Old Musical Friendships Reunite in Fort Collins

Tony Furtado returns to the Rock Garden with longtime collaborators and new music

By Blaine Howerton | NorthFortyNews.com

FORT COLLINS — When Tony Furtado returns to the Rock Garden Concert Series at Fort Collins Nursery on Sept. 16, he won’t be arriving with a collection of musicians assembled simply for another tour stop.

Some of the musical relationships coming together that night stretch back decades.

The Tony Furtado Trio will feature Furtado alongside fiddler and vocalist Luke Price and hammered dulcimer player Simon Chrisman. The Johnny B. Connolly Trio, featuring Connolly, Cary Novotny and Máire Egan, will open the show.

For Furtado, the connections run particularly deep with Price.

“Luke and I have been playing together for about 15 years or so now, so we have loads of synergy between us,” Furtado told North Forty News.

Price is a five-time National Fiddle Champion, but Furtado said their relationship extends well beyond Price’s ability with the instrument. Years of performing together have also shaped the way their voices work together.

“We have sung together so much in the past 15 years I feel at times like it’s almost akin to brother harmony between us,” Furtado said.

Adding Chrisman on hammered dulcimer changes the trio again. Furtado described Chrisman as a musician with an instinct for finding both the melodies and rhythms needed to carry a song.

“When you add in a good hammered dulcimer player, it’s almost like you are getting piano and percussion and bass all at once,” Furtado said.

The Sept. 16 performance will also give Northern Colorado audiences a chance to hear where Furtado’s music is heading next.

Furtado said he is in the final stages of recording a new album of original songs, with Price serving as co-producer. The trio plans to perform several songs from the project at the Rock Garden. One, “The Immigrant,” has already been released and is available through streaming services.

But some of the longest musical history represented on the bill belongs to Furtado and Connolly.

Furtado recalled first meeting the button accordion player while touring with musician Dirk Powell and performing in Portland, Oregon. Before long, Furtado was seeking out the Irish sessions Connolly led whenever he could.

Around 1999 or 2000, Furtado flew Connolly to the San Francisco Bay Area to perform on his album American Gypsy. It became the first of several recordings on which Furtado would call upon Connolly.

After Furtado later moved to Portland, their connection continued at the Moon and Sixpence, where Connolly led a weekly Monday Irish session.

“What a kick in the butt that was to keep up with him and his crew of friends,” Furtado recalled.

Years later, their paths have converged again—this time in Connolly’s new home of Fort Collins.

“Now he’s in Ft. Collins, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to have him and his trio added to the bill,” Furtado said.

Connolly’s trio further extends the web of longtime musical relationships. Novotny and Furtado have known each other and performed together over the years in Portland. Furtado described Novotny as an exceptionally solid traditional Irish rhythm player as well as a singer and interpreter of songs.

Furtado said he is less personally familiar with Egan’s fiddle playing but knows her as a world-class musician from a respected family of Irish musicians. Egan, Connolly and Novotny also share a long musical history.

Those connections mean the audience won’t simply hear one trio followed by another.

Furtado said plans are already underway for the musicians to join forces during the evening, with a short list of songs circulated among the performers. Some are tunes they have played together before.

“There are definitely going to be a number of songs where we all play together,” Furtado said.

The concert closes the summer Rock Garden Concert Series and takes place Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Fort Collins Nursery. The event is a fundraiser benefiting The Matthews House, Project Self-Sufficiency and The Family Center/La Familia.

Advance tickets are $32, with tickets priced at $37 at the door.

For Furtado, the evening will connect new music with relationships built through years of recordings, tours and informal sessions—putting musicians who have crossed paths repeatedly over the decades onto the same Fort Collins stage.

Source: Interview with Tony Furtado; Rock Garden Concert Series/Fort Collins Nursery.