Boulder Bluegrass Band Wins Competition at Flagstaff’s Pickin’ In The Pines

From the Rocky Mountain “Hotbed of Bluegrass”, The Railsplitters not only played on the same stage with the band that gave their home city such notoriety (the legendary Hot Rize), The Railsplitters also took home top honors and a one thousand dollar check as winners of the 7th annual Pickin’ In The Pines Bluegrass Festival band competition.

The Pickin’ In The Pines contest has spawned such previous winners as Tucson’s Run Boy Run, who then went on to win the coveted Telluride, Colorado Band Competition the following year. 

The award-winning Hot Rize from Boulder, CO, along with the band’s traveling companions and show-stealing friends, “Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers”, were the headline acts at this year’s Pickin’ In The Pines Bluegrass and Acoustic Music Festival.

Boulder-based, The Railsplitters are best described as an old-timey bluegrass band, but admit that they often stray from the truly traditional sound of the genre.

The band applies acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, and upright bass, evoking the spirit of Bill Monroe's earliest works.

Far from being pigeon-holed to one genre, however, their unique musical concoction hints at tonality reminiscent of Gillian Welch, The Dillards, and even Bill  Monroe himself.

In order to win the Flagstaff competition, the band first had to place in the top three finalists at a preliminary judging against 10 other local and regional bands.  Among the judges who selected the top three, and ultimately the winning band, were West-Coast fiddler, songwriter, vocalist and bandleader Laurie Lewis and two members of the Grammy-nominated outlaw bluegrass band, The SteelDrivers.

The Railsplitters are made up of a group of friends who met at different bluegrass jams across the country. "We've been pickin' together for quite some time but only recently we decided to make it official. After having our first 'real' gig on January 28th, 2012, we decided it was time to get a couple more dates on the books," says Lauren who picks the guitar and sings with the group.

They have already played some well known venues in the Denver/Boulder area and are looking forward to expanding their horizons with more dates to come!

Keep your eyes (and ears) peeled to find out when and where you can see The Railsplitters play live!