When I was 14, I started to get really into music. The music I got into was . . . heavy metal (mostly from the 70’s and a few from the 80’s). My oldest brother (Matt) was working in a mountain supply shop in Red Lodge, MT, that started a chain of events that introduced him to bluegrass. Before long, he journeyed down to Colorado for his first Telluride. I’m not even sure I know he was going at the time. Then, when I was 15, my youngest brother (Alex, 14) went with him. I dismissed bluegrass as this dumb new thing my brothers were getting into and went back to blasting Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Whenever I would ride in Matt’s car and he’d be playing bluegrass, I would shun all conversation and put in my headphones so I wouldn’t have to listen to it, until I heard Sam Bush’s rendition of River Take Me by Darrell Scott. That was it. That was the moment I realized “Hey, this music isn’t half bad.” From then on, when I’d be in Matt’s car, I’d put my headphones in but wouldn’t turn on my MP3 so I could listen to his weird music without losing face as a metal head who dressed in all black and chains.
Then, shortly before Alex and Matt took off for Alex’s first festival, I came clean and mentioned how much I wished I was going with them, which took everyone by surprise. They went, and had a fantastic time. Then the plans started for the next year, 2008 (The 35th TBF), and I wasn’t going to miss it for anything. When the lineup came out, the only artists I knew anything about were Sam, Darrell (as he wrote the song that started my new obsession), Arlo Guthrie (didn’t know any of his music, just his name) and Bela Fleck (who I only knew because I had watched a Flecktones DVD in a music class at school). I was determined to go just to see Sam and Darrell. I saved up and paid for my ticket and camping, as well as tickets and camping for both of my brothers so I could be sure to have a ride down there. They both paid me back in good time (Matt mostly through concert tickets, including Yonder at TCC and The Dead, Allman Brothers and the Doobie Brothers at the Gorge in 2009). Seeing Darrell Scott open the 35th festival was magical. I barely knew any of his songs at the time, something I quickly changed. To this day, I still remember that set incredibly well. Darrell Scott was the first artist I saw perform on the Fred Shellman stage. That’s when I got hooked to the music aspect of the festival.
After a great year, I knew I’d be going back again the next. This time, Alex couldn’t join us. His spot was taken by Matt’s then girlfriend (now fiance) for the next two years. Then, in 2011, neither Matt nor Annalisa could make it, so I went by myself. A few months prior to the festival, I was at a Railroad Earth concert in Missoula. The band was late to start and I’m wondering around the ground floor wearing a Telluride shirt when I hear someone shouting at me from the balcony. I look up to see a large man with a glorious beard asking me what my name on the forum was. We have a brief, shouted conversation and I think “The bands about to start, but I’ve got to find this guy at the set break.” Five minutes later, I turn around just in time to see Rick about to pull me into a huge bearhug. That set the hook for why I needed to stay in Town Park and Rick and I have been great friends ever since.
So, come tie for Telluride, I drove down from Missoula, met someone in Denver to ride the rest of the way with, got there Saturday just before dark and set up camp for the night with Debbie and her family and Hope. The next day, I’m wondering around the campground by myself when I run into Rick outside his camp. He tells me that Billy Beru is looking for me. I had never met Billy outside of this forum and wasn’t sure I’d be able to recognize him, but I decided to keep my eyes open. I wonder into the bath house right when Billy was about to leave after showering. As soon as I step in, I hear him shout “Hot Sugar!” I’m a little shocked at being addressed so enthusiastically by a man I’d never met before in a bathroom, and I imagine some of that shock showed on my face. He told me who he was and said “We can’t really hug it out in the bathroom, so I’ll find you later.” After I showered, I was walking up to the Bear Creak Preserve and Billy is hanging out by Duk Tape, I believe. He immediately grabs me and brings me up to Run a Muck and invites me to come camp with them. And let me tell you, Billy with a bottle full of Crunchy Frog can be very persuasive. I moved my tent up to Run a Muck, which led to this fish being landed. Looking back, that was probably a terrible decision, especially for my liver, but I couldn’t think of a better place for me personally to spend Telluride. :cheers
