Dreaming of festival days and listening to the Highwaywomen and realizing that if the Highwaywomen and Dolly Parton showed up on the festival stage, I could die a happy woman. So there it is Planet Bluegrass, my 2020 dream!
The lineup is very nice so far…I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Sarah Jarosz, or I’m With Her added (frequently accompany Thile on his Live from Here podcasts)
I’m excited to see where they slot Billy Strings. With Strings and Greensky holding down top spots in Steamboat I would like to see them hold down those spots respectively on Friday night…with the traditional Sam Bush and Leftover Salmon Saturday night. I would be very happy on Sunday morning after seeing that much newgrass over the weekend. Thursday and/or Sunday the lineup lends towards traditional bluegrass with Alison Krauss, Del and the house band holding three of the hopefully four remaining spots…
However, I personally think the Stringdusters earned one of those slots last year, but they were not on the lineup…so Telluride just had an extra year to get familiar with Rise Sun to watch them headline this year, hopefully. I actually hate to say this but after the House Band, Sam Bush i’d prioritize the Dusters ahead of the rest. Rise Sun was a killer album and they have been shafted in years past IMO…Travis was running around last festival like, “my band…um Broke Mountain Bluegrass (where are my Dusters?!)”
House band will play Thursday night. Sunday typically only has a couple traditional acts, if you count Punch Brothers as traditional. Usually a nice mix of world, folk, and in my limited experience a more popular typically country act as Sunday closer.
Completely agree that Dusters deserve a grand main stage set. Saw them in Mexico in Dec with all the other top-of-the-liners (LOS, Yonder, Greensky, RRE – who I MISS on this TBF lineup!) and they absolutely killed it. Their sets were simply superb and they were my absolute favorite of that festival. Their musicianship has reached stellar status.
The House Band has flip-flopped between Thursday night and Sunday night based on the lineup in years past. I’d wager they will be on the opposite end of the lineup for AKUS, but you never know.
I’d love to see ISD get a headline slot, but unless GSBG skips a year, I don’t see that happening sadly. I’d much rather have ISD close out Friday night than GSBG.
On the other hand, though, I’d have a hard time leaving ISD to go see a good Nightgrass show than I would leaving GSBG.
The House Band used to be the Sunday night closing act for a number of years. One thing lacking from this years lineup is the lack of female artists. Only Alison Krauss as the leader of a band and five others as band members. That might be the least that I can remember. And other than the Canadian band everyone has played at Planet Bluegrass, but the next round of band announcements will probably take care of this. The other problem with getting getting more great bands on the lineup is that it is almost impossible to see everyone. Between nightgrass, Elk Park workshops and the need to sometimes take a break and eat, shower, take a nap or just hang out in camp. It is sometimes good to have bands that aren’t your cup of tea. The current lineup doesn’t have much you want to miss. Other than having grown tired of the marshmallows during Yonder’s set.
Yippie I just got a front row seat for tonight’s Steep Canyon Rangers show…
After seeing Peter Rowan play Old & In The Way with Railroad Earth last night in Denver, have to think that whatever he has planned would be so much improved with the backing of RRE. They had great chemistry, musicianship and would be a solid mid to late afternoon set. Plus maybe a lil bonus RRE nightgrass or main stage.
You are are so right Maddie and Darkhorse, ISD are headliners! I have seen them live plenty. The last time I saw them in my hometown the were spectacular. And it wasn’t because it was in little ol Ogden. I would love to see them close the night. Not to be missed.
We’d be all in for any Stringdusters set from sunset to closer. I personally prefer the sunset pre-closer sets. So far I’ve yet to make it through a full set of any of the closing acts each night, without leaving for nightgrass, or just interested enough to catch 3-5 songs before finding a jam in camp.
Woohooo… Tyler Childress just got added. Thats gonna be a great show. Now if we could just squeeze in some Dead South, that would be great!
Tyler Childers is a grumpy badass! Can’t wait to see him tear it up.