Blind Pilot at Telluride Opera House August 18

16 Aug Blind Pilot at Telluride Opera House August 18

[click “Play” to hear Susan’s conversation with Israel Nebeker of “Blind Pilot”]

The band, Blind Pilot is in town for a concert at Telluride’s venerable Sheridan Opera House. Show time is Tuesday, August 18, 8 p.m.

In 2008, Blind Pilot became a regular on NPR’s “Best Of,” list, where the track “One Red Thread” featured in a review of the year’s musical highlights. iTunes supporters like the group too. The band appeared in the “Best of 2008 Indie Spotlight,” a collection of 20 indie music tracks downloadable from the Apple Students Fan Page on Facebook. DJ Kevin Cole of KEXP, Seattle, Washington’s taste-making radio station, rated the Blind Pilot’s debut recording, 3 Rounds and a Sound, one of the best of 2008.

Blind Pilot is an American indie folk pop band that literally peddled its way to success. The group now numbers six, but it began as a duet between singer-guitarist Israel Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski, two modern-day minstrels whose initial bike tour along the West Coast to perform was cut short when their wheels were stolen outside San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art.

The change in scale – and the fact the group travels by van now – seems to have enhanced Blind Pilot’s signature style: sweet harmonies, dulcet melodies, and ethereal story songs tinged with melancholy. One critic described the sound as “kinda like crack for pop fans.”

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