Colorado’s Leftover Salmon will play the 49th Annual Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 19, one of just four planned musical headliners scheduled to play throughout the weekend. Others include Robert Randolph, Souls of Mischief, and MV Caldera. We caught up with Drew Emmitt, one of the band’s original members, while he was at home in Crested Butte, CO. Our conversation included his 35 years in the band, hearing his songs covered in Japan, the power of the Grateful Dead, and the magic of Sam Bush.
Can you share what makes you love doing what you do?
Well, we have a great time. Every one of us loves getting on stage together and playing music. And, honestly, our fans have allowed us to do this for the past 35 years.
Did you ever dream you would be doing it basically all your life?
I don’t know if we thought of it that way, especially not Vince and me, the band’s two original members. We came up with this goofy name and threw it together as a fun band to play Crested Butte and Telluride. Playing in ski areas, not just bluegrass festivals, sounded fun. It was a way to get out and start playing more. We never expected anything beyond that. Nobody’s more surprised than us.
And you have a brand-new album that just came out, right?
Yeah, Let’s Party About It came out a few weeks ago.
We recorded it in November in Nashville, Tennessee. We wrote it together as a band, the first time we’ve ever done that. We rented an Airbnb out on the beach in Wrightsville, North Carolina. We met with our friend Aaron Raitiere, a great Nashville songwriter. He helped us formulate the tunes, conduct pre-production, and assist with writing. We did so much preparation that we were able to bang it out in four days. Everybody played a part, and that’s reflected on the record. It doesn’t feel like we pieced it together. I love that it has a very live feel to it.
Do you play differently when you play a festival than when you’re touring?
Every time we step on stage in front of a big crowd, it energizes us. At festivals, you always have that feeling when you’re playing; you’re wondering if these people have ever heard these songs before, and there are those who do, too. It’s an interesting couple of worlds to be tightrope walking across, but that makes it exciting. Some people know your tunes, and those who haven’t heard them before. Either way is exhilarating.
I’ve heard excellent bluegrass coming out of Japan, a place you wouldn’t quite expect to hear it, but the internet makes the world a smaller place.
I wrote a song called “Valley the Full Moon ” years ago. If you Google it, you’ll find a band in Japan playing and singing it word for word. It blew me away. It’s obvious they don’t speak English, but they learned how to play and sing it very well. It was a huge compliment.
Do you feel like you live more in the bluegrass world or the jam band world?
Both. We wanted to play festivals and tour, and we figured out how to do both simultaneously when, before, you could only do one or the other. You could only be a bluegrass band or a rock band.
Growing up, I played a lot of lead guitar. When I was a teenager, I started playing the mandolin. When this band started, I had been playing bluegrass for a while, and I put down my electric guitar. But when we started 35 years ago, I picked up the electric guitar again, and I’ve been able to play both, which is a dream.
Are you a better mandolin player than Sam Bush?
Oh, hell no. He’s the master. He’ll always be my main mandolin inspiration. I’m OK with the fact I can’t quite do what Sam does because nobody else can. Nobody sounds like him. There are a lot of great mandolin players out there, and I can name many of them, but there’s nobody like Sam. He’s the one. I have other favorites, but Sam’s definitely the king.
Have you been influenced by the Grateful Dead at all?
We cover a little bit of the Grateful Dead. It’s common for bands to do, but we definitely have been influenced a lot by them. Jerry Garcia was in a jug band before the Grateful Dead, an old-timey band called The Warlocks. He was obviously a banjo player, and he played pedal steel. They had David Grisman and Vassar Clements on the recordings. They covered some Peter Rowan songs. And, of course, Old & The Way greatly influenced the bluegrass world. For many years, it was the highest-selling bluegrass album in history.
The Grateful Dead had great songs. With Robert Hunter’s help, they could take those tunes and jam them out, which has been the blueprint for many bands. But when I think about the Grateful Dead, it’s much more than jamming. They were defined by great, great songwriting.
After three and a half decades, what’s left to do in your career?
I don’t feel we’ve done it all by a long shot. Personally, I have a long way to go to get better. As a musician, I’m constantly practicing and working on being a better songwriter and singer. There is no goal other than to keep growing, experimenting with new music, and seeing where it all leads. And we would love to tour more places around the world. We’ve been to Europe a couple of times and want to go back, and we’d love to play in Japan and Australia. We want to get out, see more of the world, and play to crowds that haven’t heard us yet.
And what, pray tell, is your favorite place to play in the world?
I always have to say Red Rocks [Amphitheatre] is the best. We played there a few weeks ago, and it was magical, as always. As far as places we’ve played, nothing beats it. Nothing is that cool.
See the full Utah Arts Festival Music lineup here.
- WHO: Leftover Salmon
- WHAT: Utah Arts Festival
- WHEN: Thursday, June 19, 9:30 p.m.
- WHERE: Library Square, Salt Lake City (200 East 400 South)
- Tickets and info: uaf.org
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