Telluride……Heaven in a Box Canyon
Your friend tells you it is heaven. You say, sure, one day I will get there. Six years pass. You go. It is heaven, beyond heaven, it is magic, happy, hot cold, everything you ever wanted in the world all in one little box canyon. If I could stop time, it would be in mid June at Telluride Bluegrass. Day one, gather up your four day pass and get ready for Thursdays opening. It is all about numbers. You either get in line Wednesday late past midnight with sleeping bag and chair or hope the alarm wakes you by 4am. Thursdays line is pre-season ( it grows longer Friday and Saturday). First morning out we are #110. That means more than 110 folks
(campers have their own gate) are in line ahead of us waiting till gates open, to homestead a spot for the day. The wait is anything but boring. You meet your line neighbors, a DJ from Santa Fe a seasoned Festavarian, a reunion from California. At 10am the gates open and a smiling volunteer collects those numbers. They will be reissued for the same scenario on Friday. The Tarp Run is masses of people sporting neatly folded blue plastic tarps hauling butt to claim their piece of Town Park. (Check out Telluride Bluegrass on Youtube for demos of the land rush!) You anchor the corners of your mat and set down your chairs, leave, hike, shower, eat breakfast and return when the music starts, somewhere near noon. The vibe? Nothin’ could be finer. In a sea of blue you see miles of smiles. You look at the stage, endless blue sky, cut of the mountains and wonder. Could this possibly be as good as they say? It is perfect and no one has has plucked a string. I have been Myspacing the line-up for months. I want to hear the familiar, I am open to newbies. My virgin Tell-tour introduced me to the likes of Neko Case, Stephen Kellogg, Missy Higgins and the Decemberists. I am a fan of all of them and more. I fell in love all over again with Bonnie Raitt and John Prine. This years offerings are splendid including, Byrne and Costello. The regulars return, Bela, The Telluride House band and more. I pray that Buddy Miller is healed and the screaming monkeys will be resurrected (his silly gift to the girls, Patty, Emmy Lou, and Shawn) .
Grinning Ear to Ear,
Enee