When you think Pink Floyd, the dulcet tone of the banjo probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind—unless you’re the Yonder Mountain String Band. For lucky attendees of the Northwest String Summit, Yonder decided to follow up last years well-received rendition of Animals with a take on the 1971 classic Meddle. Covering such an iconic album and doing it justice requires a little more instrumentation than a traditional bluegrass band has at its fingertips, even a psychedelic-tinged one like Yonder. Luckily for them, keyboardist Asher Fulero and drummer Jay Elliot, both of whom were a big part of last year’s success on Animals, tapped in once again. Together, the expanded Yonder Mountain line up put on an epic performance of ambient and psychedelic jams that channeled the original Pink Floyd numbers while still taking on a life of their own.
Our own Rex Thomson was on hand to film the mayhem of the weekend. You can check out his videos of Yonder’s Pink Floyd set below, so sit back, dim the lights, and hear what happens when one of America’s finest bluegrass bands decides to take on one Pink Floyd!
“One Of These Days”
“A Pillow Of The Winds”
“Fearless”
“San Tropez”
“Seamus”
“Echoes”