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Performing Arts

[click "Play" to hear Susan's interview with Donald Pinkney]

Untitled-8 Cornell Gunter's Coasters co-star with Marvelettes at Telluride's Opera House on New Year's Eve. The evening is a dance party that also includes light fare, a champagne toast at midnight, and party favors. Along the way, expect a few yucks.


The original Coasters were an American r&b/rock and roll group which enjoyed a string of hits in the late-1950s. Beginning with the hits "Searchin'" and "Young Blood" their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting/producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their recordings were so frequently imitated, they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s.
31 December, 2009 /

by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerMake me more breath than gasp,more glide than grunt, more thrust than thud. Slide me, fly me, soar and coast me, skim and skate me. Rush and whoosh me. Give me wings in my feet, give me race in my thighs, give...

30 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Farrah's conversation with Susan]

Unknown Everything old is new again New Year's Eve at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House. The gala celebration is a walk down memory lane –  "50 years of Motown featuring The Marvelettes & Cornell Gunter Coasters" – plus small eats, champagne, and party favors.


In the white picket fence Eisenhower era, America had all the trappings of rama-lama-ding-dong innocence, but the headlines suggested otherwise: Communist witch hunts, polio, the hydrogen bomb, the Korean War, racial segregation, James Dean and "Rebel Without a Cause," Jack Kerouac's "On the Road." Oh, and Doris Day and Ed Sullivan. 

29 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with George Gray]


Wednesday, December 30, 7 p.m., Telluride's Michael D. Palm Theatre holds its end-of-year fundraiser. Sharing the stage for the fun and games will be members of the Telluride Choral Society and Mark Galbo's Rock and Roll Academy, not to mention the star of the show, George Gray –  rather, George's alter ego resplendent in a sequined jumpsuit, paying tribute to none other than The King.

28 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's interview with Rusty Evans]


1997 was a banner year for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The star-spangled line-up featured Guy Clark, Patty Griffin, David Crosby, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, Leftover Salmon, Shawn Colvin and, the headliner, the Man in Black, Johnny Cash. It was Fort Knox backstage when Cash's caravan rolled in. It was New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July when the superstar hit the stage rocking.


The crowd loved Shawn Colvin all over again when she performed in concert at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House on December 27, part of the Sheridan Art Foundation's 2009 holiday concert series. But Shawn shows up regularly in town for holiday ski-cations. Not Johnny. That was a one and only, one time blockbuster – until now. Now Johnny Cash is back, at least as close as it gets to the genuine article. Next up at the Opera House: Rusty Evans & Ring of Fire – A Tribute to Johnny Cash. Showtime is Tuesday, December 29, 8 p.m.
27 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" for Susan's conversation with Leo Nocentelli]


Telluride's Sheridan Arts Foundation continues its bad ass holiday concert series at the Opera House,  December 28, 8:00 pm, with a performance by The Meters Experience with Leo Nocentelli, a legend discovered by a legend.


In 1957, Fats Domino went looking for a young musician to join his band, someone with a big reputation on the streets of New Orleans. What he found was a child prodigy, a boy of 11 who had already hit his stride. At age 14, Leo Nocentelli became a session guitarist for Allen Toussaint.
26 December, 2009 /


Her latest release, "Shawn Colvin Live,"  was nominated for a Grammy for best Contemporary Folk Album. Shawn Colvin appears live at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House on Sunday, December 27, 8 p.m.

Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, a small college town just south of Sioux Falls. At age 10, she picked up her brother's Harmony four-string guitar and bought the plain vanilla Mel Bay chord books. At 13, she confiscated a classical gut instrument her father meant to give her mother. Colvin's first recording session occurred in high school, when she was also singing the role of Anna in "The King and I." She made her first public appearance on campus at the University of Illinois at age 15.

25 December, 2009 /

by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer(editor's note: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer will be reading her poetry Saturday, December 19 from 5:00-7:00 pm, at Between the Covers in Telluride. Rob Story will also be reading. By the way, take the time to check out Rosemerry's website. Don't miss "Finn...

19 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan speak with Suzanne Cheavens]

525_v1 Used to be women who sought membership in this men's club had better be butch. No more. Thanks to Mark Galbo of the Telluride Rock and Roll Academy, the girls in the band are preening, strutting rock stars.


 On Saturday night, December 19, 8 p.m., The 525s – Suzanne Cheavens, Suz Remec, Barbel Hacke, Cindy Carver, and Molly Papier – plan to rock out - wait a minute, in the Program Room at The Wilkinson Public Library. Yep, the Library, the perfect place to make noise.
18 December, 2009 /