Gov’t Mule welcomed Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring to the stage at LOCKN’ in 2015, pro-shot video of which is available now. The musical crossover comes from September 13th, 2015, during Mule’s afternoon set on the last day of LOCKN’.
Fans in attendance that weekend will recall how the festival was shortened by one day (Thursday) due to inclement weather. Unfortunately, this caused Galactic, Little Feat, and Soulive to cancel their sets, but it apparently spurred the remaining acts to try and make it up to fans.
As Gov’t Mule reached the midway point of its second of two sets that weekend, guitarist Warren Haynes brought up Herring for a run through Billy Cobham‘s “Stratus”. Haynes gives Herring a moment to introduce himself, musically, before the two begin trading the blues licks they’ve become known for. The two guitarist’s divergent styles become a yin and yang throughout the clip, with Haynes’s wah-soaked understated playing and Herring’s dry riffs that allow for maximum mobility up and down the fretboard creating a musical conversation. Not to be left out of the fun is Mule keyboardist Danny Louis, who boldly transitions from laying rhythmic groundwork to taking center stage with his Wurlitzer and relegating the guitar heroes to filling the backbeat. Eventually, however, Louis cedes once again to the main event of Haynes and Herring for the rest of the instrumental bliss.
Watch Jimmy Herring play “Stratus” with Gov’t Mule at LOCKN’ 2015.
Gov’t Mule, Jimmy Herring — “Status” (Billy Cobham)
[Video: Relix]
This year’s edition of LOCKN’ was originally slated to take place June 19th—21st at Infinity Downs in Arrington, VA. Due to the ongoing health crisis, however, the date has been pushed back to October 2nd—4th. Given the ever-shifting line in the sand in regards to mass gatherings, it is unclear if even those rescheduled dates will take place as concerts and festivals further and further into the summer continue to cancel. Head to the festival’s website for any announcements, and check out the Live For Live Music concert cancellation tracker for daily updates on the state of live music.