Leftover Salmon: Let’s Party About It
As they celebrate their 35th anniversary, Leftover Salmon has a message they’d like to impart—everything’s gonna be alright. “We don’t need no trouble/ We could do without it,” they sing in the title track of Let’s Party About It, the bluegrass sextet’s new release, “So, let’s bring it all together and party about it.” Naïve? Probably, but it’s hard to argue with such optimistic sentiment when you feel a little better already just hearing them play it. Consisting of Drew Emmitt (guitar, mandolin), Vince Herman (guitar), Greg Garrison (bass), Andy Thorn (banjo), Alwyn Robinson (drums) and Jay Starling (keys, dobro), with everyone contributing vocals and solos, the Boulder, Colo.-bred act has long led the way toward a new bluegrass hybrid that is ubiquitous today. Although known primarily as a killer live band, the group’s studio albums are always an event in their own right, and Let’s Party About It keeps that string going. Along with a commendable guest list that includes Del McCoury (vocals), Sam Bush (fiddle, mandolin), Jason Carter (fiddle) and Jeff Coffin (saxophone), the band extends the good-time glow of the title track throughout all of the 11 entries. The opener, “Big Wheel,” written by most of the band with Nashville songwriter Aaron Raitiere, is immense in sound: When Herman sings, “I can’t describe the way I feel/ Like I’m ridin’ high atop a Ferris wheel,” boosted by Carter’s joyous fiddle, it’s near-impossible not to want to ride along. And within the relaxed tempo of Emmitt’s “Shine On,” there too, in the words of the chorus—“Shine on, shine on/Don’t you know that yesterday’s gone/ You got to keep on keepin’ on”—is a balm that’s there for the taking. Let’s Party About It? That sounds like a damn good idea.
