The Highwomen, image via YouTube

The Highwomen reunited for their first full performance in three years on Sunday to cap off Brandi Carlile’s Echoes Through the Canyon festival at The Gorge. As a grand finale to the surprising and star-powered weekend of music, the quartet of venerable singer-songwriters Carlile, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby delivered a 26-track exploration of their shared catalog, alongside solo originals and some reverent covers. In the collaborative spirit of the event, the band bolstered their performance with sit-ins from five special guests.

After The Highwomen popped in for “Crowded Table” and “If She Ever Leaves Me” during Carlile’s headline sets on Friday and Saturday, the quartet opened their first show since 2023’s inaugural Echoes Through the Canyon with their signature song “Highwomen.” The group continued to work through the songs from their 2019 self-titled debut album – 10 out of 12 of which made it to the stage – with “Redesigning Women,” which featured lead vocals from the great Bonnie Raitt. The evening’s second guest spot arrived with the first diversions from The Highwomen’s catalog as they welcomed Wynonna Judd for four covers of The Judds, looking back on their radio-ready ‘80s hits with “Young Love (Strong Love),” “Love Is Alive,” “Girls Night Out” and “Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain.”

When they switched back to their own discography with “Crowded Table,” The Highwomen reflected the song’s heartwarming ode to family by packing the stage with their dear friends Raitt, Wynonna, Allison Russell, Brittney Spencer and Sheryl Crow. After a turn to Maren Morris’ “Wild Child,” Crow returned for “Heaven is a Honky Tonk,” marking the first live reprisal of her feature on the studio version, then led the band through her own “Strong Enough.” Later, Russell stepped in to helm The Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl,” among a flight of sing-along covers in the set’s last lap like Rufus & Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “American Girl,” “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing and finally Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”

The Highwomen punctuated the second Echoes of the Canyon with a four-track encore, beginning with a stirring, stripped-back version of Lee Ann Womack’s “The Bees.” The band’s final surprise guest was Linda Perry, who sat in for her own 4 Non Blondes smash hit “What’s Up?,” before Maren Morris led the way through her own “My Church.” At last, the band closed on their “drunk version” of “Redesigning Women,” a reliable set-closer that also provided the last notes of their 2023 set, captured on the new surprise live album Live at the Gorge 2023.

Read on for the full setlist from Sunday night, and learn more about The Highwomen here.

The Highwomen
The Gorge – George, Wash.
5/31/26

Set: Highwomen, Redesigning Women, My Name Can’t Be Mama, Don’t Call Me, Loose Change, Young Love (Strong Love), Love Is Alive, Girls Night Out, Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain, Crowded Table, Wild Child, If She Ever Leaves Me, Heaven is a Honky Tonk, Strong Enough, Piece Of Mind, Goodbye Earl, American Girl, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, Cocktail and a Song, My Only Child, The Chain

Encore: The Bees, What’s Up?, My Church, Redesigning Women