Special Guests The Levee Horns Join Gov't Mule At The 2022 Festival
The all-star horn section will perform with Gov’t Mule during their Sunday, September 18 Main Stage headlining set
The 2022 Telluride Blues & Brews Festival will conclude in spectacular fashion as Gov’t Mule announces the addition of Special Guests The Levee Horns to their Main Stage headlining set on Sunday, September 18. Consisting of Mark Mullins (of Bonerama), Bobby Campo, Matt Perrine and Ward Smith, the Levee Horns are celebrated for their stand out collaborative performances with the Last Waltz 40 band tours where they performed music from the “Last Waltz” with Warren Haynes, amongst other legendary artists.
This exciting addition will add depth to what is set to be a blues-heavy performance from a festival favorite Gov’t Mule, supporting their new blues album “Heavy Load Blues”. Don’t miss out, 3-Day Passes and Sunday Single Day Passes are limited and will sell out soon.
The Levee Horns
Led by trombonist Mark Mullins (Bonerama), the Levee Horns feature the best and brightest horn players from the New Orleans music scene performing crisp, punchy and razor sharp arrangements. Mark crafted his arranging style with home-grown influence from New Orleans greats Allen Toussaint, Wardell Quezergue, Harold Battiste, and Charles Brent.
Bobby Campo (trumpet), Matt Perrine (sousaphone) and Ward Smith (tenor saxophone) round out the section and have recently been featured on tours of the Last Waltz 40 band with Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson, Don Was, Michael McDonald, Lukas Nelson and others performing music from the legendary “Last Waltz” concert film featuring The Band.
Levee Horns have also performed live with Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, Peter Frampton, John Fogarty, Mavis Staples, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Church and were also featured in the 2016 DVD release “The Musical Mojo of Dr. John”, the 2015 DVD release of “One More For The Fans” (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and the 2017 DVD release of Mavis Staples “I’ll Take You There” All-Star concert celebration.
“I've toured and recorded with Mark Mullins and Levee Horns and night after night, they've never failed to lift the whole band's level of expression to new heights. They elevate the game every time they pick up their horns!” -Don Was
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“By the time they ended the first set I was wholly and completely entranced with the (Levee Horns) horn section” -Creative Loafing - Tampa FL
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“Trombonist Mark Mullins led the extraordinary, 4-man horn section (Levee Horns) that reproduced Toussaint’s arrangements and then some.” -Huffington Post
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“Mark Mullins’ (Levee Horns) plunger-mute solo in Who Do You Love was the hottest break all night” Daily Gazette - Albany NY
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“A massive backup horn sound was felt throughout, reminiscent of the early days of Joe Cocker and later in 70’s Rolling Stones when saxophonist Bobby Keys came on board.” -DC Metro Theater Arts - Washington DC
“I've toured and recorded with Mark Mullins and Levee Horns and night after night, they've never failed to lift the whole band's level of expression to new heights. They elevate the game every time they pick up their horns!” -Don Was 〰️ “By the time they ended the first set I was wholly and completely entranced with the (Levee Horns) horn section” -Creative Loafing - Tampa FL 〰️ “Trombonist Mark Mullins led the extraordinary, 4-man horn section (Levee Horns) that reproduced Toussaint’s arrangements and then some.” -Huffington Post 〰️ “Mark Mullins’ (Levee Horns) plunger-mute solo in Who Do You Love was the hottest break all night” Daily Gazette - Albany NY 〰️ “A massive backup horn sound was felt throughout, reminiscent of the early days of Joe Cocker and later in 70’s Rolling Stones when saxophonist Bobby Keys came on board.” -DC Metro Theater Arts - Washington DC
Gov’t Mule
The mighty Mule is back! This powerhouse of a band is Matt Abts, drums, Danny Louis, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, Jorgen Carlsson, bass, and guitarist Warren Haynes and they have been testing musical boundaries for more than 25 years. They throw rock, R&B, funk, even jazz, into the cauldron … the result is a sound as surprising as you might think. Warren’s guitar playing is transcendent and the band is renowned for its fluid improvisations and live, without-a-net experimentation. One just never knows what will happen next.
The Mule’s latest record is right up this festival’s alley. Heavy Load Blues is exactly what you think it is – a blues album. Cooped up by the pandemic, Warren had plenty of time to write new songs and surprised himself with the number of more traditional blues numbers that bubbled to the top. But given his earliest influences - the three Kings (B.B. Albert and Freddie), Junior Wells, Otis Rush and Elmore James – it makes sense he’d draw from the deep well that is the blues. A mix of originals and blues classics, the songs are given the “Mule” treatment, meaning they can range far from the beaten path. It’s that fresh approach that makes Heavy Load Blues so engaging. And make no mistake. It’s a blues album.
“It’s not a blues/rock record – it’s a blues record,” Warren said. “We wanted it sonically to sound different from a normal Gov’t Mule record and we wanted there to be boundaries. … In some cases, the original recordings had a lot to do with the approach we took. And in other cases, we took the songs to a place far removed from the original. Some of them we treated a little more traditionally, and some we stretched out and took more of a Gov’t Mule approach.”
We like the Gov’t Mule approach. All day, every day.