20 Things I Learned From This Year’s Telluride Experiece
1. Telluride is truly beautiful!
2. Camping in close quarters with thousands of revelers is not camping…it’s cramping.
3. Double-check the air mattress for leaks before the next camping excursion.
4. Performing in front of 10,000 people is awesome.
5. The natural slap-delay of the Rocky Mountains is better than any tape echo.
6. The Fishman Aura Spectrum D.I. can, (and will), quit on you at the most unfortunate time.
7. Note to self: next time wear yellow pants, corduroy jacket, Chucks, pimp shades, big collar 70’s shirt, and a handlebar mustache. Judges like that look.
8. Sandals and a hoodie are no match for hail and snow.
9. While I enjoy a blazing fast mandolin solo, after thirty or forty of them, the blur of notes becomes oddly reminiscent of 80’s guitar shredding.
10. Apparently, everything Chris Thile touches turns to gold.
11. Steve Winwood has still got it.
12. Now that Robert Plant, (Band of Joy), and John Paul Jones, (Dave Rawlings Machine), have adopted “Americana” as their genre of choice, it shouldn’t be long before Jimmy Page joins them for an al- acoustic version of Led Zeppelin, maybe calling it “Unleaded“. (Rawlings, JPJ, and Co. finished off their set with “Going to California.”)
13. Del McCoury seems to have raised his boys right.
14. Colorado 149 and 145 are two of the best drives EVER.
15. To “Festifarians”, a strategically placed tarp constitutes a land deed.
16. The aroma of weed in Colorado is almost as prevalent as the scent of pine trees.
17. Seeing 30-40 unattended smart phones and note pads plugged into multiple power strips, left to charge outside the campground restroom is a testament to both our faith in humanity and our desperation to stay connected to the outside world.
18. At 8750 feet, The Hollies’ “…sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe…” takes on an entirely new meaning.
19. Listening to Peter Rowan perform with acclaimed Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo was brilliant, (aside from the running commentary by some audience members stating they prefer Rowan’s bluegrass band …people, please).
20. A vehicle’s AC will typically go out on a hot summer day, most likely in West Texas, (roughly 50 miles east of the middle of nowhere).