Congratulations to Fireball Mail, the 2016 winners of the prestigious Telluride Band Contest.
The annual invitational competition takes place at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival situated high in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado. Twelve acts are selected to compete, with the winner taking home $750 in cash plus a main stage booking for the next year’s festival.
Fireball Mail hails from Nashville and consists of Brad Bulla on guitar, Phil Easterbrook on banjo, Caleb Edwards on mandolin, and Joe Brown on bass. They performed three original songs from their debut album, Bending The Rails, in taking the crown at Telluride.
Here’s a video of their final round performance, a minor key banjo tune from Easterbrook called Dakota Ridge.
Other winners this year include Ragged Union from Denver in second place, Chain Station from Boulder in third, and Mile High Express from Denver in fourth.
Previous Telluride winners have gone on to great things, including such stellar acts as Dixie Chicks, The Badly Bent, Greensky Bluegrass, The Hillbenders, Run Boy Run, Front Country, Trout Steak Revival, and last year’s winners, The Lil’ Smokies.
Well done all.
