Bluegrass Sundays

06/17/2012 - 09/02/2012

Aspen Mountain

Enjoy FREE performances by top bluegrass musicians from around Colorado and the country. Concerts are held from noon to 3 pm on Sundays at the top of Aspen Mountain. Please see below for the 2012 summer lineup!

June 17 - Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys

Hailing from all corners of the Great Lakes State of Michigan, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys are giving a nod to American traditional music, while boldy taking their own songs in new directions.  Distinct vocals, tight harmonies, instrumental expertise, and creative arrangements are all essential characteristics of their unique sound.  The group focuses on the original tunes of Lindsay Lou Rilko, which include true-life tales of bank-robbing aunties, moonshinin' grandpas, and celebrations of love, life, and nature.  Don't be surprised to hear bluegrass standards, Beatles hits, and contemporary classics at a Flatbelly's show as well.  It's an infectious vibe that could only have been born in the heart of America's Fresh Coast! 

June 24 - Expedition Quartet

Hailing from Boulder, the Expedition Quartet has made a name as an ensemble with not only an adroit touch on their instruments but an intrepid, imaginative vision for contemporary stringband music.  Five-string banjoist Jake Schepps has produced three critically acclaimed albums, including last year’s “An Evening in the Village” - an adventuresome exploration of the music of Béla Bartók.  The Quartet also features guitarist Grant Gordy (David Grisman Quintet), fiddler Enion Pelta-Tiller (Taarka) and bassist Jean-Luc Davis.

July 1 – Blue Canyon Boys

Every once in a while a band comes along that stands out amongst the crowded fields of the bluegrass world. Blue Canyon Boys, a premier bluegrass band of the Rocky Mountain West, are one of those bands. Winners of the 2008 Telluride Bluegrass festival band contest, they have gone on to perform across the country. From the first sound of the hard driving banjo to the final rumble of the doghouse bass, Blue Canyon Boys will conjure musical memories and captivate audiences across the west and beyond.

July 8 – Matt Flinner

The Matt Flinner Trio has mastered the craft of composing music “on the go.” The group practices a unique approach—writing in hotel rooms, dressing rooms, on airplanes and in the back of tour vans—and debuting the new pieces the same night. Sonically founded in bluegrass, jazz and American acoustic music, the virtuosic collaboration between esteemed mandolinist Matt Flinner, guitarist Ross Martin and bassist Eric Thorin, is a finely tuned composition machine. The band’s conversational melodic exchanges, harmonic counterpoint and rhythmic precision are beautifully engaging and complex, with each instrument highlighted and voiced to suit the puzzle piece-like song structures. Whether doubling the melody in bass and mandolin or expressing a unison rhythmic motif, the trio is unmatched in their execution of style.

July 15 – Rorey Carroll

Rorey Carroll is a singer songwriter sitting pretty between her Americana folk and alternative country/ bluegrass influences.  Her fiercely independent spirit is reflected in her songwriting, while her sweet voice resonates soul-felt energy.  Rorey’s instinctive musical talent began in her youth, as she studied vocals, piano and wrote poetry.  From her life experiences on foot, through the window of a car, to the bed of a freight train, Carroll has learned to use her guitar as a vehicle to tell a story. She began wandering when she was 19 after a short stretch of college in Northern Michigan.  She went back to home base herself in Colorado, but she was never quite settled.

July 22 – Old Towne Pickers

Bluegrass, newgrass, slam, smokin', or jamgrass; call it what you will. Ask any member of the Steamboat Springs, Colo.-based string band, Old Town Pickers, and they'll tell you "we're just having fun and playing fast." Comprising four members, including Jay Roemer on guitar, Eric Baker on mandolin, Von Wilson on banjo, and Denton Turner on bass, all hailing from different states, the Pickers play that quintessential style that can easily be labeled "Rocky Mountain String Music." Just as the personnel that make up the band come from various places and backgrounds, so does the inspiration for the music. Genres that are easily identifiable while giving these boys a listen are delta blues, Appalachian roots, Texas country, jam, and, of course, bluegrass. With stand-out originals — which can be sad, humorous, and often both — along with playful covers of songs spanning decades and genres, an Old Town Pickers show is exactly how they would describe it. "Fun!"

July 29 – Waiting On Trial

Waiting On Trial has been together for 5 years. There have been happy times, there have been sad times. We've laughed, we've cried, confused, and mystified we step forward, sometimes not remembering the exact happenings of the wee hours, or why not to start again in the morning. A continuous progression of song-writting and adaptability morphs our sound and drives us forward eager for the next curve. So come and ride with us. I mean we've got room (on our bus).

Aug 5 - Dead Winter Carpenters

Hailing from North Lake Tahoe, Dead Winter Carpenters represents everything the American west stands for. With an unbridled spirit, and an authentic approach to the art of songwriting, the five-piece roots-rock band captures the freedom of the road with the kind of energy that is made of legends. In just one short year on the road, the project has already found considerable national success and with top level festival and theater dates booked around the country.

Aug 12 - Coral Creek

Chris Thompson & Coral Creek put on a high-energy acoustic/electric show, featuring original material in the rock, reggae, country and bluegrass genres, plus great covers from The Grateful Dead, The Band, Bob Dylan, Peter Rowan, Jimmy Cliff and others - including unique renditions of traditional bluegrass tunes and rock classics.

Aug 19 – Buffalo Joe

Buffalo Joe is one of the best-kept secrets in the Roaring Fork Valley, even among the band members themselves. The Joes are known throughout a seven-block area in the east-central region of the upper Roaring Fork Valley. Buffalo Joe is a side(ways) project for three members of the long-running Flying Dog Bluegrass Band of Aspen. Rooted in contemporary bluegrass, with shades of alt-country and Celtic, the band features Steve Johnson on banjo, guitar and vocals; Trevor Mounjoy on bass; and Paonia’s own Randall Utterback on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, dobro and vocals.

Aug 26 - Fruition String Band 

In November, 2011 Fruition released a new EP, It Won’t Be Long, the third album for the quintet based in Portland, Oregon. In seven original songs, Kellen Asebroek, Mimi Naja, and Jay Cobb Anderson conspire to blend raw, live energy with the strings of traditional folk-Americana. Supported by Keith Simon on upright bass, and Tyler Thompson on drums, Fruition succeeds with lyrical prowess, and harmonies as vibrant as they are heart-breaking.

Sept 2 – Smuggler Mountain Boys

The Smuggler Mountain Boys are from right here in the Roaring Fork Valley. They play that good ol' traditional Bluegrass Music that has been around since the 40's. Singin' and pickin' their way from Aspen to New Castle. Smuggler Mountain Boys have, Ross Kribbs on fiddle, Mike Leavy on Bass, Dave Notor on Mandolin & Dobro and Vocals, Brennan Buckley on Banjo and Vocals and Craig Snow on guitar and vocals.