Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Welcome Andy Frasco and Billy Failing at WinterWonderGrass Steamboat

February 28, 2026

Daniel Donato, photo by Dylan Langille

Last night, WinterWonderGrass returned to Steamboat Springs, Colo. for the first night of its 13th annual staging. At the heart of the beloved bluegrass festival’s kickoff program was a set from Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, whose second booking at the event made the most of its famous intimate and highly collaborative atmosphere with some special guests.

Donato and his Cosmic Country band stepped into the spotlight on the Pete Van De Carr main stage just after sundown and before a headline engagement from The Devil Makes Three. Backed as always by the tried and true talents of Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz on keyboards and guitar, Will “Bronco” Clark on drums and Will “Mustang” McGee on bass, the Nashville axeman tore into his single-set performance with his four-year Reflector essential “Hi-Country.” A medley of “Luck of the Draw” and “Sugar Leg Rag” led McGee to switch to the upright bass for a spell, suiting the festival’s traditional sound on ensuing treatments of “Blame the Train,” “Broadside Ballad,” “Hangman’s Reel” and “Rose in a Garden.”

After an unexpected resurrection of their take on John Williams’ Star Wars “Cantina Band” theme for the first time since December 2023, Donato and the band invited Billy Failing, Billy Strings’ longtime banjo accompanist, for treatments of Flatt and Scruggs’ “Foggy Mountain Top” and “Sunshine In The Rain (Strange Presence).” The core quartet powered through “Dance in the Desert,” then Andy Frasco lept onstage to share lead vocal duties with McGee on a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women,” also featuring saxophone from Frasco’s bandmate Sam Kelly.

WinterWonderGrass Steamboat will continue today with performances from The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Sierra Hull, Mountain Grass Unit and more, then come to a close on Sunday with the WinterWonderWomen supergroup, Clay Street Unit, Elephant Revival and Leftover Salmon. Learn more about the festival here, and find Donato’s tour dates at danieldonato.com/tour.