Photo: Kitchen Dwellers headlined the festival on Saturday night at Rhythms on the Rio.
By Clayton Chaney
The 18th edition of the Rhythms on the Rio took place this past weekend, August 1 – 3, on the banks of the Rio Grande River in Del Norte, Colorado. This year’s fest featured expanded camping areas providing even more cozy campsites and music alternating between two stages each day.
The Cottonwood stage also hosted late night shows, which is absolutely where the party happened.
After a busy week in the real world that kept me from getting to the festival until Saturday, needless to say I was ready to unwind and let my mind wander to some good ole string pickin’.
It didn’t take long for the adventure to begin as we headed over to see Tuttle, Pool, & Gruel on the Mill Stage. After just a couple songs you could tell this group was just happy to be up there playing and simply made me feel at ease, which is a feeling that stuck around the rest of the weekend.
Arkansauce, a string quartet originating from Fayetteville, Arkansas, played two sets on Saturday under the tent at the Cottonwood stage and took the crowd on a creative trip with thought provoking lyrics and attention grabbing hooks.
Another group I’m now hooked on is Pixie & The Partygrass Boys, a group that truly encapsulates the spirit of RotR – just some ski bums aiming to have the most fun as possible, without taking life too seriously. The group’s singer Katia “Pixie” Racine, sported a homemade skin-suit that branded the message “no one is free until everyone is free,” and took time to preach on the importance of kindness and being a good neighbor. This just emphasized the feelings of peacefulness that were being generated over the weekend.
Kitchen Dwellers headlined the festival on Saturday night and delivered a phenomenal set that brought a perfect balance of high-intensity energy and feelings of relief. It seemed like every other moment during their set, I caught myself feeling enormous amounts of gratitude and feeling like those moments were slowing down. This feeling was particularly noticeable during the performance of “Stand at Ease” from the band’s 2022 album, Wise River.
No Rhythms event is complete without taking a dip in the cool river water to recharge, which is exactly what is needed when you’re needing some relief from that midday sun.
Rhythms on the Rio has built the reputation that the festival does not slow down just because it’s Sunday, and Sunday’s first group to take the stage showed no intention of slowing down. Returning from last year’s festival where they thoroughly rocked their late night set, Johnny Mullenax took the brutal afternoon sun head-on as the group played one of the loudest, boot-stomping, headbanging sets I’ve ever witnessed. Mullenax has self-described his music as “a funky country bluegrass good time for working folks.” A cover of “Spain” took the crowd’s energy to a level that I don’t think many were prepared for, but everyone agreed – that set was insane.
Oh, and they did again at the late night set too.
Perhaps the most anticipated act of the festival was Sunday’s headliner, Daniel Donato performing two Cosmic County sets. A sort of redemption performance for Donato as he was unable to make his performance at last year’s festival due to travel issues. The crowd was definitely ready and showed out for Donato as he took us all on a journey through the mind with no predetermined destination.
Rhythms on the Rio is a great festival for many reasons, one of which being the South Fork Music Association (SFMA) continuing to support music education for youth. This year SFMA was able to donate a total of $15,000, donating $5,000 each to Upper Rio Grande School District, Alamosa Ortega Middle School and Alamosa High School.
The festival is filled with things to do with kids exhibits, performances from the Secret Circus Society and even a live painting artist this year! Not to mention the plethora of food truck options and variety of vendors, which is all definitely worth every penny.
Whether you need to get up and go wild in the front row, sit back in a lawn chair, lay out on a blanket and take a nap or just relax at your campsite, no matter what you choose you never really get that feeling like you’re missing out or rushing to see the net show. The whole festival flows so naturally creating an environment that lets everyone just be and express themselves however they like.
I’m already looking forward to next year!