By Nadine Sekerez
The event includes workshops, a band contest, free Friday concert, barn dance, and late-night events. Jenny Hirt, Board President of The Durango Bluegrass Meltdown (non-profit organizer), was kind enough to answer some questions about one of Colorado’s favorite Bluegrass Festivals:
When and how did the first festival come about?
The Durango Bluegrass Meltdown was first started in 1995 by a small group of bluegrass enthusiasts who wanted to bring more music to the Durango community during a slower time of year. They formed a non-profit and a board of directors, and partnered up with the Historic Strater Hotel in downtown Durango to host the festivities during the shoulder season in April after the ski resort has closed, but before the spring and summer tourist season begins. The Meltdown has now grown to span 3 main stage venues and two auxiliary venues and fills three days with amazing national, regional, and local bluegrass artists. These are intimate performances with the average venue capacity hovering around 200 audience members, so it is an unforgettable experience for both the patrons and the artists.
How long have you been involved?
I attended Meltdowns off and on since 2000 and joined the board of directors in 2015. I was elected as the first female board president in 2019.
What is your role?
I’m currently the Board President. That involves wearing many hats such as ticket sales, merchandise coordinator, graphic design liaison, venue liaison, sponsorship and fundraising coordinator, grant writer, herding kittens, etc. But the board is a passionate and driven group of bluegrass enthusiasts, and we all are run by a 100% volunteer effort.
Do you have particular goals when booking the lineup?
We are primarily known as a traditional bluegrass festival, so we tend to look for those bluegrass artists who follow that vein of the genre. We also seek out artists to fill specific slots, such as our old-time barn dance and late-night progressive sets on Saturday night. Our lineup consists of 4-5 national acts performing 4 sets each, 3-4 regional acts performing 3 sets each, and around 10 local bands each performing one set. We are working towards gender parity in the lineup, purposely booking more women-led bands with a goal of 50/50 representation in the coming years. I am also pushing for more racial diversity in our lineups since the bluegrass world is expanding and more diverse artists are emerging.
Any special relationships with those non-profit organizations and goals in partnership with them?
We try to help our fellow non-profits with in-kind trades and thank them profusely. For example, we could trade two weekend passes for radio advertising. The local business community is amazing in supporting the Meltdown as it brings in so many folks during a slower time of year and increases business during the shoulder season.
How does the festival interplay with your local community?
We are highly cognizant that this festival would not happen without the support of the local Durango community. About half of our audience is from the Four Corners area. We mindfully promote local businesses, have lodging partnerships, and receive food and beverage donations from local restaurants for our famously robust artist green room and hospitality suite. The Meltdown not only allows our local community to watch the performances of these amazing artists, but also allows it to happen in such an intimate setting of only about 200 audience members, and of course the JAMMING after the sets are over is where all of the magic happens. Every year, Meltdown patrons can rub elbows with some national acts in picking circles in the basement rooms of the Strater Hotel into the wee hours.
Do you feel that you bring bluegrass to a wider audience that would not otherwise experience bluegrass music?
Although Durango is blessed with a robust local bluegrass music scene, we are fairly remote down here in Southwestern Colorado, and we do not see as many national or big-name acts in our area. The annual festival allows our local patrons to experience many big named artists’ performances they would need otherwise to travel to the Front Range or out of state to see. And don’t forget about kiddos. The Meltdown’s long-running Bluegrass in the Schools program has been bringing live bluegrass performances into our local schools since 1997. Thanks to recent donations from Can’d Aid, we have also been able to purchase several bluegrass instruments and distribute these out to children through our free loaner program during our twice-annual KidsPick gatherings. This absolutely opens the world of bluegrass up to children in our area who would otherwise not have any exposure to this music that we all know so well and love dearly. We hope to nurture the next generation of bluegrass lovers who will carry on the traditions of the Meltdown family.
Comments