(Quick) Fire On The Mountain: GMBR Artist Interview – Christian Sedelmyer

As we are just a couple weeks out from 2019’s Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with some of the artists returning for the fest’s second year for a quick fire round of questions about what they loved about the inaugural event and their hopes for this years weekend of bluegrass, roots and celebration of music.

Christian Sedelmyer was the heartbeat in a lot of what unfolded last year at GMBR and this year he returns in even more force, spearheading the Strength in Numbers tribute, joining Andrew Marlin’s ‘Buried in A Cape’ and his own mainstage band set. He is one of those players who adds so much to not just his own music but the music of those around him and I am really hopeful that we see him all over the place throughout the weekend. We caught up for a SUPER quickfire where he condensed some of those overlapping questions into one wonderful answer about how excited he is for this year. Check it out.

RLR: You performed at the festival last year for its very first event. What were the highlights for you as an artist performing at the first GMBR and also as a lover of music, what were the highlights that you saw on stage (or off) from your friends and contemporaries?

CS: GMBR is the best first year festival I’ve ever been a part of. The heart of that, for me, is the way that the directors and the staff encouraged the artists to fully embrace a mindset of collaboration, such that it ran through the veins of the entire festival throughout the weekend. So many magical musical moments happened came from that, and I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store.

RLR: What are your hopes for this year as a returning artist? Any thing you would like to see play out? Collaborations you hope to see?

CS: All of the sets I’m officially playing are collaborations in their own right – the Strength in Numbers Tribute set will be incredible because we have a bunch of amazing contemporary players working up and performing these iconic compositions written by our heroes. We’ve all listened to these songs for years, but learning them to perform has opened up a tiny bit of insight into the magic that the “OGs” had when they wrote and performed together, and it is fierce.

I’m psyched to play with Andrew Marlin and the “Buried in a Cape” band as the making of that record came quickly and naturally, also through spontaneous collaboration, but we haven’t had many opportunities to play it live yet, so it still feels very fresh. 

Finally, I’m looking forward to presenting a set of my own original music with a group I put together of some of my favorite players – Daniel Kimbro on bass and Jordan Tice on guitar, with some special guests. It’s the first time a lot of these tunes will ever be performed, and it feels right that it’s happening at GMBR.

And that’s before we even mention the jams and sit ins that are sure to happen all weekend! Pumped!