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| Jerry Douglas & Elvis Costello (photo Benko Photographics) |
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Thanks to everyone who joined us for the 37th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It was an unforgettable weekend of inspiration, virtuosity, and Colorado sunshine. Share your experience on the Festivarian Forum and on Facebook.
The Summer Solstice...
The 37th Annual Telluride Bluegrass once again coincides with the Summer Solstice; the longest day of the year; the beginning of summer. It's a magical time of sun and light, when the the high country of Colorado puts away its skis and grabs hiking boots, kayaks, and a low-back festival chair to take in "Bluegrass."
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| Emmylou Harris at TBF 2009 (photo Benko Photographics) |
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The 2010 artist lineup provides another magical four days of only-in-Telluride performances. Beloved Festival veterans and inspiring new talent. The Telluride royalty of virtuosic bluegrass superpickers, soulful songwriters, and some of the biggest stars in the rootsy Americana landscape - including Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Brandi Carlile, Court Yard Hounds (featuring Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks), and Dave Rawlings Machine (featuring Gillian Welch).
The festival is built around the many artists that have defined the Telluride Bluegrass sound. The weekend is sprinkled with inspired sets from Peter Rowan & Crucial Country, Sam Bush Band, Béla Fleck (performing in a trio with Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain and bassist Edgar Meyer), Jerry Douglas (performing in a trio with bassist Viktor Krauss and legendary drummer Omar Hakim), Tim O'Brien Band, and many others, culminating in the epic festival closing set from the Telluride House Band (Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, Stuart Duncan).
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| Yonder at the Sheridan |
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Del McCoury returns to Telluride to celebrate his 50th year in the music industry. Yonder Mountain String Band celebrates their 11th year; Leftover Salmon celebrates their 20th year as a band - a band that formed in the Town Park campground jams of Telluride Bluegrass. Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile follow-up last year's "Punch Brothers Play & Sing Bluegrass" with a new set of original music.
Since its very beginning, the festival has embraced a wide swath of roots music to create the unique genre of "Telluride Bluegrass." This year's lineup welcomes Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Dublin's rockabilly superstar Imelda May, London arena-folk quartet Mumford & Sons, and much more.
The Bluegrass Festival...
Performers say there is a unique thrill to performing in front of the smartest, most attentive audience in the country. Artists are encouraged to take risks in Telluride, and the Festivarian audience is regularly rewarded with unique blends of voices sharing the stage for the first time - as a new musical friendship cultivated backstage makes its debut on the Telluride stage.
With music on the main stage all day, intimate workshops on the Elks Park stage in the middle of town, prestigious band and songwriting contests, late-night Nightgrass concerts at every indoor venue in town, and jam sessions throughout the night in condos and around campgrounds, this is a week of uncommon musical riches.
Festivarians...
The voices of Telluride Bluegrass are also the voices of festivarians, many of whom have been finding their way back year after year for twenty or more years. Today, children raised on Telluride Bluegrass return to introduce their own children to the festivarian experience.
Cherished friendships, informed by music and inspiration, reunite every summer in the Town Park campground. New friendships are created as festivarians choose their tarp spot every morning to the sound of bagpipes echoing off the jagged peaks overhead.
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| Gaelic Storm late-night |
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Listen to the mayor of Town Park, Telluride Tom, talk about the festivarian experience on Colorado Matters and join the year-round community in our Festivarian Forum, where there's an active thread right now about Festivarians' favorite Telluride memories.
Telluride...
Nestled in the rugged San Juan Mountains and surrounded on three sides by the natural architecture of the Telluride Box Canyon, Telluride is arguably the most spectacular town in the American West.
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| Telluride Festivarian (photo Tory Williams) |
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Founded in 1875, the Victorian charm of the town is protected as a National Historic Landmark District. The town of Telluride (elevation 8,750') is connected to the modern resort community of Mountain Village (elevation 9,450') via a free commuter gondola.
The San Juan Mountains are the highest concentration of 14,000 mountains in the US. Activities in and around Telluride include mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, numerous hot springs, historic ghost towns, and whatever else your sense of adventure shows you. Popular hikes from town are the Bridal Veil Falls - the highest cascade in Colorado - and the 2-mile hike up to Bear Creek Falls beginning right behind the festival stage.
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