2008 Artist Lineup
We are excited to announce the single-day lineup for the 35th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 19-22, 2008 - under a summer solstice full moon...
Thursday, June 19
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals • Ani DiFranco Band • Del McCoury Band • Arlo Guthrie • Uncle Earl • Cadillac Sky • Darrell Scott
Friday, June 20
Leftover Salmon • Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby with Kentucky Thunder • Paolo Nutini • Tim O'Brien • Peter Rowan & the Free Mexican Airforce • The Emmitt Nershi Band • Béla Fleck, Duos with Friends • Spring Creek
Saturday, June 21 (the summer solstice)
The Frames • Sam Bush Band • Brett Dennen • Yonder Mountain String Band • Jerry Douglas Band • Tift Merritt • Steep Canyon Rangers
Sunday, June 22
Telluride House Band featuring Sam, Béla, Jerry, Edgar & Bryan • The Swell Season: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova from the film Once • Hot Rize with Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers • John Cowan & Darrell Scott Band • Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile • The Duhks • Solomon Burke
Three-day passes and single-day tickets are on sale now - order online or 800-624-2422. Make sure to sign up for the "Notes from the Planet" email newsletter for all the latest updates.
Telluride House Band
Boasting Grammy winners, IBMA Instrumentalist of the Year winners, MacArthur "Genius" Grant recipients, Country Music Association Musician of the Year awardees, National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships, and countless other national and international awards, we're proud to call these six musicians the Telluride House Band - the best house band in the land. Together they have created much of the core repertoire of bluegrass and newgrass music - combining jazz, classical, Celtic, Americana, and inspired creativity. Together they make improvised music of grandeur, sophistication, and power that only happens in Telluride.
"I won’t say [Ryan] Adams is the best North American singer-songwriter since Neil Young…but I won’t say he isn’t, either." So wrote Stephen King — and we'd be hard-pressed to disagree. Over the course of nine unforgettable albums under his own name and three at the helm of famed alt-country band Whiskeytown, the Grammy nominee from Jacksonville, NC has been at the forefront of American music. He has produced Willie Nelson, toured with Phil Lesh, sung with Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch, and been covered by Counting Crows, Toots and the Maytals, and many many others. Along the way he has amassed one of the most inspired and uncompromising songwriting catalogs of the twenty-first century mixing heartfelt pop-rock with a country twang.
For thirty-three years, Sam Bush has been the undisputed "King of Telluride." Sam played an integral role in changing the face of bluegrass music as a founding member of New Grass Revival - who for 18 years, during the 70s and 80s, fused rock 'n' roll grooves and extended virtuosic jams. When not heading the ever-popular Sam Bush Band, Bush has spent the past 15 years as a super-sideman with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, and the Flecktones; spearheaded boundary-stretching collaborations with Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, and David Grisman; and driven nearly every "bluegrass supergroup" imaginable with his inimitable mandolin playing. Onstage, Sam is the consummate performer - a dervish, a rhythm doctor, and the king of the party. The fact that his live CD, Ice Caps - Live at Telluride, remains his biggest seller speaks to the power of his live performances. We welcome His Majesty back for his 34th year to once again define the frenzied, virtuosic adventure that is Telluride Bluegrass.
After earning twelve #1 hits and eight Country Music Association Awards, eleven-time Grammy Award winner Ricky Skaggs returned to bluegrass music in 1997. With sales of more than ten million albums to date, Bruce Hornsby has been praised as a virtuoso pianist and a musician’s musician - collaborating with artists such as Roger Waters, the Grateful Dead, Bob
Dylan, Branford Marsalis, and Chaka Khan. No stranger to bluegrass, Hornsby won a Grammy in 1989 for Best Bluegrass Recording for "Valley Road." Skaggs & Hornsby first collaborated in 2000 and finally released their CD, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby in 2007, which includes their unlikely cover of "Superfreak!" Sing Out! Magazine raves, "Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby is an unexpected, unlikely gem."
Since releasing her first recording in 1990, Ani DiFranco has established herself as one of the most influential and inspirational artists of the modern era. DiFranco’s innovative guitar style, signature percussive fingerpicking, expressive vocals and incisive lyrics—along with a constitutional inability to be anything less than totally real—have earned her a loyal, dedicated fan base and ongoing critical acclaim. Over the years, Rolling Stone has described her as “breathtakingly talented,” “fiercely independent,” “iconic” and “one of the few artists around who can really paint the rainbows.” Small wonder, then, that Ani made CMJ’s list of the 25 most influential artists of the last 25 years, taking her place alongside U2, Nirvana, the Pixies and Radiohead.
Arlo Guthrie, eldest son of America's most beloved singer/writer/philosopher Woody Guthrie,was born with a guitar in one hand and a harmonica in the other. Growing up around artists like Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Brownie McGhee, Arlo gave his first public performance at age 13 and quickly became involved in the music that was shaping the world during the 1960s. His career exploded in 1967 with the release of "Alice's Restaurant", which helped foster a generation's emerging commitment to social consciousness and activism. Classically styled folk songs intermingled with clever storytelling remain Arlo's hallmark. Writes the New York Times: "His voice has retained much of the freshness it had in the 1970s. And he can still spin an amusing yarn between songs."
Fresh off another year of constant touring and gigging with The Frames, Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard retired to the Czech Republic for some down time in 2006. This batch of songs didn’t seem to loan themselves to the anthemic nature of The Frames, so Glen decided to enter a studio with some time collaborator, Marketa Irglova and the two were left with the chilling and intimate, The Swell Season. Former member of The Frames, film director John Carney was taken by the songs and created his movie Once around the music and the characters of Glen and Marketa. That film - a singer-songwriter musical set in Dublin - was a runaway hit at Sundance and theaters around the world. Glen and Marketa were nominated for 2 Grammy's and an Oscar for their music for the film, culminating in an Academy Award for Best Song in 2008.
Like many of the great singers, Paolo Nutini doesn't speak in words the way he sings in song. Engage him in conversation, and you'll be greeted with a hefty Scottish brogue. But when he sings, something rather miraculous happens: the accent remains (Paolo isn't one of those vocalists who turns American when faced with a microphone), but his voice lifts, lightens and becomes exquisitely mellifluous - a mixture of gravel and honey, bringing to mind a young Joe Cocker fronting The Faces. Fair enough, you'd think, if the man was middle-aged and nicotine-addled but Paolo Nutini is Scottish, and just 19 years old. God alone knows where the voice comes from, then, but one thing is already abundantly clear: this boy's a natural.
A truly charismatic live performer, Nutini has supported such superstars as the Rolling Stones. In July 2006, Nutini brought the house down during a special tribute to Atlantic Records at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The only new artist on the bill, Nutini shared the stage with such icons as Solomon Burke, Robert Plant, and Kid Rock.
Although the Yonder Mountain String Band was formed in Nederland, CO, its origins go back to Urbana, IL, where college student and banjo player Dave Johnston met mandolin player Jeff Austin. Austin moved west and settled in Nederland. Johnston joined him there, and the two met bass player Ben Kaufmann and guitarist Adam Aijala at a club called the Verve. In December 1998, they formed the Yonder Mountain String Band to open for a band at the Fox Theatre in Boulder.
With Festivarian support, Yonder Mountain has become one of the fastest rising touring bands in the country, its fan base having ballooned over the past six years through steady gigging and high-profile festival sets, all of which are full of improv and none of which feature the same set list. It can’t be overstated just what the band has achieved with that untraditional banjo/bass/mandolin/guitar line-up.
Hot Rize is approaching its 30th year in the bluegrass history book. The eclectic Colorado progressive band came together in 1978 and were named after the secret ingredient of Martha White Self-Rising Flour, the product Flatt & Scruggs promoted early in the 50's amd 60's. During their full-time touring days of 1978-1990, Hot Rize were one of the most popular bluegrass bands in the world thanks to their strong and soulful bluegrass combined with their wacky but musically deft "alter-ego" country swing band, Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers. After not performing for three years following the death of original member Charles Sawtelle, the band regrouped in 2002 with Bryan Sutton added on guitar. Hot Rize has done five years of shows with its current lineup and has been delivering its high-energy, soulful, and unique sound to fans old and new. We are thrilled to welcome Hot Rize back for their 16th show on the Telluride Bluegrass stage.
BÉla Fleck, Duos with Friends
Eight-time Grammy Award winner Béla Fleck was fascinated with the banjo from an early age, but his teachers kept pushing him to play other instruments. Luckily, he kept up with the banjo — when he wasn't being forced to sing tenor or play the French horn. This richly diverse background has earned him Grammy nominations in more different categories than anyone in Grammy history - including jazz, country, classical, pop, bluegrass, and spoken word. Through tenures with Newgrass Revival, The Flecktones, Strength in Numbers, and numerous ongoing collaborations, Béla has become one of the premiere banjo players in the world. Béla will be celebrating his 27th consecutive year at Telluride Bluegrass.
A singer of unusual clarity and originality, a self-taught multi-instrumentalist of rare ability, and an incisive songwriter, Tim O’Brien has, during the last 20 years, made a lasting mark on what some are calling Americana music through his innate musicianship and his wide-ranging tastes. Whether it’s the reinterpretation of an old fiddle tune, a revitalized honky-tonk shuffle from the 1950s, or an original, bluegrass-inflected folk song, O’Brien’s music feels familiar and comfortable while never lapsing into the predictable. These rare talents earned him a Grammy in 2006 in the Best Traditional Folk Category for his album Fiddler’s Green.
Tim holds the esteemed honor of having played the most Planet Bluegrass Festivals - Telluride Bluegrass, RockyGrass, and the Folks Fest. After consecutive 31 years at Telluride Bluegrass, Tim took a year-long hiatus in 2007. We are thrilled to welcome him back to Telluride.
The Del McCoury Band are undeniably one of the most talented, revered and vital groups in bluegrass history (and one of the most potent bands in any field today). No less than The Washington Post recently called Del “a national treasure”, while numerous music publications have credited The Del McCoury Band with increasing the bluegrass “hip factor," generating much of the genre's steady upswing in popularity with a more youthful crowd. The Del McCoury Band has now won more International Bluegrass Music Association awards than any other artist in the genre’s history with a total of nearly 40 individual and group citations from the IBMA — including a whopping nine “Entertainer Of The Year” honors, been nominated for six Grammy's — and just won his first in February, has seen his videos welcomed by CMT, joined the venerated Grand Ole Opry, represented the cream of the bluegrass crop on national television, making appearances on Austin City Limits, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman.
The sound of Colorado’s legendary Leftover Salmon is unmistakable: fluid, loose-limbed, and simultaneously rootsy and daring. Fusing a frenetic improvisational fervor to a dizzying combination of bluegrass, Cajun, funk, Southern rock, boogie, Caribbean, Latin, and jazz influences, Leftover Salmon has earned a legion of diehard fans, critical accolades, and a reputation for exciting, engaging concert experiences. The group was born in Colorado in 1989, as the result of a merger between Vince Herman (from Cajun/Calypso/jugband The Salmonheads) and Drew Emmitt and Mark Vann (of progressive bluegrass Left Hand String Band.) The band took a break in 2004, but following the performance by "Drew, Vince & Friends" at last year's Telluride Bluegrass, we are thrilled to welcome Leftover Salmon back to the Telluride stage.
featuring Chris Thile
The line-up of Punch Brothers—whose name is taken from the Mark Twain short story, Punch, Brothers, Punch!—is formidable. Thile released the first of five solo albums when he was just thirteen and, by the time he was 20, he was attracting a following among pop, country, and alternative-rock audiences as a member of the Grammy Award–winning Nickel Creek. A Washington Post critic recently said Thile “may well be the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin.” His equally youthful, prodigiously gifted band-mates are among the most in-demand performers in the worlds of bluegrass, folk, and traditional music. Guitarist Chris Eldridge was a founding member of the Infamous Stringdusters and occasionally sits in with his dad Ben’s band, The Seldom Scene; bassist Greg Garrison has played with trumpeter Ron Miles and Leftover Salmon—along with banjo player Noam Pikelny. Pikelny has performed and recorded as a solo artist and has collaborated with acoustic music heavyweights John Cowan and Tony Trischka. Violinist Gabe Witcher, a life-long friend of Thile’s, is a sought-after session man who has recorded with a range of artists from Willie Nelson to Beck to Randy Newman.
and the Free Mexican Airforce
A Grammy-award winning musician, Peter Rowan's career has spanned from Sea Train to Old & In the Way to numerous solo and ensemble projects with Don Edwards, David Grisman, Richard Greene and others. He is a soulful singer and a poignant songwriter. He began his professional career playing guitar, singing lead vocals and co-writing as a member of the Bluegrass Boys, led by the founding father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. He embarked on a well-received solo career in the late '70s, releasing such diverse and critically acclaimed albums as Dustbowl Children and Bluegrass Boy, as well as much-admired collaborations with ace Dobro player Jerry Douglas, Flaco Jimenez, and his brothers Christopher and Lorin Rowan. Iconoclastic and innovative, Rowan has a long history of expanding the musical boundaries of his loyal fans and contributing landmark works to the bluegrass canon.
In addition to being widely acknowledged as America's foremost master of the dobro, the twelve-time Grammy winner is a freewheeling, forward-thinking recording artist whose output draws upon a bottomless well of musical inspiration, incorporating elements of bluegrass, country, rock, jazz, blues and Celtic into his distinctive musical vision. In addition to his critically-acclaimed solo releases, Jerry's stellar fretwork has graced over 2000 albums encompassing a dizzying range of musical styles. As a sideman, he's recorded with artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Trisha Yearwood. As a producer, he's overseen albums by such esteemed acts as the Del McCoury Band, Maura O'Connell, and the Nashville Bluegrass Band. He's been part of such notable groups as the Whites, J.D. Crowe and the New South, the Country Gentlemen and Strength in Numbers. Since 1998, he's been a key member of Alison Krauss and Union Station, touring extensively and playing on a series of platinum albums.
True innovators defy easy categorization and John Cowan is the ultimate innovator. His ability to move easily between music styles and blend and bend genres into creative new forms has made him one of the most significant voices in acoustic music over the past thirty years.
After making a name for himself as one of the most in-demand vocalists in the early 1970s' music scene in Louisville, KY, Cowan rose to fame when he became the lead singer for New Grass Revival for nearly two decades. A Grammy-nominated artist, an award-winning songwriter, and a first-call session musician, living and working (literally and figuratively) on the fringes of Nashville’s Music Row, Darrell Scott occupies his own unique half-acre in this city’s crowded musical landscape. In a town that’s got pigeonholing down to an art, Darrell Scott stands out as a refreshingly mischievous artist. Scott is a master of both the infectious, Appalachian-inflected riff, and of the instruments that bring them to life. His songs are propelled by his knack for blending tradition-soaked hooks with personal, contemporary lyrics.
"I left school when I was 13," proclaims the effusive Irish native Glen Hansard, lead vocalist and founder. With the support of his mother he began busking on the streets and assembling his band. Fifteen-plus years later, The Frames are widely acknowledged as one of Ireland's most successful bands - drawing 20,000 people to shows in their native country. “With The Frames, it’s the throwing your arms around the room thing,” says singer/guitarist Glen Hansard. “When our gigs are at their best, you throw the energy out and it gets thrown back twice the size." That energy gets returned as thousands of fans shout every one of the band's lyrics and as new listeners - many turned-on by the success of the film Once, starring Glen Hansard - stand captivated at the band's grandiose and emotional songs delivered with a universally epic power.
Three-time Grammy Award-winning bassist Edgar Meyer has won remarkable acclaim both for the music he has written and for an inexhaustible variety of recordings and live performances with everyone from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to Garth Brooks, James Taylor, The Chieftains, and Yo-Yo Ma. Meyer began studying bass at the age of five. Throughout a lifetime of performing and composing, he has turned the double bass – an instrument with, as The New Yorker once put it, a “relatively unchronicled history” – into a modern virtuoso instrument that is equally at home in classical music and in the American vernacular. In 1994, Meyer became the first bassist to win the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He is also a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award and three Grammy Awards.
Of the numerous striking qualities Brett Dennen has displayed during his ascendance onto the national music scene, it is perhaps simply his own authenticity that accounts for his remarkable rise in popularity and acclaim. With his long red hair, headband and guitar held high on his stocky frame, he may seem like an unlikely front-man for 2008, but the 28 year-old singer/songwriter/musician is the rare performer that radiates confidence and ease in his own skin, a quality that has earned him an increasingly devoted fan-base and accolades such as Rolling Stone's "10 Artists to Watch in 2008." It's Brett's impact as a live performer, and the undeniable, positive connection he's made with listeners everywhere, that has been essential to his rise. Supporting and touring with artists as diverse as John Mayer (a huge Dennen acolyte), the John Butler Trio, and Colbie Caillat, Brett has played and won over audiences that have little to do with one another except for an incredible reaction to his music.
While Uncle Earl's fiddle-led, banjo-flecked sound holds profound echoes of the rural Americana, the music of Uncle Earl is equally marked by a grandly elegant sense of loss; the breaths of something wistful escaping, bloodied but unbeaten, from the throes of a dying European empire. The music of this four-woman band (or "all-g'Earl," if you will) points toward the roots of stringband music (Scotch-Irish ballads, Celtic fiddle tunes, the blues), but by including original material and opening their sound to an array of influences past and present, they arrive at something haunting and timeless, yet instantly appealing and accessible.
Solomon Burke is truly one of popular music’s larger-than-life figures. His records helped create the exhilarating celebration of pure feeling and African-American vocal expression that came to be known as soul. His songs have been covered by artists from the Rolling Stones to Tom Petty, from the Blues Brothers to Bruce Springsteen. “He is Solomon the resonator,” Tom Waits has said. “The golden voice of heart, wisdom, soul, and experience. He’s one of the architects of American music.” Since his 2001 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Burke has enjoyed something of a renaissance as a performer (while also maintaining his parallel lives as an entrepreneur with a chain of mortuaries, a bishop in the House of God for All People, and a father of 21). His glorious 2002 album Don't Give Up On Me won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. “After having my first country hit in 1960, I’ve always had a special desire to do a country album,” says Burke. That dream was realized with his gorgeous 2006 release, Nashville, featuring collaborations with Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush, and Dolly Parton.
After years of intensive touring Tift Merritt erased her grueling schedule and rented a flat with a piano in Paris’s 10th arrondisment planning to take time off. Tift recalls, “Days were wonderful there. I wore the same clothes nearly everyday. I would take a coffee in the street, say hello to the good people in the little wine store across from my door.” The result is Another Country, the third album from the singer-songwriter from North Carolina. Tift’s debut Bramble Rose earned spots on both Time Magazine and the New Yorker’s year-end Top Ten lists. Tambourine, her sophomore album, was Grammy nominated for Country Album of the Year. Tift has appeared on “The Tonight Show” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and shared the stage with Elvis Costello, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, and Nickel Creek. Her Austin City Limits television performance was released on DVD in October of 2007.
As the dynamic lead singer and mandolin player with Leftover Salmon and his own Drew Emmitt Band, Drew is a true renaissance man on musical instruments. Playing mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar, he's a string man to be reckoned with. From the saloons of Telluride to the some of the most sought after venues in America, Bill Nershi has delighted countless fans as a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and founding member of the String Cheese Incident. A seasoned veteran of flat-picking and a variety of acoustic styles, Nershi adds a unique, colorful perspective to virtually any musical situation he encounters, and his enthusiasm and playful spirit encourage an interactive, participatory experience for musicians and fans alike. These two influential musicians are joined by Tyler Grant and Andy Thorn to forge their latest acoustic adventure: the Emmitt Nershi Band.
When Darrell's voice soars "Colorado, I need healing" on June 19, it will be the emotional opening of our 35th Annual family reunion. Our time for healing and inspiration. If there has ever been a deep soul capable of healing us through song, voice, and virtuosity, it is Darrell Scott. Recognized with 2 Grammy nominations, multiple songwriter of the year awards from ASCAP and the IBMA, and universal acclaim from peers like Tim O’Brien and Sam Bush, the depth of Darrell’s gifts is simply remarkable. Darrell writes timeless songs drenched in traditional folk with a twist of contemporary
phrasing — true American gems. His songs have been recorded on over 70 CDs, including the Dixie Chicks (“Long Time Gone) and Travis Tritt (“It’s a Great Day to Be Alive”). As an instrumentalist Darrell is dazzling on everything he touches - from banjos to guitars to pianos. And when he opens his glorious pipes to sing, we are transported and healed.
For four years now, The Duhks, the band of five skilled, high-energy, tattooed twenty-somethings from Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been riveting audiences and winning staunch fans across North America with music that acknowledges its predecessors and lives in the here and now. Since the release of their self-titled, Bela Fleck-produced album in 2005, the band has won admirers as diverse as David Crosby, Dolly Parton, and Doc Watson. This is not surprising, given their Duhks-alone blend of soul, gospel, North American folk, Brazilian samba, old time country string band, zydeco, and Irish dance music, and the attack they bring to these interwoven acoustic styles—which might as well be called sheer rock and roll. Their unique sound has also earned them a Grammy Award nomination, one Juno Award, two additional Juno nominations, two Folk Alliance awards, and an Americana Music Association nomination for Best Emerging Artists.
When the first strains of Cadillac Sky come pulsing off the stage, it's immediately apparent that there's a different kind of bluegrass band on the scene—one wrapped in tradition, but not bound by it. This original approach comes from a deep-seated respect for tradition wrapped around an unbridled musical curiosity. The Cadillac Sky sound is the fruition of bandleader (and successful country songwriter) Bryan Simpson's vision to create a bluegrass band built for the 21st Century. Joining together in Texas in 2002, the new band blended the traditional sounds of Bill Monroe and the colorful stylings of The Beatles with free form jazz to develop their signature sound. Just a few years later, Ricky Skaggs signed the young band to his own Skaggs Family Records for their excellent 2007 debut Blind Man Walking.
The Steep Canyon Rangers have carved out a special spot in the world of bluegrass music, creating a sound that looks forward and backwards at the same time. First formed in the stairwells and kitchens of Chapel Hill, NC, the Rangers arrive from varied musical backgrounds. On stage and in the studio, Woody Platt, Mike Guggino, Charles Humphrey, Nicky Sanders, and Graham Sharp have perfected their ensemble approach using fierce dynamics and seamless harmonies. The Rangers base their sound around a stunning catalogue of original songs, drawing on the sounds of early bluegrass, honky tonk, and blues. In 2006 the International Bluegrass Music Association voted Steep Canyon Rangers the Emerging Artist of the Year.
Thanks to victories in the band contests at both Telluride Bluegrass and RockyGrass, Spring Creek
is quickly gaining a reputation as the hottest young band in the Rocky Mountains. The quartet play a mix of bluegrass standards and compelling originals, and all four musicians are also accomplished vocalists. The young band, whose members met in music school in Texas, have studied and performed together for several years, creating a tight, polished sound. Counting such bands as Country Gazette and Hot Rize among their influences, Spring Creek's members have a deep respect for tradition, as well as an innate sense of musical innovation. In late 2006, Spring Creek released Rural & Cosmic Bluegrass, a 12-track album of kickin' Colorado bluegrass that has impressed fans, critics, DJs and festival producers alike. "Spring Creek has redefined what can be accomplished on acoustic instruments," says Chris Kelly of the Crested Butte Weekly.
Three-day passes, single-day tickets, and camping are all available now - order online or call us at 800-624-2422. Make sure to sign up for the "Notes from the Planet" email newsletter for all the latest updates.