Telluride Bluegrass Festival: 30 Years

1	Nellie Kane / Hot Rize 3:22
2	Taxman / Nickel Creek 2:52
3	Sweet Petunia / The Hackensaw Boys 2:50
4	Not Pretty Enough / Kasey Chambers 3:22
5	Fishin' in the Dark / The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 3:37
6	Celebrate Your Youth / Keller Williams 4:20
7	Molly and Tenbrooks / Sam Bush 4:37
8	Cluck Old Hen / Horses Flies 6:20
9	Unchained Melody / John Cowan 4:22
10	Too Late Now / Yonder Mountain String Band 5:26
11	Another Day / O'Brien, Tim Band 4:15
12	I Wish / The String Cheese Incident 5:48
13	When I Die / The Waifs 3:43

Barnes & Noble

A fine introduction to the esteemed bluegrass festival, this collection of live performances culled from Telluride's 30th anniversary shindig presents the genre as alive, well, and many-hued. Nickel Creek can be counted on for a sideways approach, which they flaunt on a skewed interpretation of George Harrison's "Taxman," benefiting from Chris Thile's astringent, jazzy vocal and Sara Watkins's mountain-tinged harmonies. Keller Williams needs only human beatboxes to help him elevate his jittery, ironic broadside "Celebrate Your Youth," into rarified percussive air. The String Cheese Incident (with Martin Sexton on vocals) offer more than a touch of funk and only the slightest bluegrass tint on a propulsive take on Stevie Wonder's "I Wish." Explaining that she wrote "Not Pretty Enough" as a message to radio stations that play Britney Spears instead of her, Kasey Chambers sears the soundscape with sarcasm in an emotionally charged, pop-country arrangement. Upholding tradition while giving it a contemporary goosing are the Yonder Mountain String Band, the Tim O'Brien Band (with Béla Fleck), Sam Bush & Friends (featuring Fleck, Jerry Douglas, and Bryan Sutton), and Tim O'Brien's Hot Rize. The Waifs add some country girl-group sensibility to the bill with a shambling, album-closing homage to the old homestead, the winsome "When I Die." Featuring New Grass Revival alum John Cowan and, on guitar, one Mary-Chapin Carpenter, the Boomchicks offers a magnificent, gut-wrenching rendition of "Unchained Melody" that finds Cowan investing the Righteous Brothers' hit with fervent commitment and emotion on a par with Bobby Hatfield's own rendition. Thirty more years, please. David McGee

All Music Guide

For the last 30 years, Colorado's San Juan Mountains have hosted some of traditional and contemporary bluegrass' most lauded -- and occasionally unknown -- performers. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival has become the ultimate fix for acoustic music junkies, and this collection of highlights celebrating the event's 30th anniversary will no doubt provide satiating for those unable to attend -- or wait for next year -- to take in the real thing. Seasoned players like John McEuen's Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sam Bush, and upstate New York's vastly underrated Horseflies share the stage with more youthful pickers such as Nickel Creek, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Kasey Chambers, resulting in a snow globe of laid-back (and occasionally explosive) instrumentals, down-home narratives, and easy jam band theatrics -- Martin Sexton and the String Cheese Incident's rendition of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" may drive you to both dance and rage -- that when shaken leaves a bed of fresh mountain powder that's the perfect tonic for a hot Sunday afternoon. Reverend Lee Power