Tyler Grant is first and foremost a bluegrass picker. Despite leading a cosmic-country-rock band in Grant Farm; producing studio sessions for up and coming bluegrass bands; being an online jam-session leader; or his time as river guide by day/riverside musician by night, he’s a bluegrass player. And always will be.
Tyler Grant’s Bluegrass Farm is one of the many bands performing at the 30th annual Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, kicking off Friday and running through the weekend. Also on the bill are Shelby Means, Tray Wellington Band, Songs from the Road Band, Caroline Owens, Michael Prewitt & CrunchGrass Supreme, Ettore Buzzini and many more. Performances will take place at Durango Arts Center, Wild Horse Saloon and Animas City Theatre.
Tyler Grant’s Bluegrass Farm is centered around his now year-old album “Flat Picker,” a release that celebrates his love of the music of Bill Monroe and the festival world.
“I haven’t ever left the bluegrass community. I’ve always been here teaching workshops and performing with various acts,” he said. “This time I really wanted to get back into festivals.”
Grant’s a musician with one eye and ear on tradition, and another eye and ear on experimentation. He’s a sturdy student on the history of the genre and what it takes to keep things traditional but isn’t afraid to drift away from the old-school.
“When I’m playing bluegrass I like to be connected. I like to be rooted in the fundamentals of the style,” he said. “But you know me, I’m going to expand on that, too.”
Some of that expansion will likely come at his Saturday night set at the Animas City Theatre. While this is a traditional festival, fans know some string bands aren’t afraid to kick the music up a notch, Grant included.
“Saturday night of The Meltdown is going to be really fun where we can kind of stretch out a little bit on some of the songs that are that are a little more progressive and might be a little bit, dare I say ‘jammy,’” he said. “But you know I like to keep it rooted. I like to keep it fundamental as well. So you’re going to be here in a good mix of music.”
Thirty years in and the Meltdown has grown into a festival that’s not only loved locally by the bluegrass and festival community, it’s also loved by musicians from afar. An invitation to play The Meltdown is an invitation to an event that kicks off festival season.
It’s also a pickers festival. Any bluegrass musician at any level has fallen in love with the genre and its scene because of the informal music that can happen at any place at any time. Wander around downtown Durango throughout the weekend and you’ll likely stumble upon some of the professional performers picking with amateurs from the region. It’s likely that some of the musicians on the festival schedule will play just as much music in the lobby of the General Palmer Hotel or some random hotel room or street corner as they will on stage during their set.
“I for sure get excited, not just to hear their sets but to jam with these people. It’s like, ‘OK, we’re going to be picking in Durango, not just with these other bands but with all these Durango players.’ Festival time means we are picking and hanging out,” Grant said. “What we live for is playing the show, but then hanging out with all these bluegrass buddies. I’m very excited and so is the rest of the band. We’re going to the Meltdown, this is the event of the area, and we’re going to make it happen.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at [email protected].