Yonder Mountain String Band Tickets Information

The Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB) is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. The band's history stretches back to when banjoist Dave Johnston and mandolinist Jeff Austin were still in college. Having met in Urbana, Illinois, Johnston requested 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."

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 Nederland. Johnston soon joined him there. 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. In December of 1998, the four musicians formed Yonder Mountain String Band which was to open for a band at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. They have since developed both a bluegrass and jam band fanbase, 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 fall 1999.

In 1999, they performed as one of the many main attractions at NedFest, a music festival held in the band's hometown. By 2000, the group was playing larger venues, such as The Fillmore in San Francisco, California. The band has released several live albums with material from live performances, but fans are welcome to record the concert they attend for themselves, as the band is taper-friendly. Jeff Austin picked up the mandolin only a few years before forming YMSB. He will often break into a freeform scat during a song. Ben Kaufmann's ability to write songs has formed a solid foundation on which the band's repertoire has grown steadily since 1998. Among his earlier compositions are, "The Bolton Stretch" (Elevation), "On The Run" (Elevation), and the epic live song "Traffic Jam". Dave Johnston forms a great deal of the band's overall sound with his banjo. He sings in a low tone. Of all the members, Dave has contributed the most instrumentals, with Adam second. Jeff and Ben have put words to all of their songs.

Adam Aijala's guitar playing forms a framework for many of YMSB's songs. One of Adam's most well-known songs, written back in the days of Elevation, is "Left Me In A Hole." Although the Yonder Mountain String Band was formed in Nederland, CO, its origins go back to Urbana, IL, where college student and banjo player Dave Johnston met mandolin player Jeff Austin. Austin moved west and settled in Nederland. Johnston joined him there, and the two met bass player Ben Kaufmann and guitarist Adam Aijala at a club called the Verve.

In December 1998, they formed the Yonder Mountain String Band to open for a band at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. They developed a following among bluegrass fans and also among jam band fans as they played extensively and worked their way up the bar and club circuit in the West. In the fall of 1999, they released their debut album, Elevation, on their own Frog Pad Records label. By the fall of 2000, they were playing in larger venues, such as the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. They released a live recording as their second album, Mountain Tracks, Vol. 1, in the spring of 2001, and followed with another studio set, Town By Town, in the fall of 2001. A second live album, Mountain Tracks, Vol. 2, was released in 2002, again followed by a studio effort, Old Hands, in 2003.

If Yonder Mountain String Band’s fourth studio album marks the first time they’ve added a little drums to their mix of banjo, bass, mandolin and guitar and it’s the first time they’ve written almost an entire album spontaneously. Previously, guitarist Adam Aijala, mandolinist Jeff Austin, banjo player Dave Johnston and bassist Ben Kaufmann would each show up to the studio with their own songs, or songs that had already been worked up on the road.

But with Rothrock behind the boards, they sat around and came up with songs that stirred the band’s creative juices in a new way. "It definitely was the challenge that was ready to be taken on," says Austin. "For me, it was a very necessary step that the band had to take, just because we’ve always been about letting ourselves experiment to the full width of the spectrum. It was a part of us that was just dying to come out."

Under Rothrock’s leadership, Aijala added electric guitar to the album, while Austin, milked an old ‘70s amplifier for feedback with an acoustic mandolin. Ambient noise accompanies the disc-ending. "[This album] probably represents us more than any other record we’ve done," states Aijala, "because it incorporates more of our musical influences than ever before. It’s a really cool thing to be a part of and I’ll never take for granted just how lucky we are to do what we do. It makes me more excited for the future."

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Band Members
Jon Anderson
Steve Howe
Chris Squire
Alan White