Once again music lovers and beer enthusiasts alike found their way to Telluride Town Park for the 17th Annual Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. Not just any mountain town can pull off three days of blues, great beer with not a drop of snow, sleet or rain in sight. Telluride couldn’t have dreamed of better weather for this year’s festival. Maybe it was mother nature’s way of saying thanks for making this year’s event the greenest of them all. Over 26 metric tons of carbon waste was offset this year through use of solar cells, recycling efforts and transportation coordination.
Friday kicked off the first day as great tunes and smells filled the air. A day scattered with acts like The Dana Fuchs Band and Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl, not to mention a great lineup of both food and beer venders. By the time the headliner George Thorogood and the Destroyers hit the stage, most of the crowd had arrived for their annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains. The evening ended with classics “I Drink Alone” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” as Thorogood finished up day one.
Day two in Telluride brings no wimps, whiners or hangovers. Only beaming, smiling faces that begin to line up at 8am for the gates that don’t open until 11am. Everyone jockeying for two spots: one to set up a blues base camp and the other in line at a favorite brewery to get a taste of some very limited samplings of 4oz tastings of something memorable or possibly even forgettable. As always, this year’s Grand Tasting was filled with a cornucopia of Porters, Pales, IPAs and APAs. A preverbal playground for the pallet served with a course of the blues. As goers sipped on Spruce Tip Ales and Three Pin Pales, the sounds of Cedric Burnside and Lightnin Malcolm echoed through the mountains. As the tasting wound down, the music headed down south with Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience, followed by JJ Grey and Mofro with their southern style swamp sound.
The winner of the 2010 IBCA Corey Mon delighted the crowd with a short set showcasing his acoustic guitar thumping and soulful lyrics. And although the headliners were yet to come, you could almost feel asses beginning to shake as Galactic approached the stage. They provided an extra offering of New Orleans as Cyril Neville and Corey Henry of the Re-Birth Brass Band shared the stage. As the sun set and temps dropped everyone began to layer up, only to be re-warmed by the smoking guitar riffs of Derek Trucks and soulful voice of his wife Susan Tedeschi.
Day three always starts with souls that are a bit worn thin. But at the Telluride Blues and Brews, Sunday also means gospel. The morning started with the sounds of Otis Taylor, Chuck Campbell and the Sheryl Renee Choir. T-Model Ford then brought on the oldest and youngest combo in Blues and Brews history to the stage. T-Model in his 90s and having just suffered from a stroke was joined on stage by his 12 year old grandson on drums. Following his set, The Beth Hart Band hit the stage with a sound that seemed to literally pick up goers as to almost give them a “wake the hell up” shake. The two toned hair Hart threw down an emotional version of the classic “Soulshine” only to be called back for the first encore of the afternoon. Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears kept the momentum going with a ripp’n horn section.
As the final day wound down, it was time for the king to arrive. After a ten minute intro and a slow swagger, the mayor of the blues, BB King graced the stage. Only a few after his 85th birthday, the crowd sang happy birthday to BB as he was presented a cake closely resembling Lucille. As BB worked his magic, many on-lookers wondered in amazement where the riffs still come from and how many more times they’ll get the honor of being within ears reach of Lucille & the Legend. And so it closed another three days of music beer and sunshine, as each Telluride Blues and Brews fest continues to top the last. Mark your calendars for next year’s event – September 18-21, 2011, same spot, same magical place.
