No-miss Folk/Americana duo at Telluride's Opera House Saturday, August 13

09 Aug No-miss Folk/Americana duo at Telluride's Opera House Saturday, August 13

[click “Play”, Susan talks with Eric Brace]

Telluride’s historic Sheridan Opera House welcomes singer/songwriters Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, with Phil Lee and Tom Mason. The concert, billed as Americana/folk sounds, takes place Saturday, August 13, 8 p.m.

What’s Americana? A hybrid of country, folk, bluegrass and swing. Who are Eric and Peter? Two of Nashville’s hottest musicians, but Telluride virgins. (We promise to be gentle.)

For his band, Last Train Home, and for his duo with Peter Cooper, singer/songwriter Eric Brace is one of the most acclaimed artists in the Americana world. One critic described Eric’s warm tenor voice this way:

“When combined with his lyrics which evoke endless late nights on the prairies without ever specifically referring to them, is one of the treasures of the whole Americana genre.”

A former Washingtonian, Eric played in a guitar pop/indie band with brother Alan. In the 1990s, he became a columnist for The Washington Post (yes, you read that right: geeky too, like Americana Grammy winner/Telluride regular Tim O’Brien)  covering the Beltway’s local arts scene, nightlife and the world of live music.

After moving to East Nashville, Eric Brace found a kindred spirit in Peter Cooper.

Nashville Arts & Entertainment magazine once named Peter one of the town’s “10 Most Interesting People,” which put him in interesting company: Titans quarterback Kerry Collins, financial guru Dave Ramsey, American Idol contestant Mandisa, Nashville symphony conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, rock band Kings of Leon (actually, there are four of them, so it’s really more like Nashville’s 13 Most Interesting People, but still…) plus other notables. Peter’s  “715 (For Hank Aaron)” was included in Juli Thanki’s list of five best baseball songs on www.the9513.com, along with tunes from Steve Goodman, Todd Snider, The Gibson Brothers and Alabama.

Last Fall, Peter and Eric  shared stages with the likes of Nanci Griffith and Chris Smither and played to a packed house at Nashville’s Station Inn with an all-star band that included legendary steel guitar man Lloyd Green and legendary dobro player Mike Auldridge. The pair’s most recent album, Master Sessions, which features Green and Auldridge, is another tour de force that made its way onto Best of 2010 critics’ lists.

And when they conquer Telluride, that’s one more notch in their belts.

To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to my interview with Eric Brace.