The Mighty Pines, a soul-inspired roots rock band, had a unique opportunity at the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival– they got to perform on the MO Lottery stage and at the after party at Rose Music Hall Saturday night. They played for two hours at Rose Hall, entertaining both longtime fans and festival goers who were trying to make the most out of their Roots N Blues passes.

“One of the really great things about performing at venues like Rose Music Hall is it’s about fifty fifty on people we are able to recognize in the crowd,” lead singer and guitar player Neil Salsich said. “We love seeing people we know and getting to know new people when we play in smaller venues.”

The band went on at about 11 p.m. and played until almost 1 a.m. They played both original songs and a few blues and stomp grass covers that the audience was able to recognize. No matter the song, people were dancing, singing along and having a good time. The music hall was packed to capacity, and fans like Andrew Linhares were eating up what The Mighty Pines were dishing out.

“The Mighty Pines are a band I have loved for a long time,” Linhares said. “Their sound is something that a lot of people who love this genre of music jive with. It’s been a lot of fun to see them grow, and I look forward to when they finally get the recognition they deserve. They continue to get better and better.”

There were a few surprises throughout the show including violinist Molly Healey performing with The Mighty Pines during three of their songs, one of them being “Sittin’ on Top of the World.” The Mighty Pines even changed up the lyrics a little bit to say, “She called me up from Columbia.” The Burney Sisters also came out and sang the song “One of Those Days” with the band.

“It was so much fun to get to sing with The Mighty Pines at the after show,” performer Emma Burney said. “We had already gotten to perform the previous day at the festival, so it was great to get to perform again.”

Throughout the set, each member of the band had several moments to shine. There were many moments of no lyrics and just lots of jamming out on the stage. Even their guest keyboardist, Cody Jensen, was given the same amount of respect on the stage as the main four members.

“I’ve played with the band several times before, and every time I get to play with them, I always love it,” Jensen said. “They are one of the most fun groups to play with.”

The Mighty Pines hope to be able to come back to Roots N Blues for years to come, because even though they are from St. Louis, the Columbia music scene still feels like home.

“We’ve loved performing at Roots N Blues,” Salsich said. “It’s been a real honor to get to play twice this weekend, and be surrounded by other great groups. We can’t wait to come back for more.”

_Edited by Siena DeBolt | sdebolt@themaneater.com_