The Travelin’ McCourys at the 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Festival – photo © Anthony Verkulien
Planet Bluegrass did it again with its 52nd Telluride Bluegrass Festival, creating an unforgettable experience for the bluegrass faithful underneath that majestic Bridal Veil Falls. There is simply nothing like it. Throngs of festivarians rolled into Town Park, the cranny of the Telluride box canyon, to witness the best bluegrass musicianship on the planet. They came from far and wide, amped to see what this TBF’s gathering had in store. It was nothing short of spectacular.
Some came weeks prior, actually, to turn the Town Park Campground into a carnival, complete with its renowned recurring campsites such as Camp Run-A-Muck (which toasts its visitors with gallons of the mysterious Crunchy Frog concoction, and holds its own singer-songwriter and band sessions throughout the week), and MASH Tent (which officially kicks off the Festival for Town Park dwellers with Rumballs and speeches, and hosts some of the best late-night picking in all the land).
Town Park Campground is the land of smiles, tunes, and just too much fun. It, along with Warner Field, Lawson, and Ilium campgrounds, are a huge part of the Festival. It is not always about the main stage; so much of it is about the laughs and musical creations in the evenings and the camaraderie over coffee in the morning before heading into the festival grounds. True as well for the washed and clean condo folks, who sometimes get together with their certain group of friends but once a year for the Telluride Bluegrass experience.
Friendship and friendliness are thick in the air during the bluegrass festival — surrounding you, boxed in by that canyon, enveloping you with a warm hug throughout this magical long, long weekend. Whether it is your first or your fifty-second, you are wrapped in it.
Giddy Up
A little light-headed from Rumballs, we practically skipped to the gondola to have a thrilling ride through the aspens to Mountain Village for FirstGrass, inevitably meeting new friends in our capsule in the sky: our forever gondola friends. The chats and laughs among festivarians in that journey to the top should be recorded for Planet Bluegrass posterity. There is a high volume of high comedy on that ride; it is priceless.
Gondola trickily disembarked, we do our best, breathless, to charge up the hill, crest it, and descend into the smiling masses of festival-goers taking in the first organized bluegrass concert of the fest. It is Wednesday evening, and everywhere we look is a beautiful grin and a beautiful mountain; we feel like we can hug the sky. We reach and grab our friends we have not seen in a year instead. This year, for FirstGrass, we were given the sweet sounds of Caleb Klaudner & Reeb Willms and then the barn-burning of The Mountain Grass Unit, which got the crowd hopping.
Wishing the best to our ambitious friends who sauntered off to dig into some Yonder Mountain String Band at Bluegrass Eve in the Mountain Village Convention Center, we gratefully mosey back to the Gondola for our descent back to the town of Telluride. Akin to being in a star-globe, we fly through the sky down the mountain in our gondola bubble. Magical. Matchless. Already, our trek to TBF was worth the trip.
First Bluegrass Light
One man. One Mandolin. Center Stage. 10:45 a.m. Genius all the way around.
Chris Thile officially kicked off TBF52 to an attentive, beaming crowd covering the giant quilt of just run and placed tarps. Town Park had been transformed to Utarpia and the Utarpians were eager to soak in the sweet sounds of Thile’s solo set. True to his expert entertainer form, Chris regaled us with fascinating stories about his twelve-year old self playing Monroe tunes for Bill Monroe, with a rendition of Blue Moon of Kentucky to boot; a jaw-dropping Paranoid Android by Radiohead; and a truly wonderful Ride ‘Em Cowboy.
Thile told a tale about picking in Town Park the year prior, and how he loved the scene where folks threw out tunes and the players just dove into them. So, to recreate such environs, he marvelously took requests from the main stage. After a million audience shout-outs, he settled on a medley of St. Anne’s Reel, Bill Cheatham, and Orange Blossom Special. “Orange Blossom Special on the mandolin? It cannot be done. Therefore, it must be done,” he said to rousing applause. And, then he did it. It was masterful and too much fun. TBF52 was off to the races.
Thursday of All Thursdays
We weren’t sure if Planet Bluegrass was trying to kill us or just rev us up for the weekend ahead, but it sure stacked the deck for a colossal Thursday of music. The hits kept on coming to a delighted already sunkissed mammoth crew out in Tarpland. Wow. Olive Klug eased us into the early afternoon with a fresh and refreshing amazing voice, command of the stage, and incredible lyrics. Klug treated us to several goose-bump instigating works including Cut the Ties, Cold War, and Song About America. Some in the crowd whispered Joni Mitchell. Nods. But, no. It is Olive Klug. Pay attention if you aren’t already. Super impressive.
Mountain Grass Unit, the hard-driving, tight-playing crew from Birmingham, Alabama, won accolades for its precise and spirited fastgrass set. They picked and threw down while we grinned and happily stomped around. Cicada Song, One Way Track and personal fave, Shoot the Gun, wowed the crowd. These boys are the real deal, and their set on the Fred Shellman Memorial Stage launched them even higher on their epic rise.
Blood pumping, vibes flowing, we dove head-long into none other than The Travelin’ McCourys. Absolute pros, picking every note clean as they bestowed a beautiful bluegrass show. To everyone’s delight, Ronnie sang so similar to his Dad as he belted out train songs to Dead songs. The festivarians were enthralled with their rendition of Scarlet Begonias. The crowds could not help but smile, smile, and smile at that bluegrass breakdown, and then awesome acceleration. And, mouths agape when Cody Kilby sang Bruce Hornsby’s The Way It Is with Ronnie’s high harmony and those impeccable instrumentals. The lilting fiddle guided us to Alan Bertram’s solid and wholesome vocals on Whole of the Moon. And, the McCourys must have missed the wildfire warnings all over town when they threw down that sneaky barn burner, Let Her Go. Let her goooooooo-oh. Yee-haw!
TBF queens, I’m With Her, ruled the Shellman Stage in their denim Rosie-the-Riveter-esque jumpsuits as they displayed their quintessential talents to all in the canyon that late Thursday afternoon. Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, and Sarah Jarosz. Together. Their voices all at once. Indomitable. So much to remark about from Jarosz switching instruments on almost every song, to their genuine smiles, to their undeniable powerful stage presence. Their cover of Joni Mitchell’s Cary was exquisite with each trading singing the verses and all hitting the high notes together. Their haunting Sisters of the Night Watch showcased their skilled playing along with their vocals, with Watkins’ voice, in particular, filling the valley on that one. I’m With Her also graced us with new songs Mother Eagle and Wild and Clear and Blue, where they not only nailed the music, but spot-on lyrics as well.
A cute doggie actually walked out to center stage to check out the scene and take in the tunes. They left us wiping away tears, throwing an arm around our nearest pal, and singing along with Crossing Muddy Waters. We are most definitely with Her!
And, just when we thought life could not get any better, we find ourselves staring at the incomparable Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, accompanied by none other than Paul Kowert and Brittany Haas of Punch Brothers. Absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish. That unique Rawlings’ archtop picking, leading us into the inimitable Gillian’s voice on Lawman to kick us off, immediately relaxed us. Yes, let’s do this. There were copious cheers and singing along for the familiar Back in Time, which featured soulful harmonica sounds. Gillian and Dave also hit us with a driving To Be Young with their joint vocals stopping us in our tracks. Another favorite was Look at Miss Ohio, where we swayed side-to-side on the tarps, pointed at the stage on beat, and tried our best to harmonize with Welch’s perfect voice.
We were treated to I’m With Her joining the stage for a beautiful Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby. Their picking and singing I’ll Fly Away to close out their set was just what the bluegrass doctor ordered for our entry into the Telluride sunset. How on Earth could that day be so insanely good? It was only Thursday!
The Best Feeling Ever
We woke up to fresh mountain air, having just experienced one of the best days of music in a long, long time, only to realize that that was just Day One of a four day festival. Let’s gooooooooo!
Where is the craic at? It is exactly where it should be: center stage, first up, emanating from two Dublin-based dudes, one with a resonator guitar and a foot stomp board, and the other with a clawhammer banjo and a tambourine tied around his ankle. During their hour set that fine morning – their first ever United States festival – we were transported to somewhere in the Atlantic, floating between the famine fields of Ireland and the heartland of America. Their addictive sound is drawn from the days of yore, but modern, exciting, and going places. Conor O’Reilly’s gravelly voice is a gem, and Jonny Pickett’s banjo frailing is a perfect match for it, and O’Reilly’s resonator picking.
Festival favorite Rainbow Girls wowed all with their sparkly disco-ball outfits, clever lyrics, sort of R-rated stories, and downright fun performance. Their on-stage dancing was contagious and their harmonies were meshed and spot-on. Elvis Presley Blues was fantastic; dreamy and poignant. Festivarians absolutely loved the Rainbow Girls, dancing and singing along on the tarps, buying up all their merch, and proudly wearing rainbow temporary tattoos and body-paint. These Girls earned a huge victory at Telluride, slaying their main stage set, and later a full one at Elk Parks; they left the valley as darlings with an enormous load of fans in tow.
Punch from the main stage at Friday happy hour was the elixir we all had been waiting a year for. And, boy, did it go down smoothly. Delish! What a show! And, I mean a show. The Brothers, all suited up (Haas too — in pinstripes), threw down some of their riotous hits such as Magnet, Rye Whiskey, and This Girl; presented breath-taking pieces like Sølve-Knut featuring Brittany on the fiddle, and My Oh My; gave us a new song called Saturn; took us on a journey among the demons with The Angel of Doubt; and cracked us up with Noam’s deadpan commercials.
It was a variety show at its finest — glued together by the uber talent of each and every member of this super group. No doubt, the Punch Brothers are maestros, master musicians and entertainers, and so incredibly ahead of their time – always and again.
Seemed like all of us need to shake it out after tarp-sitting for most the day. And, oh did we. It was a downright dance party moments after Lake Street Dive hit the stage. Rachael Price’s silky voice shook that canyon, and the band’s funky beats shook our knees into action. We boogied through their entire set, which included fan favorites, Baby, Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts, Better Not Tell You, Bad Self-Portraits, and a grassified Party on the Roof with guests Wes Corbett, Sarah Jarosz, and Brittany Haas. It was so unbelievably good. Bridget Kearney’s bass holding it altogether, making all of us hop around (Poser Pit included!), singing Roooooof at the top of our lungs. The joyful dancing, albeit slower, and Kearny’s groovy bass continued straight into their cover of I Want You Back. Huge applause for the resurrection of Side Pony and kudos for Akie Bermiss singing Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One. What pipes!
What a great surprise it was, too, to have Béla Fleck join the band on Rich Girl. Lake Street Dive lit it on fire.
No one wanted it to end. But, when it did, we all, happy as all get-out, danced ourselves into the rest of the evening. Day Two! Thank you!
Jen’s review of her Highs at Telluride will continue in part two. All photos are by Anthony Verkulien.
