{"id":2094045,"date":"2025-10-15T22:43:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2094045"},"modified":"2025-10-15T22:43:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T22:43:47","slug":"boulders-new-roots-music-festival-launches-oct-17-19-with-180-bands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/boulders-new-roots-music-festival-launches-oct-17-19-with-180-bands\/","title":{"rendered":"Boulder’s new Roots Music Festival launches Oct. 17-19 with 180 bands"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There\u2019s so much magnificent, moving, soul-resurrecting music in Colorado. And so many peculiar, charming, acoustically blessed venues in Boulder. And so many people on the Front Range who have\u2026 ears.<\/p>\n

The only thing missing from the equation was a reason to herd them all together for three days straight, which is exactly what Boulder\u2019s Roots Music Fest plans to do.<\/p>\n

The first-ever Roots Music Fest<\/a> will stretch across downtown Boulder this weekend, threading music through theaters, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, a record store and even a honey boutique. From Friday through Sunday, Pearl Street will become a stage \u2014 or, more accurately, 15 of them.<\/p>\n

Andy Frasco & The U.N. will play a headlining show at Boulder’s inaugural Roots Music Festival along Pearl Street this weekend. (Stephanie Parsley — Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Headliners include Yonder Mountain String Band, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Karl Denson\u2019s Tiny Universe, The Rumble, featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr., and North Mississippi Allstars, anchoring a lineup of more than 180 bands. In between headliners, guests will hear local favorites like Hazel Miller, Rootbeer Richie & The Reveille and Fruta Brutal, plus rising stars who\u2019ve been haunting every open mic in town.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a citywide immersion of music in alternative venues up and down Pearl Street,\u201d said Dave Kennedy, executive director of Roots Music Project, the nonprofit behind the event. \u201cWe wanted to embrace that DIY ethic that believes you can have music anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival was produced in partnership with Caruso Ventures<\/a>, a Boulder-based organization that helped fund the inaugural event.<\/p>\n

Kennedy, who\u2019s lived in Boulder for more than 20 years, said he was surprised a city with such a big reputation for arts didn\u2019t already have a festival like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many great musicians here and across the Front Range,\u201d he said. \u201cI want people to see that and really embrace it, and to say, yeah, this is an arts and culture community.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re used to the fenced-off, wristband-only kind of festival, Boulder Roots Music Fest (BRMF) might feel more like an urban free-for-all. Festival tickets get guests access to all official venues, but entry is first-come, first-served. Think of it as Boulder\u2019s version of South by Southwest: One wristband, 15 stages, a little cardio.<\/p>\n

Three-day general admission passes are $123.69, VIP Superpasses are $248.04 and discounted student passes run for $57.21, with a student ID required. Single-day tickets are $82.80. Tickets can be found at rootsmusicproject.org\/rootsmusicfest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shows start early and run late, but they could run even later \u2014 Late Night tickets ($20.65 each) are separate from the main festival passes, granting access to after-hours sets at places like License No. 1, Garage Sale Vintage and Stone Cottage Studios. Doors open around 10:45 or 11 p.m., with acts like Danger Foley, Video Daze and Cry Huntress\u00a0keeping the music going until closing time. (In other words, this is not the weekend to brag about your regimented sleep routine.)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d rather stay vertical during daylight hours, free community stages will pop up along Pearl, including an Indigenous Peoples Celebration performance on Sunday at Savannah Bee Company at 6:15 p.m. Guests will also find yoga sessions, wellness panels and sound-healing events tucked among the shows \u2014 because this is Boulder, and someone will always be doing vinyasa near a bass amp.<\/p>\n

Kennedy said that the inclusion of designated sober and wellness stages \u2014 including Artie Sandstone Studios, Courthouse Bricks Stage, Paradise Found Records and Stone Cottage Studios \u2014\u00a0reflects the spirit of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cA music festival doesn\u2019t have to be all about the party,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about having fun together and feeling connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Harmony-driven
Harmony-driven folk rockers JackoPierce play at Roots Music Project on Saturday. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That idea of music in spaces you don\u2019t expect is the heart of the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe walked every single venue the other day, and I was blown away by the vibe,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cThere are all these cool, funky places up and down Pearl where you don\u2019t usually get to see live music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take Savannah Bee Company, for example, where you can sample wildflower honey while catching the Riley J Band, a modern, soulful, groovy five-piece led by Riley J. Hughes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s so fun that we\u2019re performing in a honey shop,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cNot a typical venue, but that\u2019s what makes Roots Fest so special. We\u2019re bringing live music into everyday community spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her band might be the only one in Boulder that doubles as a team of engineers, including mechanical, biomedical, geotechnical and civil.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one of our first practices, we went around and realized we were all engineers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes sense, though. Engineers are inherently creative, just in a more technical way. Music is basically math, and we process it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

That shared mindset shapes the band\u2019s sound: tight, precise, but still full of funk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with them has deepened my understanding of theory and helped me evolve from a more pop and hip-hop background toward R&B, jazz and soul,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cThey\u2019ve helped me elevate my sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s latest EP, \u201cThe Caribou Sessions,\u201d was live-tracked at The Caribou Room in Nederland to capture the chemistry they\u2019ve built onstage. \u201cWe did three live takes of each song and picked the best one,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted it to sound exactly like what we sound like live, not overly produced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughes said that performing at BRMF feels like a full-circle moment. She built her following in Boulder one gig at a time: Trident Caf\u00e9 patio shows, open mics and eventually headlining the Fox Theatre. \u201cI got an opportunity and rose to the occasion,\u201d she said. \u201cThe first open mic to our first real gig happened in about six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Riley J Band at their EP recording of “The Caribou Sessions” at The Caribou Room in Nederland. (Riley J. Hughes\/Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across town, inside License No. 1, guests might hear a familiar Radiohead riff, only instead of a Fender Telecaster, the sound will be coming from a violin. The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra will perform \u201cMixtape: Unbound,\u201d a playlist-style concert that shuffles classical tunes with pop and rock hits, and trades concert hall formality for a bit of barroom spontaneity and hearty elbow swinging. After all, it\u2019s not every day you catch the Boulder Phil playing in a dimly lit speakeasy beneath a hotel.<\/p>\n

For violinist Stephanie Bork, who grew up listening almost exclusively to classical and world music, diving into pop and rock has been a kind of experiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really grow up with this music,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to explore, to push my violin and see what kinds of sounds it can make. Some of the songs call for sounds that are kind of ugly, but on purpose. I spend so much time trying to sound pretty that it\u2019s fun to just let it crunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The performance is part of the Boulder Philharmonic\u2019s larger SHIFT Series, a chamber music project that places smaller ensembles from the orchestra within more unconventional venues and invites audiences to experience and interact with the orchestra in new ways. Each program centers on a different theme \u2014 from fiddle music, pop and rock, and later this season, jazz \u2014 offering the musicians room to experiment and connect more directly with listeners.<\/p>\n

At the festival, you won\u2019t see the entire orchestra, but instead, a smaller string quartet. The quartet\u2019s set will include Radiohead\u2019s \u201cCreep,\u201d Ed Sheeran\u2019s \u201cShape of You\u201d and Chappell Roan\u2019s \u201cPink Pony Club,\u201d Bork said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll definitely ask the audience to join in, and, well, clap their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bork said that playing BRMF is a way to reintroduce classical music to people who might not normally buy a symphony ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think classical music has a little bit of a reputation for being stuck,\u201d she said. \u201cThis shows it doesn\u2019t have to be. It\u2019s about showing how flexible and alive this kind of music, and these kinds of musicians, can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over on East Pearl, Stone Cottage Studios is shaping up to be one of the festival\u2019s most intimate stops. Normally, the studio hosts tightly produced live sessions that double as video recordings, with small, seated audiences and hi-fi sound engineered by co-founder Davis Maynard. But this weekend, the space will trade its usual listening-room quiet for something closer to a standing-room party.<\/p>\n

The main room typically caps at 25 for their filmed concerts, but Maynard said they\u2019ll squeeze in about 50 for BRMF, with two adjoining rooms showing live camera feeds from the stage.<\/p>\n

\"Part
Part listening room, part lounge, Stone Cottage Studios’ new space on Pearl Street blends analog warmth with a pop of personality. The space will host concerts this weekend for Root Music Festival. (Davis Maynard\/Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still going to feel intimate, but a little more messy, in the best way, Maynard said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have six-piece bands in here. It\u2019s going to be fun. My band is playing on Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maynard\u2019s band is called River Mann, a five-piece outfit that channels a folk-rock spirit with flourishes of violin, slide guitar and a touch of mysticism. They will take the stage Friday at 9:45 p.m., followed by Road Pony, a psychedelic country outfit led by local musician Megan Burtt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vibe here is eclectic, colorful, inspired, unique; You know \u2014 all the good things,\u201d Maynard said. \u201cWe\u2019re curating the most intimate live music space in Boulder.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who can\u2019t make it out to the festival this weekend, Stone Cottage has a solution: The studio will stream its performances into adjoining rooms for overflow crowds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focus a lot on audio quality and sound,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be doing all the engineering for the bands here. We\u2019re also recording everything and coming out with content from it afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though this is the festival\u2019s first year, Kennedy said that it already feels like a larger cultural shift is taking shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, success would look like if someone playing our festival walks away inspired enough to write a hit song,\u201d he said. \u201cBut really, that\u2019s how music scenes start, like the grunge scene in Seattle. There\u2019s a spark, a band or a sound catches fire, and suddenly an entire community is on the map.\u201d <\/p>\n