Concerts in the park and Nth Power

by Chris Aaland

And so the festival wheel lands in San Miguel County this weekend … this time at the region’s biggest event, the 42nd annual Telluride Bluegrass. While this year’s unusually wet spring has added to snowpack, river flows and lake levels – not to mention keeping gardens in full bloom even though parts of the county remain under tight water restrictions (read: subdivisions receiving their water from Lake Durango) – the arrival of the summer solstice hints at clear skies, temperatures in the 80s and only a miniscule chance of moisture.

This year’s T-Ride – my 19th consecutive jaunt to Town Park – promises to offer much of the same (Sam, Béla, Jerry, Edgar, Tim, Peter, Salmon and Yonder are all back, per norm), with a few new twists. Sure, it’s long-since sold out. But with a little faith, you can always score four-day and single-day passes from the bulletin board at the ticket gate.

Funky supergroup Nth Power plays the ACT on Wed. June 24.

Sunday also affords you the opportunity to celebrate both the Summer Solstice and Father’s Day in the majestic San Juans. For our crew, it’s an excuse to devour a spectacular Sunday brunch in front of world-class talent. Past brunches have included poached salmon, fried oyster po’ boys, smoked pheasant gumbo and more. This year, it’s a pie theme. Roast beef pie. Pheasant pot pie. Rhubarb-strawberry pie. Gluttony.

I’ll share my anticipated highlights in this week’s list at the end of the column.

If you’re sticking around town this weekend, celebrate the arrival of summer with the Solstice release of Ska’s Estival Cream Stout. And it’s Father’s Day, so toast Dad with a pint of the sweet, stout goodness. The Afrobeatniks provide the tunes, and food specials are also on the bill. The shindig goes down from 1-4 in the afternoon.

Durango Massive welcomes the funky supergroup the Nth Power on Wednesday. This group combines veterans of Dumpstaphunk and Beyonce’s band (drummer Nikki Glaspie); John Brown’s Body (bassist Nate Edgar); Lettuce and the Warren Haynes Band (vocalist/singer Nigel Hall); Toubab Krewe (West African djembe master Weedie Braimah); and Big Daddy Kane (guitarist Nick Cassarino). Local music fans certainly know of Glaspie and Hall for their performances in Town Park with Dumpstaphunk and Lettuce, respectively, at recent Telluride Jazz and Blues & Brews festivals. Doors open at 8:30.

The Community Concert Hall and Alpine Bank team up again this summer for free Concerts in the Park from 5:30-7:30 p.m. each Thursday in Buckley Park. No tickets are necessary; bring your own chairs and blankets for seating. Picnics are encouraged, although Fired Up Pizza will have a food cart at the park for those wanting to purchase a slice or two. Local jam band SkyPilot opens the series tonight (Thurs., June 18). The quartet – Chad MacCluskey (guitar), Ryan McCurry (keys), Aaron Lombardo (drums) and Jim Belcher (bass) – have played throughout the region for four years and are currently working on their first recording.

This week’s Top Shelf list features 10 sets I won’t be missing at Telluride this year:

1. Robert Earl Keen (2 p.m. today), who makes a rare appearance at Bluegrass … and a timely one, as the case may be. REK recently released “Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions,” a record that visits some of the high-and-lonesome tunes of his youth. Sure, he’s built a reputation on churning out an exceptional string of original tunes the past 30 years – rivaled, perhaps, only by fellow Texans Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Lyle Lovett.

2. Rhiannon Giddens (3:45 p.m. today). She cut her teeth with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a high-energy, African-American, old-time string band. Giddens’ solo debut, released last fall, is a gem that belongs in your collection.

3. Hot Rize (5:30 p.m. today). These guys are Colorado legends, and last year’s “When I’m Free” album was among my favorites of 2014. Their Community Concert Hall set last year was epic.

4. Steep Canyon Rangers (2:15 p.m. Saturday). A traditional bluegrass band in Telluride? With no Del McCoury this year, SCR steps up to fill that role. Durango audiences have known for decades that Charles, Woody, Graham, Mike and Nicky are the real deal. A half-decade as Steve Martin’s backing band has introduced them to hundreds of thousands of new converts.

5. Yonder Mountain String Band (4 p.m. Saturday). With the departure of Jeff Austin to a solo career, Yonder has returned to its bluegrass roots with its finest record in a decade. Strangely, Austin, too, benefited from the split. His new work is the most interesting stuff he’s done in ages, too, though you won’t find him in Telluride this Summer Solstice.

6. Lake Street Dive (6:15 p.m. Saturday). Last summer, KSUT brought this hipster quartet to town for a wild night on the Smiley Building Lawn. One of their best cuts is a cover of Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl” … Let’s hope John Oates, the Lilliputian guitarist and singer who lives in Ridgway, makes the trek over the Dallas Divide to join them on the Fred Shellman Stage.

7. Leftover Salmon (9:30 p.m. Saturday). Sure, adding a ringer like keyboardist Bill Payne of Little Feat fame never hurts. But the Salmon vehicle is fueled by Andy Thorn’s banjo energy, which has breathed new life into co-frontmen Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt. Anyone who caught their Animas City Theatre gigs the past two winters can certainly attest to this.

8. The Fairfield Four with the McCrary Sisters (10:45 a.m. Sunday). Gospel shows in Telluride tend to run the gamut from country-based gospel to Tibetan monks to old-school, blues-infused from Memphis and Mississippi. This pairing is certainly the latter. Whenever the Fairfield Four belts out the good word, even heathens like me stand up and shout.

9. Brett Dennen (2:15 p.m. Sunday). I always lumped Dennen into the KBCO style of AAA radio that overplays Jack Johnson and John Mayer. But after listening to a few of his albums, I’m intrigued enough to climb into the poser pit for a front row seat.

10. Ry Cooder, Sharon White & Ricky Skaggs (9:15 p.m. Sunday). Two bluegrass legends share the stage with a bona-fide blues-rock guitar god to wrap the whole thing up. I’ve seen Ricky & the Whites numerous times, but only recently have I been turned on to Cooder classics like 1974’s “Paradise and Lunch.”

Gonna rise up? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.