Molly Tuttle & Daniel Donato Trade Sit-Ins At Wolf Trap

Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country began a run of shows with Molly Tuttle on Wednesday at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap. The co-headliners made good on a promise of collaborations for swapping guest spots at the scenic venue in Vienna, Virginia.

Molly Tuttle took the stage first and delivered a 16-song performance. Tuttle and bandmates Karl Smakula, Vanessa McGowan, Megan Jane and Mary “Mair” Mulroney bookended the set with cuts off Molly’s latest album So Long Little Miss Sunshine, with a pairing of “Rosalee” and “The Highway Knows” to open and “Old Me (New Wig)” closing.

The Bay Area native also led the ensemble through covers of The Rolling Stones’ “She’s Like A Rainbow” and Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” as well as standout cuts from her Grammy-winning LPs Crooked Tree (2022) and City Of Gold (2023). Tuttle and company gathered around a single microphone mid-set for “San Joaquin,” “Side Saddle” and “Down Home Dispensary.”

When Molly and her band retook their original positions, they were joined by Daniel Donato. The Nashville-based guitarist let it rip on an extended version of Tuttle’s “Dooley’s Farm” that encompassed a cover of the Neil Young-penned CSNY classic “Ohio.” Donato traded licks throughout with Tuttle, Smakula on banjo and Mair on fiddle.

Cosmic Country — Donato, keyboardist/guitarist Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz, drummer Will “Bronco” Clark and bassist Will “Mustang” McGee — played the second and final set of the night. The four-piece went by the seat of their pants in terms of song selection, as the stage setlists for the performance were blank underneath the band’s logo, date and venue information.

After kicking off the set with a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Honky Tonk Night Time Man” and Reflector cut “‘Till The Daylight,” Cosmic Country served up the third-ever performance of new original “White Bluff Blues.” Donato fronted “Blame The Train” before the improvisational centerpiece of the frame, a 15-minute “Translation,” followed.

Another recently debuted original, “Why Wyoming,” trailed behind. The quartet then devoted the next 25 minutes to a sequence connecting “Lose Your Mind,” “Waymore’s Blues” and “Mystery Train.”

The concert came to a close with Molly Tuttle returning to the stage to team with Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country on “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms.” Tuttle and Donato engaged in both a vocal and instrumental back-and-forth on the bluegrass staple popularized by Flatt & Scruggs.

Molly Tuttle and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country’s show tonight (Thursday, July 2) has been moved from Heuser Park in King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania to Ardmore Music Hall near Philadelphia “due to excessive heat.” The brief run then concludes with two nights at The Coves Amphitheater in Union Hall, Virginia on Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4. More shows together follow in September.

Watch fan-captured video of the show-closing collab and stream audio of Donato’s set below:

Setlists (via DanielBase.com & Setlist.FM)

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country

Set: Honky Tonk Night Time Man [1], ‘Til The Daylight [1], White Bluff Blues [1], Blame The Train [1], Translation [1], Country Boy [1], Why Wyoming, Lose Your Mind > Waymore’s Blues > Mystery Train, Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms [2] [3]

• [1] Will McGee On Upright Bass (Song)
• [2] Daniel And Molly Tuttle Share Lead Vocals (Song)
• [3] Molly Tuttle On Acoustic Guitar (Song)

---