Free Music

One of the many bennies of living here is the number of free activities provided with an eye to the tourists but in which the locals partake voraciously. One such long-standing activity is the free Thursday night concerts on Fanny Hill in Snowmass Village.

The first summer that we lived here, we went every Thursday. It's quite the social gathering. I've heard a story that Leon Russell was playing the first show of the summer season a number of years back and he got so frustrated with what he considered the rudeness of the audience (in that they paying more attention to each other than they were to him) that he packed up and left. People picnic, party and dance as the sun sets over the spectacular Colorado scenery.

This year, we went out for The Blind Boys of Alabama which was a treat. I especially like their version of Amazing Grace, played to House of the Rising Sun (if you click on the link, give it a sec; the audio clip will load, it's just a little slow).

But, far and away, the best Fanny Hill concert I've seen was last night. (Concerts are also held on other nights of the week, usually depending on what other special events might be going on in Snowmass.) Last night, Nickel Creek played to an especially packed crowd and it was sweet. They seemed jazzed by the turnout and put on a rollicking show. They performed my favorite track, The Lighthouse's Tale. It rained a bit but only for a short while and then we were graced with a double rainbow. For part of their encore, they each (Chris Thile, Sean Watkins and Sara Watkins, plus their bass player and their guitar engineer) came out and did a solo number. Chris played an amazing piece by Bach on his mandolin. Chris and Mark Schatz, the bass player, took a turn at Southern Appalachian clog dancing which was really fun and put me in mind of Riverdance. (I know it's not considered cool to like Riverdance but I did and I won't deny it.)

We had friends visiting from Montana and she's a huge Nickel Creek fan. They stayed an extra night when they heard about the concert. Attending with someone who was as excited as she was made the concert all the more enjoyable for me.