The last few years have been good to Bonny Light Horseman, a folksy supergroup of sorts comprised of talented singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, Fruit Bats frontman Eric D. Johnson, and musical jack of all trades Josh Kaufman. Though they started gigging before the pandemic and had gained some respectable momentum, the group has released three albums since 2020 that have grabbed the attention of fans well beyond each of their respective followings. Earlier this year, they released the sprawling Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free, an album that was intimately recorded live in a pub in Ireland and proves that Bonny Light Horseman is more than a short-lived side project. On Friday, October 11th, they brought that same sense of intimacy to Portland, Oregon for a show at Revolution Hall.
Taking the stage adorned with a simple backdrop of puffy clouds that seemed to speak to the at-times dreamy qualities of their music, the band opened with “Keep Me on Your Mind.” The first tune off the new album, which is surely one of the standouts, allowed Josh Kaufman to lay down his soft brushstrokes of guitar artistry to paint a musical canvas to bring out the warm vocal interplay of Johnson and Mitchell. The band continued pulling the audience into its embrace with “Summer Dream,” an early highlight of the set with its cozy harmonies and Kaufman’s drippy, almost jazz-like guitar bursts. The stoic, professorial Kaufman provided much of the musical flourishes, but Johnson and Mitchell also grabbed instruments. Following the nostalgic “I Know You Know” that felt more in the vein of Fruit Bats, Johnson lent his banjo skills to the grooving and soulful “Exile” before leading the band through the old-timey, rollicking folk of “Hare and Hound” that saw the band working in a tease of fan favorite “Sweetbread.” “Magpie’s Nest” saw the band easing into more harmonies with lyrics and song structure that brought to mind the wisdom and imagery of Robert Hunter. At the same time “Blaclwaterside” was an outpouring of triumphant folk.
While “Green Green Rocky Road” was simultaneously tense and soulful, “Old Dutch” was one of the more rocking moments of the night, and “When I Was Younger” saw Kaufman laying down a Neil Young-esque guitar blitz as Johnson and Mitchell sang with the abandon of 60s psych wailers. Kaufman even took the vocal spotlight on the new song “Rock the Cradle,” inviting the crowd to sing along before the soft, harmonica-laden “Jane Jane” and the jammy slide guitar bust-outs of “Fleur de Lis.” This final stretch featured some of the biggest numbers of the evening as the band played the gorgeous sunny psych-folk ballad “California” before Mitchell’s haunting vocals took over on the eponymous track complicit with John’s deep and mournful harmonica work. Kaufman clearly saved some of his finest chops for last as he dipped into a guitar solo that brought to mind Santana on “Sweetbread,” complementing the feisty grooves of this fan favorite.
Over the course of their ninety-minute set in Portland on Friday, the members of Bonny Light Horseman showcased the kind of old-soul companionship and musical chemistry that feels disarmingly natural. It was impressive to experience the way Johnson and Mitchell can dance with one another through vocal interplay while Kaufman – as well as the subtly powerful rhythm section of Cameron Ralston on bass and JT Bates on drums – created a harmonious instrumental backdrop. It was this dynamic, as well as the timeless, wisened, and emotionally resonant qualities of their songs, that made Bonny Light Horseman’s performance so compelling and heartwarming.
