As WinterWonderGrass prepares for its return to Steamboat Springs, CO on March 3rd, 4th, 5th, 2023, we’re getting excited by revisiting the recent Denver Comes Alive set from a beloved WWG creation: WinterWonderWomen, a rotating showcase of the many talented women in the extended bluegrass world.
The concept came together in late 2018/early 2019 when fiddler Bridget Law, best known for her work with Colorado folk staple Elephant Revival, and Megan Letts, who sings lead for bicoastal indie-soul outfit Mama Magnolia, were exercising the back-office halves of their multi-faceted music lives as part of the WinterWonderGrass planning staff.
“Megan and I were hanging out at the staff party for WinterWonderGrass,” Law explained to Live For Live Music during a January interview. “[Festival founder] Scotty [Stoughton] had mentioned that we wanted to do more to empower and highlight women in music. We were like, ‘Let’s do it.’ Then, the name was pretty obvious, and we just started rolling with it. [Singer/multi-instrumentalist] Lindsay Lou had just gotten on board, and the three of us were feeling a lot of chemistry musically, jiving and singing. Then, a couple years into it, we started really trying to stick as much as we could to an all-female cast, just rotate around, uplift and empower each other, and feel all the joys of being in sisterhood on stage.”
“I’m in a couple other all-femme bands,” Letts added, “and something that I’ve noticed in those projects [is that] most of us are coming from places where we haven’t been able to have the loudest voice often or [been] able to shine our brightest light. I do believe that is changing, and this is a really beautiful thing. But I think that especially in its first conception, it was a little bit like, ‘Wait, I’m allowed to be a badass here?’” Read our full feature interview with Bridget Law and Megan Letts on WinterWonderWomen here.
The iteration of WinterWonderWomen that appeared as part of Denver Comes Alive at Denver, CO’s Mission Ballroom on Friday, January 13th, 2023 stretched beyond the strictures of traditional bluegrass with a stylistically roster including Law, Lou, Letts, mandolinist/guitarist/vocalist Mimi Naja (Fruition), bassist/vocalist Emma Rose (Big Richard), and drummer Michelle Pietrafitta (Banshee Tree). Thanks to the versatile tastes and talents of these self-proclaimed bluegrass “fringers,” the enthralling set highlighted the ever-widening scope of the genre’s contemporary sound.
After beginning with angelic harmony on a rendition of traditional Appalachian spiritual “Bright Morning Stars”, Lindsay Lou slyly addressed both the show’s notable date and the band’s demographic makeup: “Happy Friday the 13th,” she quipped. “Let’s get witchy, eh?”
Their coven reached out to a long list of ladies both past and present, stringing together selections ranging from Fleetwood Mac‘s classic “Say You Love Me” (R.I.P., Christine McVie) to Beyoncé and The Chicks‘ country-crossover “Daddy Lessons” remix (featuring a well-placed Maggie Rose sit-in) to Olivia Rodrigo‘s 2021 pop-punk smash “good 4 u” (in a slinky jazz lounge arrangement borrowed from Scary Pockets) to Margaret Glaspy‘s reproductive rights anthem “My Body My Choice (“2022 was a really weird year to have a uterus,” Letts deadpanned), not to mention a pair of Lindsay Lou originals.
Denver Comes Alive artists-at-large Billy Failing (banjo, Billy Strings) and Jason Carter flitted in and out, adding extra strings to Stevie Wonder‘s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, Otis Redding‘s “Hard to Handle”, and more. Both genre and gender aside, this was a stellar performance from top to bottom.
Related: WinterWonderGrass Details Grass After Dark Late-Night Schedules For CO & CA Events
Below, check out the setlist and watch a full, pro-shot video of the WinterWonderWomen performance at Denver Comes Alive 2023 via NOCOAST.tv and nugs.net. Don’t miss WinterWonderWomen’s return to the stage at WinterWonderGrass Steamboat Springs (March 3rd–5th). For tickets and more information, head here.
WinterWonderWomen – Denver Comes Alive – 1/13/23 – Full Set
Setlist: WinterWonderWomen | Denver Comes Alive | 1/13/22
Set: Bright Morning Stars (traditional), Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac), I Lost It (Lucinda Williams), Don’t Go Back (Lindsay Lou)[1], Daddy Lessons (Beyoncé, The Chicks)[2], Roll With Me (Lindsay Lou), Real Love Baby (Father John Misty), good 4 u (Olivia Rodrigo, Scary Pockets arrangement)[3], Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Stevie Wonder)[3], My Body My Choice (Margaret Glaspy), Hard To Handle (Otis Redding)[3], The Weight[3]
[1] with Billy Failing (banjo), Jason Carter (fiddle)
[2] with Billy Failing (banjo), Maggie Rose (vocals)
[3] with Billy Failing (banjo)