Continuing in our efforts to combine tradition with cutting edge new music, Swallow Hill Music is pleased to present Judy Collins and Neko Case headlining the fourth annual RootsFest with Jim Lauderdale,Paper Bird and Trace Bundy at the renowned Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Saturday, March 6, 2010.
Few artists have displayed the staying power folk icon Judy Collins. For nearly 45 years her dulcet tones have graced our ears, and her poetic lyrics have galvanized a generation. She has released more than 40 albums to critical acclaim, accomplished gold and platinum record sales, and has had numerous Top 10 hits including her rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" and her Grammy Award-winning version of the Broadway hit "Send in the Clowns." Now, with her confirmed performance at the 2010 RootsFest in Denver, Collins gets back to some roots of her own as she returns to the town that spawned her illustrious career.
Singer-songwriter Neko Case’s latest album, 2009's Middle Cyclone, debuted #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and was called "one of the most original, beguiling, honest records of the year" by Interview Magazine. Also known for her work with Canadian indie-rockers The New Pornographers she has been called "indie's greatest singer" by Rolling Stone and “a force of nature" by The New York Times magazine. Neko Case has been recently nominated to two Grammy Awards: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package.
Americana/Bluegrass recording artist, and seven-time American Music Awards show host Jim Lauderdale is considered among Nashville's "A-list" of songwriters, having written music for Patty Loveless, Dixie Chicks, Mark Chestnut, Vince Gill and George Strait, to name a few. Jim's accolades include two Grammy awards for Best Bluegrass Album in 2002 and 2008, and he is again nominated this year for his latest album Could We Get Any Closer?, making this his fifth Grammy nomination to date. In 2009, Jim spent much of the year on the road as a member of Elvis Costello's Sugarcanes band, and he is also featured on Elvis' latest album, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, which has also received a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Local favorites Paper Bird will showcase this year's festival. Voted one of the "Best Underground Bands of 2008" by The Denver Post, the band's unique instrumentation allows them to merge diverse influences into one solid sound. Their backbone is their songwriting, musicianship and a general allergy to all limitations and trends, keeping them firm in an uncategorized genre (a fact that the band prides itself on). Since their inception, Paper Bird continues to turn heads and gain attention in Denver as one of the hottest emerging acts in the city.
Also performing this year is instrumental-virtuoso Trace Bundy, whose unique guitar playing and effects-looping would lead you to believe he has a band hidden backstage. Named Acoustic Guitar magazine's 2008 "Most Promising New Player of the Year," Bundy brings a performance worthy of every crowds "wow," with renditions of classic songs in a finger-picking style that is the stuff internet viral-videos are made of.
Previous RootsFest artists include Taj Mahal, Nancy Griffith, Rickie Lee Jones, Bruce Cockburn, Hot Rize, Tallest Man on Earth, Joe Pug, Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, and Boulder Acoustic Society.
