Yesterday, Colorado jam-grass favorites Leftover Salmon wowed the Wanee crowd with a fantastic performance honoring the music of rock and roll royalty Neil Young. Leftover has been peppering their sets with the occasional Young covers since debuting the concept last Thanksgiving. But for Wanee, they went all-out–and delivered a full tribute to the legendary singer/guitarist.
Guitarist/vocalist Vince Herman and his longtime partner in crime Drew Emmitt have turned in their fair share of inspired performances at the Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park, and their Wanee ’17 Neil Young tribute was no different. With banjo player supreme Andy Thorn, bassist Greg Garrison, and the rest of Salmon backing them up, how could they not? Though Leftover Salmon’s 25th anniversary is now in the rearview mirror, the band itself has been replenished over the years, and the recent resurgence in the popularity of bluegrass-based music has clearly energized the two remaining founders.
Together, they reworked material from Young’s seminal album Harvest–as well as a few other choice Young tunes–for a infectiously uptempo and heartfelt take on the 1972 rock and roll masterpiece. While tempos may have been changed and lyrics cheekily reworked, the power of the compositions shined through, the Salmon making the tunes their own on their way to an immensely satisfying performance.
Thanks to videographer Rex Thomson–who also serves as Suwannee’s house videographer–you can enjoy videos of the first four songs from the set below, including “Comes A Time,” “Cowgirl In The Sand,” “Out On The Weekend,” and “Heart of Gold.” Enjoy!
“Comes A Time”
“Cowgirl In The Sand”
“Out On The Weekend”
“Heart Of Gold”
Wanee continues today with performances by Widespread Panic, Matisyahu, JJ Grey and Mofro, Bob Weir & the Campfire Band, The Marcus King Band, Turkuaz and more, as well as a sure-to-be emotional late-night Les Brers show in memory of their fallen bandleader, Butch Trucks.