Members
- Ben Kaufmann - bass, vocals
- Dave Johnston - banjo, vocals
- Adam Aijala - guitar, vocals
- Nick Piccininni - Everything, vocals
Yonder Mountain String Band | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Nederland, Colorado, United States |
| Genres | Jamgrass |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Labels | Frog Pad, Vanguard |
| Members | Dave Johnston Ben Kaufmann Adam Aijala Nick Piccininni |
| Past members | Jeff Austin Jacob Joliff Allie Kral |
| Website | www.yondermountain.com |
The Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Ben Kaufmann, Adam Aijala, and Nick Piccininni, the band has released five studio albums and several live recordings to date.
Having met in Urbana, Illinois, banjo player Dave Johnston requested Jeff Austin to join and sing in his band The Bluegrassholes. Austin, who played no instrument, revealed to Johnston that he owned a mandolin, who then told him to come to the performance and "play anything, just play fast and loud." [1]
After the collapse of The Bluegrassholes, Johnston moved to Boulder, Colorado, in order to further his bluegrass musical skills. Similarly, Austin moved to Colorado, but instead took up residence in the mountain town of Nederland, Colorado . Johnston soon joined him there. [2] It was during this time in Nederland that Johnston and Austin met bassist Ben Kaufmann and guitarist Adam Aijala at a local club named the Verve. [2] In December 1998, the four musicians formed Yonder Mountain String Band which was to open for a band at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. The band developed both a bluegrass and jam band fan base, and can often be found on tour. Their debut album Elevation was released on Frog Pad Records, an independent record label run by the band, in the fall of 1999.
From 1999 to 2001 they performed as one of the many attractions at NedFest, [3] a music festival held in the band's hometown. By 2000, the group was also playing larger venues, such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, California. In 2005, their recording of "Think for Yourself" was included on the album This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul .
In 2008, the band performed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
In 2010, it was revealed that Yonder Mountain would host a music festival at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas called Yonder Mountain's Harvest Festival. This is the same site where the larger Wakarusa festival is held and where the previous Mulberry Mountain Harvest Fest was held. In 2011, the festival's headliners included Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the Simcha Aknin Band, Railroad Earth and the Emmitt-Nershi Band. [4]
In April 2014, Austin left the band due to "creative differences and conflicting career goals". [5] After touring with the band since Austin's departure, fiddle player Allie Kral and mandolin player Jake Jolliff became official members of Yonder Mountain String Band in May 2015. [6] In 2020, multi-instrumentalist/mandolinist Nick Piccininni joined after playing with the madgrass group Floodwood.
Their 2022 album Get Yourself Outside is a nominee for the 2023 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. [7]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Grass | US Country | US Heat | US Indie | ||
| Elevation |
| — | — | — | — |
| Mountain Tracks: Volume 1 |
| — | — | — | — |
| Town by Town |
| — | — | — | — |
| Mountain Tracks: Volume 2 |
| 11 | — | — | — |
| Old Hands |
| 5 | 54 | — | — |
| Mountain Tracks: Volume 3 |
| 2 | 67 | — | — |
| Mountain Tracks: Volume 4 |
| 3 | 63 | — | — |
| Yonder Mountain String Band |
| 1 | 57 | 39 | 43 |
| Mountain Tracks: Volume 5 |
| 1 | 60 | — | — |
| The Show |
| 1 | — | 19 | — |
| Black Sheep |
| 3 | — | — | — |
| Love. Ain't Love |
| 3 | — | — | — |
| Get Yourself Outside |
| 4 | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
Frog Pad Records is an independent record label run by the Yonder Mountain String Band. [9] Used as a platform to launch their CDs, the label has since released numerous albums, as well as an anthology and some duet work by Jeff Austin and Chris Castino. [10]
Leftover Salmon is an American jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. The band's music is a blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco. Over their thirty years as a band Salmon have released seven studio albums and three live albums. The band celebrated their continuing thirty-year career with the release of the biographical book, Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival! and a vinyl box-set re-release of all of their studio albums.
The Packway Handle Band is an American bluegrass quintet, originating as a part of Music of Athens, Georgia in 2001. The band is known for tight three- and four-part vocal harmonies, extensive and progressive original material, off-the-wall covers, and energetic performance dynamics around two tightly-spaced condenser mics. Fans of the band include bluegrass traditionalists and those who say they don't usually like bluegrass.
New Monsoon is a rock jam band that is based in the San Francisco, California area that was founded in 1998 by Penn State classmates Bo Carper and Jeff Miller.
Keith Moseley is an American musician and songwriter, who plays bass guitar among other instruments for The String Cheese Incident, a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, of which he is a founding member.
Greensky Bluegrass is a five-piece American bluegrass jam band founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan in mid-2000. The band has evolved over the years, growing from 3 to 5 members, adding electric effects, and touring with a full light show. Partly because of their name, many articles written about the band address the fact that what Greensky does is "not quite" bluegrass. In their own promotional material, GSBG describes their sound as "their own version of bluegrass music, mixing the acoustic stomp of a string band with the rule-breaking spirit of rock & roll".
Elevation is the progressive bluegrass debut album of the Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released in 1999 by Frog Pad Records, an independent record label run by the band. The album features appearances by bluegrass musicians Mike Marshall and Darol Anger.
Town by Town is the third studio album by the progressive bluegrass collective Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released in 2001 by Frog Pad Records. A song is hidden after three minutes of silence on the track "Peace of Mind".
Mountain Tracks: Volume 1 is a progressive bluegrass live album by the Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released in 2001 by Frog Pad Records.
Mountain Tracks: Volume 2 is a progressive bluegrass live album by the Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released August 20, 2002 by SCI Fidelity, a Boulder-based independent record label.
Old Hands is a progressive bluegrass studio album by the Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released June 17, 2003 by Frog Pad Records.
Mountain Tracks: Volume 3 is a progressive bluegrass live album by the Yonder Mountain String Band; it is part of the live series Mountain Tracks. It was released on September 14, 2004 by SCI Fidelity.
Mountain Tracks: Volume 4 is a progressive bluegrass live album by the Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released February 7, 2006 by Frog Pad Records. The album contains a DVD named The Europe Bootlegs which was recorded during the band's first tour of Europe in July 2003.
Yonder Mountain String Band is an eponymous progressive bluegrass album by the Yonder Mountain String Band. It was released May 9, 2006 by Vanguard Records.
Jeff Austin was an American mandolinist and singer best known for being a founding member of the Yonder Mountain String Band.
Elephant Revival is a folk music group from Nederland, Colorado, formed in 2006. The band consists of Bonnie Paine, Bridget Law, Charlie Rose, Dango Rose, Daniel Rodriguez, and Darren Garvey.
Mountain Standard Time is an American bluegrass fusion band from Nederland, Colorado. The sextet is composed of Stan Sutton on guitar, mandolin and vocals; Nick Dunbar on mandolin, guitar and vocals; Adam Pause on banjo and vocals; Jeff "Curly Collins" Schroeder on bass and vocals; Kyle Stersic on saxophone and electronic wind instruments; and Zach Scott on drums. The band is managed by Brian Heisler. Originally formed in 2006, the band has undergone several line-up changes, before settling into its current form in the fall of 2010. They released their self-titled debut album, recorded by Grammy-award winner David Glasser in February 2011 in support of their second annual "Mardi-Grass" celebration at the Fox theater in Boulder, Colorado.
Old Salt Union (OSU) is a newgrass/americana string band from Belleville, Illinois. They have cited musical influences from jazz, classical, jam band and alternative. The band formed in 2012 and have since performed at many national festivals including LouFest, Stagecoach Festival, Bluegrass Underground, Winter Wondergrass, Freshgrass, featured on Music City Roots, Wakarusa, Yonder Mountain String Band's Harvest Festival, played the 2014 Daytona 500, FloydFest, Camp Euforia and the Walnut Valley Festival. The band was voted Best Bluegrass Band in St. Louis by The Riverfront Times in 2013 and Best Country Artist in 2014. Old Salt Union's line-up consists of Ryan Murphey (Banjo), Jesse Farrar, Justin Wallace (Mandolin) and John Brighton (Fiddle).
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Larry Dwayne Keel is an American bluegrass musician from Southwest Virginia who has been performing since 1976. He was a founding member of Magraw Gap in 1990. He also performs with his wife, bassist Jenny Keel, in The Larry Keel Experience. He has released over a dozen albums.
Greg Garrison is an American musician who plays bass. He is best known for his work with Leftover Salmon and Mighty Poplar. He is also a founding member of the Punch Brothers.
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