Performing Arts

The World’s a Stage: Abigail Washburn at Telluride Bluegrass

[click "Play" to hear Emily Shoff's conversation with Abigail Washburn]  

I first met Abigail Washburn in a basement studio in Packard Hall at Colorado College. We were hosting tryouts for our female a cappella group, Ellement. She showed up and needless to say, tryouts were done for the day. Her voice was so beautiful that we actually started rehearsing with her that same afternoon. We’d found the final member of our group.

Since college, Washburn’s career has taken off. She returns to the Bluegrass Stage for her 7th time at the 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 16-June 19th 2011. With her powerful juxtaposition of Appalachian folk songs and far-flung sounds, Washburn inspires and invigorates her audiences.

Telluride Bluegrass welcomes back Darrell Scott

[click "Play" to hear Darrell Scott's conversation with Susan]

 

kicker: Performs all-star Sunday Gospel set and in weekend closer with Robert Plant

Telluride Bluegrass guest artist (James) Darrell Scott was born August 1959 in London, Kentucky, the son of the singer/songwriter Wayne Scott. When Scott was 16, his dad purchased a four-track, reel-to-reel recorder, which the teen virtually adopted, spending many long nights in a shed, laying down parts and harmonizing with himself on a variety of instruments.The experience was a vital part of Scott's musical schooling, as he figured out how instruments sound together and how to layer parts with grace and taste.

Bela Fleck returns to Telluride Bluegrass with original Flecktones

[click "Play", Bela Fleck talks with Susan]

 

Bela Fleck & the original Flecktones return to Telluride for the 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 16  – June 19, 2011. Yes, you read that correctly, the original, the Fab Four, together again for the first time in just over 20 years on the Fred Shellman Main Stage: pianist/harmonica player Howard Levy, "the man with two brains," reunited with Bela, uber bassist Victor Wooten, and innovative percussionist/ drummer Roy "Futureman" Wooten.

Some reunions – think "The Big Chill" – produce joy; others, regret. This one produced "Rocket Science", a CD which includes some of the most forward thinking music of the group's long and storied career. Rocket Science is vintage Flecktones, a meeting of musical minds fluent in classical, jazz, African, electric blues and Eastern European folk dances. Trying to describe this indescribable hodgepodge is like trying to hold on to quicksilver. Impossible. I go with what one critic said:

Infamous Stringdusters return to the Telluride Bluegrass Main Stage

[click "Play", Susan talks to dobro player, Andy Hall]

 

The Infamous Stringdusters visit Telluride so often, the progressive acoustic group is starting look like the boys next door. They return after their last visit in March, when they performed at the historic Sheridan Opera House, to perform on the Main Stage at Telluride Bluegrass, Friday, June 17.

"The young Nashville bluegrass sextet continues to evolve their sound from Nashville bluegrass to a bigger music targeted at larger rock clubs," explained Planet Bluegrass's Brian Eyster. "And for trivia buffs, bassist Travis Book lived in Durango before joining the band in 2005."

Singer/songwriter Joe Pug at Telluride Bluegrass

[click "Play to listen to Joe Pug's conversation with Susan]

 

Joe Pug is one of the new names in the line-up for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, but Festival director Craig Ferguson is betting we will like his soulful voice and lyrical vignettes.

"Craig is a huge huge fan of this fine young Dylan-esque singer-songwriter," said Planet Bluegrass marketing director Brian Eyster.

Turns out Joe Pug is not just a talented troubadour. The young man also has a gift for marketing. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Sarah Jarosz at Telluride Bluegrass

[click "Play", Susan speaks with Sarah Jarosz]

 

The 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival leads from strength with a performer who could well be the future of acoustic music. Sarah Jarosz opens the FirstGrass concert in Mountain Village. She is also scheduled for a set in Elks Park on Thursday, June 17, 2:45 p.m. But for sure, the rising star will make guest appearances on the Main Stage.

"Though she's just 20, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist is earning critical praise and lots of national attention for her second album on Sugar Hill Records, Follow Me Down," explains Planet Bluegrass's Brian Eyster. "Sarah is being described by critics as the next big thing in Americana/roots music. In addition to her scheduled sets, I would expect to see Sarah also making Main Stage appearances with Tim O'Brien, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Punch Brothers and others."

Trampled by Turtles Friday at Telluride Bluegrass

[click "Play", Susan gets Trampled by a Turtle]

 

“One of very few bands in America that are hipster-approved but could heave a room of strangers into a hoe-down at any time…” - CITY PAGES (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Ready to shake a shoe and your booty too? Expect a frenzy, a dance frenzy, when Telluride gets Trampled by Turtles. The progressive bluegrass band from Duluth, Minnesota is scheduled to do its thing Friday night on the Main Stage at the 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It's thing being forceful acoustic music delivered at a breakneck pace.

A rootsy bluegrass-like sound seems to be riding a wave, with bands such as the Avett Brothers and special Telluride Bluegrass guests, Mumford & Sons, on the crest – and TxT not too far behind.

Telluride Bluegrass: Victor Wooten with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

[click "Play" to hear Eileen's conversation with Victor Wooten]

 

by Eileen Burns

Telluride’s 38th Bluegrass Festival will spotlight a host of hall of fame musicians over the four-day celebration, beginning on June 16th, including five-time Grammy® winner Victor Wooten, who will be performing with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.   Heralded as “the Michael Jordan of the bass, Wooten was recently named in The Top 10 Greatest Bass Players of All Time in “Rolling Stone Magazine’s”  Readers’ Poll, and has won “Bass Player Magazine’s” prestigious “Bassist of the Year,” three times now.  Wooten’s style continues to grow and transform, but he is best known for bringing the electric base to the forefront with a rhythmic freedom unlike any other bassist performing today.

ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass unveiled at Telluride Bluegrass

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Tony Trischka]

 

Not all of the action at the 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival takes place on the Fred Shellman Main Stage. Legendary banjo innovator Tony Trischka is in town for the launch of the new ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass via a workshop in Elks Park, Friday, June 18, 1:30 p.m. and an appearance at  around 4:30 p.m. on the Main Stage.

For more than 35 years, Tony Trishchka's stylings have inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential banjo players of the latter part of the 20th century (and counting), largely in terms of his influence on succeeding generations of players such as virtuosic Bela Fleck, back in town for the Festival for the 30th year in a row, this time reunited with the original Flecktones – and his teacher. When he was just a senior in high school, Bela made trips to Bronx, New York to study with Tony, who he once described to me as his "hero."

"... the godfather of what's sometimes called new acoustic music," said The New York Times.