Meltdown, spring flings and liquid marijuana

by Chris Aaland

The planets, indeed, have aligned this year. The 18th annual Durango Bluegrass Meltdown falls on the same weekend as 420 Day and Earth Day, meaning you can smoke your fill of Sunset Kush, pound pints of lemon-garnished Durango Wheat, boogie to some banjo and then compost your seeds, stems and lemon rinds at Sunday’s Earth Day Chicken Chase at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.

Unless you possess the same lack of musical taste of those Farmington gangsta wannabes who trash downtown Durango bars with graffiti and shoot up the joint each weekend, then Meltdown is D-Town’s greatest music weekend of the year. And what a deal: Three days, three main venues, picking from sun-up through the wee hours of the morning, all for the dirt-cheap price of $50. In the big city, tickets for a 75-minute set of music and the obligatory encore set you back twice as much.

Charlie Sizemore, one of the many notable performers at this weekend's Bluegrass Meltdown

Word of advice: Don’t miss this year’s headliners, Charlie Sizemore, Chatham County Line, the Freight Hoppers and Calahan Morrison & Eli West.

There’s no doubting Sizemore’s roots. At age 17, he replaced the late Keith Whitley in Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys and gave the elder statesman of bluegrass nearly a decade’s worth of picking and singing. Stanley called him one of the finest lead vocalists he’s employed through the years.
This is the third time around for Chatham County Line, a bluegrassy vehicle for the brilliant songwriting of Dave Wilson. Don’t think these North Carolinians are one-trick ponies, though. With John Teer (mandolin, fiddle), Chandler Holt (banjo) and Greg Readling (bass, pedal steel), they’re equally adept at other Americana forms as they are traditional bluegrass.

The Freight Hoppers are an old-time quartet that stole the show last year and are back for an encore. With one foot rooted firmly in the music of the 1920s and the other in the present, they’re guaranteed to satisfy.

I’m also looking forward to the old-time warmth of Morrison and West, a duo I know very little about but am intrigued by. There are also scores of local and regional acts, too. Visit www.durangomeltdown.com for a full lineup.

The Summit’s lineup this week follows the Meltdown theme, with Kentucky Deluxe tonight (Thurs., April 19), Waiting on Trial and the Six Dollar String Band on Friday and the Scrugglers Saturday. All three events are free.

Pueblo Community College hosts the Green Spring Fling from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday at Buckley Park. Psychedelic Mojo and Mysto the Magi will perform, plus there is local food and vendors, free kids’ activities, dance performances, Udo the Police Dog, and more. Free fun for the whole family!

Want to hijack the KDUR airwaves this summer? Then show up at the KDUR DJ application meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in 125 Noble Hall on campus.
This week’s lineup at Moe’s includes Salsa Night with DJ Soultron from 8 ‘til close tonight (Thurs., April 19); the All-City DJ Battle hosted by Treazon from 9 ‘til close Saturday; Sunday’s Jazz Church (6-9 p.m.) and Musica Del Mundo (9 ‘til close); and Tuesday’s open mic night. Extra special is Friday’s 420 party featuring $3 liquid marijuana from 8 ‘til close.

Also of note: Tony Rosario plays blues and soul at tonight’s Ska-B-Q and the Kirk James Blues Band rocks the Wines of the San Juan “After Tax Spring Fling” from 1-5 p.m. Saturday in Blanco, N.M.

In honor of the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, this week’s Top Shelf list recruited longtime Meltdown president Elwin Johnston to recall highlights from festivals past. “Of all the fun we’ve had at the Meltdown over the years, I noticed I had begun to refer to a few special times as ‘Meltdown Moments,’” said Johnston. “It was hard to pare the list down to 10, but here you go.”

10. Though not quite a “moment,” I have to start the list with watching a young and longhaired David Smith evolve from undependable volunteer into family man and essential board member for many years. (Aaland’s note: Smitty is stuck in North Dakota watching mustard plants bloom this spring.)
9. Rhonda Vincent and the Rage coming to town in 1999. We had already booked Ron Spears, who subsequently joined the Rage. When told of the commitment, she agreed to play shows in these small venues for the weekend. It was quite a coup for the Meltdown.
8. Nashville Bluegrass Band in 1998. Again, hard to believe we had these guys at our still relatively new festival. I felt the same when we booked James King and Lynn Morris.
7. In 2000, Keltica, a Celtic band from Moab, needed a fill-in bass player for an early set. Answering the call? None other than Ralph Dinosaur, resplendent in a pink frock, combat boots and a five o’clock shadow. He didn’t miss a note.
6. Nicky Sanders of the Steep Canyon Rangers, playing nonstop Dylan tunes on accordion in the lobby of the Strater in the wee hours of the morning in 2006.
5. The Stringdusters, before they were Infamous, playing their first Colorado gig. Our lineup that year was set, but knowing these guys were going to be big, we produced a special Friday concert at the Abbey Theatre in 2006.
4. O Brother Tribute, 2004. The movie and the music were huge at the time. While announcing the next band at the Strater, I squinted into the audience and yelled, “Hot Dayam! It’s the Soggy Bottom Boys!” as Big Timbre members Eric Jones, Tall Paul and Robert Rosenberg came down the aisle in full costume, took the stage and ripped into “Man of Constant Sorrow.” It brought the house down.
3. Staying in the Louis L’Amour room in 2004 (above the Belle), rousing the LJM at 3 a.m. to a room of revelers, and shoving a flask into his paw. Then five hours later, pouring rounds of Bloody Marys courtesy of a certain Telegraph columnist and his cooler filled with more garnishes than a chef’s salad.
2. Headquarters 2000. Jeff White, Pete Wernick, Mike Bub and Jeff Guernsey swapped instruments randomly, enjoying their reunion and developing set lists for the weekend.
1. In 2002, Wernick orchestrated our Super Jam at the Abbey. He paired two childhood festival friends, Michael Cleveland and Casey Driessen, both taking their turns on fiddle. Man, they burned down the house!

Coffee, tea or something stronger? E-mail me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.