Telluride Blues and Brews celebrates 30 years

This weekend in Colorado there's the annual Telluride Blues and Brews festival. This year, the festival marks a big 30th year anniversary, bringing in some new talented blues musicians to Telluride as well as some old town favorites.

Despite not being sold out this year, the festival is celebrating a big year: 30 years of operation in Telluride. This past year marked the anniversary of another town favorite festival, The Bluegrass Festival. However, this month, the town celebrates its connection to the blues and many breweries in Colorado with the festival. It's held over 3 days and has many camping options with both campgrounds located closely to the main stage of the festival.

Attending a music festival in Telluride can be a dream come true for many musicians and fans. It's not every day you get to experience a venue like Town Park, with mountain views all around and at the foot of the Telluride Gondola. This year, there's surprisingly a number of new blues artists on the line up that will be gracing the main stage for the first time and will be able to share that experience with other first timers of the festival.

Those that have gone to the festival or any music festival in town park know the basics and how unique of an area is to have a festival. There's the daily tarp run, and those that have gone before know it's absolutely a requirement to bring a camp chair (unless you'd like to stand up front all three days, which is always an option).

However, it isn't the Telluride Blues Festival without blues woman Samantha Fish. Fish has played almost every festival since she's been touring. Because of that, she's established a local fan base in Western Colorado. While she wasn't on the line up for last year's festival, Fish packed a free concert at Ridgway's concert in the park series instead-that concert alone saw more than 2,000 fans in attendance. Samantha Fish isn't headlining this year, but she is playing an after show at the Blues Stage. This reviewer has seen Fish over fifteen times, (half a dozen of which have been in Telluride) and each time she brings an incredible show. Her songs and set list aren't to be missed, either on the main stage or after party Friday night.

Blues legend Joe Bonamossa closes out the festival Sunday night, and for those who will still be in attendance, is another set not to be missed. Hailing from Upstate New York, Joe is an acclaimed guitarist in the blues world and has an extremely entertaining show on B.B. King's Bluesville.

Another set not to be missed is Eric Gales performances at the Sheridan and on the main stage Friday night. Eric has been hailed has one of the best blues men of the modern era, and it wouldn't be good missing out on catching his show.

Telluride is in for another great year with this year's 30th Anniversary Blues and Brews. Even if you have seen Samantha Fish several times already, this is a huge year for her as she's opened for both The Rolling Stones and Slash. The weather looks great, and it should be no doubt a good weekend in Telluride!