After a great interview on Valentine’s Day with probably the best blues Americana musician alive, it was my pleasure to see him perform at the Boulder Theater. As I approached the theater, I noticed that there were a lot of people looking for extra tickets. I should not have been surprised, but the show was very sold out.

On a cold, snowy Friday night, the inimitable Dr. Ralph Stanley brought the heat to the Boulder Theater in his latest stop on his Man of Constant Sorrow Farewell Tour. Backed by the excellent Clinch Mountain Boys, Dr. Stanley sang some of his best-known songs along with the usual heaping of bluegrass standards made unique by him.

When the collection of talent present in Blue Sky Riders finds itself under the roof of the Boulder Theater, you make sure you get a seat (literally, it was a seated event). While their story is one of chance, their music is no leap of faith.

It was another really cold night in Boulder after night one of an amazing five-night run tradition in the band’s hometown venue, the fabulous Boulder Theater. This band has grown so much in the last decade, and they deserve all the success that they achieve. About fifteen years ago, I was searching for a band to play at my wedding.

Yonder Mountain String Band graced us again this holiday season with a five night run at Boulder Theater. Each night featured a different master musician as a guest for the entire show, and on the third night, December 29, Jerry Douglas, the dobro virtuoso, was our guest star.

New Year’s Eve 2013 was going to be a special night for the Colorado jamband scene before any notes were even played. String Cheese Incident was about to tie a bow on their 20^th anniversary as a Boulder band. Yonder Mountain String Band would soon cap off their 15^th year as a Nederland quartet. And for a certain faction of music lovers, recreational marijuana would become legal to purchase at the stroke of midnight.

Last September a devastating “100 Year Flood” about fifty years overdue devastated parts of Colorado, in particular Boulder County. The historic town of Lyons, a beautiful gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park and precious wilderness was affected worse than most. The St. Vrain River and other waterways turned the town into a riverbed, destroying and displacing many homes and lives. One of the worst hits was the Planet Bluegrass Ranch. Festivarians celebrated their 41^st Rockygrass Festival last summer a little over a month later the property was underwater.

How often is it that you are lucky enough to witness a brand new group of already legendary powerhouse musicians premier before a live audience? Maybe some are more fortunate than I, but last Friday at the Boulder Theatre was a first for me. Boulder audiences were fortunate enough to catch the premier performance of a brand new folk rock/Americana “super-group” Hardworking Americans.

When bands do five-night runs, the first night is usually expected to be, more or less, the warm-up night. Yonder Mountain String Band had no such things in mind as they laid down a blistering show to a packed Boulder Theater on Friday night that set the bar pretty high for the remaining four nights.

On a severely glistening snowy night in Boulder, George Winston’s statement on the Boulder Theater’s website stated, “The show must go on!” I was pleased to read that because on what better night could one hear George Winston alone on stage playing music from his albums December or Linus & Lucy – The Music of Vince Guaraldi, just to name a couple?