Local roots-rock sensations The Mighty Pines are gearing up for this Saturday’s Pines Fest, the fourth installment of their homegrown, daylong, multi-band, multi-stage music festival. This year, Pines Fest sees some big changes: a new venue, Atomic by Jamo (4140 Manchester), which will allow the festival to expand to three stages; an expanded festival lineup with more artists than ever; and a brand-new Mighty Pines live album, Live Pines, in tow.
This year’s lineup, in the spirit of Atomic’s favorite genre, will be a decidedly jammy affair, with jam stalwarts such as Armchair Boogie and Pert Near Sandstone, local Deadhead legends Jake’s Leg, and the jamgrass supergroup the High Hawks, featuring members of Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, and Horseshoes & Hand Grenades. But the fest will also feature soul/funk/hip-hop fusion band Root Mod; Columbia, MO’s hicktronica duo The Spooklights; yacht-jazz sensations Starwolf; central Illinois Americana group Taylor Steele & the Love Preachers; trad-country outfit Hunter Peebles & the Moonlighters; and Irish folk-rockers and McGurk’s legends Falling Fences.
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A Pines Fest tradition will also continue this year—the artist-at-large who sits in with every act on the bill. Past artists-at-large have included soul singer Brian Owens, vocal powerhouse Emily Wallace, and rock guitar hero Jimmy Griffin. This year, Pines Fest will feature a non-local artist-at-large, Railroad Earth/High Hawks violinist Tim Carbone, a legend of Colorado newgrass.
As the band puts final preparations on the big day, SLM caught up with singer/guitarist Neil Salsich to talk about all things Pines Fest, the new live album, and plans for a big 2026.
SLM: Let’s talk about the new venue for the festival. Pines Fest is moving to Atomic by Jamo.
NS: We love Drew Jameson and Jamo Presents. They were doing the Big Top [site of the first three Pines Fests], and now they’re doing Atomic. We also have a great connection and personal history with Atomic, all of us as individuals, musicians, and as The Mighty Pines back in the days of Atomic Cowboy and the Bootleg. Plus, it’s in The Grove! I drove through there last night, and it was just hopping, so this is going to be wild.
SLM: How does the new venue change the festival? What new opportunities does it allow?
NS: We’ll actually have three stages this year. We just had two last year, so that’s pretty awesome. We’re still a boutique festival, so it’s a pretty cool thing we can offer three stages. And the stages are all different. Two are indoors, the biggest one is outside, so they are all like different venues. You’re in very different environments when you go from one stage to another, but it’s also all in a tight footprint so you can quickly transition to the different stages and artists. They’re also closing the side street by the outdoor stage for the festival, so that’s also exciting.
SLM: Talk about how the lineup came together this year. This must be something you work on all year.
NS: Yeah. We even have ideas that transfer from year to year, like we had wanted Root Mod for a while, and it just hadn’t worked out until now. So we’re pretty stubborn in that once we have our sights on someone, we’re going to do our damnedest to get them whether it’s this year or some other year. We’re learning so much every year, and we’ve reached an elevation now that is requiring a lot of care and attention. We are literally already brainstorming and planning for next year even as we are getting ready for this year at the same time. It’s exciting.
SLM: This year, the lineup is jammier than ever with bands like Armchair Boogie, Pert Near Sandstone, and the High Hawks. Was that direction by design, or did it just kind of happen?
NS: It just kind of happened because we cast a large net. We have so many great ideas and so many bands on our wish list, and it just worked out that way. But obviously we’re cool with that. We’re really pleased with this year.
SLM: The Pines closed the festival the first three years, but this year you play a little earlier in the evening, and there are four bands playing after you. Why the change?
NS: Some of it is just the jigsaw puzzle of putting the schedule together. But we observed over the years that the coveted spot is actually kind of where we play this year. It’s not quite as late, and we want to catch the peak of the audience. We’ve been collecting data for years, and we kind of realized that that time slot is the emotional and energetic peak of the night. Also, at the other Pine Fests, we would finish our set and break our stuff down, and then we’re ready to crack some beers and hang out, and it’s like tumbleweed blowing across and everyone’s gone. So this year, we’ll actually be able to hang out and blow off some steam and watch the other bands.
SLM: When you approach these national bands, are they typically already familiar with The Mighty Pines?
NS: Yes. We’re still kind of a best-kept secret, but we have usually gotten to their ears because other musicians have turned them on to us. You know, we’d rather they had heard about us because we’re selling out Red Rocks, but at least they’ve heard about us from word of mouth through other musicians, so that is its own kind of compliment.
SLM: This is the first year that you’ll have an artist-at-large who is not a local artist. How did getting Tim Carbone come about?
NS: Tim has been high on our list since year one. And since we were going after his band, the High Hawks, this year, it became a total no-brainer. When we asked him [to be the artist-at-large], he didn’t even bat an eye. His ear is so good, and he’s so skilled, that he will walk on stage and have had no conversation prior with the other artist. He also has boundless energy, so the hope is that he’ll sit in with every band. He drinks from the fountain of youth. That’s the thing about this life, it gives you a lot of gray hair, but it also keeps you young because it’s a beautiful life and an amazing blessing to make music the way we do.
SLM: Let’s do a lightning round on some of the bands. What are your thoughts on Starwolf?
NS: Don’t sleep on Starwolf! It’s really important to us that we have bands that are outside of the box for the average Pines fan because that kind of range is what’s more reflective of who we are as musicians. Starwolf are really accomplished players, and they sound amazing. And as far as international fame goes, they’re probably the biggest band on Pines Fest.
SLM: How about the Spooklights?
NS: I thought I’d never hear the phrase “electro-Ozark roots music,” but I did, and it really describes this band. They might actually truly be pioneers of a true unique sound. It’s Pat Kay of The Kay Brothers, an old friend of the Pines, and Ben Miller of The Ben Miller Band. They’ve been touring hard and doing some amazing stuff. We just love Pat. He has an amazing work ethic, and all his projects are excellent, so it was a no-brainer to have the Spooklights. It’s kind of like rootsy dance music, so it’s one of those things that you’ve just got to be there for and then you’ll get it.
SLM: Falling Fences make their Pines Fest debut.
NS: Another band we’ve had on our list since year one of Pines Fest. We’re so excited to have Fences. When they get on a big stage and under the moniker Electric Fences, they’re one of the best bands in St. Louis. This is 11 o’clock to midnight, the final real set of Pines Fest. This is in the garage stage, and it’s going to be real rock ‘n’ roll.
SLM: What is it going to be like having Jake’s Leg there?
NM: Wow. That might be the most special feature of the show for us personally because their music means so much to us and influenced us so much as actual working musicians in St. Louis. John [Hussung, bassist for The Mighty Pines,] and I probably saw Jake’s Leg, honestly, 100 times. There was a period where we were going to see them every weekend as college kids home for the summers. The Pines love the Grateful Dead, and the guys in Jake’s Leg took us under their wing when we were young musicians and played with us. They’re about to enter their 50th year next year, and they just mean so much to us.
SLM: You just released a new live album, Live Pines. Was the timing of its release planned to coincide with Pines Fest?
NS: Yeah. It’s been a crazy year trying to get the festival off the ground in the midst of a live album release and in the midst of an already fully finished, fully mixed, and mastered studio album that we also recorded last year. But the live album comes first, and we’re so happy to have put it out. We haven’t been a super high-output band in terms of recordings, and our fans, I think, are really hungry for some more stuff from us. I think they’re going to be really satisfied with the live album.
SLM: Are there previously unheard songs on the live album, or does it draw mostly from your back catalog?
NS: A lot of the songs will be familiar to our hardcore fans, and there’s a song or two that maybe the average fan hasn’t heard before. The album definitely caught us in a period of good chemistry and synergy because it was during the same span of weeks that we were writing our new studio record. It was a magical summer.
SLM: The album was recorded live at the 2024 Pickin’ On Picknic festival in St. Clair, MO. Are we hearing your full set from that show, and did you end up rerecording or overdubbing anything?
NS: It’s the full set. It’s a real live record. We actually like the fact that it’s a live album without sugarcoating anything, and I think it speaks volumes for The Pines as a live band.
SLM: So how do things look for the timing of the new studio record?
NS: Some time in 2026, so by Pines Fest next year, people will have a whole batch of amazing songs that they’ll know all the words to, and we can’t wait for that. We will be playing some of that stuff this year at Pine Fest, and our calendar is already off the charts for next year with the new album and with touring, so it’s going to be time to get out there and freaking make some noise. That’s what 2026 will be all about.
