Dear Festivarian,

There's a tease of summer in the air here in Lyons. The sun's been warming the ground, the mountain bike trails are dry, fiddles are starting to make appearances outdoors, and the complete single-day lineup for the 37th Annual RockyGrass (July 24-26) is now official...

Sam Bush returns with his only-at-RockyGrass bluegrass band to close the festival's opening night. That's a day of music that includes Peter Rowan; Del McCoury Band; and the magical mystical Swedish-Appalachian collaboration of Mike Marshall and Darol Anger with Väsen. Along with the new additions of: rowdy old-time stringband The Wilders, the warm harmonies of Anne and Pete Sibley, and more.

We close the Sunday evening of RockyGrass with Hot Rize, Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers, and another of our favorite bands. Who's that you ask? All we can say is "To Be Announced," though we may not announce anything until they walk out on stage on Sunday evening. We'll kick off this day of mystery with a special gospel set from Lyons' own The Blue Maddies and 2001 band contest winners Steep Canyon Rangers.

These artists join Steve Earle & the Bluegrass Dukes, Earl Scruggs, Claire Lynch Band, Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band, Danny Paisley, and many many more for three unforgettable days of bluegrass. And we haven't even started talking about the campground jams, workshops, contests, and special late-night shows in the Pavilion....

Check out the entire single-day lineup (including artist photos, bios, and videos), then purchase your tickets and camping - including single-day tickets - at shop.bluegrass.com or 800-624-2422. We expect the festival to again sell out in the spring, months in advance. Once you have your tickets and camping, share your anticipation with your fellow festivarians at festivarian.com.

One of the highlights of last year's RockyGrass (and many, many Telluride Bluegrass Festivals) returns to Lyons tomorrow night, as the "voice of newgrass" John Cowan opens our first-ever winter/spring series of concerts in the Wildflower Pavilion on Thursday, March 5. John needs no introduction, but his stellar 4-piece band certainly deserves note: Jeff Autry (guitar), Shad Cobb (fiddle), Bryon Larrance (drums), and John Frazier (mandolin) - a founding member of Telluride and RockyGrass band contest winners Hit & Run.

The Wildflower Pavilion is now fully enclosed (and toasty warm) during the winter months, thanks to locally-produced wood-and-steel retractable walls, windows, and doors. We've been hard at work preparing for this opening show - further tweaking the acoustics, trimming the new walls - all in preparation for one of our all-time favorite performers, John Cowan. Tickets are still available - online at shop.bluegrass.com or 303-823-0848. As always, we charge no handling fees, so order your tickets today before joining your festivarian family on Thursday night.

With all the upcoming shows in the Wildflower Pavilion - Michelle Shocked, Cadillac Sky, John Jorgenson Quintet - we've started a new semi-monthly email newsletter devoted just to Wildflower concerts. In addition to concert announcements, we'll be offering exclusive discounts and giveaways to newsletter subscribers. Get your email address on the list at wildflowerpavilion.com.

We're beginning to see some Telluride Bluegrass and RockyGrass returns trickle in. As we receive them, we will put them back on sale to the public in our "returned ticket resale" section at shop.bluegrass.com. Check there on Tuesday's at noon MST for any returns from the previous week. In the past couple weeks, we've already made available a few RockyGrass on-site camping and vehicle passes.

Holiday tickets for the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival (August 14-16) ended on Monday, but we still have lots of advanced price three-day passes and camping for our "summit on the song", August 14-16. The preliminary lineup includes Rufus Wainwright, Susan Tedeschi, Brett Dennen, Dougie MacLean, and more. And we're really just getting started. Look for lots more major lineup additions in the coming weeks and months.

Our week-long songwriting oasis along the St. Vrain, The Song School (August 9-13), is filling up at a record pace. This unique and inspiring week brings together songwriters of all levels to share and support each other's music, through workshops, collaborations, open mic nights, and a warm, welcoming environment for creative expression. It's a life-changing experience for many - both new songwriters and ten-year Song School veterans. Reserve your spot now at shop.bluegrass.com.

We'll just say one thing about Telluride Bluegrass in this email: the complete single-day lineup will be announced on Wednesday, March 11. Okay, we'll say one more thing: we have several very exciting surprises still to add to this year's lineup. Hang tight, it's going to be a magical solstice.

We hope to see many of you at the John Cowan Band show on Thursday, March 5 as our collective jaws drop to the sound of John's voice filling the "cathedral of bluegrass." It's going to be one of those nights...

Best,
The Folks on Planet Bluegrass