Every year for what is now going to be 22 years, an event is held in Durango that has strangers hanging out and playing music together in hallways and on street corners and everywhere in between. In the span of three days, you can catch nationally renowned acts and up-and-coming local bands. And if you’re a student, you just might find yourself in an assembly featuring a bluegrass band.
It’s the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, and this is the weekend.
Running Friday through Sunday, and with 24 bands and an old-time barn dance filling the bill, there will barely be time to take a breath. The music and merriment will fill the Henry Strater Theatre, Wild Horse Saloon, Durango Arts Center, the Elks Lodge and Powerhouse Science Center.
“The Meltdown started in April for the reason that it was the time of year the town was in a lull; there weren’t a lot of tourists coming to town,” said Tommy Frederico, president of the Meltdown’s board and member of the band La La Bones, which will be playing this weekend. “The Meltdown came about to bring more people to town.”
Over the course of more than two decades, the festival has enjoyed a “nice, slow, steady growth,” said Pat Dressen, Meltdown board member and a “longtime Durango bluegrass guy” who was on the committee to start the festival and has been with the Meltdown since its inception. Along with his board duties, he will be taking the stage with bands The Badly Bent (on guitar) and Lawn Chair Kings (mandolin).
Frederico said that the acts coming to town know what they’re doing.
“The festival brings in a lot of really well-known bluegrass names in the genre,” he said. “Rob Ickes played with Blue Highway for 20-some years and recently left the band and has been playing with Trey Hensley, who’s kind of a newcomer to the scene – he has some rock ’n’ roll background.”
There’s also going to be a cool family connection this year.
“Sideline, along with Songs of the Fall, are kind of unique because the old band Cherryholmes was a family band, and Skip Cherryholmes is the guitar player for Sideline, and Songs of the Fall’s banjo player is Cia Cherryholmes,” Frederico said. “And we’ve also got Molly Cherryholmes, who’ll play fiddle with them this weekend, so we’ll have three of the Cherryholmeses here in two of the bands, which is pretty neat.”
The Meltdown is also committed to including kids, with bands performing at local schools, workshops held during the weekend for children and the chance for the kiddos to play in public.
“The coolest thing I think about it is this weekend, any time you go to the Strater Hotel, it’s going to be packed. It’s going to be buzzing with people everywhere: in the lobby, in the stairwells ...,” Frederico said. “In every room, in every nook and cranny, there’ll be jams everywhere. People getting together, meeting new friends. And people playing from the stages, too, will come in and jam all night.”
Dressen said that even if there are some bands coming to town people may not recognize, festival-goers have come to rely on the Meltdown’s selections.
“We’ve gotten a reputation for that,” he said. “A lot of people just think, ‘Well, I may not know the bands, but I trust the Meltdown, and I’m going to learn about some new bands this year.’”
And for the newbie to the scene, or even for those who aren’t necessarily into bluegrass music, the social aspect of the weekend is worth checking out, Frederico said.
“It’s a ton of fun,” he said. “You’ll be smiling all weekend long. The music is great. Everybody is super-nice and friendly. ... The Strater is just a fun place – it’s a scene there that is just different than any other time of year.”
To get your tickets or for more information, check out www.durangomeltdown.com.
katie@durangherald.com
2016 Durango Bluegrass Meltdown
Friday
Henry Strater Theatre
7 p.m.:
Chris Henry and Hardcore Bluegrass
8 p.m.:
The Robin Davis Duo
9 p.m.:
Sideline
Durango Arts Center
6 p.m.:
Steel Pennies
7 p.m.:
Sideline
8 p.m.:
The Badly Bent
9 p.m:
Chris Henry and Hardcore Bluegrass
Powerhouse Science Center
5 p.m:
Colorado College Bluegrass Ensemble
6 p.m.:
Running Out Of Road
Powerhouse performances are free.
Saturday
Henry Strater Theatre
10 a.m.:
Steel Pennies
11 a.m.:
La La Bones
Noon:
Sideline
1 p.m.:
Chris Henry and Hardcore Bluegrass
2 p.m.:
Running Out Of Road
3 p.m.:
Spring Fever Bluegrass Band
4 p.m.:
Wood & Wire
5 p.m.:
Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
7-9 p.m.:
Super Jam
Durango Arts Center
10 a.m.:
Bluegrouse
11 a.m.:
Colorado College Bluegrass Ensemble
Noon:
Wood & Wire
1 p.m.:
Last Nickel
2 p.m.:
Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
3 p.m.:
The Robin Davis Duo
4 p.m.:
Songs of the Fall
5 p.m.:
Foghorn Stringband
8-9 p.m.:
Grant Farm
Wild Horse Saloon
10 a.m.:
Fellowship of the Strings
11 a.m.:
Lost Souls
Noon:
The Robin Davis Duo
1 p.m.:
Spring Fever Bluegrass Band
2 p.m.:
Mipso
3 p.m.:
The Badly Bent
4 p.m.:
Chris Henry and Hardcore Bluegrass
5 p.m.:
Sideline
Elks Lodge
Noon-6 p.m.:
Band Showcase featuring Escalante String Club, Colorado College Bluegrass Ensemble, Mountain Top Pocket Pickers, Cannondolls and The Great Contention
7:
30-10 p.m.: Old-Time Barn Dance
Sunday
Henry Strater Theatre
10 a.m.:
Mipso
11 a.m.:
Burle and the No Brainers
Noon:
Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
1 p.m.:
Songs of the Fall
2 p.m.:
The Blue Moon Ramblers
3 p.m.:
Foghorn Stringband
4 p.m.:
Wood & Wire
Durango Arts Center
10 a.m.:
Chokecherry Jam (Gospel)
11 a.m.:
Steel Pennies (Gospel)
Noon:
Spring Fever Bluegrass Band (Gospel)
1 p.m.:
Six Dollar String Band
2 p.m.:
Lawn Chair Kings
3 p.m.:
La La Bones
4 p.m.:
Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
Wild Horse Saloon
11 a.m.:
Colorado College Bluegrass Ensemble
Noon:
Foghorn Stringband
1 p.m.:
Wood & Wire
2 p.m.:
Mipso
3 p.m.:
Songs of the Fall
4 p.m.:
Burle and the No Brainers
All information subject to change. For more and a workshop schedule, visit www.durangomeltdown.com.
Workshop schedule
All workshops will be held in the Pullman Room (downstairs in the Strater Hotel).
Saturday
10 a.m.:
Kids workshop
11 a.m.:
Mandolin with Chris Henry
Noon:
Guitar with Tyler Grant and Trey Hensley
1 p.m.:
Old Time Fiddle and Banjo with Foghorn Stringband
2 p.m.:
Fiddle with Annie Savage and Nathan Aldridge
3 p.m.:
Bass with Jason Moore and Kathy Patton
4 p.m.:
Vocal with Mipso
Sunday
10 a.m.:
Bluegrass Banjo with Cia Cherryholmes and Keith Reed
Noon:
Kids Jam
1 p.m.:
Clogging with Jenny Shine
2 p.m.:
Dobro with Rob Ickes
All information subject to change
If you go
Tickets for the 2001 Durango Bluegrass Meltdown are $90 for a full weekend pass; $60 Saturday only; and $40 for Sunday only. To purchase or for more information, visit www.durangomeltdown.com.
