The Bluebird Music Festival was a lovely little showcase of singer/songwriters playing at CU Boulder's beautiful Macky Auditorium, Saturday, April 21. The Festival was organized by Future Arts Foundation, a Colorado based nonprofit whose mission is to keep music and arts education alive in our schools, provide employment opportunities for local musicians & artists, & provide our community with quality music & arts events.
The Festival consisted of a special intimate dinner and show with the artists Thursday night and two shows on Saturday. The Early Show at 3pm featured The Colorado Bluebirds and The Lonesome Days and the Late Show at 8pm with The Tallest Man on Earth headlining, along with Paper Bird, Gasoline Lollipops, Josiah Johnson of The Head & the Heart, and Langhorne Slim.
Gasoline Lollipops (PC: Ash Taylor)
The Future Arts Foundation's VIP dinner and show took place at Rembrandt Yard, a 3rd floor art gallery in the heart of downtown Boulder. Josiah Johnson (of Head & the Heart) with friends, including local rocker, Kid Reverie, serenaded the audience before headliner, Langhorne Slim took the carpet. Slim played for about as long as he talked--equal parts tenderhearted comedian and musician. The crowd was loving it--beseeching the festival coordinators to let Slim play til the very end, he got 3 more songs in there.
Below: Future Arts Foundation's Bluebird Music Festival VIP Dinner Show (PC: Meesh Deyden)
Saturday's Late Show started with the Gasoline Lollipops playing their rockin', honky tonk sounds. The rest of the night was more mellow and consisted of only singers with a guitar, and Josiah Johnson's set also had a lady playing the standup bass on a couple songs. The strange part was every artist, except the headliner, only got to play three songs. Each artist/band was really talented and the audience and singers would just be getting into the grove when they had to stop. Even the artists made comments, like Langhorne Slim's, "I only have about 30 minutes to play for you tonight which is going to be tough as I usually talk for 40." Just as the artists felt rushed, the whole show felt rushed until the headliner's set.
Josiah Johnson of The Head & the Heart (PC: Ash Taylor)
Around 10:30 The Tallest Man on Earth took the stage and we enjoyed his full hour of soulful, gravely-voiced performance. He is a solo singer/songwriter from Sweden and played a different guitar for every song, and played the keyboard on one. He did a lot of quirky movements on stage, walking around hunching, little leg spasms, quick turns of his head, and excellent guitar playing of course. There was also a raffle and a silent auction where patrons could bid on cool music-related items like signed albums and guitars. The place was packed with a wide spectrum of people young and old and even lively groups dancing in the isles now and then. We are so glad we got to be a part of these two intimate nights of sincerely talented musicians and beautiful music.
http://www.futureartsfoundation.org/
Words by Tiffany Candelaria Photos by Ash Taylor & Dinner Show Photos by Meesh Deyden
The Tallest Man on Earth (PC: Ash Taylor)
