Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass to feature Luke Bulla Trio, The Good Time Travelers, Sugar and the Mint By Crista Munro Special to The PREVIEW
June 8, 9 and 10 will mark the 13th annual Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass festival on Reservoir Hill.
As in years past, the three-day outdoor event will draw hundreds of music lovers from around Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Texas and beyond for rousing live performances from a stellar lineup. This year’s performers include Tommy Emmanuel, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, The Way Down Wanderers, The Giving Tree Band, Bonnie and the Clydes, Coral Creek, Caitlyn Canty, The Arcadian Wild, Tallgrass, FY5, Thunder and Rain, and this week’s featured bands: Luke Bulla Trio, The Good Time Travelers and Sugar and the Mint.
The Luke Bulla Trio will play the festival main stage at the 13th annual Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass festival on Reservoir Hill at 4:30 p.m. on June 10, as well as a late night set at 9:30 p.m. on June 9.
Luke Bulla Trio Luke Bulla has a long history of festival appearances, playing past Four Corners Folk Festivals with bands like Wisechild, The Jerry Douglas Band and the Darrell Scott Band. Last year, his trio gave a stunning performance at Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass and we’re thrilled for his encore performance this year.
Bulla has been singing and playing music most of his life. Touring with and singing in his family band from age four, Bulla took up the fiddle at age 7. Over the course of the next few years, he won the National Fiddle Contest (in Weiser, Idaho) six times in his respective age categories. His seventh win came in the Grand Champion division at age 16, making him the youngest to have earned the title at the time. Entering Nashville’s Grand Masters fiddle contest at age ten, Bulla distinguished himself by being the youngest person to have made the top 10.
The spring of 1999 found Bulla moving to Nashville to establish himself as a full-time musician. He spent his early years in Tennessee playing fiddle in Ricky Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder, which earned him his first Grammy Award. Following the Skaggs stint, he became a member of the John Cowan Band. More recently, Bulla has performed and/or recorded with a slew of talented musicians including Scott, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Lyle Lovett, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Bryan Sutton and Chris Thile, to name a few. Bulla was also a perennial instructor at Mark O’Connor’s fiddle camps while growing up.
With long-time friend Casey Driessen, Bulla founded the band Wisechild. The band toured briefly with John Mayer and Counting Crows. In addition to violin, Bulla plays guitar, mandolin, sings and writes songs. In the spring of ’09, Lyle Lovett asked Bulla to join his Large Band and Bulla now tours full time in all of Lovett’s configurations. Bulla also released a solo EP featuring Jerry Douglas, Bush, Fleck and Aoife O’Donovan, to name a few.
In 2015, Bulla co-founded a Bluegrass/Americana record label called Pure Music Nashville with music and business executive John L. Heithaus. Bulla’s most recent LP, “Who Loves You Better” was released by Pure Music Nashville in May of 2016. Recorded at Zac Brown’s awesome Southern Ground Nashville, the LP was produced by Grammy-winner Bryan Sutton. “Who Loves You Better” showcases vocal performances by Sharon and Cheryl White, Maura O’Connell, Lee Ann Womack and Sara Jarosz, complemented by a veritable A-list of Americana’s finest musicians including Douglas, Noam Pikelny, Bush, John Cowan, Sam Grisman, Sutton and many more.
Bulla will play the festival main stage at 4:30 p.m. on June 10, as well as a late night set at 9:30 p.m. on June 9 that shouldn’t be missed.
More information about volunteering, tickets, camping, schedules and more can be found online at www.folkwest.com or by calling
731-5582.