By JOHN LLEHNDORFF (2:05 p.m 7/31/16 Lyons CO/ overcast with a chance a brilliance) – Saturday’s sets at the 44th annual Rockygrass Festival featured the return of many of the leading lights of this progressive bluegrass tradition fostered at Rockygrass over the past two decades. I first talked to Mark O’Connor backstage at Telluride when … Continue reading
JOHN LEHNDORFF (3:07 p.m. 7/30/16 Lyons CO / Sunny with a chance of more sun) – I missed the yoga session at 8 a.m. The fans on the field at the Rockygrass Festival pretty much knew when they wheeled the drum riser onto the stage that Tony Trischka and his band (above) probably weren’t going … Continue reading
By John Lehndorff (1:49 p.m. July 30, 2016: Lyons CO/ 88 degrees, cloudy, chance of twang) – The gates of Rockygrass swung open at Planet Bluegrass for the second day of the 44th annual gathering. The first one I attended was at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds and Hot Rize was there. Today’s array started with … Continue reading
By JOHN LEHNDORFF (9:15 P.m.7/29/16 Lyons CO) – While the Steep Canyon Rangers are onstage I’m backstage thinking about the last, rare set by Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer. I’ve seen these guys play for 30 plus years delivering their virtuoso instrumental music that bears only a passing relationship to the stuff Bill Monroe … Continue reading
By John Lehndorff (7/29/16: 2 p.m. Lyons CO) – First there was Hot Rize. They took Colorado bluegrass values to a national audience. It was very good, and Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band, each bending Bill Monroe’s mashup of styles their own harmonic twist. The Infamous Stringdusters and Greensky Bluegrass, two … Continue reading
By JOHN LEHNDORFF – (Boulder Weekly) This time of year I love sweet ripe tomatoes, freshly dressed lettuce and buttered roasted corn as much as any person can, but there really is more to life than a bowl of Colorado cherries. I watch folks ignoring the summer smorgasbord to focus on the mild, sweet favorites. … Continue reading
By JOHN LEHNDORFF During summer’s peak travel season I get variations on the same question from friends and sometimes strangers that go something like this: “We’re driving south on I-25 to New Mexico. Is there any place to eat down there that’s worth getting off the interstate?” I don’t blame them. I made the same … Continue reading
By JOHN LEHNDORFF (From Produce Business magazine) – Produce sales tie-ins are not exactly a new idea. Historians report that merchants in marketplaces sold fruit right next to nuts, bread and other favorites to grab the ancient equivalent of a double-ring from customers. The question isn’t whether tie-ins help sell more fresh fruit – they … Continue reading
By JOHN LEHNDORFF (From Sensi magazine) – I always know when I’m about to taste something great at a restaurant. It happens when I point to an item on the menu or a dish on another table, and then point at myself, and the waiter starts shaking his or her head vigorously from side to side … Continue reading
(From Boulder Weekly, 6/30/16) – The Blueberry Man always showed up at the back door of my childhood home on hot summer Saturday mornings. I never knew the name of the stooped older man in worn overalls who walked the neighborhood offering freshly picked wild blueberries by the cup from a full tin pail. I … Continue reading
(Happy July Fourth! This was written October, 2008): I believe in pie. My favorite food, bar none, is warm, fresh wild blueberry pie a la moded with good vanilla bean ice cream. But my faith transcends simple taste. When push comes to shove (as it so often does in life), I trust what lies within … Continue reading
Nibbles 