Gov’t Mule is down in Jamaica this week for the band’s annual Island Exodus getaway, and on Sunday the veteran blues-jam band brought out Karina Rykman for a sit-in. The buoyant bassist fills out the destination festival’s supporting lineup alongside Drive-By Truckers, Big Sugar, saxophonist Ron Holloway, and a solo performance from Warren Haynes.

Sunday marked Mule’s first of three two-set shows at the Jewel Paradise Cove Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. The first set of the festival saw Gov’t Mule—comprised of Haynes, bassist Kevin Scott, drummer Matt Abts, and keyboardist Danny Louis—sandwich all eight songs within a jam on Radiohead‘s “Karma Police”. Set two kicked off with a trio of covers honoring the band’s wide influences, starting with the Grateful Dead‘s “Terrapin Station” followed by Toots & The Maytals‘ “Hard Road” and finally The Rolling Stones‘ “Play with Fire”. Mule also dug into its deep cache of originals with classic songs “Million Miles From Yesterday”, “Sco-Mule”, “Captured”, and a “Mule” that segued into Tower of Power‘s “What is Hip?” before being reprised to close the frame.

Mule returned for the encore with Rykman in tow, with Haynes telling the crowd that as soon as they’re done playing the band is going to dart over to Rykman’s late-night set. Before doing so, however, Rykman stepped in for Scott and joined Mule for a classic rock romp through Deep Purple‘s “Maybe I’m A Leo”. The chugging power chords of the blues-influenced hard-rock song were right in Mule’s wheelhouse, and though the song kept Rykman more contained than most of her dynamic originals, her buzzy basswork made the cover delightfully heavy. Rykman and Haynes previously crossed paths at Warren’s annual Christmas Jam blowout in Asheville in 2023.

After “Maybe I’m A Leo”—Haynes is an Aries, in case you were wondering—the band gave Rykman a head-start to high-tail it over to the bonfire stage to set up for her own set, as Gov’t Mule closed the show with help from Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson on Humble Pie‘s “30 Days in the Hole”. True to his word, Haynes darted over to Rykmans’s set after Mule wrapped up and returned the favor by sitting in with Karina’s solo band alongside guitarist Adam November and drummer Chris Corsico.

Watch Gov’t Mule welcome Karina Rykman and Gordie Johnson for some classic rock covers in Jamaica. Mule closes Island Exodus 15 tonight, January 22nd, with its last two-set performance on the beach. After Jamaica, the band is off until a headlining appearance at the inaugural Suwannee Amp Jam from March 6th–8th in Live Oak, FL. Find Gov’t Mule tickets and tour dates here.

Gov’t Mule — “Maybe I’m A Leo” (Deep Purple, ft. Karina Rykman), “30 Days In The Hole” (Humble Pie, ft. Gordie Johnson) — 1/19/25

[Video: TonyFranciosi]