Often resembling a real-life musical snow globe in the California’s high Sierra, the eighth annual WinterWonderGrass-Tahoe, April 5 to 7, brought a hardy bunch of musicians – and resilient attendees – to Palisades Tahoe ski resort, in the midst of the Olympic Village that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Making Room 41 nearly killed Paul Cauthen. Ironically enough, it’s also the very thing that saved him.

“Finishing this record was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever been a part of,” reflects Cauthen, the larger-than-life Texas troubadour nicknamed Big Velvet for his impossibly smooth, baritone voice. “I’m honestly glad it’s done because I don’t thinkI’d survive if I had to do it all over again. No way.”