As the lone US national park founded in the name of the performing arts, Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia, is ceremonious and alluring not just for concert attendees, but for the invited musical guests, who get an entirely different view of the place.

Like the wolves said to run wild on the property in past centuries, the acts taking the stage of the storied Filene Center customarily do so with invigoration granted by the vast park and its hidden delights. The mostly forested grounds — 117 aces in total — can restore any band that’s been chasing adventures out on the road, and the park has proven to be an ideal setting for musicians to reach new heights together.

The night of Aug. 30 saw the assembly of two Grammy-winning groups destined to coalesce as modern string band icons Old Crow Medicine Show and the ascending Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway shared the bill at Wolf Trap and, by the end of the presentation, were let loose — even howling — as an excited audience celebrated two terrific sets of music.

Listen to Old Crow Medicine Show’s 2023 studio album, Jubilee, via Spotify:

Those on hand for the special occasion were dazzled by Tuttle’s gorgeous voice as well the eye-popping skills of her band, which has skyrocketed in recent years and was making its premier at Wolf Trap. Along with Tuttle, the five-piece unit is comprised of bassist Shelby Means, banjoist Kyle Tuttle (no relation to Molly), mandolinist Dom Leslie, and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, the 2021 and 2022 IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year.

Most of the auditorium was full and fans gathered way up to the edge of the lawn for the start of the first set, which featured a drop-in from Old Crow’s do-it-all co-founder Ketch Secor, a sample of tunes from the first two Golden Highway albums and a new song, too.

When Secor and his good-time gang of instrumentalists filled the stage a short while later, they began their own dive that would span some 26-plus years of collective songwriting and heard traditional pieces and festive covers mixed in as well.

Watch Old Crow Medicine Show perform “Wagon Wheel” live at the Grand Ole Opry, via the band’s official YouTube channel:

Old Crow’s been an ever-changing vehicle from the start, and last weekend in Northern Virginia Secor was joined by PJ George (acoustic guitar, banjo, accordion), Mike Harris (electric guitar, banjo, mandolin), longtime bassist Morgan Jahnig, drummer/percussionist Dante Pope, and Cory Younts (vocals, keys, harmonica, mandolin). Moving from song to song, each player impressed by seamlessly switching instruments and adding his own touch to the antics.

Pope, based in DC, was out in the audience hugging and catching up with friends prior to the show, and one of the night’s highlights came when Secor brought the young member of the band (he joined in 2023) to the front of the stage for a red-blue ditty titled “The Donkey and The Elephant.” After some rambling observations on DC’s political firestorm, Secor asked him bluntly, “so who ya gonna vote for?”

The animated Secor was enthused as he went on to share just how unique of an experience it was.

“I feel like Ken Burns up here,” he joked at one point, alluding to the transformative effect of the park and all it stands for. He sentimentally told of strolling around Wolf Trap with Tuttle — his partner — earlier in the day, and it was clear that the night was important to him for many reasons.

Wrapping up the set with a highly anticipated take on “Wagon Wheel,” Tuttle and the Golden Highway crew joined Old Crow to enhance this classic from the band’s 2004 self-titled album. When Old Crow came back for a triple encore, which properly included a take on the Grateful Dead’s “Dire Wolf,” Tuttle and her squad were right there with them.

Listen to Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway’s 2023 studio album, City of Gold, via Spotify:

OCMS Setlist

Tell It To Me
Alabama High-Test
Down Home Girl (Alvin Robinson cover)
Belle Meade Cockfight
Proud Mary (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Carry Me Back to Virginia (trad)
Cumberland River
Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise
Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis)
Take ‘Em Away
Hard to Love (trad)
Dixie Avenue
A World Away
New Virginia Creeper
Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis)
Levi
Stay a Little Longer (Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys)
Boll Weevil (Lead Belly)
CC Rider
Wolfman of the Ozarks/Texas Hold ‘Em/Hot To Go
The Donkey and the Elephant
Flicker & Shine (with Molly Tuttle)
Big Backyard (Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway Cover, with Molly Tuttle)
Wagon Wheel (with Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway)

Encore
Dire Wolf (Grateful Dead)
The Weight (The Band)
I Saw the Light (Hank Williams)

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway Setlist

El Dorado
Evergreen, OK
Side Saddle
Yosemite (with Ketch Secor)
Down Home Dispensary
Open the Present (Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg & Edgar Meyer cover)
Shady Grove
Alice in the Bluegrass
Queen of Hearts (Juice Newton)
Where Did All the Wild Things Go?
Getaway Girl
Dooley’s Farm
Crooked Tree
San Joaquin

Below are home-rolled, rapid-fired, kitchen-developed 35mm film shots of Old Crow Medicine Show and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway performing at Wolf Trap on the night of Aug. 30, 2024. All photos copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.

Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show WITH Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway