The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. One stage and no fear of missing performers… Sweet…..

The 2008 lineup is out for perusal and I must say that the committee surely outdid themselves this time.  New Orleans flavor with Dirty Dozen Band and Big Sam’s Funky Nation, beautiful and talented ladies such as Susan Tedeschi and Joan Osborne and festival mainstays with Gov’t Mule, G. Love and The John Butler Trio and some John Hiatt thrown in.

What I am most looking forward to is starting off Sunday with The Blind Boys of Alabama.  I am not a religious person by any means but these gentlemen singing harmony is certainly an experience of another dimension.  And ending the day with Etta James singing “At Last” in the middle of some of the most beautiful country in the States is certainly worthy of a “Hallelujah”.

Friday, Sept 12^th

• John Hiatt
• Joan Osborne
• Susan Tedeschi
• Canned Heat
• Back Door Slam
• Mama’s Cookin’

Saturday, Sept 13^th

• Gov’t Mule
• G.Love & Special Sauce
• The John Butler Trio
• Dwayne Dopsie and The Zydeco Hellraisers
• Big Sam’s Funky Nation
• Trampled Under Foo

Sunday, Sept 15^th

• Etta James & The Roots Band
• The Derek Trucks Band
• The Dirty Dozen Band
• Chris Thomas King Band
• The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
• The Blind Boys of Alabama

The night life will be hopping in Telluride with a lot of the performers from the festival.  The good thing is that the most you have to walk is about 6-8 blocks. There is a bus running for those whose walking ability is limited, or in some cases, impaired from drinking a bit too much in the high altitude. 

The only exception to using your feet is the shows over in the Mountain Village and the tram is running till 2 in the morning for a great view of the city at night.  There are a couple of TBA’s in the group, but here is what is out so far:

 Bal De Maison  - Thursday, September 11, 2008 10:00PM 

•   Back Door Slam  - Fly Me To The Moon Saloon

 Juke Joints  - Friday, September 12, 2008  10:00PM 

•   TBA - Elks Lodge 
•   Mama’s Cooking  - Fly Me To The Moon Saloon 
•   Moreland & Arbuckle  - Las Montañas 
•   Bryan Lee and The Blues Power Band - Sheridan Opera House 
•   Canned Heat  - Telluride Conference Center (Mountain Village) 

  Juke Joints - Saturday, September 13, 2008  10:00PM 

•   Trampled Under Foot  - Elks Lodge 
•   Dwayne Dopsie and The Zydeco Hellraisers -  Fly Me To The Moon Saloon 
•   Moreland and Arbuckle - Las Montañas 
•   TBA -  Sheridan Opera House 
•   The John Butler Trio - Telluride Conference Center (Mountain Village) 

  After Hours Jam Saturday, September 13, 2008  2:00AM - 4:00AM (Tickets sold at door only) 

•   Big Sam’s Funky Nation  - Fly Me To The Moon Saloon 

  Fais Do Do - Sunday, September 14, 2008  9:00PM  Sheridan Opera House 

•   The Dirty Dozen Brass Band 
•   Chris Thomas King Band
•   The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band 

This was one of my favorite festivals of 2007 and will be a must see along with JazzFest for many years to come.  To take a look at my experience from last year and realize why you should put it on your schedule, head over to Ride Up, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and VIP Review.

3 day Passes are going for $155 and include the Grand Tasting of over 50 micro-breweries on Saturday.  Juke Joint passes are $25 and Single Day and Fais Do Do tickets will start selling on July 1st.

Camping passes are a cheap $40 and I am sure these will not last much longer with the lineup out.  The campground is about 200 yards away from the stage so convenience is very nice.  Other lodging options are available but can be limited and at a high price unless you are traveling with a krewe of people.

So what do you think about the lineup and will you make the trek to the Rockies????

The Last Sunday….Man, what a bummer…

Now I have to wait another year before I touch down on the Fairgrounds again but hopefully by then my waistline will have gone back to normal. Man, I love JazzFest food….

Sonny Landreth - the man with the fast fingers who should be getting more exposure. But if you can get invited to Eric Clapton’s CrossRoads Festival, how much more recognition do you need.

Speaking of, “Slowhand” will make an appearance on Sonny’s new album, From the Reach, due out May 20th as will Mark Knopfler, Eric Johnson, Dr. John, Jimmy Buffett and many others. I guess the quiet guy from Breaux Bridge does know how to attract a bit of attention.

Dumpstaphunk - Ivan Neville and his crew put on another excellent show and even Ivan’s “Pop” showed up for a while to enjoy.

Galactic - Brought on rappers Chali 2Na and his little brother and also sousaphone player Matt Perrine from Bonerama.

The Raconteurs - First time seeing but liked a few of their songs and Jack White has a nice collection of guitars.

Santana - only caught the last song of his set, but he did make an appearance with…

The Neville Brothers - Art, Aaron, Charles and Cyril make their first showing at JazzFest since 2005 and they did not disappoint, as usual. The normally stoic Art had plenty of smiles and won the throwdown with Santana on trading licks between strings and ivories and Aaron singing ” Tell It Like It Is” still sends chills down my spine after all these years. The only bad part of the set… my camera battery died…&%$#@!!!

Well, I am now back to reality in DFW and much more relaxed… but not rested…

Almost 6 more months until Voodoo Fest and my next landing in “The Big Easy”… Enjoy the photos….

As per yesterday, this again will be short and to the point as little sleep and way too much music is catching up to me. I know, you really feel sorry for me….      Enjoy the photos….

Brett Dennen - now I see why this tall red headed kid is opening for everybody from John Mayer to the John Butler Trio. Huge Talent.

Zigaboo Modeliste - Drummer for The Meters and brings funk to a whole new level… enough said…

Art Neville - even with an ensemble such as Willie Weeks, Steve Jordan, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and his son Ian, lil’ brother Aaron also came out and made “Papa Funk” proud.

Stevie Wonder - with his stunningly beautiful daughter Aisha walking out on stage with him, now I know why even way back in 1976 he knew to tell people “Isn’t She Lovely”.

The Greyboy Allstars - made another trip to the mighty Mississippi for some funky jazz. Karl and the guys had the house…uhh, boat rocking….