...just returned from nearly a week in Telluride, Co. representing Zeta Musical Instruments, the company that i work for building electric violins, violas, celli and upright basses...we also dabble in resonator guitars and mandolins, but on a very limited basis...recently built a number of guitars for Bruce Springsteen and Nils Lofgren and even added electronics to a dulcimer for Cyndi Lauper...never a dull moment at the Zeta shop...if it has strings on it, our fearless leader Kozy can figure out a way to build a pickup for it so you can plug it in and turn it up to 11...
...anyway...was at our booth most of the time during the day except to dash off for a piss or grab a bowl of lentils and rice (good veggie Indian food right next door...well, it was a tent and technically didn't have a door, but "right next flap" doesn't sound right)...in the sponsor's tent were a number of other instrument makers and factory reps and such...Martin and Gibson were the two major companies and then there were several other smaller esoteric manufacturers in addition to Zeta...Shanti Guitars built by Michael Hornick from northern California, AMAZING hand-crafted pieces of musical art...and they sound better than they look...San Juan Mandolins made by Bobby Wintringham of Dolores, Co. which rival instruments made by anyone on the planet...and speaking of the planet, all the staff from Planet Bluegrass are the best...Steve,Wendy, Pete, Pat and numerous others put on one of the greatest festivals of any type, anywhere...and hats off to the over three hundred volunteers who keep things running smoothly...the stage and sound crew is also top notch...every band hit the stage right on time and the mix was always tight (though, dare i say it?...it was a bit loud for this reporter on a couple of occasions...and "too loud" are generally not two words that i use together...)
...being in the tent during the day, i missed seeing a number of acts that i would have liked to have seen, but i could hear some of them quite well except when there were novice bluegrassers in the tent, wanking away on banjos, guitars and mandolins...it got to be quite the din sometimes so i just stuffed in my handy earplugs...Arlo Guthrie was one i hoped to check out and unfortunately, nearly half of his set was drowned out by the above-mentioned wankers...
...was able to check out one whole set each night after closing the booth and having supper...it was cool being there on the company dime and having all access passes and all that good shit...
...so we were always able to get seats in the VIP section, though one had to be there and stake out a place in the queue early to assure getting prime viewing and listening location...first night saw Ani DiFranco and her Band...yeah, they have other stuff other than traditional bluegrass, which i'm very glad about...at this moment, i think if i heard another banjo my brain would blow like twin geysers from both ears...Ani was an electric bundle of energy from the second she hit the stage...love her aggressive syncopated guitar style...and the band rocked...
...second night saw newcomer Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer/songwriter...and rocker!...great singer, and a tight little four-piece rock & roll band...two guitars, bass and drums...it's all you really need...after Paolo, we checked out Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby jamming together with Kentucky Thunder...another killer band...violinist Andy Leftwich is from a totally different fuckin' planet or something...they closed their show with a raved-up bluegrass version of Super Freak...very cool...
...day three brought another good bunch of bands to the stage...heard parts of the sets by Tift Merritt and the Jerry Douglas Band...saw Tift on Austin City Limits sometime back...another great singer/songwriter...and Jerry is probabaly the best dobro player working today...and he's a fellow Buckeye!...after supper caught most of the set by another young singer/songwriter from California named Brett Dennen...very captivating vocal style and songs with some serious social/political commentary...this was followed by the Sam Bush Band...Sam has pushed mandolin into genres where it had never before traversed...pick a style of music, Sam and his band visit it during the show at least once...
...on day four, Sunday, the first act in the morning was R&B legend Solomon Burke...funky, funky, funky...like goin' to church without all the pompous preachin'...Canadian band, The Duhks followed with their blend of celtic, cajun and worldbeat music...will definitely add some of their recordings to the library...early evening show was The Swell Season, featuring Glen Hansard (from Irish band 'The Frames') and Marketa Irglova doing music from their Oscar-winning film "Once"...this was the musical highlight of the festival for me...it was one of those shows where time stood still and it was over almost before it began...each of their voices wrapped around the other and created a new vibration that is still reverberating in my head...and Glen Hansard's acoustic guitar playing is amazing to hear and to watch...
...ahh...so many new CDs to buy now...

...more about the festival and pictures to come...