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Performing Arts

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Cole Early]

PapaGrowFunkBWPhoto TCTV and the Telluride Mountain Village Owner's Association present "Papa Grows Funk," a free concert on the Telluride/Mountain Village Sunset Stage, Saturday, August 1, 2009, 6 – 9 p.m. The event is part of "Public Access Television Awareness Month, " recognizing 20+ years of TCTV12's contribution to the community.

Created in 1986, TCTV12's mission was and is to celebrate Telluride's culture by capturing its vitality, connecting citizens to on another, and educating through the medium of television.

29 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Steve Stagner on Americana Music]

In Telluride, Grammy winner Tim O'Brien is the poster child for a hodgepodge of country, folk, bluegrass, blues, rock, and swing simply described as Americana music. The rootsy genre tends to have a comfortable back porch feel – but with a modern twist. Something like a Pendleton blanket fashioned into a jacket by Ralph Lauren only better.

Portrait_EricBibb
Eric Bibb

At the Sheridan Opera House this weekend, starting July 23, Austin native Steve Stagner adds other names to the list of singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who take old music and serve it up as something familiar yet fresh, be it a honky tonk shuffle from the 1950s or an original bluegrass-inflected tune. The line-up for the 3rd annual Telluride Americana Music Weekend includes North Carolina native Shannon Whitworth, two of Austin's best songwriters, Kevin Welch and Walt Wilkins, troubadour Slaid Cleaves, Tift Merritt, Nashville writer Irene Kelley and acoustic blues musician Eric Bibb.

Steve Stagner is a part-time Telluride local. In Austin, he and his wife, both music buffs, built a small amphitheater in their backyard (seating for 125 give or take) for house concerts featuring friends who happen to be acoustic musicians. Several years ago, the couple started bringing some of their talented friends to Telluride to play the Sheridan Opera House. Stagner is passionate about Americana music, which he defines as "Story-driven acoustic music." KOTO musical director Suzanne Cheavens sums up in her blog:

22 July, 2009 /

[click "Play" to hear Eileen's conversation with Emma Hill Telluride's Sheridan Opera House will host rising folk star Emma Hill and her Gentleman Callers tonight, Saturday July 18th at at 7pm.  Hill was born in a small Alaskan village with virtually no cultural influences. For...

18 July, 2009 /

Last Saturday, July 11, Kimberly and John Kirkendoll hosted a party to support Sparky Productions' Telluride Playwrights' Festival. Jennie Franks' event is in its third year, and the quality of the theatre is getting better with each year. There is one more evening to...

14 July, 2009 /

Travel writer Maribeth Clemente will be doing an event Tuesday, July 14th, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Between the Covers Bookstore.  July 14th is Bastille Day, the French equivalent of our 4th of July, and Maribeth, our resident French expert, feels it’s a...

13 July, 2009 /

The play's the thing....

IMG_3529 Jennie Franks and Sparky Productions brings the 3rd annual Telluride Playwrights' Festival to town this week. The idea is to get playwrights and actors working together to develop new plays. The general public is encouraged to attend workshops and readings to give the playwrights the feedback they need to refine their scripts.

Last week was the preview. The Telluride Playwrights' Festival opened with a reading at the historic Sheridan Opera House. Written by Jennie Franks, the one-act black comedy, "Dr. Freeman & Hilda,"  is ostensibly about the famous lobotomist Dr. Walter Freeman. Jennie, however, is a keen, sometimes harsh chronicler of society's foibles, and she generally paints with a much broader brush.

11 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Eileen's airport (noisy)  interview with George Clinton on his way to T-Ride]

Get Yes, Telluride funksters and funksterettes, the godfather of Funk himself, George Clinton will headline the 13th annual KOTO Doo Dah today, in Town Park, with opening act Rusted Root.  The legendary architect of P-Funk has  also been called one of the most important innovators of funk music, next to James Brown and Sly Stone.  Clinton came from a background in R and B and went on to create a new genre of music.

His leap from doo wap to psychodelic space rock was influenced by many artists, including James Brown, Jimi Hendrix.  According to his bio, "Parliament and Funkadelic dominated and revolutionized the music scene in the latter half of the Seventies—particularly in 1978 and 1979, when they racked up four #1 R&B hits: “Flash Light,” “One Nation Under a Groove,” Aqua Boogie” and “(Not Just) Knee Deep.” Clinton’s main collaborators during Parliament-Funkadelic’s heyday included keyboardists Bernie Worrell and Walter “Junie” Morrison and bassist William “Bootsy” Collins."  George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on May 6, 1997.   Clinton recently released a solo album titled George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love, which is largely a cover with many great songs such as Fever, Gipsy Woman and Let the Good Times Roll.  Gangsters features guest appearances from many artists including Sly Stone, Santana  and Red Hot Chilly Peppers and gospel great Kim Burrel.

11 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Eileen's interview with Michael Glabicki]


by Eileen Burns

Rralbumcover_tn There may be another tarp run in Telluride Town Park on Saturday, July 11th.  Rusted Root rolls into town kicking off an evening of invigorating and energetic music that promises to leave townies dancing all night long.  Gates opening at 3 P.M. with the ultimate jam band,  Rusted Root, taking the stage at six followed by the Godfather of Funk, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic.

Rusted Root’s bluegrass/rock sound has always been heavily influenced by world music such as African, Native American and Latin America, and their long awaited new release Stereo Rodeo is climbing the charts.

11 July, 2009 /