Few bands have as enduring a legacy in the acoustic/newgrass/jam band scene as Colorado-based Leftover Salmon. Carrying the torch passed down by the progressive bluegrass pioneers, The Seldom Scene and Newgrass Revival, Leftover Salmon are true architects of the contemporary jam grass scene, inspiring the careers of a generation of artists including Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass and Yonder Mountain String Band.
On GRASS ROOTS, Leftover Salmon reflect on their bluegrass and festival campground origins with a set of songs that draws from the repertoires that The Salmon Heads and The Left Hand String Band played when they first jammed in a Telluride Bluegrass Festival campground. Collaborating with jam scene icons Billy Strings, Oliver Wood, and Darol Anger, and with the recent addition of Jay Starling on resophonic guitar, lap steel and keys to the band’s official line, Leftover Salmon have all the instrumental firepower needed to deliver hard driving versions of bluegrass standards and grassed-up versions of songs from Bob Dylan, David Bromberg, and The Grateful Dead.
On the album’s lead single, “Simple Twist of Fate,” Leftover Salmon reach into Bob Dylan’s catalog to deliver an up-tempo version that features co-founder Vince Herman on lead vocals. The track showcases and spotlights the band’s all-around instrumental prowess while also allowing Herman to channel Dylan through his storied and gruff vocal delivery.
Listen to Leftover Salmon play “Simple Twist of Fate” below:
