The 31st annual Rocky Mountain Folks Fest spotlights regional and national talent

Last month RockyGrass, at Planet Bluegrass, attracted sold-out crowds eager to wade in the St. Vrain River while dancing to the banjo’s pluck and mandolin’s woody punch. The star-studded bill featured Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Del McCoury and many other greats of the genre.

“It was amazing,” said Grace Barrett, communication and partnership coordinator for Planet Bluegrass. “It felt so good to be back. I wandered the campground and caught so many great picks. The energy was electric. I needed a long nap after we closed everything down on Sunday.”

This weekend, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival will welcome fans back to the majestic Lyons venue with an eclectic lineup — a diverse aspect that has long been a calling card of the event.

Stretching beyond typical coffeehouse folk music, previous lineups have included acoustic punkers the Violent Femmes and returning blues powerhouse Saint Paul and The Broken Bones.

While this year’s lineup is anchored by Grammy-nominated Boulder-based singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov, it is teeming with artists that freely dip into other musical territories.

Shakey Graves, Hiss Golden Messenger and Longmont’s own Bonnie & Taylor Sims are among the acts set to play.

“Yes, we like to keep it interesting in that regard,” Barrett said. “Folks Festival is always fun because it brings something new each year. I’m super excited about a handful of folks, especially Shawn Colvin and Waxahatchee. I love lady rock stars.”

While artists will be boarding planes and hopping in tour vans to arrive at the ranch, some performers won’t have to clock miles prior to taking the stage.

“I am the most excited about performing my music to the audience of Folks Fest,” said singer-songwriter Monica Marie LaBonte, who lives in Pinehood Springs, about 13 miles up Highway 36 — in between Lyons and Estes Park. “The people who come to Folks Fest tend to be music lovers on a deep level. They listen to the words and absorb the music in a really special way. It’s truly a gift to be able to perform for people who listen so closely.”

At the 2018 fest, LaBonte was chosen as a finalist in the Songwriter Showcase.

“This is the first time I have been invited to perform as part of the festival outside of the songwriter competition,” LaBonte said. “I will be performing all of my original music with a trio in the Wildflower Pavilion and am so thrilled.”

Joining LaBonte will be Eric Wiggs who plays guitar, octave mandolin and dobro and Bradley Morse, on upright bass, for a stirring set packed with her original music.

“I write emotionally — somewhat spontaneously — but well-crafted and with a whole lot of heart,” LaBonte said. “The audience can expect a set of music that was forged by love, pain, grief and a little pirate magic.”

Her 2020 release “See Through” is a five-song collection of polished tracks that showcase her gorgeous tone and lyrical prowess.

“In addition to the songs off of my EP, I will be debuting a few new tunes,” LaBonte said. “One I wrote with my buddy Eben Grace. It’s a full-circle kind of song about listening to my mama play and sing on the guitar when I was a child and then singing and playing music with my son as a family.”

LaBonte will be bringing her toddler son to the fest, despite his naptime overlapping with her 2:45 p.m. Sunday set.

“It’s so important to me for my son to witness me making music in performance and otherwise,” LaBonte said. “I have a deep connection with my mother through music and I now know what a gift it is and I want to share that same gift with my son.”

Last month, LaBonte performed at newly opened Lyons venue Mainstage Brewing and she is enthused to once again play within this mountain town that is dedicated to filling the air with song.

“Performing at the Planet is a dream come true for so many reasons,” LaBonte said. “I took a long pause from performing after having my son in 2019 and then that pause extended because of COVID.”

Prior to branching out on her own, LaBonte was a part of mystic-Americana band Monocle.

“This festival debut feels extra special since I’m stepping into music again as a solo artist and now as a mama,” LaBonte said. “Singing among the red rocks and the St. Vrain is a very special experience, indeed.”

Part of the appeal of performing at Folks Fest for LaBonte — and many others — is the chance to catch one-of-a-kind sets from fellow musicians.

“My old-time favorites are Gregory Alan Isakov as well as Bonnie Paine & Friends, but I’m most looking forward to seeing my friend Alexa Wildish perform as the winner of the 2019 Songwriter Showcase along with Heather Mae and Crys Matthews and Sierra Ferrell,” LaBonte said. “I really admire all of these women and love what they have to offer in their songwriting and their music.”

Boulder-based singer songwriter Alexa Widish won 2019’s Songwriting Showcase — a competition that shone the spotlight on up-and-comers and secured her a spot at Folks Festival’s 2020 lineup. With the pandemic resulting in last year’s festival cancellation, Wildish has had plenty of time to prep for — and daydream about — her main stage debut.

“I think the wait of a year has made me even more excited and in some ways more prepared,” Wildish said. “2019 was a wonderful year of music and connection for me after years of feeling cocooned. I was beginning to release some songs off of my EP, sharing my music again. I was finally admitting to myself just how much I wanted to pursue music, no matter how exposing it felt.”

As Wildish was honing her craft, making plans to fully dive into her art and becoming hopeful about touring, a global health crisis loomed that would eventually bring the live entertainment industry to a standstill.

“When I released my EP in January of 2020, I had an overwhelming exciting feeling of ‘I’m ready,’ — like an arrow pulled back into a bow,” Wildish said. “Of course when the pandemic hit — with every human on this planet — I sheltered in place and sunk into a deeper level of knowing myself, being with my discomfort and inner being. I think that feeling of being ready to share has deepened, more than I ever thought was imaginable. I do not take playing music at this moment for granted. This is an immeasurable gift and it feels so good to share new and old music for people again.”

While her six-song self-titled EP, released in 2020, is brimming with smoky and crystalline vocals and poetic storytelling, the time away has provided the gifted songstress with new experiences that have proven to be rich fodder for fresh material.

“I spent the last two months on a wild adventure, playing in Guatemala on a pristine lake making a music video for my song, ‘The Well,’ then going to Northern California to be with the Redwoods,” Wildish said. “I have written so much music being in contact with my sense of adventure and passion again. I do plan to debut a few of those fresh songs at my set.”

Wildish will be joined by a band consisting of Courtney Hartman on guitar, Tobias Bank on drums and Russell Durham on fiddle. She takes the stage Saturday at 11 a.m.

“When I first saw my name listed on this lineup, a wave of tears and gratitude rolled over my face,” Wildish said. “I love music so much. It literally can take any experience, no matter how challenging or heartbreaking and make it beautiful.”

Tré Burt — a modern-day Bob Dylan, based in Sacramento, Calif. — pens songs that speak of racial injustice and police brutality. He takes the main stage on Sunday at noon.

While RockyGrass offered the option to purchase access to livestreams and watch from home, Folks Fest will not have this virtual component.

“We’re less concerned with ticket sales and more interested in making sure as many people can access the music as possible,” Barrett said. “We won’t be streaming Folks, but are exploring other projects we could work on.”

More high-def livestreams and possible DVD releases are on the horizon.

“We are looking into streaming the 50th annual RockyGrass next year, but don’t have anything set in stone yet,” Barrett said. “We have a lot of footage from Telluride and this past Rocky, so we’re also working through some ideas for re-publishing individual sets.”

Tickets are $175 for a three-day pass and $80 per day. Campsites and other parking options are available as well.

“We don’t anticipate Folks will sell out outright,” Barrett said. “Generally, single days will as we get closer to the event, but tickets don’t go as quickly as for Telluride or Rocky.”

Ticket sales have been steady and after last month’s highly successful RockyGrass, staff and performers are excited to welcome in music fans who are quenching their thirst after last year’s absence of live shows.

“This all feels so new, yet so familiar to me,” Wildish said. “Music is my medicine, the deepest nourishment that gets me into a new state of being. The land, in Lyons, at Planet Bluegrass is so special and healing. I am thrilled to be playing on that stage — and I am ready.”