Timeless Troubadours and Burgeoning Bands
Timeless Troubadours and Burgeoning Bands
Timeless Troubadours and Burgeoning Bands
Telluride Bluegrass: A Launching Pad To Stardom
Every aspiring musician has gazed up at the Main Stage and wondered what it would feel like to be the star under the lights.
The journey to get there is not easy. It takes drive, vulnerability, perseverance and sometimes just the right opportunity to be heard. Since the mid-eighties and early nineties, Planet Bluegrass has hosted Band and Troubadour Contests to give these ambitious musicians that opportunity—the chance to springboard to the spotlight.
It’s been a joy to experience the humble beginnings of so many groups and solo artists throughout our years in Town Park. Perpetuating bluegrass and folk music while inspiring it’s evolution for future generations is core to our mission and we love being able to support creatives as they pave their own musical road.
We can talk all we want about it (and we will because we love it), but it hits harder when it’s from the lips of the artists themselves. Take a look.
Standing up on that stage when all the bands were there waiting for the announcement, hearing our name called sent chills down my spine… It’s a very powerful emotion
Craig Patterson, Wood Belly (2018 winners)
Highlights Throughout the Years
The Chicks
1990 Band Contest Winners
Before the 13 Grammys and millions of records sold, The Chicks were four women singing and playing acoustic bluegrass instruments around a single mic. Back then the band consisted of sisters Martie and Emily Erwin, bassist Laura Lynch, and vocalist and guitarist Robin Lynn Macy.
It was obvious from the start that the band was going nowhere but up, but we like to think that winning the Telluride Band Competition and their time on Planet Bluegrass helped set in motion their journey to stardom. Macy and Lynch departed the band in the mid nineties and the sisters added the magnificent Natalie Maines in 1997. The rest was history.
Flash forward to today, and the powerhouses are touring stadiums, releasing hit singles, and unapologetically being themselves (as they should, thank you very much).
We hear they also have a wine brand together called Gaslighter Wine! We’d definitely give it a taste but tell you we didn’t…
Greensky Bluegrass
2006 Band Contest Winners
Band members Paul Hoffman, Mike Devol, Anders Beck, Dave Bruzza, and Michael Bont have been jamming together since the early days.
Now considered a Telluride and NightGrass staple, Greensky Bluegrass had humble beginnings starting all the way across town in Elks Park. Their first Main Stage show was in 2007. Little did we know they wouldn’t be so easy to kick after that…
“i remember being proud we played original songs. it felt like the only way to be unique and seemed like our best strategy. it is perhaps the single most important thing that has happened for greensky. we were young. we still had jobs at home. the nod put wind in the sails and gave us the courage to go forth and be ourselves. we also crossed paths with our soon to become brother (and dobro player), anders beck. he helped JUDGE the contest! we didn’t know each other yet. it’s totally surreal. a year later when returned for our “prize set” he sat in for the first time.” -Paul Hoffman
Look at these babies!
when we won the band contest in 2006, we weren’t even officially signed up. we booked a tour and played the eldo in crested butte the night before planning to show up and just catch a spot from a no-show band. it worked. we drove after the gig and slept on the side of the road outside town for an hour or two before the first round.
Paul Hoffman
Gregory Alan Isakov
2007 Telluride Troubadour Winner
To know him is to love him, and we’ve known that since he began his journey as a Telluride Troubadour in 2007. Back when “The Stable Song” was young and his third self-released album That Sea, The Gambler had yet to reach record stores. Gregory has gathered accomplishments (including a Grammy for best folk album) like tokens over the last 16 years.
Here’s a peek of him day-of his first ever Telluride Bluegrass performance. He’s since traded the baseball cap for more stylish wool fedoras, but he had our hearts from the beginning regardless.
The Lil Smokies
2015 Band Contest Winners
Missoula, Montana sits at the convergence of five mountain ranges and is thus often described as the “Hub of Five Valleys.”
Likewise, the city gave rise to a four piece band- Andy Dunnigan on dobro, Jean Luc Davis on bass, Jake Simpson on fiddle and Matt “Rev” Rieger on guitar.
The Smokies are a whole new kielbasa of string-band goodness. Do you see what we did there…? They graced the Main Stage in 2022. It was a treat as always. Where there’s Smokies there’s fire!
The Winners Behind It All
Telluride Troubadour Contest Winners
1991 - Larry Good
1992 - Cosy Sheridan
1993 - Dan Sheridan
1994 - Catie Curtis
1995 - LJ Booth
1996 - Michael Lille
1997 - Jonathan Kingham
1998 - Eugene Ruffolo
1999 - Libby Kirkpatrick
2000 - Mary Coppin
2001 - Kris Delmhorst
2002 - Deb Talan
2003 - Rachel Davis
2004 - Brian Joseph
2005 - Keith Greeninger
2006 - Nels Andrews
2007 - Gregory Alan Isakov
2008 - Nathan Moore
2009 - Mitch Barrett
2010 - Robby Hecht
2011 - Matt Harlan
2012 - Reed Waddle
2013 - Reed Turner
2014 - Michael Kirkpatrick
2015 - Caitlin Canty
2016 - Anna Tivel
2017 - Clint Alphin
2018 - Garrett Owen
2019 - Emily Scott Robinson
We have not hosted a Troubadour contest since 2019. We’ve missed it dearly and are so excited to bring the competition back for our 50th Anniversary. Looking back on the wealth of history here, we feel confident it will be an amazing year!
Telluride Band Contest Winners
1985 - Blitz Creek
1986 - Loose Ties
1988 - Titan Valley Warheads
1989 - Powder Ridge
1991 - Meighan Edmonson Mittelmeier Band
1992 - Sugarbeat
1993 - String Fever
1994 - Salt Licks
1995 - Magraw Gap
1996 - Cornbread Sally
1997 - Ryan Shupe & Rubberband
1998 - Floodplain Gang
1999 - Pagosa Hot Strings
2000 - Clear Blue
2001 - Bearfoot Bluegrass
2002 - South Austin Jug Band
2003 - Hit & Run Bluegrass
2004 - Burnett Family Bluegrass Band
2005 - The Badly Bent
2006 - Greensky Bluegrass
2007 - Spring Creek Bluegrass Band
2008 - Blue Canyon Boys
2009 - The Hillbenders
2010 - Nora Jane Struthers & the Bootleggers
2011 - Run Boy Run
2013 - Front Country
2018 - Wood Belly
2019 - Bowregard
2022 - Full Cord
