the press tent, I can hear but not see all the interesting action on stage. Right now, Casey Driessen and his new band, Colorfools, is starting an unannounced tweener miniset before the newgrass all-stars come on next. I'm going to run out and catch Casey.

Hit & Run at Elk's Park

That was about what I did--hit and run. I wanted to preview Hit & Run Bluegrass because they'll be at Grey Fox next month. Here at Telluride, they are on the workshop stage only so I took the six-block walk to catch a few songs. I arrived just as they lead singer Rebecca Hoggan broke into their hit "Any Day Woman," a really great contemporary bluegrass tune. The band showcased new dobro player, David Richey, on a vocal. There is also a new bassist replacing Erin Coates, who is playing with Uncle Earl this summer.

Overall, for my short three-song drop-in on their set, I was impressed with Hit & Run Bluegrass. They are maybe not at the same level of The Biscuit Burners but they have a somewhat similar sound.

Sun comes out for Neko Case

The chilly weather let up a little this afternoon. Just now, Neko Case is on stage and said how sexy it was when the sun came out from behind a cloud. Just for fun, here's a snap of Neko from about seven minutes ago. I'll have more photos for the sets to come.

Shawn Camp's first Telluride

Getting a little bit of a late start on Telluride coverage, I'm all set now in the press tent at the festival with Internet access. It's going on three on Thursday afternoon. Drew Emmitt is on stage with Sam Bush guesting on fiddle, and I'm supposed to be over at the Elk's Park Stage for Hit & Run Bluegrass.

Catching up on an interview I did with Shawn Camp on Tuesday before flying into Telluride. We had been trying to hook up for a chat since meeting at Wintergrass earlier this year, and with Camp scheduled for a Saturday afternoon set at the TBF main stage, this seemed like a good time for it.

Camp said that this will be his first appearance at Telluride. "I've played in Colorado quite a bit and I've heard about it for years, but this is my first opportunity to play here."

When Camp plays bluegrass festivals, he always seems to assemble a pickup band of acoustic players from other acts playing the festival. At Telluride, it will be Mike Compton, Noam Pikelny and Bryn Bright. "You never know who is going to be in the combination or how it will come out," he said. "We'll just let it fly."

He said the set would feature the material from his Station Inn record, some bluegrass standards, and acoustic versions of songs on his new electric album, Fireball.

"Although the songs are more rockabilly, I don't pay much attention to genres. You can take a hard-core Bill Monroe song and lay it alongside a Chuck Berry tune and there isn't much difference. All of it holds hands and it is just a matter of how you want to color it. "

Fireball came out in March and is doing well on the Americana charts. One of the songs," Would You Go With Me," is climbing the country mainstream charts as a single for Josh Turner.

A notable part of Camp's acoustic act is the three-song Sis Draper suite, songs he composed with Guy Clark that are based on classic fiddle tunes and tell the story of Camp's Arkansas roots.

He told me that there are five or six more of those. "We've talked about putting it together as a musical play. We're pretty far along now with the songs and need to bridge the gap between them with dialog."

Okay, we'll see Shawn again on Saturday. Now I'm off to the workshop stage. More later.

The Margarita Tour of Telluride

Telluride regulars, and that means pretty everyone at this fest, have habits and traditions. I mentioned some of the Town Park camp traditions in my last post, but we condoids have dveloped a few, too. In our case, it's the Margarita Tour of Telluride.

The Tour is intended to get us reacquainted with the local watering holes and rate each one's quality. Our measurement tool is a lovely, refreshing adult beverage, the Margarita. The process is simple: we order a pair of margs at each stop on the tour, and assign a rating of one to five stars. We consider several factors in our scientific survey.

1. prompt, friendly service
2. formula, especially the balance between mix and fresh lime
3. degree of tequilativity - the number of molecules of tequila compared to the number of taste buds
4. tartness of the finish
5. price

Each stop on the tour must first and foremost be a bar, not a restaurant that also features mixed drinks. In the case of bars that also offer food, our application of the eligibility rule leaned to the alcoholic side.

The results of this year's Margarita Tour of Telluride were somewhat surprising. Here they are.

New Sheridan Hotel Bar ($13.00)
In past MToT's the New Sheridan Hotel Bar was a frequent winner. This year, not so much. The New Sheridan's daytime bartender was prompt enough but the margs were hobbled by a weak, unbalanced formula that produced an overly tart finish. There was virtually no tequilativity, and as one of the pricier rounds on the Tour, we expected a little bit more. ***

Floradora ($14.00)
There's always a bar named "The Floradora" in Telluride, but the frequent changes in management have prevented recent owners from developing consistency in bar staff. This year, we're pleased to report a surprisingly agreeable experience. The decor has been upgraded and the bartender was pleasantly efficient. We found the formula more balanced than the New Sheridan's with only a slightly tart finish. However, its degreee of tequilativity was subpar. ***1/2

The Last Dollar Saloon ($11.00)
The Last Dollar is a TBF standard, favored for low-cost high-octane fare and possibly the best people-watching in town. The Dollar's entry in the Tour was a reasonably priced pint that featured a delicious formula equally poised between the sweet and tart. These margs boasted a balanced tequilativity at a reasonable price. And they have Steve Earle on the jukebox. ****

O'Bannon's ($10.50)
In a surprise ending, the Margarita's at O'Bannon's easily claimed first place in this year's Margarita Tour of Telluride. Bartender Travis served a pair of no-holds-barred drinks that relied more on the brute force of their superb tequilativity augmented by the precisely balanced formula. Fresh lime supported rather than supressed the Suaza. The finish was dry and crisply sour. Steve Earle AND Rufus Wainwright on the jukebox.
*****

30345-060614-220589-10

© 2006 All Rights Reserved.

powered by performancing firefox

Grey Fox stage schedule

Grey Fox posted its jam-packed stage schedule. What a weekend of bluegrass that is going to be!

Rocky Grass sold out

While we're posting Telluride news, here are updates from some other Planet Bluegrass events.

Rocky Grass is now completely sold out. Planet Bluegrass will resell a limited number of returned tickets on July 10. Also, keep your eyes peeled on the Festivarian email list, where people will likely be offering their unneeded tickets over the coming weeks. In a News From the Planet email, management also recommends changing you vacation plans and attending Telluride instead. Tickets remain available at the Planet Bluegrass online store for pickup at will call.

Meanwhile, the lineup for PB's August 18-20 Folks Festival continues to take shape, with Guy Clark recently announced to join a strong bill that includes Kris Kristofferson, Jeff Tweedy, Ani DiFranco, The Waifs, and many more.

FestivaLink download sampler

I finally got around to downloading the three gift songs from FestivaLink's MerleFest collection. Included are "I'm A Givin' Way" from Laura Love, "Honky Tonk Habit" from The Wilders, and "River Take Me" from Darrell Scott, all excerpted from their complete main stage shows at last month's MerleFest.

The recording quality is excellent and download process is exceptionally easy. The MP3s imported into my iTune library with full metadata included, a nice extra that is not the case with many online downloads. Of the three, the Darrell Scott track is a must-have, an inspired 10-1/2 minute version of his classic song.

The downloads are a teaser for FestivaLink's catalog of 20 or so complete performances from MerleFest. (Register with the site to qualify for the gift.) The full performances are available at a per-download fee of $15.95 in FLAC format or $10.95 in MP3 format. Each download includes a CD label and booklet in PDF format with complete performer and song information.

While I like the idea of of making festival performances available in a system that compensates both the artist and the festival, the prices seem too high to generate substantial business. I'd be much more tempted if a package deal was offered that let me select, say, three performances for about $25 or all festival recordings for $100.

At the current price, the only downloads I might buy would be unique collaborations that are not duplicated elsewhere. In the FestivaLink catalog, the one such performance would be the Waybacks set with special guest Bob Weir. That show is listed in the catalog as "coming soon" but not yet available.

I'll be watching closely to see what further progress FestivaLInk makes in signing up more festivals (for now, MerleFest 2006 is the only festival available), and to see if there is any downward movement in its pricing. As things stand now, I don't see it having a big impact on the amateur tape-trading market.

Telluride workshops and more

TBF's full schedule of workshops, competitions, and family tent activities is now available. Among the workshop highlights: A mandolin supersession with Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, and Drew Emmitt; a virtuoso instrumental roundtable with Noam Pikelney (banjo), David Grier (guitar), and Shad Cobb (fiddle); and band showcases for rising stars The Greencards, Hit & Run Bluegrass, and Steven Kellogg & The Sixers.

As for the competitions, I'm not familiar with any of the Troubador singer-songwriter entries, but the band competition should be hot with Festival Preview favorties Cadillac Sky, The Lovell Sisters, and Poor Man's Whiskey among the 12 bands vying for the prize. Finalists in both contests will get a chance to show off on the main stage. Good luck to all the hopefuls.

Packing for Telluride

There are regulars who set up camp in Telluride's Town Park campground two weeks prior to the 4 day festival.

2 weeks.

As you might expect, a tradition of events has grown along with this acoustic community. There are particular annual events that occur under the coordination of the Mayor, "Telluride Tom" Heidger. BBQ oysters, rum balls, the slide show of last year's fest, and the Free Box Fashion Show (which involves trips to Telluride's version of the United Way) are of an alcoholic potential, accompanied by epic pickaramas by some of the best amateur musicians you'll ever hear, as well as drive-by pros looking for a good pickin' circle. And much of this takes place well before the other 9,900 ticket-holders arrive.

Bonding is inevitable among the Festival regulars, many of whom have been in attendance 25 consecutive years or more. A kind of folklore about the Town Park camping community has arisen, much of it documented in the correspondance of the Festivarian email list, which has, over the years, nurtured the bonds created every June.

This year a campground regular, James Buchanan, composed a fluid guitar piece called, "Packing for Telluride." You can hear it here. Festivarians will certainly recognize themselves.

Dan & I will be in Telluride next week. Since I'm a veteran condoid, we'll be able to keep laptops and cameras charged. There won't be any WiFi in the fest this year, but we'll think of something.

55267-060607-469811-25

© 2006 All Rights Reserved.

powered by performancing firefox

Rubber Band win is a surprise

I have to admit to being surprised that Ryan Shupe & The Rubber Band came out on top in the Best of the Fest poll. Not that their act is not polished and professional, but maybe that it was too much so--at least for my taste. While I found the tunes catchy and the musicianship very solid, to me all the choreography and arrangement were a little too slick for what I expect on the Strawberry stage.

I would have thought that many Strawberry goers--especially those active on the discussion boards--might have had the same reaction, but the reality was that about one in five of the ballots picked Shupe's band as the best performer, and almost one in three had it among the top three picks. John Hiatt & The North Mississippi Allstars, who I expected would win in a walk, almost matched those numbers but fell just short.

The other two closers, Los Lobos and Patty Griffin, finished well down the list. I agree that both of them gave somewhat lackluster performances. Los Lobos ran into trouble getting to the gig, and seemed to lack much energy after rushing through their setup. Griffin kept commenting on the cold temperatures and never warmed up to the audience.

Here are some of the other interesting trends I noticed:

* Aside from Shupe, the breakthrough acts of the festival were Bearfoot, Brother, and Martha Scanlan. I suspect that for most attendees the first two were complete unknowns, so their strong showing is attributable directly to their performance (as opposed to reputation). Scanlan was familiar to some attendees as a former member of The Reeltime Travelers.

* It isn't easy to make generalizations about genres, since voters recognized or disdained acts irrespective of musical style. In bluegrass, Bearfoot scored well but Homespun Rowdy did not. In old-timey, Martha Scanlan finished strong while The Stairwell Sisters lagged. In jam music, Brother impressed while Assembly of Dust and Toubab Krewe got less notice. Ruthie Foster's gospel stylings nabbed third place, while Laura Love's folk-funk trailed in the second division.

* Well established bands that might have been pre-festival favorites--Asleep At the Wheel, Los Lobos, the subdudes--all finished out of the money. The Austin Lounge Lizards lived up to expectations, getting some notice for Best Performance and easily winning the Most Entertaining category.

* Willy Porter turned in a relatively strong showing in all three categories. Another singer-songwriter who I thought would do well, Adrienne Young, did not garner substantial support. The jazz and classical guitars in La Guitara earned only modest support. I suspect that Patty Larkin as a solo artist would have been more warmly received.

* Based on these results, first-time performers that I would expect to see invited back soon are Bearfoot, Brother, Willy Porter and Martha Scanlan. Some repeat performers who might not get an early return engagement are Terrance Simeon, Los Lobos, and Misty River.

Of course, these conclusions are based on the input of only 53 attendees. I am not a statistics expert, but it could be that a larger sample would have produced different results. I invite others to weigh in with their thoughts on these results, either in comments on the Festival Preview blog or in either of the Strawberry discussion forums. -- Dan Ruby

Strawberry Best of the Fest poll results

Strawberry Music Festival attendees who voted in Festival Preview's Strictly Unofficial Best of the Fest poll picked Ryan Shupe & The Rubber Band as the Best Performer of the festival, narrowly edging John Hiatt & The North Mississippi Allstars. The Alaskan bluegrass band Bearfoot outpolled LA world-jam band Brother for Best Newcomer. The Austin Lounge Lizards comfortably won the vote for the Most Entertaining act.

Festival Preview received 53 ballots in the poll. The top finishers in each category (with their weighted point totals) were:

Best Performance
Ryan Shupe & The Rubber Band 43
John Hiatt & The North Mississippi Allstars 39
Ruthie Foster 29
Brother 25
Martha Scanlan 21
Willy Porter 21
Bearfoot 19
Austin Lounge Lizards 17
the subdudes 16
La Guitara 15

Best Newcomer
Bearfoot 56
Brother 50
Willy Porter 40
Martha Scanlan 31
Toubab Krewe 20

Most Entertaining
Austin Lounge Lizards 42
Ryan Shupe & The Rubber Band 27
Willy Porter 24

I'll provide commentary in a later post.

Adrienne Young "dreams real" in her Strawberry debut

Adrienne Young has enjoyed considerable success with her two albums and live performances in the bluegrass market, but now the singer-songwriter and frontwoman of her band, Little Sadie, dreams of breaking out in the broader jam-band market.

And when Young dreams, she "dreams real," as she frequently says at the end of her live performances or writes when signing CDs and merchandise. I spoke to her after her workshop performance at the recent Strawberry Music Festival, and I asked what the phrase means for her.

"Your thoughts create your reality. Focus the energy of your thoughts on what you want to manifest, because it will," she said.

For Young, her new focus on the jam market manifested itself at the Haymaker Music Festival in Spotsylvania VA the week before Strawberry, where she appeared on the bill with acts like Keller Williams and the Drive-By Truckers as well as traditional-based artists such as King Wilkie.

"I feel that you shouldn't try to keep yourself in a genre or a cloak that some people have already identified you by. The jam market has such a loyal fan base that will will be in it for the long ride. It's a good place to nurture a career," she said.

Toward that end, Young will be playing several more California festivals later this summer, including the High Sierra Music Festival and Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival. She has also introduced an electric guitar in the band, and said that many of her newer songs are written around it.

She and the band have also been at work on her third CD, recording at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock, N.Y. She featured what will be the title cut, "Room to Grow," in her main stage, Amy's Cafe, and workshop performances at Strawberry.

"Theres more heart in this record than there has been in the last two," she said.

For an artist whose songs celebrate simple virtues and preserving an earlier way of life, playing for the first time at Strawberry resonated with her personal ideals. She especially enjoyed a quick visit into Yosemite Park.

"I took a stroll in Tuolumne Grove to see 2,000-year-old trees. It is amazing to think that Abe Lincoln established the park here in 1864, and that at that point in our nation's history there was no thought of preservation, and yet to feel this energy and know that the land has been treated with such respect," she said.

The "next big thing" in bluegrass?

As I wrote in the last post, the breakout act of the Bluegrass on the River festival was Cadillac Sky, which Festival Preview will next be seeing at the Grey Fox festival next month. "C-Sky" (a little too cute, but OK) hails from that hotbed of bluegrass, Fort Worth, Texas. C-Sky's sets, both on the main River Stage and the Pickin' Parlor, were full of brilliant technical musical feats and smooth stage banter. Packed with world-class pickers and vocalists, C-Sky has just signed with Skaggs Family Records. Mandolinist Bryan Simpson acts as the band's frontman and owes a striking vocal debt to Bill Monroe and Danny Barnes. His mando style owes more to Ricky Skaggs than Sam Bush, and that may be the key to understanding the immediate future prospects of this eminently competent unit.

By far, Cadillac Sky is the most radio-friendly band in this fest. Featuring award-winning musicians and clever, hook-laden tunes, Cadillac Sky looks to be the next big bluegrass-to-country crossover band.  If the right video director can be found, the master tapes of C-Sky's last studio effort may, under Skaggs Family Records guidance, be the next Dixie Chicks style breakout.

One measure I have found useful in determining a band's commercial viability is the murder-to-love ratio. This ratio compares the number of murder ballads in a set to the number of love songs. If murder ballads equal the love songs there's probably not much Garth Brooks can do for you. If the setlist has more love songs than murder ballads, there's a potential for radio interest. Commercial radio tends to avoid bands who include more murder ballads than love songs (which may explain why Tim O'Brien is still relatively unknown).

Cadillac Sky has terrific technical skills and impressive stage presence. An undeniably entertaining time will be had. These are polished, professional players who combine instrumental chops and slick vocal harmonies in sets that features tunes about romantic love and nothing at all about murder.

When the new CD, "Blind Man Walking" is released this year, I predict commercial attention similar to the reception the Dixie Chicks enjoyed in their commerical debut year. I fear, though, that the Nashville influence might redirect the energies of this exciting band into channels more palatable to fous groups and video directors. CMT is not a musical medium. GAC is dedicated to drawing advertising dollars.

Whatever happens, C-Sky gets my vote for the Next Big Thing, and I do wish them well - thye are nice guys with astonishing musical chops. Obscurity has its own purity and success doesn't always mean sellout. But I worry - there was a time when the Dixie Chicks won the band competition at the decidedly un-radio-friendly Telluride Bluegrass Festival. -- Zen Curmudgeon

88236-060603-799492-58Rate content:

© 2006 All Rights Reserved.

powered by performancing firefox