It’s time for the ladies to lead a bluegrass pick. Not that the ladies haven’t had a fair shake, as it seems its bluegrass is one specialized genre of music that has its share of females picking up and ripping on acoustic instruments. But it’s not an even split, as despite those leading ladies, bluegrass and most other genres remain in the male majority.
The festival world is looking to balance it out, bluegrass included. While the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown has always booked at least one female headliner like Becky Buller, Molly Tuttle or Kathy Kallick over the last few festivals, it’s an event still looking to even the playing field.
Enter The Meltdown Sisters, an all-female band booked as one of the headliners at this year’s Durango’s Bluegrass Meltdown.
The Meltdown returns this weekend after a two-year, COVID-19 forced hiatus. Also on the bill are Bruce Molsky and Tony Trischka, A.J. Lee and Blue Summit, Special Consensus, Unspoken Tradition and many more, including most of the town’s local bands.
If you go
WHAT: The Durango Bluegrass Meltdown featuring The Meltdown Sisters, Special Consensus, Bruce Molsky and Tony Trischka and more.
WHEN: Friday-Sunday. Kicks off 5 p.m. Friday at Durango Art Center, Animas City Theatre and Wild Horse Saloon.
TICKETS: Weekend Pass $120, Saturday only $80, Sunday only $50. Available online at https://bit.ly/3JXTN1p.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.durangomeltdown.com.
The Meltdown Sisters was put together by Colorado-based bluegrass multi-instrumentalist K.C. Groves. When approached by Meltdown organizers to put together an all-female band to balance out male and female musicians, she immediately thought it should be on the organizers to simply book more women. Then she realized putting a band together could be a gas.
“I thought, why don’t they just hire more women?” Groves said. “But then I thought, wait a minute, putting an all-female band together sounds like a lot of fun! So immediately I just started thinking ‘who’s the dream team? Who would I have?’”
A dream team it is. Aside from Groves, who will play bass, the band is Sharon Gilchrist on mandolin, Colleen Heine on fiddle, Maddy Cody on banjo and Amy Scher on guitar. They’re ladies who have rubbed elbows with some of bluegrass’ heaviest hitters, a group of women with solid picking chops ready to drop the best in traditional bluegrass or newgrass while also exploring the growing realm of Americana.
Putting a band together solely to play a festival brings forth a level of unpredictability. Groves and Gilchrist have played together in Uncle Earl, but outside of that combination, these ladies have spent little time on stage with each other. Longstanding bands have built solid sets from playing together for hundreds of shows; while The Meltdown Sisters all have solid, individual chops, their newness will add without-a-net excitement.
“Other bands can show up and say, ‘let’s do the set we did in Duluth last week’ and we’re like ‘what songs do you know?’” Groves said. “Really cool things can come out of that, and also just the freshness of it. We’re not a well-oiled machine. It’s going to be a little raw, maybe a little impromptu at times, and off the cuff. So, it will be fresh.”
This is not Groves’ first Meltdown. She’s a veteran of this event, and ready to show her new bandmates why she thinks this festival is one of the best.
“I’ve always felt really appreciated in Durango. Fans are just like ‘thanks for coming to Durango and playing music for us.’ I don’t know, maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic or something. I’m just so ready to start playing out again and doing a festival, especially one of my favorite festivals” she said. “I told the women who haven’t played the Meltdown yet, ‘you’re in for a treat, it’s the best, warmest audience.’ So, it’s just gonna be fun.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
