A traveling mini-festival that combines three of the most beloved names in bluegrass music stopped by Levitt Pavilion this past Friday, and it was a heater in more ways than one. Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain String Band and Leftover Salmon put their respective spins on the traditional genre for Denver fans that left them hooting and hollering and spinning and grinning under a searing August sun. With quite a familial overlap in fanbases, the idea to join forces not only let the three bands tour through bigger venues but allowed fans to see not one but three of their favorite bands in the course of one stellar evening.
The lineup, which rotates between each tour date, started on Friday with the Americana rocky-grass of Railroad Earth, who gallantly took their places onstage beneath Colorado’s Summer sun. Led by the quiet charm of Todd Sheaffer, the band performed an exemplary medley of their catalog in a nicely packaged eight-song set. From start to finish, the pace was set by drummer Carey Harmon as the band ran through songs old and new, vibrant and serene — beginning with “Chasin’ A Rainbow.” “Bread and Water” and “Slippin’ Away” maintained the energy level before things slowed down with the poignant “Hunting Song.” The low-tempo moment continued with “Old Man and the Land” and was brought back up to speed with “Just So You Know.” A well-executed rendition of The Waterboys’ “Fisherman’s Blues” was followed by the fun-loving singalong “Cold Water” to close out the set.
Up second was hometown heroes Yonder Mountain String Band, raring to go as the sun began to set on Ruby Hill Park. With the addition of newest member Coleman Smith, the band’s dependably full sound was bigger-than-life on Friday with the “master violinist and fiddle shredder.” Yonder’s opened their set with a grassified version of Tom Petty’s “I Need to Know” before moving into a newborn tune, “Cruisin'”. With a cover of the traditional folk song “Shady Grove” coming next, the band performed another of their most recent original songs, “Here I Go.” The set continued to gracefully combine the new, old and everything in between with guitarist Adam Aijala leading on “Idaho,” banjoist Dave Johnston on “Chasing My Tail,” and upright bassist Ben Kauffman on “Out of the Blue.” A glorious “Traffic Jam” sandwich, featuring a deli selection of the classic singalong “Two Hits (And the Joint Turned Brown),” brought the incendiary set to a close.
Last but certainly not least was the cajun-grass of Leftover Salmon to throw the final party of the evening. Fan favorite “River’s Rising” came first, followed by “We’ll Get By” and an up-tempo “All Night Ride.” The unofficial mascot and quintessential frontman of any big bluegrass bash, Vince Herman led the band on the reggae-style “Better.” Next came a “Bird Call” that gave each player a chance to show off their awesome and respective shredding skills, with mandolinist Drew Emmitt then taking the reins and sharing some howlin’ vocals on the epic masterpiece that is “Troubled Times.” Banjo-heavy “Riding On The L&N” came before the wanderlustful tune “Evermore.” A special treat came with the quasi-cover of Emmitt-Nershi Band’s “New Country Blues,” with showman Herman taking back over to wrap up the raucous set with “Ants in My Pants.”
What’s a three-band mini-festival without a multiple-encore superjam? Especially when that multiple-encore superjam is arguably the highlight of the entire show. Leftover Salmon remained in their places as they welcomed back Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone, John Skehan and Sheaffer, as well as Yonder Mountain String Band’s Nick Piccininni, Johnston and Aijala to the stage — mega-super-encore commence. Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” a pickin’ version of Grateful Dead’s “I Know You Rider,” Doc Watson’s “Reuben’s Train” and an explosive “Up on Cripple Creek” made up the crazy and beautiful encore-of-all-encores to shut down one wild ride of an evening with some of the most beloved and legendary bluegrass-ish bands of all time.