Every summer Keith Reed, CC Director of Bluegrass Ensembles, and a small group of students spend a block traveling around the West Coast, attending and performing at music festivals in Reed’s On the Road: American Bluegrass class.
“I learned so much, was exposed to so much, and grew so much as a human and a musician, but we spent no time in a classroom,” says Anabel Shenk ’25, an English major and Spanish minor who took the class in 2022. “Almost everything I learned was by experience and absorbing what was around me. I was thrown into situations and opportunities that I was not sure I was ‘ready’ for as a musician, but that is how you learn. Because this was the only class we were all taking, we were able to not only be students, but actually feel like we were living the life of musicians.”
Students in this advanced music class perform at the Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley, California, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. Some years, classes also get to record a demo at CC’s on-campus music studio.
“It’s very important to see great professional artists at work on a live stage,” Reed says. “Students can evaluate and create ideas for their own professional development. Festivals provide a place where a multitude of performances happen, where jam sessions happen late at night, where a community of musicians play and talk music. For a student to see this helps them understand the real world of what it takes to be a professional musician. Travelling, performing, doing workshops, exhaustion from not enough rest, being on the road with group dynamics. It is a wonderful experience and adventure.”
Students spend a lot of time preparing to perform both prior to and during the block, leading to a band competition at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, with the first-place prize being an opportunity for the group to perform on the main stage as part of the headline act in the following year’s festival.
“We see the best in the business at different times and locations in Telluride during the festival,” Reed says. “It is a great contest, and many come from around the country to participate and jumpstart their own music career. It is an incredible experience for the students. It’s nerve-racking and you are being judged by credible judges. We do this every year and have not placed in the competition yet, but what a great experience they receive. Students spend long hours preparing for the contest as we travel.”
One of Shenk’s favorite parts of the class was meeting people at the festivals and playing music with them.
“Something I learned was that it’s important to overcome some of the fear of not being good enough or experienced enough to participate in certain musical settings,” says Shenk. “Performing for people, playing with people that have years and years of experience, listening to live music all day… all of these things make you better, make you grow, teach you.”
In 2022, the class traveled to Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado. “I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have traveled like this, with the group of people I was with,” Shenk says. “I will remember it for the rest of my life.”
All students who go on the road with Reed take private lessons with him and participate in CC’s Bluegrass Ensemble. During the lessons, students work on repertoire building, understanding harmony and lead singing, and creating a professional break, like jazz-playing the melody on an instrument while a band backs you up. While on the road during the class, students practice every day and take every opportunity possible to perform. Between festival weekends, previous classes have performed at The Pine Creek Lodge in Bozeman, Montana, at a coffee shop open mic session in Basalt, Colorado, at the Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass Festival, and in the opening ceremonies of the Ogden Music Festival.
Reed and his students travel via van to their destinations, where they then set up camp at the festival or venue and begin practicing and preparing for the event. Reed tries to make sure students have downtime as well.
“Once at a festival, we camp and enjoy watching the shows and jamming with other festival participants at night,” Reed says. “We have many conversations on who we liked and why, who inspired us, and why, and who didn’t inspire us and why they didn’t.”
Once a year, Reed also offers American Folk Music, which focuses on the historic aspect of early country, folk, and bluegrass music. Students taking American Folk Music in Block 7 will go to the Baca Campus to work with a Nashville songwriter and perform an end of block concert. Students in this class have the opportunity to attend an optional field trip to the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown during the break following Block 7. This is typically a very popular class, with 11 people on the waitlist this semester. In Spring 2021, 24 students in American Folk Music attended the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown music festival over Block Break
Both classes are performance oriented, but On the Road: American Bluegrass takes place over the summer and is for Reed’s advanced students who want to perform and observe professional artists at festivals. While the class is open to all students, students who are more advanced musically and work well with others are the best fit for the class.
Reed has taught this traveling class since 2016 but had to take two years off during COVID. It’s usually a small group of students, which allows for a more tight-knit experience for all. In 2019, six students took the class. There were seven students in 2022 and last summer, nine students participated in the block.
Reed is a Rounder Recording artist and recorded and toured professionally, including giving performances at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He also teaches instrument adjunct classes, including Banjo, Bluegrass Guitar, Mandolin, and Bluegrass Ensemble.
Students in 2024’s summer class will attend the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival from June 13-16. They will then travel to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival from June 18-26.