The Bluebird Nightclub will fill with the sounds of bluegrass, country and something extra this week.
Leftover Salmon, a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, will visit Bloomington for a concert at 9 p.m. Friday at the Bluebird. The group originally formed in 1989 and has continued to play its specific brand of aggressive bluegrass rock.
Drew Emmitt contributes a combination of vocals, acoustic and electric mandolin, electric guitar and fiddle and said the group is excited to return to Bloomington.
“It’s a great town,” Emmitt said. “I think it’s one of the coolest spots in the Midwest, to be honest. Bloomington has got some really great mojo going on.”
Emmitt plays today alongside Greg Garrison, responsible for vocals, acoustic and electric bass; Vince Herman on vocals, acoustic guitar and washboard; Andy Thorn with vocals, acoustic and electric banjo; Alwyn Robinson on drums; and Erik Deutsch on keyboard.
Emmitt said he has a long-running interest in music. His interested started in the cities where he grew up.
“I’ve just always loved music. When I was a kid, I played piano and then started playing strings when I was eight probably,” Emmitt said. “I’ve just always played. I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, which kind of had a lot to do with that, as did living in Colorado hearing a lot of great music for a long time.”
The sound of Leftover Salmon crosses a few genres reflective of both the interests of the group and the places the band visits.
“It’s a wide palette of musical tastes,” Emmitt said. “We go a lot of places and a lot of musical styles and a lot of journeys happen on the Salmon stage. We do a lot of fun stuff.”
Having a crowd enjoy the style of Leftover Salmon is part of the enjoyment of the playing experience, Emmitt said.
“We just hope the audience is having at least half as much fun as we’re having because we just have a blast,” Emmitt said. “There’s just a lot of different influences in the band that create that — a lot of musical backgrounds collectively — and it generates a lot of excitement.”
Having formed in the late 1980s, the band has had plenty of experience playing together and enjoys committing time to traveling and doing shows.
The band is fully committed to playing and touring, rather than making music the side job, Emmitt said.
“It has been, since the band started, my job, and it has been quite a blessing to be able to do this for a living,” Emmitt said. “I’m very thankful that we get to do this, people dig it, and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Emmitt said the band looks forward to bringing the spring warmth and energy to Bloomington.
“Here in Colorado it’s in the 40s today, and it’s really starting to feel like spring,” he said. “I know it’s only February, but I’m really hoping it’s going to feel like spring in the Midwest, too. If not, we’ll make them feel like it is. I just hope people come on out and have a good time with us. It’s going to be a throw-down night.”
