This past Saturday found me hitting the road and heading up to Summit County for an evening of catching up with a few bands I haven’t seen in at least a couple years.  Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band have been enjoying a late-summer tour together, and a few nights ago they made their way into Colorado for a few shows.  While they played slightly closer to home on Fridy evening at Denver’s Levitt Pavilion, I decided to enjoy my participation of the tour surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains.

While I caught Yonder and Leftover a few years ago opening for The String Cheese Incident, I hadn’t seen Railroad since their brief set at the What the Night Brings benefit for Jeff Austin in 2019.  I don’t have near the “history” with Railroad, however, both Leftover and Yonder are hometown favorites, having gotten their start in Nederland, so it’s always fun to have them return for a good ol’ home state throw-down! 

The bands have been changing the line-up each night, providing each band with opening, middle and closing sets.  With Leftover headlining Friday, they rotated to the opening set, followed by Railroad Earth, and closed things out with the Yonder boys.  As with any true bluegrass collaboration, and a must with a line-up of this much comradery, each night also ends with a jam session of the headliner joined by members of the other two bands. 

Initially, the weather gods were calling for sunny skies and no rain in the forecast, but in true Colorado style, those plans changed just a bit as the day broke.  Clouds began to roll in early in the afternoon, and the music kicked off a little behind schedule as passing squalls made their way eastward over the divide.  While the clouds lingered into the night, it was a nice, cool respite from the summer heat.

Despite the small delay, each band enjoyed over an hour and a half long set, keeping the crowd of all ages happy and dancing.  Leftover kicked things off in true Poly-Ethnic-Cajun-Slamgrass style, getting everyone up on their feet for a good ol’ high-country jamboree.  Railroad Earth then carried on the musical journey with a beautiful and eclectic set, sending the audience on a sailing soire through the clouds. 

After a short set-break, the Yonder boys came out and threw down a fun set of old tunes and new, with newest members Nick Piccinni (mandolin) and Coleman Smith (fiddle) adding some fresh flavor to the mix.  Towards the end of their set, it was time for a little mountain hoedown bringing out Drew Emmit of Leftover Salmon and John Skehan, Mike Robinson, Matt Slocum and Carey Harmon of Railroad Earth for a fun couple tunes to close out the evening (my personal highlight being the beautiful Don’t Let Go to end the show).

From families with littles carrying on the torch, to elders still rocking the jam-grass vibes, it was a great evening for everyone on and off the stage.  By the time the full jam wrapped up just in time for the 10pm curfew, all involved were left with a full heart and a happy soul to carry them home! 

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