2017 Telluride Mushroom Festival

Did you ever wonder why the African drum known as the djembe so closely resembles a mushroom?  The Silly Tribe is a collective of musician/ drummers from throughout Colorado and the Southwest.  Members of the tribe have studied percussion and music in places as far flung as Guinea, West Africa, Central America and India.  Many of our teachers travel from Africa to the US periodically during which we are able to extend our learning.  A few of us have been attending the Mushroom Festival for upwards of 12 years.  After plugging into the Saturday MushFest parade for a few years, we decided to invite other members of our percussion ensemble so we could raise up the energy and assemble more of the necessary parts integral to the ceremonial songs that we play.  We realized that the transformative and shamanic potential of drums was an intrinsic counterpart to the celebration of the fungal kingdom and all associated species that is the Telluride Mushroom Festival parade.  It is through these ancient traditions that we wish to link to higher sources of energy and to an honoring of the old ways.  We decided this year that we wanted to offer a drumming workshop on the day before the parade so that those with interest could learn more about the traditions that we are bringing and be able to participate more fully in the process.  During our workshop we will offer some background to the west african drumming ceremonial tradition and we will teach some of the songs that we will bring to the Saturday parade.  Please bring your drums, instruments and percussion toys to the workshop.