The Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival takes place Friday through Sunday by the Colorado River in Palisade. Visit palisademusic.com for information.
For those who like their grass blue and their roots deep, Palisade is the place to be this weekend for the 15th annual Palisade Bluegrass and Roots Festival.
The event takes place at Riverbend Park. Festivities kick off Friday at 3 p.m. and run through 8 p.m. Sunday. Fourteen bands will grace the main stage and three bands will play the smaller Happy Camper stage.
Friday’s lineup features Stray Grass at 3 p.m., The Fretliners at 5 p.m., Rebecca Frazier’s Grateful Strings at 7 p.m. and Rapidgrass at 9:30 p.m.
Saturday kicks off with Mild Goose Chase at 11 a.m. followed by Two Runner at 1 p.m., Tray Wellington at 3 p.m., Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley at 6 p.m. and Yonder Mountain String Band at 9 p.m.
Sierra Green and the Giants get it going Sunday at 11 a.m., followed by Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam at 1 p.m. The Last Revel is next up at 3:30 p.m. and Mipso takes it home Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
“This is our 15th year. We love it because it’s a fresh mix of known bands and emerging acts,” said director of operations Amy Kimberly. “The festival is in an amazing location on the Colorado River. You can only camp on it once a year and it’s this weekend. A lot of the musicians in the festival come out and jam at the campgrounds.”
The festival has three levels of camping — general camping, premium camping and glamping. Information on camping and hotels in the area is available at palisademusic.com.
Railroad Earth was booked as the Saturday headliner but had to back out due to a band member’s health issue. Colorado’s own Yonder Mountain String Band answered the call and will headline the fest’s second day.
Yonder came together in 1998 and is seen as one of the main progenitors of jamgrass. Founding members Adam Aijala (guitar and vocals), Dave Johnston (banjo) and Ben Kaufmann (bass) are still holding it down. They are joined by new members Nick Piccininni (mandolin) and Coleman Smith (fiddle) who joined the band in 2020 and 2023 respectively.
In 2023, Yonder was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. “When it comes to bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band is simultaneously traditional and progressive,” the Hall of Fame wrote on its website. “Bluegrass purists eschew the use of drums, arguing that strings plucked fast and furious provide more than enough rhythm to make the music exciting and danceable — and Yonder has never supplemented its lineup with a player behind the kit. The band’s willingness to let their songs evolve and grow organically, rather than keeping things snappy and succinct, has made them a favorite of jam-band fanatics weaned on acts that may visit bluegrass but don’t always live in it.”
Banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka will perform the music of Earl Scruggs and John Hartford this weekend at the Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival, which runs from Friday through Sunday.
Sunday, the Palisade Bluegrass & Roots Festival audience will be treated to bluegrass banjo player Tony Trischka. Few people can claim to have influenced banjo-pioneer Bela Fleck, but Fleck counts Trishka as one of his biggest inspirations. For over 50 years, Trischka has expanded the vocabulary of the banjo.
Trischka recently was given extremely rare recordings of jam sessions featuring Earl Scruggs (of the legendary Flatt and Scruggs) and fiddle/banjo legend John Hartford. Trischka transcribed many solos from these jams note-for-note.
Trischka traces Scrugg’s story from his childhood to his final years. He recently released the album “Earl Jam,” which features guests Sam Bush and Billy Strings. Trischka performed some of the tunes on the Grand Ole Opry.
“I’m greatly looking forward to bringing my Earl Jam band to the Palisade Bluegrass and Roots Festival this Sunday,” Trischka said in an interview. “Myself, Michael Daves, Casey Driessen and Jared Engel will be honoring Earl Scruggs on his 100th birthday year. We’ll be performing music from Earl’s illustrious career, as well as tunes from jam sessions Earl did with John Hartford, which have formed the basis for my new album release ‘Earl Jam.’”
The Sunday headliner Mipso hails from North Carolina and their blend of bluegrass and folk will be the perfect compliment to the Sunday sunset at Riverbend Park.
“When I started our programming for the 2024 festival, Mipso was top on my list,” said event producer Josh Behrman (who works for Aspen Daily News). “I’ve been a fan ever since I heard the song ‘Carolina Rolling.’ That song almost perfectly describes the Palisade vibe.”
Behrman is in good company when it comes to listening to Mipso. Their song “People Change” has amassed 117 million spins on Spotify, with 733,000 listeners clocking in to Mipso’s page monthly.
“We usually draw about 2,800 to 3,000 people,” Kimberly said of the weekend. “We have a huge site with lots of trees and shade and the Colorado River. It’s a lovely, intimate festival.”
