Forty-five years ago, Colorado’s festival bees had their first taste of the sweet nectar of bluegrass music. They filled their hives with the high lonesome honey and keening tones of early festival legends: Monroe, Stanley, Flatt, Martin; and homegrown heroes: Hot Rize, Left Hand String Band, Bluegrass Patriots. Twenty years later, the colony relocated to Lyons; the mason jars were re-labeled with the less formal moniker “RockyGrass;” and today, generations of picker bees from around the world plan their year around this late-July bluegrass homecoming. At a festival that honors the ancient tones, we celebrate Peter Rowan’s 25th year on the RockyGrass stage—along with Tim O’Brien’s 34th. This past week, Peter Rowan, Jerry Douglas, and more than a dozen other festival musicians were keeping the tradition alive, sharing their artistry with 300 students of all ages at the RockyGrass Academy. This weekend, we encourage you to begin your day with free yoga classes inside the festival grounds. On your way to the contests and workshops in the Wildflower Pavilion, fill your bottle with free filtered water, charge your phone at the Sunsense Solar booth, and visit the kids area—including arts and crafts, Swallow Hill’s instrument petting zoo, and Colorado Mountain Club activities. Once again, our vendors will be serving food on reusable bamboo-based dishware, which we’ll be washing onsite in our new dishwashing trailer. Please help each other create new Sustainable Festivation habits by making sure these plates are properly deposited in our plate/waste stations— and not mistakenly composted, recycled, or taken home.
We invite you to fill your vintage reusable beer cup with New Belgium’s brand new invention, Fat Tire Belgian White, as well as wines and local artisanal cocktails. For your Festivarian family who are raising a glass elsewhere this weekend, community radio KGNU is again broadcasting the festival live—for their 10th consecutive year! Find a spot on an empty tarp up front. Drink lots of water. Slather on the sunscreen. Fill the campground with mandolin chops, G-runs, and laughter. And cherish our time together in this loving community of RockyGrass Festivarians. We’re so glad you’re here.
Love,
Planet Bluegrass
Festival Partners
1972: BILL MONROE ASKS CBMS TO CREATE A COLORADO BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
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Feel free to sit on any open tarp (especially up front) until the tarp’s owners return. Climbing the hillsides or cliffs is strictly prohibited. There is no lifeguard watching your kids in the river. Please monitor your children carefully. Please do not smoke in the audience. Wander over to the smoking tent near the river, and deposit your butts in the proper receptacles.
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Once placed on, wristbands are nonrefundable and non-transferable. If you remove, tear, damage, or lose your wristband, we will not replace it.
Tarp Line Policy: Festivarians may begin assembling for the next day’s line numbers no earlier than 11pm.
Please use only low-backed chairs in designated areas. Umbrellas, shade tents, and other viewobstructing items are allowed only along the river and back perimeter.
At around midnight, the number line will be led through the customs gate, where we will distribute random numbers and mark wristbands to show receipt of a number. These numbers will be shuffled randomly; each person may receive no more than 1 number.
Please be respectful of others, and do not stand in the Festival seating areas. No dogs are allowed at the Festival, in the campground, or in the parking lots. If you leave your dog in your car, we will call Animal Control to safely remove your dog from the car. Lost and found is located at the Festival box office.
The next morning, Festivarians should re-assemble in linenumber order beginning one hour before gates. Festivarians will be admitted into the Festival in this randomly-assigned order, followed by all Festivarians without line numbers.
1973: 6,500 ATTEND THE 1ST FESTIVAL HELD AT ADAMS COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
Sustainable Festivation With your help, the Planet Bluegrass festivals continue to be models of Sustainable Festivation. As we continue to broaden the scope of our efforts, here are a few recent achievements we’re particularly proud of.
Waste Stream
Last year we diverted 66% of our overall RockyGrass festival waste from the landfill. With no landfill containers inside the festival grounds (a policy since 2011!), the majority of this landfill waste comes from the campgrounds. Campers, please help us out by packing out your landfill waste after the Festival. Inside the festival grounds, our friendly Sustainable Festivation volunteers (members of the Lyons High School Band) are eager to help you properly sort your waste. This year’s wine selection is provided by the eco-friendly YOONIT Wines, whose recyclable packaging and gravity fed dispensers remove the need for glass bottles and kegs, as well as electricity for cooling and storage.
Our Community
Carbon Footprint
For 14 years, we have partnered with Renewable Choice Energy to offset our festivals’ carbon footprint. Again this year, we are counterbalancing the emissions from all our Festival artists’ travel to/from Lyons as well as the emissions created by the Festival production using carbon offsets. Nearly 3 years ago we installed a 54-module 13.2 kWh solar array on the south roof of the Wildflower Pavilion. Thanks to the strong Colorado sun, these panels have generated enough electricity to power each year’s RockyGrass and Folks Festival!
In 2015, Planet Bluegrass purchased the old Valley Bank property at 2nd Ave and Park Street in Lyons to develop permanently affordable homes for those displaced by the flood. After receiving project approval from the Town of Lyons in 2016, Habitat for Humanity began actively seeking families for these 3 new duplexes last winter. We look forward to breaking ground on these homes soon, as the first new affordable housing approved in Lyons since the flood. In December 2015, we became a Certified B Corporation. We joined over 2,200 fellow
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The Ranch
Goodbye, wood chips! In April, we finished one of our last major flood recovery projects: installing 20,000 square-feet of droughtresistant sod in the backstage campground. All the sod planted on the festival grounds after the flood is a special strain of Texas Bluegrass that requires 2/3 less water than our pre-flood Kentucky Bluegrass. This summer we installed new energy-efficient LED lights along the road and new solar-powered lights on the Ranch entrance path. Throughout the year, we protect our local ecosystem by fertilizing the Ranch with organic fertilizers and pumping our irrigation water from the river (where most of the water eventually returns).
B-Corps (including New Belgium Brewing, Renewable Choice Energy, and Klean Kanteen) who aspire to use business as a force for good—meeting the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Finally, thanks to you! Your beverage booth tips have helped our local community, including contributions of nearly $20,000 to both the Lyons Fire Protection District and Habitat for Humanity. This weekend’s beverage booth tips will benefit the St. Vrain Creek Coalition’s project to rehabilitate the North St. Vrain River above the Planet Bluegrass Ranch.
1976: BILL MONROE’S 4TH & FINAL PERFORMANCE AT THE FESTIVAL
Made in Spring Valley, CA U.S.A.
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Made in the U.S.A. by the Deering Banjo Company Graham Sharp of the Steep Canyon Rangers with his Deering Terry Baucom banjo
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Reusable Festivation Last year our Lyons festivals became the first events in Colorado to offer reusable dishware from our food vendors. We traded single-use compostable paper plates for 4,000 sturdy bamboo bowls and plates that we can reuse year after year.
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This landmark program required a variance from the state (Colorado law prohibits reusable dinnerware at special events) and help from like-minded festivals in Oregon and Canada. But the results were inspiring: we diverted over 15,000 items from our waste stream and saved 75,000 gallons of water (producing a single-use compostable plate requires 3-8 gallons of water; washing a reusable plate requires only 0.09 gallons!). Boulder County Public Health called the program “progressive and revolutionary in the realm of temporary events.” One of our takeaways from last year’s program was the need to streamline the dishwashing process. So last winter we received a grant from Boulder County’s Zero Waste Funding Program to build a
commercial dishwashing trailer. By parking this new trailer behind our festival vendors, we’ll be able to efficiently wash all the plates on-site, thereby decreasing the turnaround time and simplifying our tracking and health code compliance. This program won’t work without your help! Last year we lost a portion of our initial plate inventory: some were mistakenly deposited in compost or recycling, some broke, and some may have been accidentally taken home by Festivarians. Please help us out this year by carefully depositing your reusable plate in our redesigned Festival waste stations—which now include separate openings for reusable plates, compost, and recycling. Everyth Flippin ing’s ’ Tasty!
Welcome Festivarians! Festival Hours: 6am-2pm
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1985: HOT RIZE NAMED THE FESTIVAL’S “HOST BAND”
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APPETIZERS
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SALADS & THINGS
Pork Green Chili Smokin' Dave's Red Chili Ale & Cheese Soup Pit Boss Chopped BBQ Southern Catfish Salad Smoked Shack Caesar Salad Spinach & Crispy Chicken Salad
SMOKIN’ PLATTERS
LET SMOKIN’ Fish ‘n’ Chips DAVE DO THE Southern Catfish COOKING! Chicken Fried Steak DINE IN or Chicken Marsala take it TO GO Smoked Meatloaf
FAVORITES
Top Sirloin • Aged Ribeye
SANDWICHES & BURGERS Texas Beef Brisket Carolina Pulled-Pork Sandwich BBQ Chicken Sandwich Cajun Chicken Sandwich Hot Hog Smoked Sausage Smokin’ ChiliBurger Smokin’ Philly Corned Beef & Wild Salmon Reuben Black & Bella Burger
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Roasted Half Chicken Carolina Pulled Pork Texas Beef Brisket Beef Short Ribs House-made JalapenoCheddar Sausage
SIDES
Red Beans & Rice Cole Slaw Smashed Potatoes Natural Cut Potato Fries Sweet Potato Fries Southern Green Beans Spiced Apples BBQ Baked Beans Grandma’s Tater Salad Southern Sweet Corn Bake Seasoned Collard Greens
smokindavesq.com 303-823-7427 (RIBS)
Planet Bluegrass
Reconstruction around Planet Bluegrass and the Town of Lyons after the 2013 flood offered us a chance to fundamentally reenvision the Festivarian experience: the seating, the river access, the kids area, the campgrounds, the parking… For years, we’ve heard comments from Festivarians about the inconvenience of parking nearly a mile from the Festival. The shuttle buses can get crowded, hot and delayed; the walking route involves several unpatrolled traffic intersections. As traffic through Lyons has increased over the years, we’ve worried more and more about pedestrian safety, parking in neighborhoods, and our impact on traffic congestion. If only we could move our festival parking closer to the Ranch… So in 2015 Planet Bluegrass seized the unique opportunity to purchase the adjacent 28-acre property up the North St. Vrain River from the Ranch. Located on the northwest corner of Apple Valley Road and Highway 36 in unincorporated Boulder County, the “Planet Bluegrass Farm” is the next major evolution of the Festivarian experience. The Farm features large, gently sloping meadows (ideal for parking and livestock grazing) and gorgeous wooded areas along the river (ideal for camping and a limited number of weddings or farm-to-table dinners). Our goal is to move the parking and camping from Bohn Park for our festival weekends, and operate the property as a farm with livestock and bees the rest of the year. Festivarians will be able to walk from the parking area to the festival grounds via short pedestrian pathways and just 1 road crossing (which Boulder County Sheriffs will monitor for safety and traffic flow). And someday, we dream of
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utilizing a pedestrian underpass between the Farm and the Ranch to alleviate any road crossings! After 18 months spent cleaning up the property from flood damage and re-vegetating the fields and riverbanks, last winter we began the process of annexing into the Town of Lyons. (Boulder County zoning does not allow parking and camping for entire festival weekends.) Though the annexation agreement was unanimously approved by the Lyons Board of Trustees, the annexation must still be approved by the residents of Lyons in a special mail ballot election due August 8. If you are a registered voter in the Town of Lyons, please remember to vote! We look forward to introducing you to our Farm in 2018! In the meantime, learn more on our @PlanetBluegrassFarm Facebook page.
1988: FESTIVAL MOVES TO LARIMER COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS TO COINCIDE WITH CORN ROAST
FORTY-FIFTTH ANNUAL Untitled-8 ROCKYGRASS • JULY 28TH THROUGH 30TH 1
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7/17/17 4:23 PM
1a n0n utahl
Campsite Challenge
With more than 2,000 campers in Lyons this weekend (more than doubling the size of our town!), it’s vitally important to be mindful of our camping footprint. In collaboration with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and EcoProducts (suppliers of free compostable bags for your campground compost), we will again be rewarding campsites that excel in creative, sustainable camping. To nominate your campsite or one of your neighbors: 1. Submit a 1-page entry form at the Leave No Trace booth – explaining how the campsite exhibits cleanliness, sustainability, and creativity. 2. Stop by the Leave No Trace booth each day to view the campsite entries and vote for your favorites. Each day we select 2 winners—one random, one staff choice— for prize packages that include: New Belgium beer, Klean Kanteen reusables, and Planet Bluegrass merch. After the pack-out on Monday we will select grand prize winners to receive a pair of 3-day passes and camping for the 2018 RockyGrass.
Congratulations to 2016 winners: Camp Shady Grove
Jerry Douglas • Bruce Molsky • Claire Lynch • Rhiannon Giddens • Hot Rize • The Earls of Leicester Smithsonian Folkways • Rebel Records • Compass Records Becky Buller • Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley • The Bankesters • Bryan Sutton Rising Appalachia • Michael Cleveland • Grateful Dead • Rapidgrass • Bluegrass Patriots Finnders & Youngberg • Yonder Mountain String Band • Grant Farm Mountain Standard Time • Billy Strings • KC Groves • Shannon McNally Leftover Salmon • The Railsplitters • T Michael Coleman • Danny Barnes
Thanks, Pickers!
Frank Solivan• Ragged Union • Bobby Osborne • Crow and the Canyon Ginny Mules • Jake Schepps • Tellico • Head for the Hills • Bumper Jacksons
Mastering all shades of bluegrass for 34 years Dock Boggs • Ralph Stanley • Woody Guthrie • Mike Seeger • Doc Watson “The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records” • “The Anthology of American Folk Music”
DAVID GLASSER
Boulder CO
ANNA FRICK
RANDY LEROY
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CHARLIE PILZER
Takoma Park MD
To book a session, contact: studio@airshowmastering.com • 303-247-9035
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1989: HIGH PLAINS TRADITION FIRST PLAYS THE FESTIVAL
th 45 annual
Since the first Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival in 1973, the band and instrument contests have been an important part of the Festival experience. Discover the next generation of musicians as they vie for new instruments and spots on the main stage. Past instrument finalists have included Mark O’Connor (1974), Tim O’Brien (1975), Matt Witler (2012), as well as recent band winners Steep Canyon Rangers (2001), Front Country (2012), and The Wooks (2016).
Instrument Competitions Each instrument contestant performs 2 tunes in the preliminary round. The top 3 on each instrument advance to the final round where they perform 2 different tunes. Judged “in the blind,” musicians are scored using the following criteria:
Prizes
1st Prize: New Instrument (see below) 2nd Prize: $100 3rd Prize: $50
Flatpick Guitar
Dobro
1st Prize: J.F. Devereux Fiddle Prelims: Friday, 4:00pm, Wildflower Pavilion Finals: Saturday, 9:45am, Main Stage 1st Prize: Jerry Douglas Signature BlackBeard™ Prelims: Friday, 5:30pm, Wildflower Pavilion Finals: Saturday, 9:30am, Main Stage
Band Competition
Cheer on these inspiring young bands from around the country as they gather around a single microphone to compete for a spot on the 2018 RockyGrass lineup.
2017 Contest Bands Cascade Crescendo Portland, OR Circus No. 9 Nashville, TN Drifters Mile Springfield, MO
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Ginny Mules Denver, CO The Haymarket Squares Phoenix, AZ Hilltop Harvest Band Denver, CO
Meadow Mountain Denver, CO One Grass Two Grass Oakland, CA Rain City Ramblers Seattle, WA
25% RHYTHM 25% TONE
1st Prize: Gibson Sam Bush Signature Model F-5 Prelims: Friday, 2:30pm, Wildflower Pavilion Finals: Saturday, 10:00am, Main Stage
Fiddle
1st Prize: Gibson J-45 Acoustic Guitar Prelims: Friday, 1:00pm, Wildflower Pavilion Finals: Saturday, 10:15am, Main Stage
(includes difficulty, expression, and execution)
Mandolin
Banjo
1st Prize: Deering John Hartford Banjo Prelims: Friday, 11:30am, Wildflower Pavilion Finals: Saturday, 10:30am, Main Stage
50% OVERALL ABILITY
The Road West Boulder, CO That Damn Sasquatch Denver, CO Thunder and Rain Golden, CO
Schedule
Prelims: Saturday, 1:30pm, Wildflower Pavilion Finals:
Sunday, 1:30pm, Wildflower Pavilion
Band Competition Prizes 1st Prize: $750, strings & 2018 RockyGrass main stage performance 2nd Prize: $500 & strings 3rd Prize: $300 & strings
1992: 20TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL MOVES TO CURRENT HOME IN LYONS
The Wernick Method is changing lives! JAM! I can
Students say
Wernick Method classes in 11 countries
their Wernick Method classes are ...
Fun !!
Good Learning Experience
Worth the Money
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4 788 915 768
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on a 1-5 scale (anonymous post-class surveys)
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~ 6000+ students in 42 states
NY “The class changed my life, and I couldn’t be more pleased.” “We were all beginners but now we feel we have experience.” “I’ve never tried to learn by ear before and it was so much fun. I learned a lot.”
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“Our classes have helped thousands: folks who just got their first instrument. l closet players with little or no jam experience. l folks wanting to pick and improve in small groups with helpful coaching...
“I think I made a huge leap. I can actually sing!” “It was a great intro to jamming.” “So Czech much more fun Rep. than sitting on the couch playing alone.” “I’ve been waiting to start playing real bluegrass with people and now I can.” “I learned to love bluegrass for a lot of other reasons
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NC “My husband, daughter, sonin-law and myself now jam as a family.” “I should have attended this type of class earlier in my banjo experience!” “I can hardly believe
TN how much we learned in such a short period of time.”
To find a class near you, visit:
We deliver exactly what they need: fun and doable jamming, right away! Only 4 chords needed to qualify, but we keep all students challenged.”
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– singing and playing with other people.” “I came out of my shell and had a blast jamming with new friends on the first day.” “The
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2017 RockyGrass
Main Stage Schedule
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
10:00am Gates Open
9:00am Gates Open
10:00am Gates Open
11:00 - Noon The Wooks
9:30 - 11:15am Instrument Contest Finals
11:00 - Noon High Plains Tradition (gospel set)
11:30 - 12:30pm The Lonely Heartstring Band
12:15 - 1:30pm Molsky’s Mountain Drifters
12:45 - 1:45pm Front Country
1:45 - 3:00pm The Lil Smokies
2:00 - 3:15pm Becky Buller
3:15 - 4:30pm Sister Sadie
3:45 - 5:00pm Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
5:00 - 6:15pm Peter Rowan
July 28
12:15 - 1:30pm Trout Steak Revival 1:45 - 3:00pm Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley 3:30 - 4:45pm Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands 5:15 - 6:30pm Tim O’Brien Band 7:00 - 8:30pm Earls of Leicester 9:00 - 10:30pm The Infamous Stringdusters
July 29
5:30 - 6:45pm Kruger Brothers with the Kontras Quartet 7:15 - 8:30pm Jerry Douglas & Edgar Meyer with special guest Odessa Settles
9:00 - 10:30pm Sam Bush Bluegrass Band
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July 30
6:45 - 8:00pm Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band 8:30 - 10:00pm Del McCoury Band Join us for free yoga inside the festival: Friday: 8am Saturday: 7:30am Sunday: 8am
1993: PETER ROWAN MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE (25 YEARS AND COUNTING)
Wildflower
pavilion
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
11:30am Banjo Contest: Preliminary Round
12:30pm Boulder Valley Waldorf School Strings
1:00pm Flatpick Guitar Contest: Preliminary Round
1:30pm Band Contest: Preliminary Round
12:30pm Radim Zenkl: Virtuoso Mandolin, Flutes & Didgeridoo
2:30pm Mandolin Contest: Preliminary Round
3:45pm Pete & Joan Wernick: Basic Bluegrass Jamming
J u ly 28
4:00pm Fiddle Contest: Preliminary Round 5:30pm Dobro Contest: Preliminary Round
J u ly 2 9
(Bring your instrument!)
5:00pm Bruce Molsky: A Guided Tour of Old-Time Fiddling
J u ly 3 0
1:30pm Band Contest: Final Round 3:00pm The Lonely Heartstring Band: The New Bluegrass Canon 4:30pm Justin Hoffenberg & Friends: Academy All-Stars
FORTY-FIFTTH ANNUAL ROCKYGRASS • JULY 28TH THROUGH 30TH
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The Wooks Friday 11:00 - Noon
Trout Steak Revival Friday 12:15 - 1:30pm
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley Friday 1:45 - 3:00pm
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“We try to use our music to reflect the sights and sounds of the creeks, farms, horses, and people of the inner bluegrass region of Kentucky which we call home,” says mandolinist Galen Green. While Lexington, KY quintet The Wooks have a deep respect for traditional bluegrass and mountain music, their musical home weaves-in modern threads of singersongwriter, rock, and jam band music. Born 2 years ago, somewhere between a high school snack bar, an Irish pub,
the radio waves, and a festival jam circle, The Wooks have already won the 2016 RockyGrass Band Contest and released their Alison Brownproduced debut CD Little Circles. Calling all you, Tarp Wookies! It’s time to bust our your best Wookie Foot Shuffle as we kick-off the 45th RockyGrass with the rhythm and bluegrass of The Wooks—Galen Green (mandolin), CJ Cain (guitar), Arthur Hancock (banjo), Jesse Wells (fiddle), and Roddy Puckett (bass).
Denver’s own Trout Steak Revival didn’t set out to play bluegrass, but they’ve risen to the top of the genre in just a few years. In 2014, they won the Telluride band contest, quit their day jobs, and dove in heartfirst. Although their instrumentation is traditional, their music is built around great songs—their 2015 CD Brighter Every Day features several of the catchiest rise-to-your-feetand-sing Colorado choruses in recent memory. With all 5 members
contributing unique lyrics and lead/harmony vocals, Trout Steak’s anthemic bluegrass sound is delightfully left-of-center, perhaps because none of the bandmembers— Travis McNamara (banjo), Steve Foltz (mandolin & guitar), Will Koster (dobro & guitar), Bevin Foley (fiddle), and Casey Houlihan (bass)—grew up on bluegrass. With a new album in the works for this fall, we’re excited to welcome Trout Steak for their exuberant RockyGrass debut.
Some things are just meant to be. Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley were sure their musical partnership was the right move at the right time. But it was still welcome news when their debut project Before The Sun Goes Down earned a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album right about the time that Rob took leave from Blue Highway to make the duo the centerpiece of his career. With their latest album The Country Blues, Rob & Trey are taking their unique
musical conversation to an even higher level. These guys can pick their way through just about anything— from traditional bluegrass to blues, from jazz to honky tonkin’ country, from rock’n’roll to gospel, and all the way back home. 15-time IBMA Dobro Player of the Year Rob Ickes is certainly no stranger to Planet Bluegrass, but let’s give a warm welcome to the duo, as they perform for the first time on the RockyGrass stage as Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley.
1995: FIRST ROCKYGRASS ACADEMY, ROCKYGRASS LIVE CD RELEASED
45 t h
annual
Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands Friday 3:30 - 4:45pm
Tim O’Brien Band Friday 5:15 - 6:30pm
Earls of Leicester Friday 7:00 - 8:30pm
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Inspired by the Berkeley Folk Festival as a teenager in the ‘60s, Laurie Lewis traded classical violin sheet music for Bay Area bluegrass jams. Eventually Laurie settled into a fulltime gig running her own Marin Violin shop, until the pull to record her own songs became too strong: “If I just do this one recording, then I can go back to my violin shop,” thought Laurie. The resulting album, 1986’s Restless Rambling Heart, was Laurie’s artistic awakening: intimate songs delivered
with a voice that Linda Ronstadt would call “a rare combination of grit and grace, strength and delicacy.” Laurie has been a pioneering woman in bluegrass ever since—earning Grammy nominations (including 2016’s The Hazel and Alice Sessions), IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, and her sixth appearance on the RockyGrass stage—with Tom Rozum (mandolin), Patrick Sauber (banjo), Tatiana Hargreaves (fiddle), and Max Schwartz (bass).
Through his 18 Festival sets with Hot Rize and more than 20 sets leading other projects, no artist has done more to define the traditionalyet-progressive sound of Rocky Mountain Bluegrass than Tim O’Brien. A native of Wheeling, WV, Tim landed in Colorado in 1974, where he followed his muse to create a life of music—crafting an endless songbook of future classics, tirelessly mastering everything with strings, relentlessly touring the world, and
mentoring younger artists. Beyond Tim’s Grammy-winning catalog of 15 solo albums (including this year’s celebration of West Virginia’s musical roots Where the River Meets the Road), his songs have been made into hits by Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks, and many others. This Friday evening Tim is joined by Shad Cobb (fiddle), Patrick Sauber (banjo), Mike Bub (bass), and Jan Fabricius (vocals) for one of the centerpiece sets of this 45th Annual RockyGrass.
Lester Flatt played the first 2 Festivals; Earl Scruggs joined us in ’06 and ’09; but this third appearance by the Earls of Leicester truly brings us the Foggy Mountain Boys. Inspired by Jerry Douglas and his bandmates’ lifelong passion for the pioneering bluegrass band, guitarist Shawn Camp (Lester), fiddler Johnny Warren (son of original fiddler Paul Warren), banjoist Charlie Cushman (Earl), Jerry Douglas (Uncle Josh), mandolinist Jeff White (Curly), and
bassist Barry Bales (Cousin Jake) embody their roles effortlessly. Now several years into the project—with 2 albums and a Grammy award to their credit—the Earls’ individual personalities and abundant joy onstage bring this music naturally into the present. This is Flatt & Scruggs circa 2017, still wearing pearl-grey felt hats, white shirts, and black ribbon ties, but feeling the Foggy Mountain groove like we’ve never heard before.
1996: SAM BUSH MAKES ROCKYGRASS DEBUT (21 YEARS AND COUNTING)
Nov. 3–5 2017
Tom Paxton & The Don Juans Darrell Scott Band • Cheryl Wheeler Donna The Buffalo Mark Erelli • Penny and Sparrow Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards Front Country • Cosy Sheridan Chastity Brown • Brock Zeman Quicksand Soup Festival Pass: $130 • Single Venue: $40
MoabFolkFestival.com
12th Annual
September 15-17, 2017 • Flagstaff, Arizona
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage ∙ Tim O’Brien The Drew Emmitt Band ∙ Mountain Heart Della Mae ∙ Balsam Range ∙ Town Mountain ∙ Foghorn Stringband The Colton House Trio featuring Chris Brashear, Peter McLaughlin & Todd Phillips Rapidgrass ∙ The Lil’ Smokies ∙ Burnett Family Bluegrass The Ping Brothers ∙ Mr Mudd & Mr. Gold ∙ Sugar & The Mint ∙ and more!
Tickets on sale now ∙ pickininthepines.org FORTY-FIFTTH ANNUAL ROCKYGRASS • JULY 28TH THROUGH 30TH
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45 t h
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The Infamous Stringdusters Friday 9:00 - 10:30pm
The Lonely Heartstring Band Saturday 11:30 - 12:30pm
Front Country Saturday 12:45 - 1:45pm
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The Infamous Stringdusters have worked hard to become the band they are now, a self-discovery process to which their seventh studio recording, Laws of Gravity bears witness. “We had much more of a vision for how we wanted this album to come together than we did with past projects,” explains Chris Pandolfi. “We got the music to a place where we knew we could go into the studio and just let it happen live.” Since their first RockyGrass appearance in 2006, Andy
Hall (dobro), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), and Travis Book (bass) have been a steady force, with formidable chops and endless enthusiasm on stage and insightful teaching at the RockyGrass Academy. Andy Falco adds, “We love playing together and that’s the reason we’ve been doing it for as long as we have.” Tonight, we’re lighting the stage specially for the ‘Dusters and their first headlining set on Planet Bluegrass.
Nourished by their deep roots in traditional American music, Bostonbased quintet The Lonely Heartstring Band embodies the modern American condition—an understanding and reverence for the past that informs a push into the future. Featuring George Clements (guitar), Patrick M’Gonigle (fiddle), Matt Witler (mandolin), Gabe Hirshfeld (banjo), and Charles Clements (bass), the band seamlessly blends cleanpicked instrumentals with airy 3-part
harmonies, clever arrangements, and a growing repertoire of fascinatingly original tunes. Joining forces in 2012 while students at Berklee College of Music (the same year Matt Witler won both the RockyGrass mandolin AND guitar contests), they have already earned a 2015 IBMA Momentum Award and critical praise for their engaging 2016 debut Deep Waters. Please make welcome, for their very first Planet Bluegrass performance, The Lonely Heartstring Band.
Front Country is hardly a “bluegrass Hailing from San Francisco, Front band.” Melody Walker (IBMA Vocalist Country described themselves as a Momentum Award winner) leans more “loose collection of musical misfits,” toward rock’n’roll with her soulful until they won the band contests at attack and effortless irreverence. the 2012 RockyGrass and then the Throw in Jacob Groopman (a guitar 2013 Telluride Bluegrass and began player with a background in rock and winning fans around the country. world music), Adam Roszkiewicz (a Their latest release, the song-centric, mandolinist with a degree in classical roots-pop Other Love Songs, is filled guitar), Leif Karlstrom (a classically- with skillful instrumentation and trained violinist), and Jeremy Darrow unique arrangements, proving that (a bassist rooted in jazz) and you’ve Front Country doesn’t worry about got a euphonic melting pot of sound. fitting into any mold.
2000: PERMANENT MAIN STAGE COMPLETED IN LYONS
JULY 28TH THROUGH 30TH
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45 t h
annual
Becky Buller Saturday 2:00 - 3:15pm
Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen Saturday 3:45 - 5:00pm
Kruger Brothers with the Kontras Quartet Saturday 5:30 - 6:45pm
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Just last year, Becky Buller made Bluegrass history by becoming the first person ever to win IBMA Awards in both instrumental AND vocal categories. But as is often the case, Becky’s overnight success story was 20 years in the making. Raised in St. James, MN, Becky grew up playing fiddle in a band with her parents. After college, Becky spent more than a decade as a member of Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike and Darin & Brooke Aldridge. All the while, Becky was busy writing,
recording, and successfully pitching her original songs to bluegrass’s biggest stars: Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson. Since 2015 the fierce fiery-haired fiddler has finally stepped into the spotlight to lead her own band—overnight success, indeed! This Saturday afternoon we celebrate Becky’s long-awaited Planet Bluegrass debut, with her band: Ned Luberecki (banjo), Dan Boner (guitar), Nate Lee (mandolin), and Daniel Hardin (bass).
With chops this hot, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen were named IBMA’s Instrumental Group of the Year for a second time in 2016. FS&DK’s critically acclaimed album Cold Spell earned a 2015 Grammy nomination, and the accolades continue. Since leaving the cold climes of Alaska for the bluegrass hotbed of Washington, D.C., Frank has built a reputation as a monster mandolinist and bandleader. With his bandmates Mike Munford (2013 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year),
Chris Luquette (guitarist and 2013 IBMA Instrumentalist Momentum Award winner), and newest member Jeremy Middleton (bass), Dirty Kitchen simmers a progressive bluegrass stew of infinite instrumental, vocal, and songwriting skills. Their respect and deep understanding of the tradition collides with jazz virtuosity, as captured on their latest Family, Friends & Heroes and their third appearance on the RockyGrass stage this Saturday afternoon.
“You boys just keep doing what you’re doing. Just play the music that you play, and people will love you for who you are.” Such was Doc Watson’s advice for his friends the Kruger Brothers—guitarist Uwe (“Oo’-vay”), banjoist Jens (“Yens”), and bassist Joel Landsberg. For the Swiss-raised brothers, American bluegrass and European classical—”Bach is pretty much our folk music, you know?” says Jens—are a natural fusion: unpretentious, cultivated, and delight-
fully fresh. Led by Uwe’s smooth baritone and Jens’ remarkable banjo (recipient of the 2013 Steve Martin Prize), the trio create gloriously inspired music, rich with romance and the sprawling American landscape. Joyous tears and goosebumps aren’t commonplace at RockyGrass, but they will be this afternoon as the Krugers are joined by the Chicago-based Kontras Quartet—violinists Dmitri Pogorelov and Francois Henkins, violist Ben Weber, and cellist Jean Hatmaker.
2004: HEAVY RAINS INSPIRE THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL NICKNAME: “SOGGYGRASS”
summer series
JUL 31
AUG 10
AUG 15+16
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
COLIN HAY W/ TRACE BUNDY
ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES • 8/15 W/ OTHER BLACK • 8/16 W/ DRAGONDEER
AUG 19
AUG 25
AUG 29
BLIND PILOT
THE STEELDRIVERS W/ GINNY MULES
THE GIPSY KINGS
SEP 8 SEP 3
SEP 1 TREVOR HALL
INDIGO GIRLS W/ BECKY WARREN
SEU JORGE THE LIFE AQUATIC: DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE
TICKETS: chautauqua.com
SEP 21 STEEP CANYON RANGERS W/ THE STEEL WHEELS
www.pcigrafx.com
CRIST MORTUARY
MOUNTAIN VIEW
SE N I OR L I V I N G
MEMORIAL PARK
900 BASELINE ROAD • BOULDER CO
coloradochautauqua
colochautauqua
45 t h
annual
Jerry Douglas & Edgar Meyer with special guest Odessa Settles
Saturday 7:15 - 8:30pm
Sam Bush Bluegrass Band Saturday 9:00 - 10:30pm
High Plains Tradition (gospel set)
Sunday 11:00 - Noon
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When we asked 14-time Grammy- Edgar Meyer (a 2002 MacArthur winner Jerry Douglas to create an “Genius” Award recipient) has been only-at-RockyGrass set in 2013 he called “the most remarkable virtuoso formed the Earls of Leicester. So with in the relatively un-chronicled history the bar set impossibly high, Jerry of [the upright bass]” (The New is excited to present this intimate Yorker). Among tonight’s special set of dobro and bass—and a few guests, they welcome gifted singer RockyGrass friends. On his 14 solo Odessa Settles, the daughter of albums (including this summer’s hotly legendary Fairfield Four member anticipated What If ) and 1,600+ other Walter Settles. As the sun sets this recordings, Jerry Douglas has proven Saturday, Jerry and Edgar invite you to himself the consummate collaborator. lean-in as they create space for soul, Jerry’s Telluride House Band-mate grace, and virtuosity. “Nobody loves, appreciates and respects traditional bluegrass more than I do,” says the legendary mandolin (and fiddle) prodigy from Kentucky. “But I know Bill Monroe always expected the rest of us to make our own sounds.” As the co-founder of seminal progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, an in-demand collaborator with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Lyle Lovett, and solo bandleader with 8 albums to his credit (including 2016’s rewarding Storyman),
Sam Bush is the big mon of 21st century ‘grass. His pocket-defining chop, shimmering full-arm tremolo, and cascading single-note improvisations incorporate all that came before— with an ear toward what is yet to come. On this Saturday night, Sam and his band—Scott Vestal (banjo), Stephen Mougin (guitar), Todd Parks (bass), and Chris Brown (percussion)— crack open the bluegrass songbook to celebrate RockyGrass’s ancient tones and future grooves.
On Sunday morning, we gather together along the baptismal waters of the St. Vrain to celebrate one of the Festival’s most sacred traditions: bluegrass gospel played by artists rooted in the mountains, plains, and prairies of our Centennial State. High Plains Tradition came together in 1987, as mandolinist Doug Elrick and bassist Kenny Pabst finished a 1-year hiatus from 5-time Rocky Mtn Bluegrass Festival alums A Grain of Salt. With Doug’s distinctive original
songs and Kenny’s solid rhythm and MC skills, the quintet earned spots on the final 3 Festivals at the Larimer County Fairgrounds (’89-’91). Thirty years and 5 albums later—including their stirring gospel collection Children Go—High Plains Tradition return to RockyGrass with band-mates Steve Gilmore (guitar), Mark Leslie (banjo), and Bobbie Vickery (fiddle) for a Sunday morning of spiritual bluegrass and soulful acapellas around a single microphone.
2007: WILDFLOWER PAVILION COMPLETED
45 t h
annual
Molsky’s Mountain Drifters Sunday 12:15 - 1:30pm
The Lil Smokies Sunday 1:45 - 3:00pm
Sister Sadie Sunday 3:15 - 4:30pm
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Twenty years ago, Bruce Molsky gave up his 9-to-5 to play music full-time. For the then 40-year-old fiddler/ singer it was the culmination of a long journey: raised a street kid in the Bronx, Bruce had a passion for Jimi Hendrix and plans to be an architect. But he traded college and big city life for a cold-water cabin in Virginia to surround himself with the pioneers of Appalachian mountain music. Now after 2 decades as a deeply revered solo performer (including 7 essential
albums), Bruce is fronting a band for the first time. Powered by the farranging musical palates of his two youthful bandmates: Stash Wyslouch (the acoustic-metal-grass guitarist who made his RockyGrass debut with the Deadly Gentlemen) and banjoist Allison de Groot (who caught Bruce’s attention by playing Lester Young solos on clawhammer banjo) the Mountain Drifters point to the future of rural, old-time music—tradition steeped in possibility.
With their roots submerged in the thick buttery mud of traditional bluegrass, The Lil Smokies have sonically blossomed into a leading player in the progressive acoustic sphere, creating a new and wholly unique, melody-driven sound of their own. The Missoula, MT quintet has been writing, touring, and playing to an ever-growing audience for the past 6 years, and the fruits of their labor recently culminated with wins at the 2015 Telluride Bluegrass Festival
band competition and the 2016 IBMA Momentum Award for Best Band. With a dynamic blend of traditional bluegrass, newgrass, a growing number of originals, sheer raw energy, and exquisite musicianship, Andy Dunnigan (dobro), Matt Cornette (banjo), Matt Rieger (guitar), Scott Parker (bass), and Jake Simpson (fiddle—and former Planet Bluegrass Ranch staffer!) weave seamlessly through genres, leaving behind melodies that will linger for days.
Raves Alison Krauss: “Sister Sadie is an inspiring musical collaboration bringing together some of the best women bluegrass music has ever claimed.” With a name inspired by the songs “Sis Draper” and “Little Sadie,” Sister Sadie is an all-female bluegrass supergroup created by accident. After an impromptu Christmas gig with friends at Nashville’s Station Inn, cell-phone videos started to circulate, along with calls for gigs. Although each musician had other projects,
Sisters Sadie decided to record a self-titled debut and perform for special occasions, to the delight of every known fan of trad bluegrass. Made up of 5-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley (guitar), Gena Britt (banjo), Tina Adair (mandolin), Deanie Richardson (fiddle), and Beth Lawrence (bass), Sister Sadie might just blow your hair back, a powerful steam engine barreling down the track, all the way from the RockyGrass stage.
2013: HISTORIC 500-YEAR FLOOD DEVASTATES LYONS AND PLANET BLUEGRASS
Farm Dinners and Workshops
FORTY-FIFTTH ANNUAL ROCKYGRASS • JULY 28TH THROUGH 30TH
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45 t h
annual
Peter Rowan Sunday 5:00 - 6:15pm
Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band Sunday 6:45 - 8:00pm
Del McCoury Band Sunday 8:30 - 10:00pm
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Grammy winner Peter Rowan is a decorated singer-songwriter with a legendary career. Whether singing and picking for Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, opening for The Doors as part of Earth Opera (with David Grisman), recording alongside Sir George Martin while a member of Seatrain, performing with Jerry Garcia in Old & In The Way, writing “Panama Red” for the New Riders Of The Purple Sage, or appearing on an Art Of Noise album, Peter has been recording and
entertaining for over 5 decades—with no sign of slowing down. Peter’s most recent release My Aloha! demonstrates how Hawaiian steel guitar and ukulele influenced bluegrass, folk, and country artists such as Bill Monroe. Join us in celebrating Peter’s 25th year on the RockyGrass stage, with his band: Michael Rowan (guitar), Chris Henry (mandolin), Blaine Sprouse (fiddle), Paul Knight (bass), Jamie Oldaker (percussion), and the ever-present Patrick Sauber (banjo).
Music pores out of Darrell Scott. A “Colorado (I Need Healing).” But whole-hearted songwriter and jaw- alas, there is wisdom in the 8-year dropping multi-instrumentalist who gap since his last RockyGrass moves fluidly from piano to plucking serenade: “I am travelling less these or sliding on anything with strings, days, trying to figure out how to be the Kentucky native debuted at the in this world music-ly, human-ly, at ’99 RockyGrass sharing duets with Tim this age, at this time.” Please join O’Brien. Since then he has released 10 us in welcoming Darrell’s soulful desert island-worthy albums; toured virtuosity back to RockyGrass, with with Robert Plant’s Band of Joy; and his bluegrass bandmates—Matt penned celebratory anthems like “It’s Flinner (mandolin & banjo), Shad a Great Day to Be Alive,” “Long Time Cobb (fiddle), Nick Forster (guitar & Gone,” and the Lyons-referencing mandolin), and Bryn Davies (bass). We cap the 45th RockyGrass with one of the most beloved bands in bluegrass. In 1963 Bill Monroe hired Del McCoury as a Blue Grass Boy. Chuckles Del: “The first time I ever played with him we just tuned up and walked out onstage and I had never played one note with him in my life.” Monroe soon made Del the lead singer and gave him a lifetime’s worth of bluegrass tutelage. Del remained for only a year, but that experience set him on a course as a bandleader, high lonesome singer,
and seeker of his own bluegrass sound. Now more than 50 years later, the 78-year-old has defined authenticity for hardcore bluegrassers—earning several Grammys and more than 30 IBMA awards (including membership in the Hall of Fame). This Sunday night Del and the boys—sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo), fiddler Jason Carter, and bassist Alan Bartram—fill the St. Vrain Valley with enough bluegrass truth to nourish us for another year.
2015: 42ND ROCKYGRASS NAMED IBMA’S EVENT OF THE YEAR
Rocky Mountain
Folks Festival August 18-20, 2017 3-day passes and single-day tickets still available!
The Song School
August 13-17, 2017 Sold-Out!
45th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival June 21-24, 2018
RockyGrass Academy July 22-26, 2018
46th Annual RockyGrass July 27-29, 2018
2018 Tickets
Visit Bluegrass.com in October for details about purchasing tickets through our online lotteries, including RockyGrass Academy and RockyGrass on-site camping. All other 2018 tickets go onsale in early December. Printed on FSC-certified 70# Neenah Conservation text - a 100% post-consumer recycled fiber, made with 100% renewable energy
SEE YOU AT THE 46TH ANNUAL ROCKYGRASS: JULY 27-29, 2018!
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