Celebrating their 35th Anniversary in 2025, Leftover Salmon reaffirms their status as the most legendary of the bluegrass-rooted jam bands with their new studio album, Let’s Party About It. Once again recording at Compass Sound Studio (formerly Glaser Sound Studio, aka “Hillbilly Central” and the birthplace of Outlaw Country), the band is joined by special guests Sam Bush (fiddle, mandolin), Jason Carter (fiddle), Jeff Coffin (saxophone), and more. Let’s Party About It kicks off with Andy Thorn’s crisp banjo on “Big Wheel,” which features co-founder Vince Herman on lead vocals, exploring the ebb and flow of time. Co-founder Drew Emmitt duets with bluegrass icon Del McCoury on the lonesome “Twisted Pine,” and the whole band showcases the funky, New Orleans side of their Cajun slam-grass sound on the percolating “Good Dog,” complete with a tight horn section and swampy Dobro from band member Jay Starling. Everyone gets a step-out on the album’s sole instrumental, Thorn’s “Salmon Scales,” which also features guest Jason Carter on fiddle. The album’s title track, “Let’s Party About It,” is a bluegrass-informed two-step, collaboratively written by the band and featuring Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) on soprano sax and Sam Bush, the father of newgrass, on fiddle. Other standout tracks include the grassy “Redbird,” which pays homage to the band’s bluegrass beginnings, and the anthemic “River Take Me,” featuring Emmitt’s plaintive lead. Leftover Salmon holds an iconic place in the legacy of jam bands, emerging as one of the genre’s first pioneers with a unique blend of bluegrass, rock, and improvisational jams. Formed in the late 1980s in Boulder, Colorado, their sound combined the traditional roots of bluegrass with elements of folk, rock, Cajun, and jazz, in the process creating a dynamic and energetic style that pushed the boundaries of both bluegrass and jam-grass. Leftover Salmon influenced a generation of musicians with their eclectic approach and dedication to live, spontaneous music-making, earning a legacy as one of the genre’s foundational acts for defining the spirit of improvisational music and community connection. “After more than three decades, a dozen albums, thousands of performances and acclaim from musicians and critics alike, there’s little to no evidence of slacking in Leftover Salmon.” —Relix
