Leftover Salmon brings unique style to Bonnaroo
Local bluegrass fans at this year’s Bonnaroo festival at Manchester can look forward to something just a little bit different when Leftover Salmon takes the stage on June 13 to perform their version of this traditional music with an alternative edge. The six-man group is an eclectic mix of a variety of influences, including Cajun, funk, Southern rock, boogie, Caribbean, Latin and jazz, but is very much grounded in the basic bluegrass feel and style.
Vince Herman, who, along with Drew Emmitt, is co-founder of the beloved Colorado based band, took time out recently to talk about the group and their upcoming appearance in the area.
Herman said the group was looking forward to its first Bonnaroo experience.
“We’re all fired up about that,” said Herman. “We’ve not gone before, so it’s going to be pretty interesting. I can’t imagine what it’s like.”
Of course the festival circuit is not new to the band.
“We’ll probably do about 30 festivals this summer,” Herman said. “There’s a lot of festivals out there. Bonaroo’s certainly one of the biggest, but there’s a lot of festivals with a lot of different kinds of feel to them. It’s a good thing. Festival culture is booming right now.”
The group is famous for its studio collaborations with a wide range of performers. One of the groups breakthrough albums, “The Nashville Sessions” featured a performance with blues great Taj Majal, a session that made for some great memories, according to Herman.
“That whole record, “The Nashville Sessions,” was like a musical “Fantasy Island” for us,” Herman said. “We’d have a couple of different people come in each day and record stuff with us. Man, what a blast.”
Herman said the session with Majal was informal and spur-of-the-moment.
“You know, when Taj came in we didn’t really have a plan what we were going to do or anything, we just kind of left it up to him. He came in and taught us a tune real quick and in a couple of takes we had it. We were psyched. And then he stayed probably about another six hours on the bus and played tunes for us. It was incredible. He’s such a phenomenal musician.”
The group’s new album, the self-titled “Leftover Salmon,” is the first with a new line-up after the loss of the group’s beloved banjoist and co-founder Mark Vann. Produced by longtime Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne, the record demonstrates a more mature sound, according to Herman, who said working with Payne was a great experience.
“He was a great character,” Herman said. “He really kept us focused on getting some feel onto the record and not worrying about everything being absolutely perfect. Get a little feel on there, get a little boogie-woogie going.”
Herman admits the group is hard to classify in traditional marketing terms, and though he says rock-and-roll bluegrass is fairly descriptive, the group has also called it, with tongue firmly in cheek, “Polytechnic Cajun Slamgrass.”
Herman says the group’s influences come from all over the musical spectrum.
“Everywhere,” Herman said. “From Irish music to Cajun music to reggae, blues, Tex-Mex, Zydeco, there’s just a big well of music out there and we love to take a little taste of it all. It’s a lot of fun.”
The band will also be performing in Nashville on June 26, at the Mercy Lounge, and on Sept. 18, at the Rhythm & Roots Reunion in Bristol. For more information on the group and its tour schedule visit the Leftover Salmon Web site at www.leftoversalmon.com.