Delfest 2016: 8 Best Things We Saw

Former child mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull was propelled back into the bluegrass spotlight with Weighted Mind, her January release produced by legendary banjoist Béla Fleck. During her solo set on Friday, Hull played original compositions from the album, but she was also Delfest's Artist at Large, teaching at the four-day academy preceding the festival and sitting in with everyone from headliners the Travelin' McCourys and Railroad Earth to more up-and-coming bands Mipso and Cabinet. Throughout she was sweet and composed, all talent and smiles, a natural extension of the McCoury clan.

This North Carolina quartet have been charming home state audiences with their harmonies and precise tunes, but have now begun to expanded their fanbase with a new album, Old Time Reverie, and an accompanying national tour. Covers like Prince's "Purple Rain" and the traditional “I've Just Seen the Rock of Ages" set the band's two sets apart, but it was the group's easy dynamic and frontman Joseph Terrell's originals (see "Bad Penny") that ensure the band's imminent rise.

A Delfest mainstay, New Jersey sextet Railroad Earth create roots music in the vein of the Band, with a flair for improvisation and a beauty that paralleled the set's setting sun. The group's entire mainstage show was stellar, but it was a cover of Paul Simon's "America" that had the audience roaring. As the song was coming to a close, the power grid went down, leaving the festival site momentarily in the dark. It didn't frazzle frontman Todd Sheaffer though — feeling the Bern, he joked that the blackout was the work of the Democratic National Convention.

The best set of the festival came courtesy of The Travelin' McCourys, which is essentially the host's backing band — sons Ronnie on mandolin and Robbie on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle, and Alan Bartram on bass — with the addition of guitarist Cody Kilby. The group has the musical chops to pick fast and with precision, but gives off a looser vibe, tackling covers from the late songwriting legend Guy Clark ("Homegrown Tomatoes") and Passenger ("Let Her Go") alike. McCoury, Sierra Hull and fiddler Mark O'Connor joined the group for the encore, a phenomenal rendition of "Vamp in the Middle." Still, it was another cover that really embodied the spirit of Delfest: Keyboardist Conner Broome and guitarist Evan McCoury of the Broomstix, fresh from high school graduation, joined the band for the Dire Straits' "Walk of Life." It was a sublime combination of rock and bluegrass, contemporary and classic, old and young.

Fruition occupies an interesting space in the Delfest scene, considering the band long ago traded its string band status for drums and a rock and roll aurora. Still, McCoury himself has been spinning the quintet's new album, Labor of Love, on his Sirius XM radio station, proving that genres are largely irrelevant at his festival. What's more important are high-energy show s— like Fruition's late night set featuring Yonder Mountain String Band's Allie Kral and the Infamous Stringdusters' Jeremy Garrett on fiddle — and originals that move the audience to dance, sing and even endure pouring rain, a requirement of Fruition's mainstage set. Dancing to Led Zeppelin's "Hey, Hey What Can I Do?" in the pouring rain? Priceless.

Having released one of the best blues-rock albums of this year, Let Me Get By, Tedeschi Trucks Band's headlining set was the most anticipated show of the festival. Helmed by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, the 12-piece outfit puts out a big band sound that still rings intimate, shaking listeners to their emotional core. At one point, Del and son Ronnie joined Tedeschi and vocalist Alecia Chakour for George Jones' "Color of the Blues," a sweet and simple breeze in a set that was otherwise complex, soulful and psychedelic.

Pick a handful of 2016 summer festivals at random, and Greensky Bluegrass are likely playing the majority of them. The constant touring, however, didn't effect the band's two sets, which were filled with classics ("Old Barns," "Just to Lie"), newer tunes ("Living Over," "Fixin' to Ruin"), and covers, including "Road to Nowhere" (Talking Heads), "Dancing in the Dark" (Bruce Springsteen), and the standout "Yellow Eyes" (Rayland Baxter). In the course of six years, Greensky has gone from a small name on the Delfest poster to the headliner chosen to close out the festival.

Cabinet's swampy, cosmic sound made for two of the best Delfest sets, combining an Appalachian upbringing with a penchant for experimentation. The group played a late night, memorable cover of JJ Cale's "Cocaine," before taking to the mainstage the following afternoon. Most memorable, however, was the pickin' that happened in between the two, Cabinet playing as the sun rose over the campground – embodying the down home feeling of Delfest.