The Hillbenders are the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest Winners for 2009!!

We began our journey last week when we drove 15 hours from Springfield, MO to Pagosa Springs, CO for a mid week show at Libby's. After having way too much fun at Libby's we made our way to stay at our friend Caroline's house before getting up the next morning to head into Telluride.

The drive into Telluride is almost as beautiful as the view in town and we were all aware of how special this place was upon our arrival. After to playing to a very hospitable and friendly crowd in the town park campground we bagan looking for a place to stay. The hotel rates in town are extremely expensive during the festival and were presumably out of our reach so we were near accepting the fate of either sleeping in the van or camping in the cold without the right gear. At the last minute, good fate shined down upon us and we found a killer 2 bedroom condo for an unbeatable price. We now had a comfortable place to stay (not to mention our own hot tub!) and prepare for the job ahead, winning the contest. Having entered into the contest months ago, we had been preparing, arranging, rearranging, practicing, and honing our music for some time. The hard work began to pay off as we played and sang our way through the preliminary round on Friday morning to enter the finals.

Saturday morning brought with it a tension in the air among the cometitiors that was unmistakeable. The gravity of our situation hit home with a bang as we stepped out onto the main stage in the Telluride festival grounds early that morning to watch the land rush, aka "the running of the tarps." Hundreds, even thousands of people running in from the first opening of the gates to lay out a small tarp so as to stake thier claim on the best spot to watch the festival from. After the crowd settled a bit the contest began. We drew at random for performance order and as luck would have it, we got to go on first. Sitting in the "ready room" backstage and then stepping out onto the mainstage itself where so many of my idols have performed for so many thousands over the years was unlike any other feeling i've ever felt. Pride, honor, humility, excitement, adrenaline, fear, hope, and accomplishment all rolled into one as we looked out upon the massive festival grounds and all those people.

We kicked off the festival that day with a performance that was less than perfect. After all that practice and planning, the performance didn't go as well as we had hoped. We then got to watch as all the other bands performed while we mentally beat ourselves up for not playing to our expectations. The other bands in the contest were VERY good and we did not know for sure if our sub-par performance would be enough to claim a victory. The judges took just enough time deliberating to make us all very nervous. The announcements began and one by one the other bands were named runners-up until just two bands were left standing. Those last moments before the winner was announced were excruciatingly long and painful. After what seemed like hours the emcee finally announced the second runner-up and luckily there was a camera in the audience that was ready to capture this moment...