2018 Blues For Breakfast
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Wake up to a morning with live blues music, a hearty breakfast and drinks at Blues for Breakfast! Kicking off at 9:00 am on both Saturday and Sunday of the Festival weekend, Blues for Breakfast offers a pleasant warm-up to a dynamic day and late night full of music. Join us at the brand new "Back Porch Stage" at the Elks Lodge (located at 472 West Pacific Avenue), for a bite to eat as the first official chords of the day are struck. With cozy couches and comfortable seating along with rustic decor, the Back Porch Stage is the ideal setting to start your day off the right way!
2018 Schedule
Saturday, September 15: Telluride Blues Challenge Finals 9:00 am - Noon
Sunday, September 16: Johnny Sansone and Telluride Blues Challenge Runner-Up 9:00 am - Noon
Telluride Blues Challenge Finals
Saturday’s Blues for Breakfast stage will see six talented solo blues artist battling for the top spot in the Telluride Blues Challenge, the opportunity to play the Town Park Stage and other prizes. The Telluride Blues challenge, accepts recorded submissions from unsigned artists located all-over the world. The experts from Blues & Brews and the Telluride Music Company will judge the artist submissions and invite six finalists to compete in the Telluride Blues Challenge. These artists are talented, hungry and will put on a must-see show to kick off the second day of the festival.
Complete with a breakfast spread and full bar including breakfast cocktails during the event. Admission to the competition is free! Breakfast and drinks available for purchase. This event is a great way to see up-and-comers in the blues genre while starting your Saturday morning off before the Grand Tasting and music starts in the festival grounds. Watch as competitors perform 20 minute sets that will be judged on the quality of their overall live performance, instrument use, vocals, and presentation.
Read more about the Telluride Blues Challenge, click here.
Johnny Sansone
Playing with Anders Osborne, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Rodgers and Robert Lockwood Jr, Johny Sansone is a true Louisiana blues artist. He started out early playing music when his father introduced him to the saxophone at age 8. Johnny picked up the guitar and harmonica by the time he was 10, and had a life changing experience at 12 when he saw a Howlin’ Wolf show in Florida. That was the moment the young Sansone knew he was destined to play the blues as his lifetime vocation. Living in New Orleans brought a swamp rock tinge to his gruff vocals and emotional playing style, and after attending a wake for Zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier Sansone he started playing accordion as well. By 1996 Sansone had developed into a full-fledged Louisiana artist, combining blues, boogie and the frontporch Cajun and Zydeco sounds of the Louisiana bayou country. Get ready to boogie! To read, listen and watch more, click here.
Sunday morning will also feature a full set from the runner-up of the Telluride Blues Challenge.
Food and Drink
The Telluride Elks Lodge will prepare a traditional breakfast spread featuring classics like black bean sauté, scrambled eggs, pancakes, hash browns, toast, bacon and sausages. Coffee, juice and breakfast bar drinks will also be available. Admission is free! Breakfast is $14, Bloody Marys, Mimosas, and other breakfast bar drinks are extra.