Kevin Bronson on February 1st, 2010

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Joel Graves, guitarist for the Los Angeles quintet Everest, took one look at the cluster of photographers astride the red carpet at Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday night and rolled his eyes a little bit. “What we doing here?” he laughed before he and bandmates Russell Pollard, Eli Thomson, J. Soda and Davey Latter negotiated the throng to perform at the gala 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute to Neil Young.

Young, of course, has been Everest’s person of the year for a while now. Not only is the Grammy-winning (yes, Young won his first award on Sunday night) artist a huge influence on Everest’s music, the fivesome is signed to his Vapor Records and has toured as his opening act. On Friday the band was handpicked to join in a lineup of A-listers that included Elton John, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Sheryl Crow to pay tribute to the boss’s music.

• ||| Also: My review of the night for SPIN.com

“He’s kind of at the top of the list for us,” said Graves [pictured at top with Pollard and Soda giving an interview to Entertainment Tonight]. “There’s a honesty to his music that anybody who hears it will love.”

As for the show, Everest’s virtually by-the-book cover of “Revolution Blues” couldn’t have disappointed the big guy – it was one of the few all-out rock numbers on a night some performers succeeded in putting their own stamp on Young’s materials (like Ozomatli’s “Mr. Soul”) and some failed (Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “A Man Needs a Maid”).

Everest recently completed its sophomore album. Stay tuned for more on that.