The ‘Round The Campfire Interview Series is Pop Break’s preview series, curated by Lead Music Writer Andrew Howie, for Summer Camp 2022.
Leftover Salmon is one of those bands that you just can’t seem to describe adequately to someone who doesn’t know them; not quite a jam band, not quite bluegrass, not quite any one thing in particular. As a self-described group of musicians playing ‘polyethnic Cajun slamgrass,’ they’re just a little bit different from pretty much everything else you’ll encounter in the various music scenes today, and they’re bringing their roaring show back to Summer Camp Music Festival this weekend.
Recently I spoke with mandolinist/vocalist Drew Emmitt on what makes their music so special and wild, what makes Summer Camp a great place for a group like them, and how they’ve adapted and evolved over a 30+ year career in a changing world.
Andrew Howie: Obviously the last couple years have been a trying time for everyone, and musicians are no exception. How did you adapt to everything?
Drew Emmitt: During the height of it all, obviously we weren’t doing anything, but we were able to do a couple shows during the lockdown. We played a weekend in Buena Vista in October of 2020, but it’s all kind of a blur. We were able to do a couple shows in Vail, tiny shows, and a couple in Denver for 50 people a night, and that was pretty much it. Last summer in May we hit Red Rocks and released our album, and we were able to do Telluride Bluegrass. The second weekend they had 2500 people, which was cool for Telluride to play for such a limited crowd. But we got back at it and did some festivals and some outdoor shows. But it’s been quite the journey, and an interesting couple years for us. Looking forward to a busy summer this year.
AH: So you’d say you’re firing on all cylinders again in terms of touring and all that?
DE: We are! Some of the highlights for me are DelFest, that’s happening again, and we’re doing some shows up in Montana at the Pine Mountain Lodge, playing Red Rocks with The String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band on July 17th. We’re playing in Gunnison, Colorado, near where I live in Crested Butte; we’re playing out in Virginia, all kinds of cool stuff. It’s going to be a really good summer, and we’re excited for that. We’re also doing the last String Summit in Oregon at Horning’s Hideout, which is going to be epic, everybody’s going to be there. It will be bittersweet as it’s the last one, but we’ll be doing it up big. So it’s really a wall to wall summer. Towards the end of May we’re recording in Nashville for a new album, and we’re doing two shows at the Station Inn, a small place, and a couple special engagements there while we’re making the record.
AH: Oh, new material! Without spoiling anything, what can you tell me about that?
DE: Well, we’re still in the planning phase of how to go about it. We’re not exactly sure, so I have nothing much to say other than the studio time is booked at Compass Records in Nashville. Great studio. I’ve made a couple records there. Used to be owned by the Outlaws, you know, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and that crew, then it was bought by Compass and they brought in some great gear and it’s just a really nice space. We’re still a bit up in the air as to what the concept is going to be, but we felt it was time to get back into the studio. We’re just excited to see what happens.
AH: What would you say is different in your approach to putting together a record these days vs. what you might have tried ten or twenty years ago?
DE: Oh, so much. For one, the anxiety level is much lower. It’s something that I think we’ve all learned to enjoy as a process and not be so stressed about, and just let things flow. The last record we made really came together in the studio. We had songs that were not quite finished, some ideas here and there, and we were able to record at Echo Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina, a great studio. But we learned a lot about not forcing things too much and just letting things naturally evolve in the studio. Seems to work better than being stressed out and trying to make things happen. After making 11 albums now with the band, if you let things flow it works a whole lot better.
AH: Let’s get back to tour for a bit; you’ve got Summer Camp coming up in Illinois. You’ve played there before a few times, and the fest has its own reputation within the scene. What do you think it is about Summer Camp that keeps people coming back year after year?
DE: It’s really diverse; it runs the gamut of the music scene today. It’s a large site and there’s a lot going on. There are big acts and there are also acts that aren’t as prevalent in the scene but are up and coming. It’s definitely a showcase for some of the more major acts in the jam band scene, and there are a lot of people! The first time we went there I was just amazed by how huge it was. It’s a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of people. There’s not really any one kind of music there, it represents a whole range of different artists, and different people in the crowd too, they’re just as diverse. It’s quite an event. Definitely one of the bigger music events that happen in our genre.
AH: I’ve seen you at the Summer Camp more than once, and I’ve always noticed your crowds really, really love your music. What do you think it is about your music that connects with people that way?
DE: I would say it’s probably the songs. What I mean is far as jam bands, we’re more song-oriented. We kind of come from the bluegrass/roots/Americana tradition, rock n’ roll, that is, more based on actual songs, and I feel like our songs speak to people. At the end of the day, as a band, I think what people are left with are the songs and the messages they carry. That’s something we have been able to offer our audiences for 32 years, the substance of what songs can do for people and that stay with people. People come back to hear them over and over again. It’s the songs that I think really have carried this band and have stuck with people. But of course we do like to jam it out, and I feel like everybody really holds their own in this band and really is at the top of their game musically. I feel like the combination of those things, the songs and vocals and instrumentation is really what makes it happen. It’s always fun too; Vince brings the party like nobody else, and all those things combine and really make our band what it is. But once again, over the years we have become more of an original band, even though we didn’t start out much that way. But more and more that is what defines us.
AH: Three decades is a long time for anyone to do anything, let alone something as shifting and volatile as music. What are some of the major differences you’ve noticed in the music scene today vs. when you were starting out?
DE: There are a LOT more bands now, number one. When we started in the early 90s, there weren’t that many bands touring at this level. There were the big bands and up and coming bands playing mostly locally and there weren’t as many festivals. There wasn’t social media, which is a big thing. Everything was pretty much grass roots. We got in a school bus and got out on the road and toured until we made something happen. Now it’s a totally different paradigm with social media. It’s much easier to get your music out there, but it’s also harder, because there are so many more people doing it. Bands starting out today definitely have a bigger challenge because they’re up against so many different bands. That’s a big difference from when we started. There weren’t really even cell phones when we started out 32 years ago. Bands still need to do that, but not in the same way, because there are so many other ways to get your music out there. We were lucky enough to survive that and get to a place now where we don’t have to tour like that anymore. We tour maybe half as much as we used to, probably even less than half. But to me those are the differences I’m seeing in the music business, for better or worse, that’s what’s going on these days.
AH: So bearing all that in mind, what would you say to some of these younger bands who maybe had to pause recently and reevaluate things?
DE: Stick with it, don’t give up. Things are getting better. We are coming out of this. Stay with it, the ones who stick with it and love it are the ones who succeed. It’s hard, but it’s incredibly rewarding when it works, and it’s worth sticking with it. Sometimes it seems impossible and it’s kind of a crazy way to make a living, but you can’t give up.
AH: Speaking of reevaluation, how has your perspective changed in the last couple of years, if at all?
DE: Oh man, so much, so much. Getting off the road for a solid year was a huge learning experience. I live in a beautiful place, Crested Butte, CO, which is a great place to be locked down. I wasn’t stranded in an apartment in the city without any restaurants or anything. To me, my health was so important. I got out every day, walking, skiing in the winter, spending time with family. It was kind of amazing. We were all locked down in the same house. It was a time to realize what was most important, which is friends and family, and how life is short. You need to connect with the people that mean the most to you while you can. There are more important things than money and materialism and things that people are a little obsessed with having in their lives. Really it’s the people that are closest to you that are the most important, and your health and evolution.
It was hard to write. I didn’t write a ton of songs during that period, because it was challenging to get inspired to sit down and write. A lot of soul searching and dealing with how to survive it, financially especially. Not working for a year was a trip. It made me realize that I need to write more, and eventually towards the end of lockdown I started writing again, but for some reason it wasn’t easy. I played a lot, tons of practicing and woodshedding, but it wasn’t easy to write. It was a strange time. You had to dig deep to stay inspired for sure. But it did make me want to collaborate with people again, and that’s something I’m going to start doing, especially for this next record. I have some collab sessions set up in Nashville. I think that it brought about different ways of thinking about everything, so that would carry over into my songwriting. I’m still trying to piece it all together and make sense of the world. It’s a very confusing world right now.
I feel like I definitely learned a lot being away from the road for that amount of time. It was a magical, magical time in a way. I’ll never forget it. We haven’t gotten super, super busy yet since then, but I think a lot of the lessons I learned are still prevalent in my life now. So it was a valuable time to live through, and some of my friends didn’t live through it, unfortunately. We lost some good friends and musicians during that time. The lesson is life is precious and short and can end in a moment, so don’t take it for granted.
