08 Sep Telluride Blues & Brews: The Congress Kicks Off Weekend
The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival is without a doubt one of the most scenic, intimate musical gatherings of boot-shaking sounds on the planet, this year Friday, September 13 – Sunday, September 15.
The event, an eclectic mix of blues, funk, rock, indie, jam band, gospel and soul performances, also features some of the best microbreweries in the country, a wide variety of food and craft vendors, children’s activities, late night jams, and much more. Headliners this year include The Black Crowes, Jim James, and Melissa Etheridge. Additional festival appearances include Gary Clark Jr., John Hiatt, Mickey Hart Band, Anders Osborne, Otis Taylor Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Allen Stone, ZZ Ward, The New Mastersounds, The Bright Light Social Hour, The Relatives, IBC winner Selwyn Birchwood Band.
The Denver-based group, The Congress, is scheduled to play a FREE Sunset Blues Concert, Wednesday, September 11, 5:00 p.m.– 7:00 p.m., Mountain Village, Sunset Plaza. The group also preforms at an (unofficial) Juke Joint show at Fly Me To The Moon Saloon on Thursday, September 12. The Denver Post-Reverb described the quartet as “Colorado’s answer to the Black Keys.”
The Congress is Jonathan Meadows on bass; Scott Lane on guitar; Mark Levy on drums; and (very recently, so not pictured) Chris Speasmaker, on keyboard.
Evoking emotions you thought had long passed – the feeling of your first cigarette, or the way you feel listening to a worn vinyl as it warmly crackles against the sound of a summer night – The Congress is a natural heir to more than 60 years of purely American music. With a spirit rooted just south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but now calling Denver, “The Queen City of the West,” their home, the trio has honed a sound informed with soul and grit that can best be described as – watch out for whiplash – rock ‘n roll.
In April the group released a new EP, The Loft Tapes, which contains seven soul covered recorded in an old Masonic Temple in Berthoud, Colorado over one week in January. Scott Lane recorded and mixed the tracks on an 8-channel reel-to-reel tape machine with the help of engineer Logan Muckler. The EP pays tribute to the music and recording style that influenced the band’s development. Brian Lucey (Black Keys, Dr. John) mastered the album, which was released in both digital and vinyl format.
To learn more about the group and preview its show, click the “play” button and listen to my chat with Lane.
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