“I just get lucky,” he says.
However, as the founder of the Future Arts Foundation, Albright has steadily built the Lafayette nonprofit into a vital community resource over the past ten years through more than luck. Initially a side project to help music and art teachers purchase much-needed supplies, the organization organically grew into much more, including donating instruments to local youth, two annual music festivals, and most recently, launching an affiliated music school called the Bluebird School.
“We saw their budgets being cut, and I was just like, ‘I want to find a way to give back,’” Albright says of the early days. “It was just holding fundraisers and giving it all over to the teachers, and then we found that a lot of people were wanting to donate instruments, so we grew into accepting donations.”
In the aftermath of the Marshall Fire in 2021, Albright helped local musicians get their groove back by spearheading another drive. “I was getting all these responses. I got, like, 700 responses the first day, and I was like, ‘Well, at this point, I can’t do this myself, but I’ll open up my door and whoever wants to come to my house on Sunday, I’ll be there accepting the instruments, and I’ll give you a free pair of festival tickets,’” he recalls.
“I had 500 people outside my door that morning. Now, as everything has snowballed, we’re getting into the school as well. But we haven’t given up on any of the other things we’ve done in the past; we’re just adding on.”
The Bluebird School is set to open its Boulder doors in October. The official first day hasn’t been announced yet, but a benefit raffle supporting its opening has launched with several great prizes, including a VIP package from the Lumineers as well as Mt. Joy Red Rocks tickets. There will also be donations for the raffle from such groups as Phish, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Tyler Childers, Lord Huron and more. Tickets are only $10, and the first drawing is set for Friday, April 18. The remaining items will also be part of a silent auction the same evening during the annual Bluebird Music Festival’s opening night gala from 5 to 8:30 p.m.
Denver singer-songwriter Daniel Rodriguez has been a Bluebird fest regular since the beginning.
Courtesy Daniel Rodriguez
“We’re fortunate that every musician we’ve talked to or booked in the past is really supportive of what we do,” Albright says. “Basically, we say we’re doing X, Y or Z, and they’re like, ‘All right, what do you need?’ And just send it our way.”
While Albright, a former concert promoter who previously toured with Phish, will share more concrete details during the gala, he explains the idea of the Bluebird School has always been in the back of his mind.
“We’ve always gotten kiddos instruments who couldn’t afford them, but we wanted to get our hands dirty a little bit and actually open up a facility,” he adds. “We’ve always focused on local teachers, first responders and mental health professionals. Generally, the people in our community who make the community stronger and may not have the opportunity in this area to send their kids to these classes.”
While there are still months to go before the school opens, you can support it at the Bluebird Music Festival, which takes place from Friday, April 18, through Sunday, April 20 at Boulder’s Macky Auditorium. This year’s lineup includes Bruce Hornsby, Isaac Slade of the Fray, Hiss Golden Messenger, Daniel Rodriguez, the Cody Sisters & Emelise, Watchhouse, the Tallest Man on Earth, Neffy and Wrenn Van Band.
Now in its eighth year, the festival is the foundation’s marquee showcase, though Albright admits he didn’t envision it would morph into anything close to what it’s become. The first year sold out, so he doubled the size for the second edition. It sold out again. After a break in 2020, he went ahead and doubled it yet again to its current 8,000-person capacity; it was another sold-out event. So he launched an additional Bluebird Festival in Fort Collins, at Washington’s, last year — another sell-out! Details for this year’s FoCo fest in October will be announced on April 29.
Albright, who is humble in sharing that he’s never planned for anything of this nature, certainly got a knack for building bridges through music. “It’s a big web, but it’s all tied together,” he says, adding that the recent news regarding the impending dismantling of the Department of Education means the Future Arts Foundation and the Bluebird School are going to be busy filling the gap wherever necessary.
And if history is any indication, that won’t be a problem.
“I don’t know specifics on what budgets are going to be cut, but we know just from the initial comments from this administration that arts budgets are going to be cut, so anything we could do to help,” Albright concludes. “I don’t care who the governor or president is — we’re going to do the same thing. But it might be needed more now than normal times.”
Bluebird Music Festival, Friday, April 18, to Sunday, April 20, Macky Auditorium, 595 Pleasant Street, Boulder. Tickets are $50-$200.
