Lyons’ Watergirls preach the gospel of perseverance at RockyGrass

By John Lehndorff

2:15 p.m. July 27, 2014, Lyons CO. – More than few tears fell near the St. Vrain River this morning as The Watergirls, a band composed of Lyons musicians who were all severely impacted by last September’s deluge, played songs of sadness as well as perseverance. It’s no secret that bluegrass was – and still largely is, a man’s world with some notable exceptions. On this wonderful weekend at Rockygrass, three bands composed solely of women musicians performed including Della Mae and a reunion of Uncle Earl. It was a quiet milestone when the five members of Uncle Earl joined The Watergirls onstage producing an almost choral effect. The band finished up with Sally Truit’s post-flood song of defiance “When The Water Came to Town.”

Onstage now: Jazz-grass mandolin wizard Matt Flinner, followed by James King, Darol Anger, Boulder’s Hot Rize with Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers (from Wyoming, Montana) and Sam Bush and friends. You can hear them live. KGNU is streaming (almost) the entire Rockygrass Festival at afterfm.com/rockygrass.

John Lehndorff has been writing about bluegrass in Colorado for more than 30 years for the Daily Camera, Rocky Mountain News, Aurora Sentinel, Bluegrass Unlimited and other publications and sites. He is also a nationally known pie expert. Really. Go ahead and Google him.