A Tribute to Prince – When Prince Was Alive & Well

22 Apr A Tribute to Prince – When Prince Was Alive & Well

The names are Telluride legends: world-famous actor/singer/songwriter Keith Carradine once lived in town, where, back in the early 1990s, he and his then wife Sandra owned and operated the historic Sheridan Opera House under the auspices of the Sheridan Arts Foundation.

Carradine, Mason, Kosek & Trsichka riff on “Purple Rain.”

For years, one of Keith’s BFFs, Roger Mason has been a fixture on Telluride’s Main Street, where he has obsessively, beautifully painted the Victorian theatre and its sister hotel, The New Sheridan, his insistent muse. But a little known fact about Roger is that the man is also a renowned bass player, who found Telluride in 1979 while producing and playing his instrument for Peter Rowan at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

“My grandmother used to rip Rachmaninoff. My mother has perfect pitch. My older brother played jazz and my younger brother played classical piano. I am still a functional musical illiterate, but I have managed to get by. When I am functioning on all four burners, my painting is very musical to me.”

Tony Trischka is considered to be the consummate banjo artist and perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world. For more than 45 years, his stylings have inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians with the many voices he has brought to the instrument.

Kenny Kosek is one of America’s finest fiddlers. He has played and recorded with numerous bluegrass and new acoustic bands, including Country Cooking, Breakfast Special, Bill Keith – and Trischka.

And now – drumroll please – we get to the Prince part, which today will stand as Telluride Inside… and Out’s tribute to the songwriter, singer, producer, a one-man studio band and consummate showman, who died on Thursday at his home, Paisley Park, in Chanhassen, Minn. He was only 57.

Over the years, the aforementioned, fiercely talented, equally funny musicians played Telluride many times, including on the stage of the Sheridan Opera House and at Telluride Bluegrass. But in 1985, the group was off campus, touring as the house band for “Foxfire,” starring the actress Jessica Tandy as Annie Nations, a 79-year-old Appalachian matriarch at the crossroads of her past and future.

While on break in a hotel room back in December 1985, the bandits in the little band started messing around. The result: a bluegrassy version of Prince’s hit, “Purple Rain.”