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Larry Keel and Natural Bridge play tonight at Three20South in Breckenridge.
BRECKENRIDGE — With 14 shows in Colorado this year, Larry Keel will have toured here more than any other state in the country besides his beloved home, Virginia.
Colorado has been a special place for Keel since 1993 when he won first place in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s guitar contest.
“Camping, fishing, meeting the great people ... it’s all made Colorado very special in my heart,” Keel said.
Self-dubbed an “Appalachian” bluegrass band, Keel and Natural Bridge play most of their shows in the southeastern states of North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee. This summer, however, their tour through western states has increased quite a bit, with almost double the bookings in Colorado since last year.
Keel attributes the longer tour to, simply, “staying with it.” Networking, via MySpace, the band’s homepage and hitting plenty of bluegrass festivals over the last year, has earned Keel headliner status countrywide.
He’s also found a gathering fan base a familiar sight at shows.
“There are always people there from different states that travel ridiculous distances, but it’s always great to show up to a new place and have that enthusiasm,” he said.
Natural Bridge members include wife Jenny Keel on stand-up bass, mandolin player Mark Schimick, and recent addition Jason Flournoy on banjo, but Keel has shared the stage with many other performers this summer including Keller Williams and Del McCoury Band.
“We have a whole lot of friends up there that we’ve met over the years,” Keel said.
Those friends include the members of Leftover Salmon and Emmitt-Nershi Band.
Keel is also looking forward to getting to spend some downtime with Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band when visiting Nederland this weekend for a Sunday afternoon set at NedFest.
“Showing up to play — it’s all beautiful, but it’s good to sit and socialize and relax,” Keel said, adding he’s “wishing for some time to fish.”
A new Larry Keel and Natural Bridge album has been in the works for 18 months. Six months into studio time there was a change in band members. Jason Flournoy, who had been playing with Boulder-based band Shanti Groove, replaced Andy Thorn as the band’s banjoist.
“We wanted to come out with a project that was true to life,” said Keel, meaning Flournoy had to re-record all the banjo sections.
“We are glad to have picked him up. He fits in and suits the band,” said Keel.
The album is due out early next year.
In other album news, Keel let slip that work on a sophomore Keller and the Keels album may be on the horizon. The bluegrass trio, whose other members are Keller Williams and Jenny Keel, released “Grass” in 2006 and they frequently reconvene on stage despite not necessarily touring together.
For a man whose website boasts five side-projects, it’s hard to imagine he has time for another, but frequent sessions at recent festivals with one of his personal heroes has left plenty of fans wondering if a collaboration with Tony Rice is in Keel’s future.
“I hope to do some recording with Tony Rice. We have a very magical night anytime we get together,” Keel said.
The long tour and mounting number of musical friends has had a humbling affect on Keel. “It’s amazing to me growing up hearing the music and then opening my eyes and I’m on stage with them, the music’s hitting my ears, and we’re making it together.”
Larry Keel and Natural Bridge play tonight at three20south in Breckenridge at 10 p.m. and will be playing a 12:20 p.m. set at NedFest in Nederland this Sunday.
Colorado has been a special place for Keel since 1993 when he won first place in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s guitar contest.
“Camping, fishing, meeting the great people ... it’s all made Colorado very special in my heart,” Keel said.
Self-dubbed an “Appalachian” bluegrass band, Keel and Natural Bridge play most of their shows in the southeastern states of North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee. This summer, however, their tour through western states has increased quite a bit, with almost double the bookings in Colorado since last year.
Keel attributes the longer tour to, simply, “staying with it.” Networking, via MySpace, the band’s homepage and hitting plenty of bluegrass festivals over the last year, has earned Keel headliner status countrywide.
He’s also found a gathering fan base a familiar sight at shows.
“There are always people there from different states that travel ridiculous distances, but it’s always great to show up to a new place and have that enthusiasm,” he said.
Natural Bridge members include wife Jenny Keel on stand-up bass, mandolin player Mark Schimick, and recent addition Jason Flournoy on banjo, but Keel has shared the stage with many other performers this summer including Keller Williams and Del McCoury Band.
“We have a whole lot of friends up there that we’ve met over the years,” Keel said.
Those friends include the members of Leftover Salmon and Emmitt-Nershi Band.
Keel is also looking forward to getting to spend some downtime with Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band when visiting Nederland this weekend for a Sunday afternoon set at NedFest.
“Showing up to play — it’s all beautiful, but it’s good to sit and socialize and relax,” Keel said, adding he’s “wishing for some time to fish.”
A new Larry Keel and Natural Bridge album has been in the works for 18 months. Six months into studio time there was a change in band members. Jason Flournoy, who had been playing with Boulder-based band Shanti Groove, replaced Andy Thorn as the band’s banjoist.
“We wanted to come out with a project that was true to life,” said Keel, meaning Flournoy had to re-record all the banjo sections.
“We are glad to have picked him up. He fits in and suits the band,” said Keel.
The album is due out early next year.
In other album news, Keel let slip that work on a sophomore Keller and the Keels album may be on the horizon. The bluegrass trio, whose other members are Keller Williams and Jenny Keel, released “Grass” in 2006 and they frequently reconvene on stage despite not necessarily touring together.
For a man whose website boasts five side-projects, it’s hard to imagine he has time for another, but frequent sessions at recent festivals with one of his personal heroes has left plenty of fans wondering if a collaboration with Tony Rice is in Keel’s future.
“I hope to do some recording with Tony Rice. We have a very magical night anytime we get together,” Keel said.
The long tour and mounting number of musical friends has had a humbling affect on Keel. “It’s amazing to me growing up hearing the music and then opening my eyes and I’m on stage with them, the music’s hitting my ears, and we’re making it together.”
Larry Keel and Natural Bridge play tonight at three20south in Breckenridge at 10 p.m. and will be playing a 12:20 p.m. set at NedFest in Nederland this Sunday.
Larry Keel and Natural Bridge
• What: Live music• When: Wednesday at 10 p.m.
• Where: Three20South, Breckenridge
