When the 21st annua Rocky Mountain Folks Festival opens its doors Friday (8/19/11), it will be welcoming sellout crowds and one of the best lineups of the last decade. On today’s bill: one of the most beautiful voices in contemporary music,Brandi Carlile, right, folk singerMartin Sextonand songwriter

Livingston Taylor. Saturday: masterful songwriter Josh Ritter, folk legen dMary Gauthier and a supergroup made up of theGrateful Dead’s Bob Weir, th eBlack Crowes’ Chris Robinsonand songwriter Jackie Greene.Sunday: folk-rock star Jackson Browne, pop crossover artist Missy Higgins and exciting newcomers the Civil Wars and Dan Mangan. All tickets for this year’s festival are sold, but check the Festivarian Forums atplanetbluegrass.comfor last-minute releases or secondary-market offers, not to mention schedules and information.Ricardo Baca

Musician Brandi Carlile is one of the many hot acts performing this weekend Photo by Stringer

Simone Joyner