Free At Noon Flashback: Jakob Dylan, Jade Castrinos, and Cat Power preview their soundtrack to the 60s doc Echo in the Canyon

Echo in the Canyon | photo by Gabriela Barbieri for WXPN

World Cafe Live has seen a lot of the 60s this month, and no show better encapsulates it than today’s performance from the artists behind the new documentary, Echo in the Canyon. The documentary covers Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon and the music produced there in the mid 1960s by artists such as the Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, and more. To pay homage to this fertile musical time, contemporary musicians came together to record a soundtrack that features covers of those cutting-edge Laurel Canyon songs. Some of those artists joined us at the World Cafe Live today, including Jakob Dylan, Jade Castrinos, and Cat Power.

The set opened with a Dylan and Castrino cover of “Go Where You Wanna Go” by The Mamas & The Papas. The duo released this cover earlier this month in promotion for the movie, and the live version rocked as hard as its prerecorded counterpart. Castrino bounced around stage with abundant joy while Dylan remained stoic at the mic. Other songs in the set included “Dedicated To the One I Love” by The Mamas & The Papas, “You Showed Me” by the Turtles, featuring Cat Power, and “Never My Love” by The Association. Their stage featured an elaborate set up with no less than five guitars, back-up singers, and a ripping guitar soloist decked out in a polka-dot shirt and bowler hat. From the first note, the Echo in the Canyon set dedicated itself to big sound. They really leaned into the films self-professed “when folk went electric” vibe and delivered a vibrant performance on a rainy day.

Echo in the Canyon will be released on May 24, as well as the accompanying soundtrack. See photos from today’s Free at Noon performance below.