Music roadtrip of the summer

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Legendary rocker Lou Reed kicks off Telluride Blues & Brews Festival Friday. It's one of only five U.S. dates the singer has planned. Special to the Daily Get Arts and Entertainment Feeds

Daily Staff Report
September 10, 2006

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TELLURIDE - Even from beautiful Vail, you sometimes need an escape.

The days are shorter and peaches are making their last appearance at fruit stands. It's time for that last bit of summer fun. It's time for a roadtrip. My suggestion? Head south to Telluride for the town's annual Blues & Brews Festival (Friday-Sunday). It won't be any warmer, but Lou Reed promises to burn up the stage. Here's the skinny on the festival lineup.

Bruce Hornsby performs Saturday at the Telluride Blues & Brews festival on the main stage. Special to the Daily Browse Vail Daily Photos

Take a walk on the wild side with Lou Reed Friday
One of only five U.S. dates, Lou Reed headlines Telluride Blues & Brews Festival Friday.

Perhaps one of the most enigmatic, but undeniably greatest rock visionaries of all time, Reed has kept the attention of the music world for over 40 years. From his time as principal lead singer and songwriter of the legendary group Velvet Underground to his recordings as a solo artist, Reed has released a string of immortal classics, including "Sweet Jane," "Walk on the Wild Side," "Heroin," "Sister Ray," "Rock & Roll," "Venus in Furs" and "Lisa Says."

In addition to Reed, Friday's lineup includes new additions Shannon Curfman and Bobby Rush on the main stage. Curfman, one of the youngest blues artists on the scene, is taking some time off from college to join this year's festival. In 1999, at the age of 14, Curfman released "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions," which landed her at No. 3 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums charts and at No. 39 on the Heatseekers charts. Rush, a 50-year veteran of the stage, plays R&B/blues. Rush's live shows are without parallel, complete with costume changes and comedic sketches. Rush, once named the "King of The Chitlin Circuit," has performed with some of the greatest blues artists of all time, such as Freddie King, Earl Hooker, Luther Allison and Elmore James.

Before he got radio play as a pop star, John Mayer was a bluesman. He plays on the main stage Sunday in Telluride at the Blues and Brews Festival. Special to the Daily Browse Vail Daily Photos

Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers headline Saturday
In addition to Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, Howard Tate and Watermelon Slim have been added to main stage on Saturday. Tate's songs have been covered by the who's who in music, including Jimi Hendrix and Hugh Masekela, who covered "Stop," Ry Cooder remade and Brand Nubian rappers sampled "Look at Granny Run Run," B.B. King recorded "Ain't Nobody Home" and Janis Joplin did "Get It While You Can," which became one of her signature songs.

Watermelon Slim, a critic favorite, is the only known Vietnam War soldier to have recorded a protest record, "Merry Airbrakes," while on active duty. He taught himself guitar while laid up in a Vietnam hospital, learning on a $5 balsawood model and using an Army issued Zippo lighter as a slide. A heart attack a few years ago forced him to face his dreams to be a full time blues musician. Since then, Slim has recorded three records in four years and won a 2005 Blues Music Award and a W.C. Handy Nomination for Best New Artist Debut for the disc, Up Close and Personal.

Hornsby, a three-time Grammy winner who's sold more than 10 million records since his multi-platinum debut in 1986, draws from a wide array of influences--among them jazz, pop, classical, bluegrass, rock and vaudeville. He's one of pop music's most saught after side men, playing on more than 100 records with artists ranging from Bob Dylan, Don Henley, and the Grateful Dead to Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, Béla Fleck, and Willie Nelson, among many others.

John Mayer was first a bluesman
John Mayer headlines the festival Sunday. When Mayer emerged from the underground in 2001 with his debut album, "Room For Squares," he was a little known 22-year-old with an acoustic guitar and boundless energy. And although everyone knows him as a pop star, he was first a bluesman, which has landed him in Telluride.

Joe Louis Walker and Tinsley Ellis also play on Sunday. Walker has released 18 records in the last 20 years, two of which hit the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart, establishing him as one of the leading younger guitarists in blues music.

Ellis, a hard rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist, most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, has also had his share of records on the Billboard charts. Ellis hit the Top Blues Records charts with "Hell or High Water" in 2002, "Hard Way" in 2004 and in 2005, went to No. 5 with "Live-Highwayman."

Telluride Blues & Brews lineup

- Friday: On the main stage: Lou Reed, Bobby Rush, Hothouse Flowers, James Blood Ulmer, Jimbo Mathus and Lightnin’ Malcolm with Knockdown South and Shannon Curfman. At the Juke Joints: Jimbo Mathus and Lightnin’ Malcolm with Knockdown South, James Blood Ulmer, Watermelon Slim, Nick Moss and The Flip Tops and Hothouse Flowers. - Saturday: On the main stage: Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers, Howard Tate, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Tab Benoit, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Watermelon Slim and Joey Gilmore. At the Juke Joints and Late Night Jam: Joey Gilmore, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Tab Benoit and Watermelon Slim/Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove. - Sunday: On the main stage: John Mayer, Joe Louis Walker, Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars, Tinsley Ellis, Eric Bibb and The Lee Boys Fais Do Do. At the Sheridan Opera House: Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars with special guests.

If you go ...
Tickets for the 13th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival are available now. Friday and Sunday passes can be purchased for $50 each night; Saturday passes for $55 and three-day passes for $140. Ticket prices do not include a $2.50 per day Town of Telluride fee. Four-day camping passes are still available for $40 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at www.tellurideblues.com, by calling 866-515-6166 or locally at Telluride Music Company (201 East Colorado Avenue, 970-728-9592).

The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival is held at the Telluride Town Park, an outdoor music venue, nestled in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 8,750 feet.



Vail, Colorado