Planet Bluegrass liftoff: attorney's mission sustains mountain music fests.

• Author: LaRocque, Tom

Of the many artsy festivals staged annually in Telluride, the one attracting the largest crowds is a music event in late June. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival was born in 1974 with a handful of hippies picking and singing in the shade of the San Juan Mountains. A decade later, it was drawing thousands of fans per day, but its owners were sinking into trouble with debt.

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Denver attorney Craig Ferguson assembled a group of partners who purchased the festival, naming rights and all, in 1988. The list of approximately 10 investors, now incorporated as Planet Bluegrass, has changed little, despite one investor's death and some minor transfers of shares. Ferguson, 47, is the largest shareholder and president of the company, headquartered in Lyons, halfway between Boulder and Estes Park.

Producing music festivals agreed with Ferguson, who at first considered the company mainly "an interesting investment" and a potential source of legal work. His most relevant experience in the music world was his opening of H.B. Woodsongs, a Boulder instrument shop, which he later sold. "I got sucked into steering the ship," he recalls.

In its second year under Planet Bluegrass, the Telluride festival doubled in attendance, nearly to its present capacity of 10,000 people per day. "James Taylor wanted to come here," which expanded ticket sales greatly, Ferguson recalls. "A lot of bigger names are interested in Telluride because it's an atmosphere that emphasizes musicianship." Lesser-known artists are equally attracted, of course, resulting in a serendipitous stream of exciting, undiscovered acts.

In 1991, Planet Bluegrass launched its annual Folks Festival on a 20-acre parcel of land closer to home, in the tiny town of Lyons. When the weather is good, the three-day event can attract capacity crowds of 3,500 daily, eager to see folksy, mostly acoustic acts such as this year's headline act, Arlo Guthrie. In 1992, Ferguson and company "rescued" a foundering fest called RockyGrass that is also held in Lyons. A truer-to-form bluegrass showcase than Telluride, RockyGrass now...