Kala & I went to the Bluebird Music Festival, as we sometimes do, @ Mackey Auditorium on CU campus in Boulder, CO. The festival was all around consistently excellent with good musicians with good voices singing good songs they'd written ~ largely Americana. Net proceeds go to a good cause as well ~ getting instruments and instruction to kids of 1st responders and the like. We did our duty of early arrival for the sessions in order to be able to score front row center seats that I prefer in this nice hall. Bluebird has a smidge of a strange entry format that requires VIP tix holders, as we were, to enter the hall and, in GA fashion, clamor for seating in the first 12 rows. We were basically 4th in line both days ~ that's a big commitment of standing around for hours outside the venue and I do not prefer it but its in addition to the price.
Cody Sisters & Emelese... the lineup was heavily represented by artists from Colorado and North Carolina. Openers Cody Sisters with Emeliese are from Colorado. They played excellent alt bluegrass. Emelese's voice is very strong and her songwriting apt, and she's been dubbed "one to watch" nationally for a while, she's performed since she was 13. The Cody Sisters Megan and Maddie with Will Pavolonis on bass are great too and the three ladies did some keen harmonies. We thought, wow if these guys are openers were are in for a great show, and we were.
Daniel Rodriguez... is also a Denver, CO guy, and former member of The Elephant Revival. He sang and played beautifully a set of folk tunes. They were pretty simple but the band was tight with his bass guy often delivering great accompanying vocals. The drummer kept a solid muted beat and added a good 3rd part harmony on occasion. Worth it.
HISS Golden Messenger... is an accomplished Durham, NC folk artist with sharp songwriting and a good voice, even now as an elder. Not completely in my wheelhouse but NC stuff is often compelling, as were his songs and schtick.
Bruce Hornsby... Virginia born and still, Hornsby is a well-known and prolific (23rd album just dropped) and versatile artist. From current alt bluegrass with band The Noisemakers to 8 years with the Grateful Dead to Grammys won with BH & The Range he's very accomplished. His set was solo at a Steinway grand where he displayed mad skills throughout a range of styles. His voice is "OK" but his songwriting and catalog is long. We thought he was great and killer close to the day's performances.
A great day at the Bluegird Music Fest was culminated with nitecaps with our great friend Leslie Wilke, who was also hosting us while we're in Boulder. Thanks. We arose Easter Sunday with a booking for a fine breakfast at the Boulderado with Leslie. After some Boulder Benedicts consumed we headed to the new Moxy hotel in Boulder to check it out. It was cool and larger than the one at which we stayed in Chattanooga.
Neffy... After coffee at the Moxy we parted from Les to pay homage to the live music queue gods again. The afternoon sets on Sunday are about telling stories about your songs. First up was Neffy, the 2021 winner of NPR's Tiny Desk Contest. Her winning song was good; her voice was soulful and nice; her writing was good, but not completely in my standard music.
HISS Golden Messenger... He was up again for this section and again he performed well. The issue here was that he played the exact same set he had the day prior, and he even used the same intro stories on the songs... somewhat of a gaffe IMO.
Tallest Man On Earth... This Swedish super-entertainer was fun and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist. He wasn't even the tallest guy on stage but whatever; he'd been one of the artists at the original Bluebird Fest 8 years ago. He had good and funny stories to accompany his songs, which were fun and sung well. It was a very strong and fun set.
Watchhouse... Ok, now we're talking ~ for me this is the duo that solidified my purchase of '25 tickets. Well, along with Mipso, who unfortunately scratched. Formerly Mandolin Orange, they are an awesome couple from North Caroline with strong bluegrass years, keen sad songwriting, often from Andrew, and great musicianship and singing. There set was excellent with plenty of unexpected stuff. After their introduction by the festival's founder who admitted their songs were playing in the room when his child was born, Andrew admitted he didn't fully understand the relationship between "musicians and their music listeners." As mentioned, Andrew writes some sad stuff. Andrew's mandolin is excellent and we were happy to see he even brought his Octave Mandola to play. Emily is a great musician too, wielding a fiddle or guitar most often, and she has a beautiful voice IMO. It was a great set from which I actually recorded a "never played live @ shows and never recorded (till now - heh heh)" original bluegrass tune of Andrew's from 12 years ago.
Anyway... you know me and live music so yeah... seated enjoyment with Kala at my side and awesome artists playing and singing for us ~ it was gr8. Next up this week is Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers.
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