I had been looking to take a trip to Colorado this fall to visit a friend in Boulder and my brother in Telluride, so when I discovered a unique opportunity to combine my trip with a nice pairing of blues and brews, it seemed like the perfect weekend. And I was not disappointed.
Telluride, a small mining town beautifully situated in a box canyon high in the San Juan Mountains, is intimately placed, with a winding, two-lane road from Grand Junction the only way to get there. And the town itself is small enough that getting around is relatively easy by foot, with gondola service to Mountain Village (which is where we stayed for the weekend), thereby allowing you to park your car and forget about it for a few days. An added bonus for an annual event like the Blues and Brews Festival.
Due to some unwelcome construction, we arrived on Friday later than anticipated, but managed to pick up the festival on the radio, and still got to the site in time for G. Love &Special Sauce. The headliner for Friday night, Joe Cocker, ultimately ended up being the highlight of the weekend, as the 59-year-old rocker belted out everybody’s favorite tunes, with that deep voice and passion fans have been enjoying since before Woodstock.
The second day of the festival opened at noon on Saturday with the Grand Tasting. Over 50 breweries were present to provide the festivalgoers with free beer for three hours. Everyone was provided a 4-ounce souvenir glass to assist with the mass consumption, and though small, each brewery had two lines so the waits were never more than 5 minutes for a beer. No surprise, the common theme quickly became, get a beer, get into another line, and by the time you got to the front you were ready for another. Rory Block and Kenny Neal provided the background music on stage while the sampling continued.
In the late afternoon, the North Mississippi Allstars followed by headliner, Buddy Guy, provided solid sets as another beautiful 60 degree and sunny day in Telluride came to a close. And despite solid performances by Karl Denson and The Allman Brothers Sunday’s highlight, was Charlie Musselwhite’s set. The award winning, Grammy nominated bluesman delivered all that this unique festival brings to mind.
Well-run, plenty of sanitary facilities, an excellent array of food, a number of bands playing, and live clubs going well into the evening, it was one of the better festivals I have ever been to. A nice change in a summer season that saw a rapid demise in festivals from previous years.
I have this strange feeling I could be back in Telluride same time next year.
