Reservoir Hill Park ~ Pagosa Springs, CO
June 5, 6 & 7, 2009

Performance Schedule
(subject to change)

FRIDAY, JUNE 5

FREE Friday Concert - Everyone welcome!
June 5, 2008 • 5:00 PM • Pagosa Springs Town Park

Enjoy two FREE performances:

Friday Late Night Stage - on Reservoir Hill
Open to 2-Day ticket holders only. Times may be adjusted
according to conclusion of Free Friday sets.

SATURDAY, JUNE 6 - Reservoir Hill (ticket holders only)

Main Stage

Rendezvous Stage (Acoustic)

Saturday Late Night Stage
(performances get underway after the conclusion of the main stage sets)

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 - Reservoir Hill (ticket holders only)

Main Stage

Rendezvous Stage (Acoustic)

Schedule subject to change.

The Badly Bent
The Badly Bent has been entrenched in the bluegrass music scene since 1997.  Based in Durango, Colorado, The Badly Bent has proven its musicianship through the winning of prestigious music competitions and receiving accolades from many of its peers in the bluegrass industry.  These boys are not newcomers to either the bluegrass scene or performing in front of large audiences.

The Badly Bent does not present itself as one of the new pseudo-bluegrass jam bands.  Although their musical prowess allows them to explore the edges of traditional music, the listener will find that the music never strays far from the roots established by the fathers of the genre.  Their love for the genuine bluegrass sound is evident every time they take the stage. But, don’t be surprised when they pull a song out of the hat that everyone says, “Now, where have I heard that before?”  Their repertoire will please even the most discriminating listener.

The Badly Bent started in Durango with a group of well-known musicians gathering to become the top of the bluegrass scene.  The configuration of the band evolved to its current form in 2007. Sharing lead vocals are Pat Dressen (guitar) and Mark Epstein (banjo). Robb Brophy (mandolin) provides the band’s tenor harmony vocals and Jimmy Largent on bass rounds out the ensemble of The Badly Bent.

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Bearfoot
A mere two years after their initial meeting as camp counselors, Bearfoot earned one of roots music’s most prestigious awards – Telluride Bluegrass Band Champions – an honor they share with artists like Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek.  Now, after years of national touring at top theaters and festivals, Bearfoot joins these iconic pop peers, with the broad horizon of the Americana frontier in their souls.

Bearfoot is deeply American music.  Airy Northern ballads are tempered by back-alley Southern blues, while jazz stomp meets Appalachian breakdown, the whole fused with a signature sexy bluegrass passion.
Boasting five distinctive lead voices, the group showcases a remarkable breadth of rich, original songs.  Their arrangements soar with smoky, spacious lyricism.  The rhythmic bounce and precision of their instrumentation is fiery and inventive, with an earthy focus on blend, harmony, and tone.  Bearfoot is sophisticated, vital music.  Contemporary guitar voicing set against melodic purity; youthful grit encounters harmonic romance.

Bearfoot – the name slyly nods to the wilds of their native Alaska, conjuring images of rural string-band musicians, and, in its simple elegance, elevating the quintet to the top of a cultural mountain where they overlook the past, present, and future of Americana music.

Listen to Bearfoot on MySpace

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Belleville Outfit

Based out of Louisiana’s finest music and arts city, but with hometowns littered across the United States, the Belleville Outfit serves up a truly unique mix of gypsy swing, big band jazz, and roots Americana/Bluegrass. Both innovative in their combining of genres, and true to their musical roots, the Belleville Outfit, though young, has already solidified itself as a tour-de-force in the world of acoustic music.

Band members Rob Teter, Marshall Hood and Jeff Brown toured extensively with a group based out of South Carolina called the DesChamps Band, an all acoustic swing/bluegrass group that has shared stages with such prestigious acts as The Waybacks, Junior Brown, the Del McCoury Band, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Duhks, and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, as well as released two full length records.

Now, as the Belleville Outfit, with the additional talents of Phoebe Hunt on violin, Connor Forsyth on piano, and Jonathan Konya on the drums, the group is poised to introduce their inventive sound into the ears of anyone and everyone who will listen.

"One of the striking things about the current Americana music trend is that it is the exploration of some really old styles undertaken by some really young musicians. Of all the bands making their MerleFest debuts last April, the one that came away with the unofficial "buzz maker" award was the young sextet the Belleville Outfit. Performing shows at the Americana Stage and the Hillside Stage, the Belleville Outfit wowed MerleFest fans with high-energy sets of New Orleans-style barrelhouse piano blues, big band jazz and gypsy swing, all tempered with a modern Americana sensibility and sense of humor."  - Jeff Eason, Mountain Times

Listen to the Belleville Outfit on MySpace

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The Boston Boys
The Boston Boys is a new band of musicians emerging from the hotbed of talented young players in the hip Boston music scene. Featuring Eric Robertson, Nate Leath, Sam Grisman, Stash Wyslouch, and Nick Falk, all band members are either students at or Alumni of the prestigious Berklee School of Music. The Boston Boys sound is contemporary roots rock, blending reverence for the Beatles and the energy of the Avett Brothers with hints of Appalachian string band music. The Pagosa Folk 'N Bluegrass will mark the band's Colorado debut.

Watch The Boston Boys on YouTube

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Expedition Quartet
While rooted in the stringband tradition, the Expedition Quartet is not bound by any one tradition. Their set is as likely to include bluegrass stomps, traditional fiddle tunes and swing standards, as an Argentine tango, Brazilian choro, or an original modern stringband composition. The Expedition Quartet didn't form like an ordinary group, and it follows that their music is far from ordinary. In 2006, after hearing banjoist Jake Schepps' solo CD, theDurango Meltdown Festival insisted Jake put together a band to perform. Seizing the opportunity to showcase Jake's unique vision of adventurous stringband music, he recruited some of the most accomplished acoustic musicians from Colorado's thriving acoustic music scene. Despite being the most adventurous group at a fairly traditional festival, The Expedition Quartet's sets were an unqualified success, and it was clear that the expedition had just begun.  With Jake Schepps on 5-string banjo, Ryan Drickey on violin, Greg Schochet on guitar and mandolin, and young Ian Hutchison on bass.  The band released the all-instrumental album Ten Thousand Leaves, which was produced by Nashville’s Matt Flinner. It was called “One of the top 10 releases of 2007” by JazzReview.com, and “Highly Recommended” by Dirty Linen. Music from the CD received an International Acoustic Music Award, in addition to being selected for Global Rhythm Magazine’s November 2007 CD Sampler.

Listen to the Expedition Quartet on MySpace

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Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Frank Solivan is a singer of power and passion, a writer whose articulate songs go straight to the heart, and a multi-instrumentalist who combines the pure, hard drive of classic bluegrass with twenty-first century sophistication. Frank’s 2002 debut recording, I Am A Rambler, revealed an exciting new talent on the bluegrass horizon. The following year, his skills on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and vocals earned him a place in Country Current, the United States Navy’s elite country and bluegrass band. In 2006, Frank’s recording, Selfish Tears, demonstrates the depth of his songwriting and the breadth of his musicianship. Frank penned eight of the CD’s eleven tracks, and his performances display an added strength and maturity.

Born in Modesto, California, Frank learned to sing and play the fiddle and banjo from his parents, both gifted musicians. By the time he was 12 years old he had already taken first place in several fiddle and banjo contests. During his high school years Frank studied the cello, eventually occupying the second chair in the cello section of the California All-State Honor Orchestra.

In 1995 Frank moved to Alaska, where he taught fiddle, mandolin, and guitar, and took first prize in the Alaska State Fair fiddle contest four years in a row. While playing first chair violin in the University of Alaska's Symphony, he was also touring with bluegrass legends Doug Dillard and Ginger Boatwright. And even though he was barely twenty years old, he acted as a key mentor to members of Bearfoot (Winners of the 2001 National Band Competition at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado) and other young Alaskan artists.

Listen to Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen on MySpace

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The Infamous Stringdusters
With its latest release CD release The Infamous Stringdusters, the band by the same name has put on record the dynamic of intimacy and virtuosity that distinguishes their live shows. The album is both a nod to traditions and a challenge to conventions, proving that the Infamous Stringdusters’ combination of innovation and experience has truly molded a new level of newgrass music.

When The Infamous Stringdusters was recently released on Sugar Hill Records, some may have assumed from the title that it’s a debut recording. Those already aware of the Stringdusters phenomenon know differently, however: that 2007’s Fork in the Road was the album that boldly introduced this daring, disciplined band to the world of bluegrass and a wider world of music enthusiasts who heard it and decided: “If that’s bluegrass, then I love bluegrass.” Fork in the Road was named Album of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Its title track was named Song of the Year, and the band itself earned the honor of best emerging artist in a competitive field. It was a stunning cap to an amazing 2007.

Yet The Infamous Stringdusters feels like an introduction of a sort. Whereas Fork in the Road was made during their first potent months together, the new CD represents all the band has become during two years of intense touring, meticulous woodshedding and brotherly jamming. It’s their first record with accomplished guitarist Andy Falco, whose blues-infused licks and stunning virtuosity have added a new facet to the band’s musical personality. It’s the first with the band’s dream producer Tim O’Brien, a Grammy-winning musician who has pioneered and embodied the progressive school of roots and bluegrass that underlies the Stringdusters sound. And of course it’s the first with these songs – nine band originals supplemented by a few carefully chosen tunes from colleagues in the acoustic music community.

Listen to the Infamous Stringdusters on MySpace

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Jeff & Vida
Vida Wakeman’s powerful vocals and driving 1942 Gibson J-45 guitar, combined with Jeff Burke’ss rock-n-roll approach to mandolin and guitar, gets crowds’ feet a-stomping, and is about as perfect a combination as you're likely to find.  Performing original songs spanning from Appalachian bluegrass to alternative country, New Orleans's well-known acoustic roots act Jeff & Vida have recently relocated to Nashville. After three studio recordings and years of rigorous touring nationally and internationally, Jeff & Vida have found a creative musical setting with their newest band featuring Jake Schepps on banjo, Justin Hoffenberg on fiddle, Greg Schochet on guitar and bazouki, and Will Downes on bass.

Listen to Jeff & Vida on MySpace

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John Jorgenson Quintet
The John Jorgenson Quintet features guitarist John Jorgenson, a founding member of the Desert Rose Band, the Hellecasters, and six-year member of Elton John's band. Artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Bonnie Raitt to Earl Scruggs have sought out Jorgenson's guitar work.  Recently, John Jorgenson was chosen to portray Django Reinhardt in the feature film Head in the Clouds.

John Jorgenson is known as one of the pioneers of the American gypsy jazz movement.  He has performed as a solo artist as well as collaborated with other musicians all over the world.  His articles and lessons on gypsy jazz have appeared in prominent guitar magazines and he has given master classes around the country. He has performed with some of the most respected European proponents of this style, Bireli Lagrene and Romane. 

John Jorgenson first came to national prominence in the mid 1980's with The Desert Rose Band, which he co-founded with Chris Hillman. The band earned five # 1 singles and garnered several awards. During this time, John won the ACM's "Guitarist of the Year" award three consecutive times.  Following the Desert Rose Band, John formed another award-winning group, the virtuosic guitar trio The Hellecasters. Originally conceived as a "one off" gig for fun, the group went on to produce three acclaimed CDs and a live video, winning both "Album of the Year" and "Country Album of the Year" from the readers of Guitar Player Magazine for the stunning debut effort Return of the Hellecasters, released in 1993.

Although John Jorgenson is well-renowned in the pop, country and rock world, gypsy jazz is the style of music closest to his heart.  Because of his international reputation as a gypsy jazz player, John was twice asked to recreate Django Reinhardt's music for feature films, Gattica and Head in The Clouds. The latter, released in early 2005 and starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, features John on camera as Django Reinhardt, complete with burned hand and gypsy moustache.

2004 also marked the release of Franco-American Swing on J2/FGM Records.  As John Jorgenson's latest creative work, the CD is full of infectious gypsy jazz music. The Nashville Chamber Orchestra joins John in this collection of original compositions and gypsy jazz classics, pushing the boundaries as it adds to the tonal palette of traditional gypsy jazz. Beautiful melodies and soulful virtuosity abound for listeners treated to John Jorgenson's dazzling fretwork and sizzling clarinet playing. 

Currently living in Nashville, John tours worldwide playing gypsy jazz with The John Jorgenson Quintet.  He also performs in the UK with his electric band, John Jorgenson & Friends, and continues to collaborate with other artists live and in the studio.

Listen to John Jorgenson on MySpace

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Missy Raines & the New Hip
It’s sometimes said that great bass playing vanishes, supporting the music without drawing attention to itself. But history also shows us that when the best bass players step forward as bandleaders, remarkable things can happen and it does in the case of Missy Raines and the New Hip. Missy, a trailblazer in her field for as long as she’s been playing music, formed this dynamic quintet to bridge the musical worlds of newgrass, jazz, singer/songwriter and any others they take a notion to explore.

The New Hip’s name is at once a subtle tribute to “Birth Of The Cool,” the heraldic 1950 album by Miles Davis that Raines cherishes, as well as a wry joke about a life-changing surgery that has allowed Raines to play in her famously physical style without pain for the first time in decades. That liberation resembles the musical freedom enjoyed by this young and vibrant band. The New Hip lets Raines compose and exchange ideas with four players ranging in age from 17 to 27 who grew up enthralled by traditional American roots music and its modern offshoots, just like their boss.

The project’s first recording project, Inside Out, was released on Compass Records on February 10. Their live show, slated for prestigious stages in 2009 and beyond, is a balanced diet of the arranged and the improvised, the sung and the picked.

Raines is the most decorated bass player in the history of the International Bluegrass Music Association and a popular figure in the bluegrass community for her warmth and her passion for the music and its practitioners. She spent years as a valued member of the Claire Lynch Band and half of a remarkable duo with guitarist Jim Hurst.

Assembling the new band took years of diligent recruiting and rehearsing, and the journey led her to the bluegrass world’s growing cadre of amazing and eclectic young players.

“We’ve only begun creating new sounds,” Missy says. “Everybody in the band writes, and I sought them out for that reason, because I wanted a band sound. I’ve always imagined it having the input of everybody and featuring everyone’s talents.”

The New Hip puts Raines on a path trod by bass player/band leader/composers like Ray Brown, Charles Mingus and Edgar Meyer. If her past is any indication, she’ll be one more shining example of why it’s not wise to underestimate the musician – male or female – back there in the band with the big, low instrument.

Listen to Missy Raines & the New Hip on MySpace

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Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz (pronounced juh-ROSE) shares her talent and love for music through her powerful, soulful voice, songwriting, and multi-instrumental skills which include mandolin, guitar, and clawhammer banjo. At the tender age of 16, she has already been invited to perform on stage with many great musicians including Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, The David Grisman Quintet, Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Nickel Creek, Mike Marshall, Abigail Washburn & Ben Sollee with Bela Fleck, The Greencards, Uncle Earl, The Infamous Stringdusters and many others.

In March of 2007, Sarah won an Austin Music Award during the SXSW Music conference. She is the youngest individual to win an AMA since Charlie Sexton won in the mid-80s. Sarah has already performed at several prestigious music festivals including: Telluride Bluegrass; Mandolines de Lunel in Lunel, France; Old Settler's Music Festival; RockyGrass; Wintergrass; Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and numerous other musical events.

In addition to a slew of television appearances, Pete Wernick invited Sarah to be a member of a group of young musicians known as "The Young American Bluegrass Idols" who performed at the 2003 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards Ceremony and Fan Fest in Louisville, Kentucky.  Sarah was awarded a scholarship to attend "a Mandolin Symposium" at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the summer of 2008 for the fifth consecutive year. She has been selected for seven years as a member of the OAKE (Kodaly) National Honor Choir.

Sarah's goals are to continue to grow as a musician, singer, and songwriter, to strive to be the best person she can be, and to travel the world to share her music with people from all walks of life. She says it best herself: "I see myself spending my entire life doing what I love, and that love is music."

Watch Sarah Jarosz on YouTube

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Tony Furtado
It takes guts to start your album off with “The Bawds of Euphony,” an instrumental banjo tune that draws its cryptic title from the words of a Wallace Stevens poem. But Tony Furtado is a man unafraid to go with his heart when it comes to his music. Produced by the fabulous (and slightly mad) Sean Slade (The Pixies, Radiohead, Dinosaur Jr., Dresden Dolls), his latest release, Deep Water, wanders through a wide array of sentiment; from joy and love, to despair and hopelessness. Recorded in Boston, away from managers, label employees, publicists or loved ones, Sean and Tony came together to make a record Tony truly wanted to create.

Tony Furtado, who grew up in Pleasanton, Calif. in the East Bay, took up the banjo at 12 and was hailed as a prodigy at age 19. As he was cementing his reputation as a banjoist extraordinaire, Tony was also developing himself into an equally virtuosic slide guitarist.
He is an extremely skilled musician with a riveting voice who blends rock music with elements of Americana, folk, and pop. His musical reach is broad enough to resonate with fans of Ry Cooder, The Band, Bruce Springsteen, CCR, Bela Fleck and Tom Petty, among others. His extremely impressive, furious slide guitar skills and 25+ years of banjo experience will blow away the musicos. For the lovers of a story in a song, Furtado has a few tales to tell; and to those who are looking for a performance, get ready to be captivated, charmed, and entertained.

Listen to Tony Furtado on MySpace

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