My family and I just spent 11 great days with my mom and my dad in Telluride, Colorado. My folks live up there during the summers, and it has become a yearly tradition to strap the car-sick-prone kids into the vehicle and brave the 9+ hours to the San Juans of southwest Colorado.
As fate would have it, along with the hiking, fly fishing, restaurantin’, Smugglers Brewpubbin‘ and such, I managed to catch some quality live music during our visit. Early on, it was James McMurtry playing for free in Mountain Village. And Friday, for our final day in town, it was the Telluride Cajun Festival, featuring Louisiana native Papa Mali, with new BFF (and drummer for the Dead) Bill Kreutzmann in tow…
First, I’d be remiss to neglect the opening act, Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real. Lukas and his band impressed the crowd with some strong blues-based rock. The songs were mostly originals. “Mystery” was one of the best, a nice uptempo number reminiscent of Van Morrison (you can hear it on their MySpace page). He also played a couple of impressive covers.
If only I could remember one. Instead of jotting them down on my iPhone, I was busy juggling my two girls and a Hurricane.
And look at this, I didn’t discover this until just now: Lukas sort of has music running in the family – his dad is Willie Nelson.
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s Official Site & MySpace
[...] Lukas Nelson and The Promise of the Real, in Telluride … [...]