Railroad Earth Covers Shuggie Otis At Red Rocks

On Friday, Railroad Earth headlined a show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado the also featured supporting sets by The Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Anders Osborne. During the headliners’ performance the New Jersey-based bluegrass outfit offered a debut cover of a song written by Shuggie Otis.

RRE opened with takes on “Butterfly And The Tree” and “Happy Song” before being forced off stage while a storm hit the area. Once the weather cleared the band returned to finish “Happy Song” and then welcomed guest vocalists the Black Swan Singers – Sheryl Renee, Coco Brown and Carl Carwell – for the subsequent “Chasin’ A Rainbow,” “Came Up Smilin,’” and several other songs played throughout the night.

Later in the set the Black Swan Singers were on stage for take on Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” which coincided with an actual harvest moon in the sky above. The guests were also on hand at the end of the performance for the debut of “Strawberry 23,” a song written by Shuggie Otis and made famous by The Brothers Johnson, and the closing “Everything Comes Together.” The debut cover as well as the rest of the RRE Red Rocks performance including the “Cold Water” encore can be streamed thanks to taper Jeff Frank here:

Here’s video of “Harvest Moon” captured by Recreate Magazine:

Setlist (via RRE FB)

Set: Butterfly and the Tree, Happy Song, (Rain and Lightning Delay), Happy Song (Reprise), Chasing’ a Rainbow (A), Came Up Smilin’ (A), Goat –> Head (A) –> The Jupiter and the 119 (A) –> Head (A), 12 Wolves, Dance Around Molly –> Dandelion Wine, Elko (A), Like a Buddha (A) –> Harvest Moon (A), Birds of America (B), Face with a Hole, Strawberry Letter 23 (A) (C) –> Everything Comes Together (A)

Encore: Cold Water (A)

• (A) with the Black Swan Singers: Sheryl Renee, Coco Brown and Carl Carwell
• (B) with Dan Sears on pocket trumpet
• (C) First time played, written by Shuggie Otis