Record Crowd Witnesses Epic Gov’t Mule Shows and Levon Helm’s 70th Birthday At The Biggest Mountain Jam Festival Yet

govt mule
Govt Mule

photos by Dino Perrucci

Mountain Jam, the 3-day music festival held at the base of Hunter Mountain in Upstate New York, co-promoted by Warren Haynes (Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers Band, The Dead) and local radio station WDST, came to a close on Sunday with Levon’s Helm’s 70th Birthday Celebration, a nearly 3 hour set of music which included guests such as Haynes, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagan, Ray LaMontagne, Alison Krauss, Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan’s band), Patterson Hood from Drive-By Truckers and his dad, bassist for the legendary Muscle Schoals rhythm section, David Hood, Steve Earle and Jackie Greene joining the legendary Band drummer and local Woodstock icon and his Ramble on the Road band.

Record numbers made their way to Hunter Mountain for the festivities, making Mountain Jam VI the most attended edition of the festival yet. Highlights of the weekend included Gov’t Mule’s two powerful, epic headlining shows. The band dove deep into their catalog and welcomed guests such as Les Claypool, Derek Trucks, Grace Potter, Matisyahu and many more to the stage on Friday and Saturday night. Both shows are now available for download through the band’s Mule Tracks site www.muletracks.com

Alison Krauss Union Station, Michael Franti Spearhead, The Avett Brothers, The Derek Trucks Susan Tedeschi Band and Grace Potter The Nocturnals were among the 40+ acts who performed over the weekend.

www.warrenhaynes.net
www.mule.net