by Michael Bialas

Created on: October 31, 2009

It was August 15, 1969, in upstate New York, and they were getting ready for the bands to play. It was going to be three days of peace, love and music.

Flash forward 40 years. On Aug. 14-16, 2009, they were celebrating that same communal spirit in an idyllic setting, with words and acoustic guitars resonating and blending together during another summer of love. Only this wasn't Woodstock.

Fifteen miles north of Boulder, Colorado, along the banks of the St. Vrain River just minutes from downtown Lyons, the 19th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival attracted accomplished performers, devoted fans (known as Festivarians) and curious thrill-seekers. But this was all about the music.

Just plain folks still call it folk, the all-too-inclusive term for a pop-culture phenomenon from the early '60s, when poets such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez preached the power to the people. But in the 21st century, folk means a lot of things to a lot of different people.

At the end of the day, it comes back to music that is just closely connected to the stories that people are writing with their lives; to me that has a lot to do with place as well, said Linford Detweiler, who for 20 years has teamed up with Karin Bergquist to pack a formidable 1-2 songwriting punch as Over the Rhine. The Ohio-based husband-and-wife pairing performed at this year's Folks Festival in Lyons on the 40th anniversary of Woodstock's opening day.

Folk music for me isn't so much tearing up roots and moving to Nashville or moving to L.A. or moving to New York, the lanky pianist/guitarist added. It's more about this American tradition of staying connected to a particular place. ...

It's a pretty big net, isn't it? he asked rhetorically before laughing hysterically.

Colorado certainly falls under that net, where forms of no-joke folk call it Americana, bluegrass, folk rock, alt-country, rockabilly and more are heard in places as delightfully distinct as Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, The Walnut Room and the Botanic Gardens in Denver and Oskar Blues restaurant and brewery in Lyons.

KC Groves, a member of the all-female bluegrass quartet known as Uncle Earl (featured in Rolling Stone in April), knows Lyons and its residents well, having lived there since May 2001. She said she chose the bluegrass path because I've always loved playing with other people, taking solos and generally being in a band. I also love harmony singing and traditional songs and tunes.

While the iPod generation might prefer pop, rap and hip-hop on

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>