The 5th Annual Winter String Fling provided two nights of all-star collaborations at Cervantes‘ Masterpiece Ballroom and Cervantes‘ The Other Side in Denver, CO on January 3rd-4th. The two-night event featured hours of music between two venues and six bands.
The String Fling Allstars featuring Molly Tuttle, Jerry Douglas, Ronnie McCoury, Allie Kral (Yonder Mountain String Band), Missy Raines, Billy Failing, and Lindsay Lou (Saturday only) headlined the event both nights in the Ballroom. On Friday, Julian Davis & The Situation provided support, whereas on Saturday Fireside Collective opened up.
In “The Other Side” portion of the venue, Ross James‘ Gotta Serve Somebody featuring Ross James, Grahame Lesh, Adam MacDougall, Todd Smallie, and Mark Levy headlined both nights. Jack Coonan Band and Armchair Boogie provided support on Friday and Saturday respectively.
The String Fling Allstars super-jam provided fans with two sets of collaborations each night. Night one was highlighted by renditions of the traditional calypso tune “Man Smart (Woman Smarter)”, The Band‘s “Up on Cripple Creek”, and the bluegrass-traditional “First Whippoorwill”.
Douglas led the band into a take on the Billy Roberts-penned “Hey Joe”, popularized by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, that contained a lengthy jam section. Failing, Tuttle, and Kral took solos while Raines kept the uptempo low-end moving on bass.
Other notables from night one include a cover of Bill Monroe‘s “It’s Mighty Dark To Travel” and the Jerry Irby-penned “Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin”.
Watch a playlist of fan-shot videos from night one of the 5th Annual Winter String Fling below.
The String Fling Allstars – Winter String Fling – 1/3/20
[Videos: Kyle Isaac]
The string train kept rolling on night two. The String Fling Allstars returned to provide another night of bluegrass-inspired tunes, and in addition to Lindsay Lou, the Denver-native Anders Beck joined in on the fun for a few songs.
Related: Paul Hoffman & Anders Beck Announce phAb4 Dates With Billy Strings, Todd Herrington
Their two-set performance included renditions of the Grateful Dead‘s “Brown Eyed Women”, a duet performance of Tuttle’s “Take The Journey” by Tuttle and Douglas, and “The River Jordan” which featured Lindsay Lou on guitar and vocals.
Anders Beck joined in for a take on the bluegrass traditional “East Virginia Blues”, a 6+ minute instrumental jam, another take on “Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin”, as well as Bill Monroe’s “Big Mon”.
Watch a playlist of fan-shot videos from night two of the 5th Annual Winter String Fling below.
The String Fling Allstars – Winter String Fling – 1/4/20
[Videos: Kyle Isaac]
Below, check out a gallery of photos from the 5th Annual Winter String Fling courtesy of photographer Elliot Siff.
For more information on the event, visit its Facebook page.
