Early September and Summer nights start feeling like Autumn nights. But a dry cool evening on September 6 provided the perfect opportunity for one last outdoor show at the Perinton Amphitheater in 2025. The night starts a little earlier this time of year so the party ramps up a little earlier too. Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band were back for the second straight year at this new to the scene venue and they brought Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country along for the ride this time around.
It was a journey across the Americana soundscape. From the Mountains to the Cosmos and back down to Earth, down into the earth, to the roots. Bluegrass, country, roots rock and blurred spaces in between, provided by a whole lotta strings and things.
First up on this night of the tour was Yonder Mountain String Band. “We are prepared to provide you with the bluegrass part of your evening,” bassist Ben Kaufman plainly announced, before the band threw the crowd immediately “Into the Fire.” Things got loosened up nicely with a fiery “Looking Back Over My Shoulder” with solos passing smoothly from Nick Piccinni’s mandolin to Adam Aijala’s guitar to Coleman Smith’s fiery fiddle finish. A combination of the hard-edged rocking “Angel” sliding immediately into the high-energy “Nowhere Next” proved to be a set highlight. Their closing rendition of “Whipping Post” provided the perfect transition into Daniel Donato’s set for this Rochester crowd, being that his last visit to the city, way back in 2022, was opening for, and sitting in with, Friends of the Brothers.
Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country wasted no time getting right to kicking up a little dust with the hot country-tonk instrumental “Locomotive #9.” They just kept things chugging along from there on a non-stop express train. The band showcased their improvisation prowess in “Lay Low Lucy,” the whole band melding through multiple sections from jazz to psychedelic and points in between.
Nathan Aronowitz’s deft electric piano work locked in with Will McGee’s grooving upright bass for a funky “Hangman’s Reel” before Donato’s blazing countrified guitar and Will Clark’s swinging beat married the Country with the Cosmic. A big-hitting “Big Iron” closed out a seven-song run that almost completed their time slot without taking a breather. That break was just to allow McGee to switch to his electric bass for a “Prairie Spin” that was just a straight-up all cosmic no country good time.
Just an hour of Yonder and Donato wasn’t quite enough to sate the crowd. But never fear, they’d be back on stage in just a bit.
Railroad Earth closed out the night at Perinton Amphitheater, appropriately almost a perfect hybrid of both bands. A front of acoustic strings, backed by keys and drums, they present a unique version of roots music. Not quite a jam band, though they do stretch out and then some. And like Donato, they wasted no time getting acclimated, with a lengthy “Like a Buddha” hitting the number two slot, pulling in from a variety of influences and flowing effortlessly from place to place over nearly fifteen minutes. The septet flies as a unit, riding on group energy more than individual soloing. Case in point, “Runnin’ Wild” featured a beautifully understated jam that built and built until cresting back at the back end of the melody.
Furthering their hybridization, Railroad Earth brought out Adam Aijala and Coleman Smith to add even more strings into the mix. “Fisherman’s Blues” featured the requisite fiddle and guitar duels of course and the fun was just beginning. They then brought out Daniel Donato fora ripping “RV” before Nathan Aronowitz entered the stage for a big blowout on the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.” Railroad Earth proved an excellent host for such an overgrown group, and lead singer Todd Sheaffer was incredible at wrangling them all, before he brought it all down summoning the spirit of Jim Morrison to close out the night.
Up the mountain, up to the cosmos, and down into the earth and back through it all again, quite a finish to a great summer at the Perinton Amphitheater.
If you want to catch Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country again, and for a full show, they’re coming back around the area in a couple weeks for a show in Syracuse at Westcott Theater on September 23.
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