Meltdown turns 20, Lucky  Tubb and Spring Hoedown

by Chris Aaland

Tennessee-based Blue Highway headlines the 20th annual Durango Bluegrass Meltdown.

Yee haw! The Durango Bluegrass Meltdown turns 20, with picking all weekend at such venues as the Henry Strater Theatre, Durango Arts Center, Wild Horse Saloon, Durango Elks Lodge and the Discovery Museum. Tickets may still be available by the time you read this, but as of Monday, just 75 weekend passes remained.

Meltdown pulled out all the stops for its big anniversary, namely by booking Grammy-nominated Blue Highway. This Tennessee-based quintet – an all-star ensemble – played the second annual Meltdown way back in 1996. Another popular headliner is Town Mountain, which makes regular stops in Durango. They’ve won the hearts of local fans by playing hard-driving, honky-tonk Carolina bluegrass. While I’m a longtime fan of both bands, I’m especially looking forward to the Earl Brothers. In the past 12 years, they’ve drawn critical praise for their old-timey, outlaw hillbilly music. They’re rough around the edges, more like the raw Stanley Brothers than the polished Bill Monroe. Bluegrass Unlimited dubbed bandleader Robert Earl Davis “The Hillbilly Hero.”

A newcomer to the bluegrass world (at least collectively; individually, its members are quite familiar) is the Ruined Nation Boys. Guitarist David Richey and mandolin player Jordan Ramsey drive the band with their brother-style duets. Rounding out the quartet are banjo plucker Keith Reed (of Open Road) and bassist Evan Neal (Lonesome Traveler). And it wouldn’t be Colorado bluegrass without fiddle, so joining them in Durango is festival favorite Justin Hoffenberg. Other top regional acts include Jeff Scroggins & Colorado (making an encore appearance after stealing hearts a year ago), the Boulder-based Railsplitters (band competition winners at Pickin’ in the Pines in 2012 and RockyGrass in 2013), Benny “Burle” Galloway & Jordan Ramsey, Grand Junction newgrassers Stray Grass, Arizona’s Pick & Holler, the Colorado College Bluegrass Ensemble (their 2 p.m. Saturday set will be broadcast live by KSUT) and Celtdown headliners the Knockabouts.

On the local front, the Six Dollar String Band holds down the Meltdown’s Old-Time Barn Dance at the Durango Elks Lodge on Saturday night (joined by Pick & Holler), while the Badly Bent makes its festival return after a three-year hiatus. Also of note is a 2 p.m. Sunday set by the Lawn Chair Kings in which bandleader Erik Nordstrom promises a set heavy with original material. Other local acts include the Scrugglers, the Clods, the Blue Moon Ramblers, Running Out of Road, Giants Dance, Chokecherry Jam and many more.

For those who may have missed out on the weekend passes, local rockers Papa Otis, headed up by singer-drummer Steve Mendias, and the Flume Canyon Boys team up for a free olde-tyme mountain stomp style /jam sesh at Magpie’s on Sunday at noon. Think Old Crow Medicine Show.

The Animas City Theatre screens “The Tao of Bluegrass: A Portrait of Peter Rowan” at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Produced by Pagosa filmmaker and documentarian Christine Funk, the film weaves together what Rowan learned from Bill Monroe and how his spiritual side has created space to absorb other cultures, resulting in the creation of new sounds. Musicians he has played with over the years – including Steve Earle, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, Vassar Clements and countless others – were interviewed for the project.

Lucky Tubb plays Crash Music at the Aztec Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tubb’s family roots run deep: great uncle Ernest was one of country music’s first icons, while uncle Justin scored several major hits in the 1950s and ’60s. Lucky has several CDs, including “Del Gaucho,” which is one of my favorites from the past five years. It’s hard-core honky-tonk in the vein of Wayne Hancock and Dale Watson.

The California Guitar Trio brings dynamic playing to the Concert Hall 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The trio, which includes guitarists from Belgium, Japan and Utah, fuses classical, blues, jazz, world music, surf and more.

Greater Dolores Action presents the 10th annual Telluride MountainFilm on Tour and Great Outdoors silent auction from 5:30-10 p.m. Friday at the Dolores Community Center. The highlight of this year’s event will be a screening of “The Telluride MountainFilm on Tour,” a compilation of award-winning films. The silent auction features a vast selection of outdoor recreational and river gear from your favorite outdoor companies as well as many unique goods from local vendors. All proceeds benefit the Dolores River Festival and local river projects.

Finally, the Mancos Opera House hosts the second annual Spring Hoedown at 5 p.m. Saturday. Sand Sheff & the Desert Mongers, Carute Roma, and Carla Roberts & the Wild West Square Dancing Hoedown will all perform.

I’m changing up the Top Shelf list this week, giving local music personalities a chance to share their all-time favorite albums. In honor of the Meltdown, the festival’s vice president, Elwin Johnston, is leading off. Johnston compared this exercise to picking which of his children he loves the most. “For me, it was always the Beatles, then the Band, then everyone else,” he said. Here’s Uncle E’s Top 10, in no particular order:

1. “The Beatles” (aka “The White Album”), The Beatles, 1968.  We didn’t know how good it was when it came out.

2. “The Band” (aka “The Brown Album”), The Band, 1969. Like most of these, I wore my vinyl out.

3. “Dark Side of the Moon,” Pink Floyd, 1973. This album sold more than 50 million copies.

4. “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,” Neil Young, 1969. I still play this every week.

5. “Highway 61 Revisited,” Bob Dylan, 1965. I finally start paying attention to Bob Dylan.

6.  “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and many others, 1972. I really started paying attention to bluegrass. First introduction to my hero, Doc Watson.

7. “Red Headed Stranger,” Willie Nelson, 1975. This was a real departure for Willie at the time and still my favorite album of his.

8. “Kind of Blue,” Miles Davis, 1959. With Coltrane, Cannonball and Bill Evans. I never travel without it.

9. “The Crossing,” Tim O’Brien, 1999. Not his Grammy winner, but still my favorite work of Tim’s.

10. “The Mountain,” Steve Earle & the Del McCoury Band, 1999. Steve’s tribute to Bill Monroe, every song a keeper.

Johnston lamented the inclusion of just 10 . “No room  for “How Will the Wolf Survive?” by Los Lobos; Santana’s first album; the Allman Brothers “At Fillmore East;” and the Moody Blues’ “On the Threshold of a Dream” and “Chicago Transit Authority.”

The doctor came in stinking of gin?  Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.