When Boulder County bluegrass outfit The Fretliners made their debut crowded around a single microphone for a small crowd on a Fort Collins farm a couple years ago, fiddle player Dan Andree had a feeling they were onto something.
“From the moment we played together, we knew we wanted to do more of it,” he says. “It didn't feel like a new band, although we were working on a lot of arrangements and new originals. We fell in hitting the ground running.”
After years playing separately in the Colorado roots music scene, members of the newly formed, Lyons-based quartet — including Tom Knowlton on guitar, Sam Parks on mandolin and Taylor Shuck on bass — worked with local powerhouse Sally Van Meter on producing their first album and prepping for competition in the famed Telluride and RockyGrass band competitions.
“We put a lot of work into those,” Andree says. “It helped the momentum of the band early.”
The group won both prestigious contests in 2023. The honor earned them a spot on the 2024 Telluride Bluegrass Mainstage. During the time in between, they released their self-titled debut, showcasing the quartet’s balanced songwriting and singing roles.
“It's sensitive,” Andree says. “All of us have great communication with one another. We know this band is as successful as it is because of the collective of the four of us. We take great care to make each member feel that they're contributing — that's not hard to do, because we all are”
Tradition meets progress
Like many modern bluegrass outfits, The Fretliners push the boundaries of the genre; but they still consider themselves a traditional instrumentation group at the end of the day. With their self-titled debut serving as a “coming out party,” the band is now looking to expand their scope.
“There's a lot of lonesome stuff on that first album. I think we're transitioning into some songs of hope,” Andree says. “I think we have an opportunity to be more intentional about the sound of this next album.”
“We try to both lean on the traditional bluegrass themes of heartache, loss, transition,” he continues. “[But we] move it into the present day with mental health and struggles with relationships.”
With this melding of the old ways and the new, The Fretliners have found their niche in the bluegrass world — but each member took a different path to get there. Andree first learned classical violin. Knowlton played electric guitar. Shuck played electric bass in more funk-based bands in the past.
“When we play together, the four of us, the way our instruments work together lends itself to a bluegrass instrumentation,” Andree says. “The backbeat of the mandolin with the bass, works with the rhythm of the guitar and the space that not having a banjo provides us to get a little nimble. When the mandolin's taking a solo, I've got the chop on the fiddle and everything just kind of weaves in and out together with the instrumentation.”
This dynamic has landed The Fretliners on stages at nearly all the major bluegrass festivals across Colorado. From aforementioned rites of passage like Telluride and RockyGrass to Rhythms on the Rio Music Festival in Del Norte, the band’s schedule has been packed to say the least.
“It's been such a long summer. It's hard to remember them all,” Andree says. “I don't think we've had a weekend off since Memorial Day. It's been all good things, though. Every weekend, it's something new.”
‘A huge good time’
With their rigorous touring schedule, music has become the main priority for Andree and his bandmates.
“Sam is the only one with a full-time job, and I don’t know how he gets away with that,” he says. “I had to leave mine in July. The band is taking up more and more of our time. We're not going to get in the way of the momentum that this project is taking on.”
Front Range concertgoers will get a taste of that momentum when the Fretliners open for bluegrass legends Sam Bush and Leftover Salmon on Nov. 30 at Boulder Theater.
“Leftover Salmon always brings a huge good time,” Andree says. “What the crowd can expect from us is as much energy as we can pack into our set to build it up for [them].”
While the Colorado outfit is looking forward to gracing the historic Boulder Theater stage in support of homegrown legends, the band hopes to eventually break out of the local bluegrass circuit. With a booking agent on board since February 2024,The Fretliners have aspirations beyond state lines.
“It is so easy, fun and fulfilling to play in just Colorado,” Andree says. “You can go all up and down the Front Range and through mountain towns and dip into Wyoming and Utah and come back and start again. It's a ball. If you want to branch out of that, it's a little more difficult at first. You’ve got to rip off the Band-Aid and get to it. I think we're starting to do that.”
ON THE BILL: Leftover Salmon feat. Sam Bush with The Fretliners. 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $63+