Barely two weeks after the musicians at RockyGrass packed up their banjos, Planet Bluegrass — the Lyons-based festival producer and riverside venue behind some of Colorado’s best-loved music weekends — is back to hosting music fans, this time with more singer-songwriters, fewer midnight jams and a noticeable drop in tempo.
The Rocky Mountain Folks Festival returns to Lyons Friday through Sunday, bringing performers including Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Watchhouse, The Devil Makes Three, Say She She, Daniel Rodriguez, Chaparelle and dozens of others playing at both the Main Stage and the intimate, open-air Wildflower Pavilion.
According to Grace Barrett, director of communications at Planet Bluegrass, if RockyGrass is the mellow brother to the rowdy Telluride Bluegrass, then Rocky Mountain Folks Fest is the younger sister who’s perfectly content to spend the weekend snoozing gently in lawn chair.
“There are fewer people and you don’t get the same picking circles and bluegrass energy that you do at RockyGrass,” Barrett said. “The focus is more on singer-songwriters, so the sets are quieter and more relaxed. At this point in the summer, when things are so hot and right before everyone heads back to school, that relaxed pace is just what people need.”…