While Gov’t Mule’s parade of special guests has slowed since _The Deep End _sessions, last night the quartet welcomed a smorgasbord of friends at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Asterisks first appeared three songs into the Mule’s second set, when Widespread Panic keyboardist JoJo Hermann and harmonica player Mickey Rafael joined for a version of ’32/20 Blues.’ Rafael remained on stage for ‘Out of the Rain,’ at which time Lee Roy Parnell also joined on slide guitar. Following ‘Out of the Rain,’ Rafael and Parnell yielded to Jack Parsons, Haynes’ onetime guitar replacement in the Allman Brothers. Mule bassist Andy Hess also jammed with his former Black Crows foil Audley Freed during a set-closing take on ’30 Days in the Hole.’ Pulling a ‘Haynes’ themselves, members of Gomez joined the Mule on stage for a cover of the Beatles’ ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ following a gig of their own across town. A second encore followed, at which time Freed returned for a version of ‘Simple Man.’ This show will be available as part of Gov’t Mule’s new download program Muletracks , which launched yesterday.