Sugar Mountain band - Shawn Lidster on vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica; Brandon Smith on backing vocals, banjo, fiddle, electric guitar; Paul Novosel on backing vocals, drums; Dave Woods on backing vocals, bass guitar; Greg Flynn on pedal steel, electric guitar - present The Songs of Neil Young from his early days with the Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash, through to the Stray Gators and Crazy Horse.

Naturally a tribute show has to include all the classics hits but just what do you leave out?

Smith says the band performs about 23 of Young's greatest, many of which came from the Harvest album, released in 1972. It featured the London Symphony Orchestra on two tracks and mega star guest vocals from David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Stills, and James Taylor.

Sugar Mountain have been together for about seven years, forming on the Central Coast over a mutual love of Neil Young's music.

"Shawn is a super Neil Young fan and put the bones together," Smith says.

Lidster is a Canadian, as is Young, and has been a singer songwriter for 20 years. He tells a lot of stories about Young during the show. The current show was fleshed out into more of a production when the band was booked for an appearance at the Laycock Street Theatre in February.

"We did a lot of research over a couple of months before we did the Laycock. We'd sold 220 seats, so we created more of a show with graphics and backdrops. Every song we do we have a backdrop that sets the mood for it."

"We were given advice just to stick to the top hits to appeal to the widest audience. You've got to respect what your audience want to hear. The show is a cross-genre journey through Neil's unique musical styles of folk, Americana, country and grunge."

Down By the River, Ohio, Southern Man, Heart of Gold, Old Man and Rockin' in the Free World, are just some of the favourites the fans will recognise.

Smith says you have to be mindful about how you present them. "We all dress in Americana style. Shawn has a pretty daggy looking pair of shoes he wears, but they're just like Neil wears."

With Lidster out front the sound is authentic. "We try to get most of the songs as close as we can. There are a lot of tunes he has changed on different albums. We do about 70 per cent of [album] Harvest and it's pretty true. The pedal steel [guitar] is a beautiful thing, and it's on most of the songs. And when they're that good anyway, you don't want to deviate from them."

Smith says when the guys chat with people afterwards, they are told it's good to hear some of the old tunes again. "Even though Neil tours every now and then, he does different things these days, not the older hits."

The band is looking forward to playing at the Glasshouse. "Port Macquarie is a beautiful part of the universe, and we've some friends coming along."