With most eyes of the music world on ‘roo hullabaloo and all of its showy splendor, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which takes place this weekend June 18-21, has quietly assembled one of the most electric lineups of the summer. As we can all attest, festival functionality tends to improve with age, so Telluride in its 36th year looks like it should be one of the best yet.

In addition to bluegrass stalwarts like Jerry Douglas (in his 25th fest!), Bela Fleck, Peter Rowan, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, Yonder Mountain Strong Band, and Railroad Earth, this year’s festival continues the recent trend of expanding the crossover fan appeal with a handful of huge draws including David Byrne, Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Elvis Costello & the Sugarcanes, Emmylou Harris and Jenny Lewis. Finally, to round out a great lineup, there are some newer swashbucklers in the bluegrass scene like the Punch Brothers featuring former child prodigy, Chris Thile – of Nickel Creek fame, Greensky Bluegrass, and one of my personal favorites, Irish music pickers, Gaelic Storm. Not bad for a festival with a maximum capacity of 10,000 fans nestled beneath a waterfall at the foot of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, eh?

We’ve included a sampler playlist to get you in the spirit. Click here to download or just login to imeem and listen away. Also, see below for the complete TBF schedule.

READ ON for the schedule for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival…

Thursday, June 18
10:00am — Gates Open
11:00 – 12:00pm — Jerry Douglas & Tim O’Brien
12:15 – 1:30pm — The Lovell Sisters
1:45 – 3:00pm — Zac Brown Band
3:30 – 4:45pm — Peter Rowan
5:15 – 6:30pm — Three Girls & Their Buddy
7:00 – 8:30pm — Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
9:00 – 10:30pm — David Byrne

Friday, June 19
9:00am — Gates Open
10:30 – 11:30am — Blue Canyon Boys
11:45 – 12:45pm — Crooked Still
1:00 – 2:15pm — The Greencards
2:45 – 4:00pm — John Cowan Band
4:30 – 5:45pm — Jenny Lewis
6:15 – 7:30pm — Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabaté
8:00 – 9:30pm — Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes
10:00 – 11:30pm — Railroad Earth

Saturday, June 20
9:00am — Gates Open
10:00 – 11:00am — Band Contest Finals
11:15 – 12:15pm — Greensky Bluegrass
12:30 – 1:45pm — Punch Brothers Play & Sing Bluegrass
2:15 – 3:30pm — Jerry Douglas Band
4:00 – 5:30pm — Yonder Mountain String Band
5:45 – 6:00pm — Telluride Troubadour
6:15 – 7:30pm — Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
8:00 – 10:00pm — Sam Bush Band
10:30pm – Midnight — Gaelic Storm

Sunday, June 21 (The Summer Solstice)
10:00am — Gates Open
10:30 – 12:00am — Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue
12:30 – 1:45pm — Works Progress Administration
2:00 – 3:15pm — The Steeldrivers
3:45 – 5:00pm — Todd Snider
5:30 – 6:45pm — Tim O’Brien Band
7:15 – 8:30pm — Emmylou Harris
9:00 – 11:00pm — Telluride House Band

Ryan Dembinsky

Ryan Dembinsky is a contributing editor for Hidden Track, where he focuses primarily on longer-form content and interviews. Ryan has contributed to a wide variety of music and sports publications such as Sports Illustrated, AOL Fantasy Football, Jambase, and Relix to name a few.

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