Yonder Mountain String Band

How many “progressive bluegrass” bands do you know? Very few, chances are. The genre is a bit of a rarity in the 2000s—still an emerging voice, still figuring out exactly what it is. Colorado-based quartet Yonder Mountain String Band, along with acts like the String Cheese Incident, Railroad Earth, and Nickel Creek, has remained at the forefront of the genre’s emergence. But whereas a band like String Cheese veers toward the more exploratory side of the spectrum, integrating psychedelia and funk into their repertoire, and the dynamic of the possibly defunct Nickel Creek tenderly nurses a fragile balancing act between pop thrills and unhinged displays of virtuosity, the boys in Yonder Mountain String Band have carved out their own niche throughout their decade-and-a-half long career.
Composed of banjoist Dave Johnston, mandolinist Jeff Austin, upright bassist Ben Kaufmann, and guitarist Adam Aijala, Colorado’s Yonder Mountain mixes traditional bluegrass chord progressions and rhythms with Southern-fried hooks, a propensity for long-winding jams on stage, and close-knit harmonies that smack you in the face like a cool Tennessee breeze. The band has developed cult followings in both the traditional bluegrass and jam-band camps; it’s easy to imagine your Appalachian church-going grandma bopping along to the quaint thump in fan favorite “Half Moon Rising,” but the beautiful web of harmonies in the song’s chorus should appeal to Beatles fans, too. (Fittingly, the band contributed a cover of “Think for Yourself” to a Rubber Soul tribute album).
The fact that they’ve released as many live albums as studio albums paints an accurate picture of their musical priorities (as well as their strengths). Like fellow jam kings Dave Matthews Band and Phish, Yonder Mountain is simply one of those bands that translates on a completely different level in a live setting—catch them at the Tennessee Theatre and bask in a generous helping of Southern warmth, via the Rocky Mountains. (Ryan Reed)