Telluride (3)

Telluride is a Birmingham-based rock band founded in 1977 by guitarists Moose Harrell and Rick Carter with keyboardist Roger Bailey, drummer Robert Churchill, and bassist Jim Liner. The group started out playing country-tinged rock, but soon focused on rock. Bailey and Liner left not long afterward and were replaced by Kevin Derryberry and Scott Walker. Other some-time members included Kent Peterson, Barry Waldrep, Joe Breckinridge and Chip Snow. The band was in heavy rotation in the Southeastern US during the late 70s and early 80s. In 1980 they had a local hit with Derryberry's song "Birmingham Tonight", which was broken by Lee Masters on WKXX-FM. Their radio fame helped boost regular attendance at their club shows from 100 or so to over 500. Especially well-attended were the "Hotride" shared bills with the members of Hotfoot. They were finalists in a Miller-sponsored band search contest in 1985, which led to their signing a contract with RCA Records. Their single "Breaking Away" reached number 77 on the Billboard chart that year. They performed at the 1990 and 1997 City Stages. They were invited to perform at two Alabama gubernatorial inaugurations, and have been named musical achievers by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, a precursor to being inducted into the hall.