Railroad Earth, Leftover Salmon, and Yonder Mountain String Band are bringing the front porch pickin’ party days of old across the country this summer on a triple headliner tour. Over the weekend, the traveling bluegrass circus stopped at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA where Railroad Earth welcomed members of Leftover Salmon for beloved Jerry Garcia cover, “Catfish John”.
For this tour, these pillars of modern jamgrass switch off headlining duties each night and on Saturday in Virginia Railroad Earth had the honor of closing the show. After a truncated set of originals from throughout the band’s 23-year run, highlighted by extended jams on “Seven Story Mountain” and “Head”, Railroad Earth brought out guitarist/vocalist Vince Herman and mandolinist Drew Emmitt for the Jerry Garcia Band staple written by Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds. A serene pedal steel intro ushered in the subdued cover which aligned more closely with the original country music telling of the song, as the extended lineup took its time in the final minutes of the concert. Not to leave out Yonder, Railroad Earth and the Leftover Salmon members beckoned mandolinist Nick Piccininni to the stage to join in on the show-closing performance of RRE’s “Dandelion Wine”.
Hours earlier, Yonder Mountain String Band opened the evening’s festivities with a rocking cover of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers‘ “I Need To Know”. The band wedged plenty of tributes into its 55-minute opening set, including an homage to late mandolinist Jeff Austin with “What the Night Brings” and a nod to The Rolling Stones with “No Expectations”. For the second course of the bluegrass banquet, audiences were served up a piping bowl of Cajun slamgrass courtesy of Leftover Salmon. The oldest guards of the lineup did what they do best by delivering a high-energy set bridging acoustic and electric elements with styles and songs from across cultures, from jazz percussionist Lionel Hampton to country icon Merle Haggard.
Check out image galleries from Saturday’s show below courtesy of Leeda Bijani along with audio by vwmule and videos from Tom Libera. Railroad Earth, Leftover Salmon, and Yonder Mountain String Band will go their separate ways for July before reconvening in August for more tripleheader dates. Visit either RRE, Salmon, or YMSB‘s websites for tickets and detailed tour dates.
Railroad Earth — Wolf Trap — Vienna, VA — 7/6/24 — Full Audio
Railroad Earth — “Mighty River” — 7/6/24
The post Railroad Earth & Leftover Salmon Collab On Jerry Garcia Favorite At Pickin’ Party With Yonder In Virginia [Photos/Videos/Audio] appeared first on L4LM.
