California’s Calaveras County is best known thanks to a Mark Twain story about a frog that could outjump any other frog, but the idyllic Sierra Nevada foothills setting has also hosted a number of outstanding summer music festivals over the years. The Vault has recordings from the 1998 and 1999 Mountain Aire Festivals from there, and this playlist presents highlights from those two years with songs by Phil Lesh and Friends (with Warren Haynes), Wilco, moe., Spearhead, Galactic, and more. It’s the perfect summer soundtrack whether you're looking to relax with friends or boogie on down.
The playlist is organized so that the first nine songs represent each artist with sets currently available in the Vault. Because the music is so perfect for those backyard summer parties though, we dug a little deeper into everyone's performances to keep the music going for a total of four hours.