Telluride

Album: Set This Circus Down (2001)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Telluride is a town in the southwestern portion of Colorado. Originally a silver mining camp, it's now known for its ski resort. The town is the subject of this Tim McGraw song penned by Troy Verges and Brett James. "Brett and I wrote that at his parents' house the day after we wrote 'Who I Am,'" Verges recalled to Rolling Stone Country.

    "I had actually never been to Telluride," he continued. "Colorado always seemed like the place where the cool kids went when I was little. Growing up in Louisiana, if you were cool and maybe a little bit rich then you would go to Telluride to ski. It seemed like the romantic thing to do to go to Colorado and work at one of the bars, so we tracked that story and then Tim McGraw took it to another level."
  • The song was later recorded by Josh Gracin for his 2008 album We Weren't Crazy. Released as a single, his version peaked at #34 on the Country chart.
  • Telluride has been the subject of several other songs, including eponymous ones by Kate Wolf in 1976, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1985 and Chapel Club in 2010. The Colorado ski resort is also mentioned in Glenn Frey's tune "Smuggler's Blues" ("They hide it up in Telluride, I mean it's here to stay. It's propping up the governments in Columbia and Peru, You ask any D.E.A. man, He'll say "There's nothin' we can do.")
  • When Brett James died in a small plane crash in 2025 at 57, Tim McGraw posted: "Brett was one of the most talented and most respected songwriters in Nashville and wrote some of my personal favorite songs I ever recorded, 'Telluride' and 'Drugs Or Jesus.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.

Famous Singers' First Films

Famous Singers' First FilmsSong Writing

A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.