The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, now in its 14th year, is an annual festival held beneath the magnificent backdrop of the San Juan Mountains. The festival is held in Telluride Town Park, and is organized with roominess in mind, as the open grassy area offers plenty of room for dropping down blankets and chairs with a great view of the single stage from anywhere within the park.
As you work your way closer to the stage, there’s an area up front with plenty of room to move about. Immediately upon entering the concert grounds, you can tell Telluride Blues and Brews is one thought out festival. The grounds are clean, while food vendors bring your typical festival grub… pizza, noodles, wraps, BBQ, a various assortment of non-alcoholic beverages, and the camping is merely a walk (or drunken stumble) from the festival. If you’re not down with camping, you can spend a few more bucks and get a nice little mountain chalet nearby. This year’s festival brought a great mix of both young and old, who were all in great spirits… a kind of mellow intoxication that just fit right into the beautiful Telluride surroundings.
Not all ticket-holders could make all the shows Friday, as people poured into the camp ground all day, but Robert Randolph & The Family Band’s performance that night was the funkiest throw-down at the festival. The pedal steel great got everyone moving and excited for the next two days of great music.
Saturday consisted of an all star cast of beers. Approximately 50 breweries from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Georgia set the (beer) stage for a day of tasty beverages beneath an equally all star cast of blues music, including powerful sets by Ana Popovic and Keb Mo. Some brewers offered special seasonal brews, while others offered standard flavors, as IPA, Stouts, Browns and Blondes were namesakes often overheard. Some breweries like Bull & Bush out of Denver went to the extent of offering beers so unique, that they only had enough for the first 50 people in line. Doesn’t sound like a good marketing plan right? You say everyone goes to a beer fest to drink as much as possible? Guess not… The line for Bull and Bush was packed the entire day, and rightfully so.
Everyone was able to shake off their hangovers with Erica Brown’s Band, which included her daughter, and gospel music that sang to the heavens and as a matter of fact, opened them up. The rain had been pretty tame up until this point, until the thunder, lighting and sideways rain arrived, but subsided before her set was over.
As always, the Telluride Blues and Brews festival of 2007 brought blues musicians and fans of both old and young from around the country. But this year’s festival brought one of the last of his kind… David “Honeyboy” Edwards. Honeyboy is one of the last remaining acoustic Delta Bluesman, from a time when names like Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Willie Brown and Robert Johnson were distinctive with the blues.
"Honeyboy" Edwards, who now resides in Chicago, played Sunday afternoon to a damp yet receptive Telluride crowd. With his slow but steady stagger, leathered skin and a presence that was reminiscent of the Old South, the 92 year old blues legend made his way to the stage. Slide in one hand, guitar in lap, and a shout of “Ya’ll ready for the blues?,” Honeyboy began wailing and reminiscing about a rougher but simpler time for music. His set brought along a piece of blues history to Telluride that many of us may never get the opportunity to see and hear again in person.
That said, the next bands held their own and put on shows not to be missed. Eric Lindell & JJ Grey with Mofro established that you don’t have to be a blues legend to tear it up. The Radiators with Bonerama crammed up the whole stage with funky blues, playing songs from both artists’ catalogs. In the end, The Black Crowes put on a rockin’, yet familiar show to shut the festival down, as the rain started during the end of their set and didn’t stop until Monday afternoon.
In a crowded festival scene, The Telluride Blues & Brews festival remains as one of the most unique and pristine. The setting of Telluride itself makes for a great weekend, but include tasty beers with stellar blues, and a memorable weekend is automatic.
Next year’s 15th Annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival takes place September 12, 13, 14, 2008. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 3, 2008. Visit Telluride Blues and Brews Festival for more information.
