Closing the 19th annual Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ Sunday night set was the perfect 21-song sampler of folk and roots music.
Gillian suggested that the whole night would be better with a campfire and the duo opened with Wayside / Back in Time and Elvis Presley Blues.
After Red Clay Halo, Gillian looked around and said, “I’ve noticed that my partner has departed the stage, he must have something more important to do, so I’ll sing you a song.”
By the time she played One Little Song, David had rejoined her, she joked that she was still “waiting for that banjo explosion that’s going to take over the airwaves… it’s coming… the worse things get, the more people like banjo” before singing No One Knows My Name
Sprinkled between their own “classic” songs were a few newer tunes (Sweet Tooth, It’s Too Easy and Knuckleball Catcher) and some covers (Bob Dylan’s Billy, the “spooky” ghost song Long Black Veil and an instrumental Wildwood Flower). As to not “ruin our reputation” as David put it, they left the stage with “a good killin’ song”, Caleb Meyer.
With the unsurprising appearance of M. Ward for their encore, Gillian and David ended with Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (inspired by the earlier storm and “the biggest raindrops I’ve ever had smack me in the forehead”) and Look at Miss Ohio. And the exuberant rendition of the gospel standard, I’ll Fly Away made for a perfect finale to a wonderful weekend of music.
Full Set List:
Wayside / Back In Time
Elvis Presley Blues
Wildwood Flower (Gillian instrumental)
I Want to Sing that Rock and Roll
It’s Too Easy
Long Black Veil
Annabelle
Sweet Tooth
Dear Someone
Billy
Throw Me A Rope
Red Clay Halo
One Little Song (Gillian solo)
No One Knows My Name
Time (The Revelator)
Orphan Girl
Knuckleball Catcher
Caleb Meyer
Encore:
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (with M. Ward)
Look At Miss Ohio (with M. Ward)
I’ll Fly Away (with M. Ward)
