Colorado Bluegrass Music Society est. 1972
~ RICH LEGACY ~ VIBRANT PRESENCE ~ PROGRESSIVE FUTURE ~
Bands . People . Festivals . Jams
CBMS presents just a few of the people, bands, festivals, and jams that have built and influenced
the Colorado Bluegrass community in a large way over the years
Bands of Note
Colorado has been a breeding ground for great Bluegrass bands since the 70's. We want to recognize the 1st generation pioneers, the 2nd generation of bands that have carried on the tradition as well as those who have evolved from the genre.
Hot Rize
Hot Rize History, 1978-present
From humble beginnings as a regional Boulder-based band in 1978 to worldwide acclaim in the 80s, and bowing out as a full-time band in 1990 while winning the first Entertainer of the Year award from the International Bluegrass Music Association, Hot Rize earned a place in the bluegrass history book.
In a unique continuing history, the band’s post-disbanding 24 years has seen a continuing growth of their legacy, with 2014 marking a re-blossoming of the fabled quartet, with the release of When I’m Free, a full album of new material, featuring new songs by all four members.
The Hot Rize story starts in 1977 when Pete Wernick, a.k.a. “Dr Banjo” joined forces with singer, mandolinist, and fiddler Tim O’Brien on their two solo albums, and formed a band with musician buddies from the Denver Folklore Center, with the initial intent to promote the two albums. The first gigs were in Boulder in January, 1978 with Charles Sawtelle on bass and guitarist Mike Scap.
Hot Rize - Nellie Kane (Live on eTown)
Posted on YouTube by eTown
Hot Rize performs their classic song "Nellie Kane" during a taping of eTown.
1st Generation Colorado Bluegrass Bands
One of the longest continuous running jams in Colorado!
From Power Pickin' by Michael Jackson, Lyons, Co
"Nestled into the foothills just north of Boulder is the town of Lyons, which is not only home to music festivals such as Rocky Grass and the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, but to a host of local music venues and musicians of all abilities. For nearly a quarter of a century, the sandstone walls of Lyons echoed with the driving sound of banjos, the strum of guitars, and the soulful harmonies of bluegrass music. At the heart of this musical tradition lies the Oskar Blues Bluegrass Jam, a gathering that has become a cornerstone of the local community and a must visit jam for bluegrass enthusiasts and touring musicians from the front range and beyond.
The exact start of the Lyons Jam is a bit hard to pin down. Local lore has it originating at the old Stone Cup location in the early 2000’s, where Moxie Bread Company is now. Pickers would gather every Sunday including founding members KC Groves, Jason Hicks, Jefferson Hamer, Tony Greif, and Gene Libbea."
The Lyons Jam
Left Hand String Band / Leftover Salmon
Few bands stick around for thirty years. Even fewer bands leave a legacy during that time that marks them as a truly special, once-in-lifetime type band. And no band has done all that and had as much fun as Leftover Salmon.
Since their earliest days as a forward thinking, progressive bluegrass band who had the guts to add drums to the mix and who was unafraid to stir in any number of highly combustible styles into their ever evolving sound, to their role as a pioneer of the modern jamband scene, to their current status as elder-statesmen of the scene who cast a huge influential shadow over every festival they play, Leftover Salmon has been a crucial link in keeping alive the traditional music of the past while at the same time pushing that sound forward with their own weirdly, unique style.
`https://www.leftoversalmon.com/band
Yonder Mountain String Band
At 25 years old, Yonder Mountain String Band continues to exist at the forefront of the progressive bluegrass scene as undeniable innovators and pioneers of the modern jamgrass movement. Blending bluegrass with elements of rock, alternative, psychedelic and improvisational music, Yonder Mountain String Band brought their high-energy acoustic sound and light show into rock n’ roll settings with tremendous success, proving it was possible for a bluegrass band to not only exist but excel in a rock world, without drums. The inroads they made created opportunities for like-minded acoustic bands to perform at festivals, rock clubs, theaters and stadiums previously considered off-limits for string bands.
It is a testament to the legacy of Yonder Mountain String Band that their original songs and unique interpretations of covers are regularly performed by next generation bands in the scene.
Jam Bands Evolve in the Bluegrass Scene
People of Note
CBMS wants to acknowledge some of the people who have made the Colorado Bluegrass community special by their unique contributions
Vince Herman
Vince Herman is a singer, songwriter and co-founder of the legendary band, Leftover Salmon. He spoke with us about his childhood, time living in Colorado and "getting lost together" in music. From Polka to Bluegrass Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA, Vince was part of a big family and surrounded by music. “I saw a lot of polka bands as a kid. I was the youngest of seven kids, so I was influenced by all my older siblings’ musical interests. I just devoured them on the family record player. Everything from Motown to the British Invasion and more rock 'n' roll like Traffic and Humble Pie.” It was a music festival that really got the ball rolling musically for Vince. “In eighth grade I went to the Smokey City Folk Festival and saw this group of about thirty people playing underneath a tree. I assumed they had just met each other, and there they were making this music … it was mind boggling that these folks could come together and play this stuff and that opened the door to the social aspect of music for me. It never occurred to me that by playing and learning these tunes I could travel anywhere and meet people and have this instant bond and musical camaraderie. That was a real revelation to me about what music can do. From that point on I really dug into bluegrass. https://www.denverfolklore.com/module/news/11189/vince-herman---friend-of-the-dfc
Sam Bush
From https://www.denverfolklore.com/module/news/10216/sam-bush-profile Among the second generation of bluegrass players, few are as respected and beloved as mandolinist Sam Bush. Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1952, Sam gained prominence for his teen-age performances at national fiddle competitions. In 1970 he joined the Bluegrass Alliance, where his driving right-hand technique and wide-ranging musical tastes provided the platform for developing the band’s signature sound as well as the emergence of an approach that came to be known as Newgrass. He soon became the founding member of New Grass Revival, a band based in Louisville, Kentucky. It was during this time that Sam met Denver Folklore Center founder, Harry Tuft, when Harry filled in for Jerry Mills at KLAK radio. The NGR was characterized by the virtuosic and groundbreaking playing of such young luminaries as Bela Fleck as well as its inclusion of pop and rock tunes in its repertoire. The band expanded the audience for its unique approach to bluegrass by touring with blues-rock legend Leon Russel. Sam went on to join the Nash Ramblers, the touring and recording band for Emmylou Harris. Continuing to forge new musical territory, the Ramblers helped drive the emergence of the genre now known as alt-country. Sam has gone on to both front his own band and continue playing in numerous ensembles composed of the world’s best and most innovative players. Although Sam is best known for his work on mandolin he is also a talented fiddler and plays exceptional guitar, both acoustic and electric. With a performance repertoire that spans bluegrass, blues, rockabilly and straight-ahead rock and roll, he is one of the most versatile players in the business. He is also affectionately known as the King of Telluride, having appeared at the legendary Colorado Bluegrass Festival for 45 consecutive years. https://www.denverfolklore.com/module/news/10216/sam-bush-profile
Bluegrass music, and memories of Grandpa Rogers and Ralph Haynie
written by Donald Lee Haynie. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KWZ4-65F/ralph-elden-haynie-1927-2001
Grandpa Rogers, and folk music from the Appalachians, Before Bill Monroe and Bluegrass My Grandpa, Gervacius Wayne Rogers, was born and grew up in the hills of North Carolina. These hills are a part of the great Appalachian chain of mountains that runs through the eastern part of the United States. It was in these hills that Grandpa learned many of the folk tunes he sang as we grandchildren were growing up. He sang in a high-pitched voice, the same type of voice that distinguishes bluegrass music from other kinds of music. I remember how Grandpa and Hugh Sellers would sing duets at social events. I have always thought that a good name for a bluegrass group could be “Hugh and Wayne and the Boys”. My brother, Ralph, is an aficionado of bluegrass music. If bluegrass needed a patron of the arts, Ralph would be it. He has been an officer of the local bluegrass association, and he opens up his cabinet shop two nights a month for bluegrass parties, at which local lovers of bluegrass assemble to play and to listen to the music. Sometimes, these events last until early morning. Such notables as Cloris Leachman, Earl Scruggs, and others have attended these get-togethers. But, Grandpa Rogers and his folk music preceded all of this. He sang songs which originated in the hills and which expressed family ideals and love of music. Too bad we didn’t appreciate his music enough to record it during his life. I am quite sure we will not be able to duplicate the words or the scores of his music. Too bad! Grandpa was a “oner”, whose feats are now just a memory. Bluegrass music is enjoying much popularity today in America. As bluegrass music, it is a relatively new form; however, it is based on forms that have prevailed in America for hundreds of years. Bluegrass music first became popular after the release of the movie, “Bonnie and Clyde”, and after, “Beverly Hill-billies”, began to run on television. Bluegrass music got its name from a band called the Bluegrass Boys, a band led by Bill Monroe. The sounds and tempo of bluegrass music were developed by Bill Monroe and his brother Charlie. Their songs or tunes came from old folk music from the mountain areas of Appalachia, such as the Foggy Mountains and the hills of Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains. This old folk music was, for the most part, ballads of real events that were family-oriented. Many of them were of Irish or English origin. Many of today’s bluegrass musicians played in Bill Monroe’s band, including Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Jimmy Martin, Mac Wiseman, Don Reno, Sonny Osborne, Carter Stanley, and Del McCoury. Monroe’s band featured his powerful tenor singing and mandolin playing and, usually, more fiddle than banjo. There are today two kinds of bluegrass music, the traditional and the so-called progressive. The traditional, the one that began with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, is strictly acoustical, i.e., no amplification is allowed except for a microphone and, occasionally, an amplified bass guitar. The latter may be allowed if a stand-up string bass cannot be accommodated by the group and the smaller bass has to be substituted. Traditional bluegrass musicians usually perform without pay. They are doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc., by trade or vocation and play bluegrass for enjoyment. A bluegrass band usually consists of five instruments: banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and bass. Drums and other percussion instruments are not used. Sometimes, a sixth instrument may be added, an instrument called a dobro which is a 6 string steel guitar, similar to the 8-, 10-, or 12 string steel guitars used in other bands. In recent years, the progressive bluegrass band has emerged. Musicians who perform as progressive bluegrass band members have broken from the traditional rules against amplification and against percussion instruments and drums. Progressive bluegrass music sounds almost like “rock” music. Further, progressive musicians play bluegrass for money. I like bluegrass music and I have always thought that my enjoyment comes from Grandpa’s love of similar music. In a way, his music was a part of the culture that has shaped my life, and I value this heritage. 6-9-1989
Gervacius Wayne Rogers
Ralph's Top Service
By Marty Jones May 9, 1996 https://www.westword.com/music/ralphs-top-service-5056306 At eight o'clock at night in an Englewood industrial park, a single streetlight casts a milky glow on a simple wooden sign. It reads: "Ralph's Top Service." Although Ralph's, at 2890 South Zuni, is a custom counter and cabinet shop, the scene inside this evening has little to do with home improvement. Half a dozen people stand among workbenches and stacks of plywood, but their hands hold musical instruments, not power tools. Instead of the scream of saws and the pounding of hammers, the sweet, earthy sound of bluegrass music fills the room. A handwritten placard that hangs from the ceiling reveals just what's going on here. "Welcome to Ralph's Bluegrass and Country Western Music Jam Session. Tonight is number 563." Ralph Haynie, who's both the proprietor of Ralph's Top Service and a founding member of the Bluegrass Music Preservation Society, has changed that number on a routine basis for more than twenty years. On the first and third Thursdays of every month since 1975, Ralph has played host to one of the longest-running bluegrass jams in the country. Yet he's the last person who would put on airs. A stout 68-year-old with a resonant voice and a soft-spoken manner, he greets a pair of visitors with an unassuming "Hi, y'all. Make yourselves at home." While the night's players tune up their acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins and fiddles, Gay Eggenberger, 84, takes Ralph's advice. He doesn't come to pick, just to listen and enjoy the good cheer. "I've been coming here for about thirteen years now," he says. "I make it every time." Rueben Zeller, another member of the listening contingent, tries to do the same. He hangs out at Ralph's for one reason: "Therapy. What's more relaxing than sitting around with down-home folks playing music? The people here are without pretensions. And this kind of gathering is such a rare thing in our society today." Eggenberger and Zeller are joined by several other observers, who talk, laugh and swap stories like old friends. But as the instrumentalists find their places in the center of the room, the audience members quiet down. A musician counts to three, and he and his fellows slide into a bluegrass number. Guitars strum, banjos jangle and a fiddle sings. Over it all, a high, lonesome, four-part harmony rises up: "Let the world keep turning/To your hearts be true..." The jams weren't this good at the beginning, Ralph admits. A native of the San Luis Valley who's been married to his wife, Jeannine, for 48 years, he moved to Denver after a brief stint in the Navy and several years spent driving trucks. Once here, he worked for Gates Rubber, then began building cabinets for a living. He opened his own shop in 1965 and inaugurated the jam sessions a decade later. "I love this music, and I thought we needed a place to get together," Ralph remarks. "But when we first got started, I sat around many a night waiting for somebody to come in and pick."
High Plains Tradition
High Plains Tradition started in 1987 when Kenny Pabst and Doug Elrick had just come off of a 1 year hiatus from playing music with the band "A Grain Of Salt". Kenny and Doug talked about getting back to playing the music they love, Bluegrass, and playing in front of the best crowds music has to offer. That is when Kenny and Doug got a hold of Steve Youngblood, an amazing left handed guitar player and singer, and Bob Grosser, a fast-handed banjo player. Thus was the beginning of High Plains Tradition. Through several member changes and 30 plus years later, High Plains tradition has become a highly sought after band at festivals and concerts alike.
High Plains Tradition has played in venues all across the western United States from California to Kentucky, Minnesota to Texas. Their travels have also taken them to play festivals and events in Canada as well as 5 tours in Ireland. Their music is rooted in the "Traditional" bluegrass with a flair of their own
Front Range
Formed in 1984 in Denver, Colorado...
1988, recorded first album (a cassette). Original band included Peter Schwimmer on banjo.
1990, recorded second album in their own studio on their own record label. Mailed 500 copies to radio stations and the song “High Mountain Meadow” became a #1 song.
Banjo player Ron Lynam is the world’s undisputed “Underwater Banjo Champion.” He accomplished this feat by playing an aluminum banjo underwater in a pool at the Midwinter (Ft. Collins, CO) Bluegrass Festival. It has become an annual event. He is also a high school social studies teacher.
More 1st Generation Colorado Bluegrass Bands
“Our festival is the first major bluegrass event of the year in Colorado,” says Midwinter founder and promotor Ken Seaman. “People have been cooped up all winter long and are itching to play. If you step into the venue, you’ll know immediately that you’re at a bluegrass festival, because there’s jamming everywhere.”
Seaman held the first Midwinter Bluegrass Festival at a Holiday Inn in Fort Collins in 1986. In 1998, having outgrown that venue, he moved the event to the Northglenn Ramada, which was big enough to host more festival-goers while keeping the comfy, down-home feel of the weekend.
“We draw a wide variety of people. It’s a cross-section of people, young and old, who just love the music," Seaman says. "It’s like a huge family get-together.”
https://www.westword.com/music/midwinter-bluegrass-festival-returns-to-denver-11625131
Midwinter Bluegrass Festival
"It is humbling and a huge honor to carry on Ken Seaman’s legacy as the producers of Midwinter Bluegrass Festival. We knew Ken for many years when we lived in Fort Collins and counted him as a friend. We cherished his support of our house concert series, Old Town House Concerts, and loved bumping into him around town at Avo’s and other bluegrass shows. Going to Midwinter Bluegrass Festival has been a yearly tradition for us, and our son, Eli, cut his jam chops from a young age among all the wonderful musicians who gather each year at Midwinter."
~Dianne Stober & Ben Slocumb
Telluride Bluegrass Festival Beginnings
On July 4, 1973, Colorado bluegrass quartet The Fall Creek Boys played a local gig in Telluride — a former mining town surrounded by forested mountains and cliffs, which is nestled just about 200 miles southwest of Aspen. The gathering inspired them to create an annual festival. Individual tickets originally cost $2, and family tickets went for $5 in those early years. The famed box canyon, an area enclosed on all sides by steep rocky walls, of Telluride was a visual feast; the town itself hadn’t yet become a prime skiing spot, so it had the space for crowds.
The Fall Creek Boys’ Fred Shellman took the lead in organizing and booking the Telluride Bluegrass Festival from its official start in 1974 until 1988. Right from the beginning, the festival was set apart both by location — there weren’t many bluegrass festivals in the Rockies — and its relaxed tone. That inaugural 1974 show welcomed around 1,000 attendees.
By 1977, the show had expanded to three days of music (it’s now four days, except for a two-weekend stint in 2021). Into the 1980s, Telluride Bluegrass Festival was viewed as a bit of a pilgrimage for music lovers — Ferguson says it would take some a full day of travel (Denver, after all, is more than 300 miles away) just to get to the somewhat secluded location. Attendees dubbed themselves “Festivarians.”
In 1989, then-lawyer and music store owner Craig Ferguson founded production company Planet Bluegrass to steer the festival through financial difficulties. (Planet Bluegrass has since expanded to produce additional events in Colorado.) One early step they took: registering the festival’s name with the Colorado Secretary of State.
Caitlin Wolper Posted On June 13, 2023
https://www.nodepression.com/journal-excerpt-50-years-of-the-telluride-bluegrass-festival/
Long Running Festivals
Telluride Today
Now, about 12,000 people attend the festival each year. Some come for one day, some stay from opening on Thursday until the last note on Sunday...In the time that’s passed, Telluride Bluegrass Festival has expanded dramatically. The Family Tent was erected for children’s performance and entertainment, another small stage in downtown Elks Park hosted workshops and preliminary rounds of the performance contests, and local venues like the historic Sheridan Opera House, Fly Me to the Moon Saloon, Palm Theatre, and the Telluride Conference Center in Mountain Village started to fill up with late-night “Nightgrass” shows.
Caitlin Wolper Posted On June 13, 2023
https://www.nodepression.com/journal-excerpt-50-years-of-the-telluride-bluegrass-festival/
RockyGrass Beginnings
CBMS’ role in starting and continuing the Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival before it was sold to Planet Bluegrass.
When members of the CBMS met Monroe... Monroe convinced them to join forces and put on a Colorado festival the following year...
With less than 6 months to prepare, the Society arranged on the Adams County Fairgrounds in Henderson. Music would be presented in the rodeo grandstand and arena (with ace sound provided by Charles Sawtelle and Dave Wilson) and camping available nearby.
As plans progressed, Monroe made a special trip to Colorado to meet with CBMS festival organizers and coach them on marketing and publicity...CBMS approached the organizers of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (the future Planet Bluegrass) in the Spring to help find a new site for the festival...
Planet Bluegrass vice-president Steve Szymanski recounts the early motives: “We’ll help you out - we know how to do these festivals..."
(About the Lyons property) Craig Ferguson recalls “the property hadn’t been watered in years, so it was a briar patch.” Within 2 months, Ferguson had to negotiate a deal with the Town of Lyons, prepare the property for a festival, and book a 20th anniversary lineup that would ultimately include Alison Krauss & Union Station and Tony Rice & Norman Blake...
Over the next few years, the festival’s name changed to RockyGrass – a move largely motivated by widespread use of in-house Planet Bluegrass slang.
https://bluegrass.com/rockygrass/festival-info/40-years-of-rockygrass
RockyGrass Today
“In many ways RockyGrass is the soul of Planet Bluegrass,” says Ferguson. RockyGrass remains unique in the bluegrass world for its single main stage and policy of bands playing just a single set. Where many festivals aspire toward a “big tent” musical philosophy, RockyGrass remains focused on traditional bluegrass even as its audience grows more musically progressive. “It’s become a place where people who don’t normally play bluegrass, make a point to play bluegrass.”
So what would Monroe think of this 40th Anniversary of his Colorado festival? Ferguson reasons: “Some of the music he might not like, but he’d sure want to play it because he loved to play for a crowd. And I know he’d love the RockyGrass audience.”
Long Road Home
When Long Road Home was formed by Justin Hoffenberg and Martin Gilmore in 2005, they struggled with defining the band’s personality and style. While other young bands often moved away from bluegrass, then found themselves moving toward it. Attracted to its power, simplicity, and honesty, they focused all the more on staying true to the tradition they found inspiring and meaningful. They could wear suits on stage without obscuring their personality, and they could sound their best on stage without using technology foreign to the genre. Still featuring Martin Gilmore (guitar), Justin Hoffenberg (fiddle), Pete Wernick (banjo), Jordan Ramsey (mandolin), and now with Andrew Bonnis on bass, Long Road Home continues to champion the music that they love to represent. Each year you see more bands qualifying their brand of bluegrass with an adjective: “hard driving bluegrass”, “progressive bluegrass”, and many others. These five musicians are proud to just call themselves bluegrass.
Open Road
Open Road Bluegrass Band 1999-2006 "Harkening back to the sounds of such first-generation pioneers as Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, Open Road is a traditionally minded bluegrass unit formed by relative youngsters. The Fort Collins, Colorado, group began in the late '90s when lead singer and guitarist Bradford Lee Folk, who worked at a cattle ranch, met up with Caleb Roberts, an electrical engineer who hailed from Columbia, South Carolina. (Roberts was a founding member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club, an alt-country band that infused punk energy with incendiary gospel.) Roberts, who had always intended to form a traditional bluegrass group, found a more-than-ready ally in Folk, who possessed an uncanny tenor and had grown up listening to bluegrass in his native Missouri. The two ... formed Open Road, a name borrowed from a gentile style of Stetson hat favored by well-dressed bluegrass players ..." -- All Music Guide
Uncle Earl
Uncle Earl Biography by Timothy Monger American string band Uncle Earl formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2000. Founded by singer/songwriters K.C. Groves and Jo Serrapere, the band's early years set the tradition of an all-female lineup that included Amanda Kowalski, Casey Henry, Sally Truitt, and Tahmineh Gueramy. This initial lineup yielded the 2002 independently released album She Went Upstairs. A winning mix of traditional folk, bluegrass, and old-timey string band music, Uncle Earl's music found favor among the folk and roots music circuit.. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/uncle-earl-mn0000381974#biography
Blue Canyon Boys
Like the traditions of the genre’s founding in the 1940’s and 50’s finding new life in the 60’s and 70’s, Hicks and Dark define Colorado’s “2 nd generation” when the Centennial State’s folk and bluegrass of the 70’s and 80’s moved into the successful festivals, national touring bands, and thriving local scenes of the 90’s and early 2000’s... David Smith Ever since founding members Jason Hicks and Gary Dark launched the Blue Canyon Boys in 2006, the Blue Canyon Boys have raised the bar for bluegrass bands. They bring it all: seamless brother-duet style, crisp instrumentation, unvarnished lyrics and subversive humor. After winning first place 2008 Telluride Bluegrass festival band contest, the Blue Canyon Boys went off at full tilt, taking the bluegrass circuit by storm, performing in illustrious venues across the country as well as internationally. https://bluecanyonboys.com/
Hit and Run
Hit & Run formed in Colorado in late 2001 with the mutual desire to play authentic-yet-modern bluegrass.[1] The band has released two studio albums. Hit & Run has toured extensively throughout the United States, playing such prestigious festivals as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, High sierra music festival, Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Rockygrass Bluegrass Festival, and Bean Blossom. Hit & Run has shared billing with artists such as Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Jerry Douglas, Hot Rize, Alison Krauss, and David Grisman. In 2005 they took first place in the SPBGMA International Band Championship in Nashville. In 2003, Hit & Run became the first band to win both Telluride (2003) and Rockygrass (2002) Bluegrass Festival Band Contests. Guitarist Rebecca Frazier became the first woman to appear on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine when the September 2006 issue of that magazine was released. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_and_Run_(band)
The Badly Bent
The Badly Bent has been entrenched in the bluegrass music scene since 1998. Based in Durango, Colorado... the music never strays far from the roots established by the fathers of the genre. Their love for the genuine bluegrass sound is so evident every time they take the stage. Winners of the coveted 2005 Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition... https://www.thebadlybent.com/band
Spring Creek
Spring Creek – Way Up On A Mountain Posted on May 8, 2009 by Richard Thompson Spring Creek - Way Up On A MountainSpring Creek created a good deal of media reaction and fan support with last year’s self-released CD, Lonesome Way To Go, so much so that Rebel Records signed them to the label. In so doing they became the first band from west of the Mississippi to record for Rebel. They have another unique place in bluegrass history because, in 2007, they became the only group to ever to win the band competitions at the Telluride and RockyGrass Festivals in the same year. The young Colorado-based quartet, Chris Elliott (banjo), Jessica Smith (upright bass) Taylor Sims (guitar) and Alex Johnstone (mandolin), are all graduates from South Plains College and are now looking to build on the interest generated by the aforementioned album. https://bluegrasstoday.com/spring-creek-way-up-on-a-mountain/
2nd Generation Colorado Bluegrass Bands
Starting in 1995, the volunteer-run Durango Bluegrass Meltdown was dreamed up to bolster Durango’s off-season economy before rafts take over the Animas River. “Michael Burke and a few other folks who are big into the Bluegrass scene wanted to put together a festival during one of the lowest tourism times of the year,” Meltdown Executive Director Jenny Hirt said.
https://www.durangomagazine.com/durango-bluegrass-meltdown-pickin-at-our-heartstrings/
Durango Meltdown
Considering Colorado’s unpredictable spring weather, the Bluegrass Meltdown ensures a comfortable, good time with five indoor venues, including the Animas City Theater, Durango Arts Center, Wildhorse Saloon, Elks Lodge, and Strater Hotel. The indoor venues give audiences a more intimate experience with up-close access to 20 bands. “You can walk to each venue, and these people are invested in what you’re doing onstage because you’re right in front of them,” Hirt said.
In the Bluegrass community, every strummer, picker, and vocalist is given the space to meld their styles together in a relaxed setting. After a full day of performing, most musicians head to the Strater Hotel, where all kinds of musicians playing all sorts of stringed instruments jam together in a coat closet or a crowded hotel room. These late-night jam sessions welcome foot-tappers and musicians to enjoy and contribute to the Bluegrass story, differentiating Bluegrass from other genres...
By Leah Nott
https://www.durangomagazine.com/durango-bluegrass-meltdown-pickin-at-our-heartstrings/
"The motivation for this festival was four families - we realized that the children in our area didn't have access to any healthcare. So four families got together and we each threw $5,000 or $10,000 in a pot, took it up to the clinic, gave it to 'em, said, let us know if you need more. And at the end of the year, they brought us back almost 80% of the money, and we didn't know what to do. We thought it would be taken. It was explained to us that people didn't want to take charity. There was a wonderful person that wanted things to work for the children, and he shot his finger out at me and he said, “well, you know how to have a Bluegrass Festival. Let's do that.” - Ron Thomason. Colorado Public Radio | Shanna Lewis | 9/28/24 | https://www.ksut.org/music/2024-09-28/a-colorado-bluegrass-festival-is-a-finalist-for-an-international-music-award-it-also-showcases-kids
High Mountain Hay Fever
Ron Thomason: Well, I can only compare it to the Grand Canyon and the poor Grand Canyon can't quite look as good as the Sangre Cristo Mountains that are the backdrop of the High Mountain Hay Fever Bluegrass Festival. And not only those mountains, but (the festival looks straight across) the Wet Mountain Valley. The people that come to see us try to get out of the tent pretty quickly so they can see how beautiful the place is.
The Bluegrass Patriots
Posted on October 15, 2011 by Richard Thompson in Bluegrass Today
Colorado has been a hot-bed for bluegrass music for many years. Now one of its bands, the Bluegrass Patriots, has announced that it is to disband.
The Centennial State has been the breeding ground for bluegrass music going back many decades, producing such international acts as Hot Rize and Front Range. Notwithstanding the occasional reunion shows by Hot Rize, the Bluegrass Patriots have outlived both.
Formed when Jimmy Carter was president, the Bluegrass Patriots played their first date in October 1980 at the Colorado State University Student Center. The original band members were Glenn Zankey [guitar], Dan Rogers [bass], Willie McDonald [mandolin], Ken Seaman [banjo] and Rick Bradstreet [resonator guitar], who died in 2002.
Since Bradstreet passed away they have utilized the talents of Ernie Martinez, Bobby Vickery, Jean Ballhorn and finally Dan Mitchell [fiddle].
Pictured from left to right: Danny Rogers, Dan Mitchell, Willie McDonald, Ken Seaman, Glenn Zankey
Del McCoury with The Bluegrass Patriots
Posted on YouTube by Clarke W
VHS video recorded on December 10, 1982, at the Bellview Grange, Bellview CO. Del McCoury - Guitar and vocals
Bobby Puckett - Fiddle
The Bluegrass Patriots: Ken Seaman - Banjo and vocals
Glenn Zankey - Guitar and vocals
Willie McDonald - Mandolin and vocals
Dan Rogers - Bass and vocals