by Michael Bialas

Created on: August 21, 2009   Last Updated: August 22, 2009

Imagine five prominent players on the roots music scene working their way toward Lyons, Colorado, where the 19th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival was scheduled to take place August 14-16. But instead of playing music, they were singing its praises.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Only this actual gathering never took place. But if it had, it might have gone something like this. All five, contacted separately the week before the festival, answered questions about the relevance of folk music and their festival experiences, and were almost in perfect harmony while expressing their love for folk and all its spin-offs.

The group included two performers at this year's festival, two Colorado singer-songwriters and an executive with one of the most influential organizations for folk music in the Rocky Mountain region.

Their replies have been edited and blended together into this informal jam session. One of these days, maybe they'll unite in the collaborative spirit of folk and break into a rollicking version of Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Until then, consider this their sound check.

Meet the players
Megan Burtt, a young folk singer-songwriter from Denver who plays locally as much as possible while promising to pour my heart out over my acoustic guitar, and continue to be profusely grateful that people will appease my stories when I get on stage to sing.

Linford Detweiler, a superlative pianist/guitarist/songwriter who lives on a farm outside Cincinnati, Ohio, with Karin Bergquist, his wife and co-band leader of Over the Rhine; they performed in Lyons on August 15 the 40th anniversary of Woodstock's grand opening when Don McLean closed the second of three nights.

KC Groves, a bluegrass musician (mandolin, bass and guitar) who lives in Lyons and performs with a couple of bands, including Uncle Earl and the Blue Maddies, a local group that played at RockyGrass in Lyons earlier this summer.

Madeleine Peyroux, a singer/guitarist who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and can woo a crowd with a voice that adeptly handles jazz, blues and folk; she performed August 14 at the festival right before headliner Rufus Wainwright.

Tom Scharf, executive director of Denver's Swallow Hill Music Association since 2007, a resident of the Mile High City for 25 years and a part-time musician and singer.

How relevant do you think folk music is today, especially with younger people? How do you think it compares to the early years, when the Sixties protest movement was in full swing? Has its popularity

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