Travis Albright took a leap when he launched the Bluebird Music Festival six years ago, and it paid off. Since 2018, the founder of the local youth-focused nonprofit Future Arts Foundation has brought the best in the worlds of indie, folk and Americana to our doorstep at CU Boulder’s Macky Auditorium Concert Hall. Booking big-name headliners like Waxahatchee, Ben Harper and Margo Price alongside a smattering of local talent, the two-day event has blossomed into the city’s premier showcase of who’s who in the arena of roots music.
Now returning for another go-round, this year’s event is set to continue that tradition. From top-of-the-bill standouts like the homegrown Gregory Alan Isakov and Jeff Tweedy of Chicago alt-country standard bearers Wilco, to rising acts like Sunny War and Colorado’s own Cody Sisters, the 2024 Bluebird Music Festival is — as the kids say — so back.
We caught up with Albright to ask a few questions ahead of the big weekend. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What sets Bluebird apart from your average music festival?
The festival and the foundation are going up against a lot of behemoths in the industry: AEG, Live Nation, etc. So I always curate it to kind of feel like the world’s largest living room. There are so many familiar faces that come year after year — whether it’s performers like Langhorne Slim, back for his fourth time in six years, or the production crew who have been with us the entire time, or even the ushers and people selling merch. It’s not like a normal festival where you’re getting patted down and hassled. We want it to feel like a family reunion.
I don’t know if I want to call it a feather in our cap, but the Strings and Stories event is also really special. I’m 45 now, and I grew up with MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers. I always loved seeing behind the brain of the artist — hearing them talk a little bit about the music and not just hearing the songs. We incorporated that starting in our second year, and I think that kind of separates the festival from others as well, because we get to see these performers being very vulnerable.
How did you get such a major enterprise off the ground as a one-person operation?
I put on music festivals about 15 years ago. I hosted a bunch of them around the state, and one of them was the Pearl Street Music and Arts Festival in 2011. It was kind of like a little mini South by Southwest — we had The Lumineers, The Head and the Heart, Gregory Alan Isakov, Dr. Dog and a bunch of really big bands. I was doing that all on my own. Then I went to grad school at CU for education, and I kind of tied the two of those together to start the Future Arts Foundation, which provides musical instruments for Colorado youth, so I could still put on those events but also give back.
To be honest, I don’t want to say it wasn’t hard — but our very first year of the Bluebird Music Festival, it sold out like two months in advance.
Who are some of the emerging artists on this year’s bill that people should definitely not sleep on?
Well, I don’t know if Joy Oladokun is considered an emerging artist anymore. She is headlining the first night, but she’s still not a household name. Her last album [Proof of Life] is probably my favorite of the last couple years.
Other than Joy, it’s gotta be Bendigo Fletcher and Briscoe. I think they’re both on a pretty great trajectory. They play the Newport Folk Festival and Bonnaroo and all the big festivals. Briscoe was signed by Dave Matthews on his label and opened for Dave Matthews Band at The Gorge. They played the [Grateful] Dead Mexico festival called Dead Ahead, and then another big one down there with CAAMP and Joy Oladokun and a bunch of others. So they’re kind of on every lineup right now. But then Bendigo Fletcher, I just think their sound is so unique. Their name isn’t really out there as much yet, but I think they’re really gonna be a great band to watch.
ON THE BILL: Bluebird Music Festival. Sat.-Sun, April 20-21, Macky Auditorium Concert Hall, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. Tickets here.
