Ok. I know we said the main lineup announcement was going to be next. But I'm just too excited about this band, so I'm going to share one more leak... Hopefully Ferg won't mind...
When we approached this band a couple years ago about playing TBF, we politely sent them an offer not expecting to hear anything for a few weeks. Literally within hours their agent called back saying the band was freaking out - they're huge fans of the festival, of our many legendary artists, of the Telluride Bluegrass musical legacy. They weren't planning to play any shows that Spring, but they jumped at the chance to play TBF.
Their main stage set turned many heads that year. Including Sarah Jarosz who, hearing them for the first time that day, has gone on to cover them on her debut album and several times on the Telluride stage.
In the intervening years this band has released several fantastic, critically-acclaimed albums, including an epic rock opera that was on everyone's Best Of list in 2009.
So when the band finished their upcoming album (a wonderful return to their rootsy Americana side) they immediately approached us about playing this new material for the Telluride audience...
We're thrilled to welcome back to the Telluride stage...
The Decemberists!
(You can stream a track from their upcoming album - available in January - featuring Gillian Welch and Peter Buck at
http://www.decemberists.com/ )