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Photo by Denby Gardiner

Very few events are able to carry on annually for over forty years, but Telluride did it once again this year with the 42nd gathering of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The astounding valley engulfed the thousands of string fans into a single beer-drinking, booty-shaking mass under a glistening mountain sun.

As the decades before would show, the festival always begins on a warm Thursday morning. This year kicked off with Bluegrass favorites, like Jerry Douglas and Robert Earl Keen. Rhiannon Giddens and the classic Hot Rize rocked through the day into John Butler Trio’s set. The Australian native looked right at home on the iconic wooden stage, grooving the crowd with songs like “Better Than” and “Mystery Man.” As he moved the festival through the first day, he dedicated a song to those serving their countries and ended up requiring a nail file, to which he chuckled over, saying, “Life is strange, I would not have believed if someone would have told me I would be filing my nails with a pink file at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.”

The first headlining show of the festival was the ever-anticipated Telluride House Band, which consisted of the legendary Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, and Stuart Duncan. Always a crowd favorite, the group transcended genres and expectations by surprising the audience with flair and grit, of which even included the theme from the Pink Panther.

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Photo By Denby Gardiner

As always, the river of fans flock to their tents for the first sleep under the open sky as they recharge for the next day. And charged they needed to be, with a lineup like Friday’s. The 9:45am show beginning with Mustered Courage, then Johnnyswim, then Lau, into a midday expose of Peter Rowan’s Twang an’ Groove. The expected set from Bela Fleck came next, featuring his love Abigail Washburn for a sweet mellow duo of melodic synchronization. Carrying on the torch of mellow bluegrass sewn with soft lyrics came The Punch Brothers. Adorable fan favorite “This Girl” had hands raised and smiles engraved.

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Photo by Denby Gardiner

Although the four-day festival is known as the mecca of Bluegrass, an active attempt to keep the band list eclectic is apparent. This year, none other than Janelle Monae kept that detail alive, lighting up the stage with theatrical moves and multi-colored lights, a vast transformation from the dapper quintuplet manned by the sweet-faced Chris Thile. Both acts, however, were welcomed with open arms, and the festivarians stayed up and lively into the final set of the evening, headliners Trampled By Turtles.

Known for their quickly paced shows, Trampled moved the bodies through the mountain cold with picks like “Empire,” “Help You,” “Wait So Long,” and “Repetition.” They indulged the spectators in covers like The Band’s “Dixie Down” and Pixies’ “Where is my Mind.” They included signature slower tracks like “Alone” and “Midnight on the Interstate” as well, but for the most part, kept everyone stomping.

Saturday kicked off early with the 2015 Telluride Band Contest, which has been a title held by the likes of Greensky Bluegrass and Troutsteak Revival. This year, the honor was bestowed upon the Lil’ Smokies of Missoula, MT. As tradition goes, the Lil’ Smokies are now booked for the 2016 festival, as Trout Steak Revival played this year after the contest as their prize for winning last year.

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Photo by Denby Gardiner

After Trout Steak came Robert Ellis, the Steep Canyon Rangers, and then Yonder Mountain String Band’s set, which showcased their newest album Black Sheep. After a cover of “Shakedown Street” and an accompaniment from Sam Bush, the schedule took on to the Telluride Troubadour, Lake Street Dive, and then to the King of Telluride himself, Mr. Sam Bush. Welcomed to the stage with the emblematic “Saaaaaam Buuuuuush!” the Sam Bush band blew the stage to bits and wee beans, which assisted in proving that only Leftover Salmon as the only act equipped to follow, as they closed out the night at Midnight, celebrating this year’s Summer Solstice.

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Photo by Denby Gardiner

Sunday started off a little bit later, taking things easy after the previous long days. Rock My Soul got things moving; Rhonda Vincent took it from there. Another non-traditional bluegrass act, Brett Dennen, surpassed expectation and brought the masses out for his catchy rhymes and radio hits.

Chris Thile hit the stage again, although without his Brothers to Punch, joining Edgar Meyer to sway bodies along to their new album Bass & Mandolin, literally referencing Meyer on bass and Thile on Mandolin. During this set, the more eccentric fans took to the Workshop stage to get jiggy with the Oregon based Fruition.

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Americana band Greensky Bluegrass took stage during their favorite slot, proving that Sunday is no day to take it easy. The majority of the set was accented with Sam Bush on the fiddle, which got so rowdy a single roll of toilet paper somehow shot out from the field of humans onto the stage. The group closed down with their hit, “Windshield.”

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Photo by Denby Gardiner

Country darling Kacey Musgraves nabbed the spotlight next, complete with neon cacti and decked out supporting musicians in traditional garb. She maintained a sweetheart presence by sporting a doll-like look in a poufy-pink dress and chirping songs like that of “Step Off,” which have lyrics that sing “Step off, step off/ yeah you’re getting too close to me/with all your negativity/ just get lost.” After which, the last of the sets took stage, and legendary Ry Cooder, Sharon White and Ricky Skaggs closed down the festivities with a taste of their Cooder-White-Skaggs tour.

The tired festival goers lost no enthusiasm, and many even jumped into discussions consisting of, “See you next year,” and “Only 361 more days!” as they head back to their camps before returning to their version of reality. Much like any festival, the next year is sure to be the greatest yet, while simultaneously incapable of topping past memories. Long live Telluride.