The Fretliners headline Lyons’ newly enlivened music scene

By Mark Browning Redstone Review

mandolinist Sam Parks of Lyons.

A bursting-at-the-seams crowd overflowed the Wildflower Pavilion at Planet Bluegrass on July 30 for the contest finals on a steamy hot afternoon – the opposite of Telluride conditions.

lives in Longmont, but the other three band members are all Lyons residents.

The group first took the stage, with minimal rehearsal time, at the Kinney Family Farm in Fort Collins in March of 2022.

der Mountain String Band and renowned fiddler Michael Cleveland and began to build a following. They reworked a few tunes brought from prior bands, then began writing new material structured to fit their own unique sound.

Browning

LYONS – None is hotter than the fast-rising bluegrass and newgrass group the Fretliners, recently nominated by the International Bluegrass Music Association for the 2023 “Momentum Award: Band of the Year.”

The local group recently pulled off a rare musical competition doubleheader by capturing first place in both the Telluride and Rockygrass summer festivals in the same year. Only one other band, the much loved and fondly remembered Spring Creek, is believed to have accomplished that feat. Perhaps not coincidentally, Spring Creek also featured Lyons-based pickers and singers.

The Fretliners’ two triumphs this summer had similar results and similar reactions from wildly enthusiastic crowds, but came under quite different conditions.

The June 20 to 23 Telluride festival, at 8,750 feet elevation, presented cold (38 degrees), wind, rain and sleet when the Fretliners took the stage for their 8 a.m. contest presentation before a loyal, shivering group of friends, family and new fans. But the Fretliners’ hot music carried the day.

The band could’ve rested on their laurels and taken a pass on the late July, always-competitive Rockygrass Festival band contest, which they had entered before their Telluride win.

“But, we just decided to go for it,” said

“We were hot, sweaty, and soaked to the bone,” recalls bassist Taylor Shuck.

Neither the crowd nor the judges seemed to mind. Clearly the overwhelming crowd favorite, the Fretliners swept to their second straight triumph amid a wild, clapping, stomping celebration.

The twin wins mean the band will take the main stage at both festivals in 2024, exposing even more prospective fans to their tight “bluegrass and newgrass” sounds.

The Fretliners also played a well received show in a packed Sandstone Park in July, followed by a sold-out late night show at Main Stage Brewing during Rockygrass.

Local fans get another chance to experience the band on September 15 at Planet Bluegrass’ Wildflower Fallgrass at the Wildflower Pavilion. Early ticket purchases are advisable, since a sellout is likely. A September 30 recording release party is also scheduled at Cervantes’ Other Side in Denver’s Five Points area.

The Fretliners are a relatively new band, although Parks (mandolin), Shuck (bass), Tom Knowlton (guitar) and Dan Andree (fiddle) all had experience in other Front Range groups including Woodbelly, Lonesome Days and Chain Station before teaming up together. Andree, who also played in the Chicago-based Henhouse Prowlers,

“We got a fantastic crowd reaction,” said Parks. “It made us think maybe we’ve got something special here.”

The group subsequently opened for Yon-

The new band caught the attention of longtime Lyons music connoisseur David McIntyre, who booked them for several shows at Oskar Blues (the latest in April 2023) and was increasingly impressed with