Daniel Donato Welcomes Members of Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band to Cover Merle Haggard and JJ Cale

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, photo by Bill Kelly

Last night, July 13, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country cruised into St. Augustine, Fla., for the latest performance in their co-headline Summer Tour with Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band. After working down the coast from their kickoff in King of Prussia, Pa. throughout the past week, the three-band caravan arrived in the Sunshine State for a staging at the St. Augustin Amphitheater, where Donato’s tried and true band of kaleidoscopic country-jam masters welcomed sit-ins from members of the other two genre-bending outfits.

Donato and his ensemble set off their performance on Sunday with the longtime live favorite “Sunshine In The Rain (Strange Presence),” then blazed ahead into “Dance in the Desert,” which saw Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz swapping between keys and guitar, and the Reflector standout “Rose in a Garden,” for which the frontman swapped to his Sea Foam Telecaster after breaking a string on his trusty DGN. Beyond the standalone “Half Moon Night,” the remainder of Donato’s set was composed of sequenced pairs, allowing the band to fly off into sape-shifting improv in the space between “Broadside Ballad” abd “Hangman’s Reel” and the thrilling closing sequence of “Luck of the Draw” and “Sugar Leg Rag.”

After taking a bow, Donato and company stormed the spotlight once more for an extended encore, beginning with their third all-time cover of Merle Haggard’s classic “Pancho & Lefty,” featuring support from Railroad Earth’s Todd Sheaffer on vocals and guitar. Onec their guest departed from the stage, the band welcomed Yonder Mountain String Band’s guitarist Adam Aijala and bassist Ben Kaufmann for JJ Cale’s “Ride Me High,” delivered in the style of Widespread Panic, then finally closed out their set with a cover of the traditional “Sittin’ on Top of the World” accompanied by Railroad Earth’s Mike Robinson on Pedal Steel and Jason Carter on Fiddle.

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band will return to the stage tomorrow, July 15, in Cincinnati, then proceed through six further shared bills across the country before a July 26 finale in Eugene, Ore. Find tickets and more information at danieldonato.com/tour.