Last summer Northwest String Summit headliners Yonder Mountain String Band brought out Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, who was on hand with 7 Walkers, and famed violinist Darol Anger to jam with them on Shakedown Street at the 2012 edition of the fest.
Yonder, Billy and Darol turned in a jamgrass-flavored version of the Dead classic and recently a pro-shot clip of the NWSS Shakedown Street popped up on YouTube. Take a look…
Back in December Cloud 9 Adventures brought together Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, The Infamous Stringdusters and Leftover Salmon for the first annual Strings & Sol destination music festival, which was held at Dreams Tulum Resort and Spa in Tulum, Mexico. Cloud 9 has just announced the second installment of Strings & Sol with a few of the same bands and a few different acts.
The four-day Strings & Solo 2013 brings Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon and Keller Williams and the Travelin’ McCourys to the Now Sapphire Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico from December 11 – 15. Yonder will play a total of three performances with RRE and LoS signed up for one closing show and one additional performance. Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys and Greensky Bluegrass are set to perform twice a piece.
All-inclusive packages go on sale to the general public beginning April 17 at noon ET at www.stringsandsol.com. Those who attended the inaugural event will be able to take part in a pre-sale on April 16.
Yonder Mountain String Band @ The Pageant – March 8 and 9
Words and Photos: Rex Thomson
Looking out on a capacity crowd at St.Louis’s venerable music hall The Pageant, the members of Yonder Mountain String Band had to be gratified to see their hard work so well rewarded. It’s said that it’s better to work smart than to work hard, but Yonder took the road less traveled and did both, and it’s gotten them where they are today, playing sold out shows to diehard fans.
[All Photos by Rex Thomson]
While the grind of constant touring has broken the dreams of many acts it seems to have just made Jeff Austin, Adam Aijala, Dave Johnston and Ben Kaufmann that much stronger as people and a unit. More than a decade of methodically criss-crossing the nation, building more than a fan base, but an actual family has paid off in so many more ways than just financially. It isn’t tough to imagine how hard the separation from family and the rigors of travel are on a band, and having such a stellar support network of smiling faces goes a long way into making the journey that much more than simply earning a living. There isn’t a city they have visited where there aren’t members of their vast network of supporters, known collectively as “Kinfolk,” waiting to spend time with their leaders. And the love of the Kinfolk is returned a hundred times over by the band, like a fire being stoked by love instead of wood.
We’ve got some exciting news from our friends at SiriusXM’s Jam_ON channel as they’ve just revealed that they will air live broadcasts of two concerts this weekend.
On Saturday night starting at 10PM ET, Jam_ON will simulcast the Bowlive IV finale live from Brooklyn Bowl. For this show, Soulive will be joined by Alecia Chakour, George Porter Jr. and The Shady Horns. Plus, you never know who will turn up. Hidden Track editor-in-chief Scott Bernstein will be a guest on Jam_ON’s broadcast.
Then, on Sunday, starting at 11PM ET, Jam_ON will simulcast Yonder Mountain String Band’s show live from The Belly Up in Aspen, Colorado. SiriusXM subscribers can listen to Jam_ON on Channel 29.
Once again DelFest will return to Cumberland, Maryland over Memorial Day Weekend. The Del McCoury Band will headline and host the four-day festival and they’ve invited some of the usual suspects like Yonder, The Travelin’ McCourys and The Infamous Stringdusters. Event organizers have also scored a surprise in bringing the Trey Anastasio Band to DelFest for two sets. Anastasio is seemingly returning the favor of when the Del McCoury Band played at Phish’s Camp Oswego festival in 1999.
There’s plenty of other HT faves on the bill including Trampled By Turtles, Old Crow Medicine Show, Greensky Bluegrass, the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Spirit Family Reunion. A “The Masters of Bluegrass” set will feature Del, Bobby Osborne, J.D. Crowe, Bobby Hicks and Jerry McCoury.
Here’s a look at the full DelFest 2013 lineup…
Tickets are currently onsale through the event’s website.
The Northwest String Summit returns to scenic Horning’s Hideout in North Plains, Oregon from July 18 – 21 for what will be the event’s 12th year. Event organizers shared a taste of what attendees can expect at the fest with the release of the initial lineup.
Yonder Mountain String Band will headline and perform for three nights at NWSS. Also on the bill are David Grisman Bluegrass Experience, Greensky Bluegrass, Keller Williams and Friends, Danny Barnes, Darol Anger, Deadly Gentlemen, Fruition, Shook Twins, Milkdrive, Polecat and Betty & The Boy.
Four-day passes and RV tickets go on sale this Friday, Feb. 8th at 10AM PST via the Northwest String Summit’s website. Many more bands will be announced soon.
HT faves Yonder Mountain String Band have announced a four-night New Year’s Run at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado that’s set to take place from December 28 – 31.
A pre-sale will begin next Wednesday, September 5th, with the general on-sale set to take place Saturday, September 8th. VIP and travel packages, four-show ticket options and more details about the home-state Yonder run will be revealed soon.
If you were wondering why Grateful Dead / Furthur bassist Phil Lesh only performed on the first two songs at last night’s Move Me Brightly webcast, it’s because he had a show of his own at Terrapin Crossroads with jamgrass stalwarts Yonder Mountain String Band. For the first of two sets Yonder took the stage by their lonesomes before Lesh joined them for the majority of the second set.
[Photo via Terrapin Crossroads Facebook]
Lesh sat in on a mix of Grateful Dead tunes such as Brown Eyed Women, Eyes of the World and Fire On The Mountain and YMSB originals including the instrumental Midwest Gospel Radio and Rag Doll.
Setlist…
Set One: Blue Collar, Pretty Daughter, Hole, Easy as Pie, Don’t Worry Happy Bday, Spanish Harlem, Mother’s Only Son, One More, Little Lover, Straight Line, Cuckoo’s Nest, What the Night Brings
Set Two (w/ Phil Lesh): Brown Eyed Women, All Around This World, Midwest Gospel Radio > Rag Doll > Eyes of the World > Shakedown tease > Criminal > Fire on the Mountain > Criminal (Phil leaves), Boatman, Naughty Sweetie Blues, No Expectations > Northern Song, Casualty
Encore: Crazy, Southern Flavor
[via Phantasy Tour]
Following the Yonder/Phil sets, many of the musicians who took part in the Move Me Brightly webcast assembled in Terrapin Crossroads’ bar for a late night jam session that featured Lesh, Jon Graboff, Neal Casal, Ross James, Adam McDougall, Jeff Chimenti, Sunshine Becker Garcia, Donna Jean Godchaux and more according to a report from DeadheadLand. Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues and the Grateful Dead’s Bird Song were among the tunes played. Those watching for the sidelines included Phish bassist Mike Gordon, Jerry Garcia’s daughters and Mountain Girl.
Yonder and Phil return to Terrapin Crossroads for a repeat engagement this evening.
Cloud 9 Adventures have just announced the latest addition to their roster of music destination events – Strings & Sol. S&S will bring Yonder Mountain String Band, the Infamous Stringdusters, Railroad Earth and Leftover Salmon to Tulum, Mexico between December 12 and 16 for three full shows a piece spread out amongst the festival’s four days.
The Dreams Tulum resort will host the inaugural Strings & Sol and packages are available with lodging at the hotel and without. Dreams Tulum is located 75 miles south of Cancun on the Mayan Riviera. Rooms and four-day passes go on sale May 23rd at noon EDT through the event’s website.
Welcome back Rex Thomson, aka Rex-A-Vision, a senior contributing writer for our friends at Honest Tune, to review a recent Yonder Mountain String Band and Infamous Stringdusters performance.
Words & Photos: Rex Thomson
Yonder Mountain String Band brought 3/4ths of their lineup, and all of their bluegrass passion, to the Marathon Music Works in Nashville for a night of guest stars and pure intensity. With bassist Ben Kaufmann taking a few nights off to spend time with his wife and their newborn, the guys from Yonder reached out to their opening act for the first leg of their Cabin Fever tour and borrowed The Infamous Stringdusters’ Travis Book to cover the deep end and even croon a few numbers.
Yonder wasn’t content to stop at one guest bassist however, especially with their show taking place in Music City itself. Famed session and touring bassist Bryn Davies sat in for a couple of tunes, as did Alan Bartram of the Travelin’ McCourys and Del McCoury’s Family Band making the night a cavalcade of stars and high energy music that had the entire sweltering crowd dancing to the point of exhaustion.
In a city with more performance venues per square mile than most any other in America, opening a new hall is a daring proposition, but the less than year-old Marathon Music Works seems to have a long future ahead of itself. A high exposed ceiling and unobstructed sight lines made watching the music enjoyable, and the sound was crisp and focused, unlike many other converted spaces which can sound boomy and indistinct. The Infamous Stringdusters took the spacious stage and wasted no time winning the crowd over with their opener, Metal.
Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band has never hidden his love for HT faves Phish. Austin has been seeing the jam titans for decades and recently caught many shows on Phish’s summer tour. The mando wiz even performed with drummer Jon Fishman (who has toured with YMSB in the past) in Lake Tahoe at the Bluegrass Ball following one of Phish’s gigs in town. So it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that one of Trey Anastasio’s songs has made it into the Yonder repertoire.
[Photo by Tobin Voggesser]
On August 13 Austin and his band mates unveiled their version of Sand at the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival in Wyoming. While utilizing their bluegrass instrumentation, Yonder still honors the original version by keeping the vibe dark. This past Saturday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan YMSB dusted off Sand once again, so it appears this Phish by way of Trey Band tune is now a part of Yonder’s massive song rotation. Thanks to YouTuber tyjern1, we can take a peek at Saturday’s version of Sand…
Yonder Mountain String Band – Sand
And here’s audio of the complete YMSB Sand from Wyoming…
READ ON
In an era where it seems like just about every other day another great jamband decides to scale back, break up, or go on the dreaded hiatus, it’s refreshing to hear that Yonder Mountain String Band has no plans whatsoever of slowing down.
In fact, quite the contrary, this weekend kicks off the band’s second annual Harvest Festival, followed by a 20-date fall tour, and capped off with a sure-to-be-epic five night stand at the tiny Boulder Theater over New Years. Meanwhile, the band recently sold out the 9,000-capacity Red Rocks and has a studio album in the works slated for release some time next year.
[Photo by Tobin Voggesser]
We caught up with guitarist and songwriter Adam Aijala from the tour bus somewhere in between Colorado and the Ozarks to chat about this weekends festivities, the progress of the album and the State of the YMSB Union.
Hidden Track: Lots of good stuff to talk about with the band these days; I thought we could start with the Harvest Festival, since that is right around the corner. When playing a festival under your own banner so-to-speak, how does that differ as opposed to playing one where you’re one of many bands on a bill that somebody else curated?
Adam Aijala: It’s definitely cool. We’re really lucky to do what we do, and to be able to headline a festival like the one up in Oregon, the Northwest String Summit where we just had our 10th anniversary this year, or this, our second annual Harvest Fest. It’s pretty awesome. I mean shit, being traveling musicians, one of the logistical bonuses of it is just sitting in one place for multiple days is always nice.
You get to see a bunch of your musician friends and friends and family that might attend. Also, playing both of those locations, the String Summit and Harvest Fest, both of those places are really beautiful. I know that sounds like a cookie cutter response, but it’s the truth. We’re lucky as hell to do it and it’s great.
Jam titans Widespread Panic teamed up with jamgrass faves Yonder Mountain String Band for a three shows down south this weekend spawned some fine collaboration between the two bands.
Widespread Panic w/ Jeff Austin – Fixin’ To Die
The action started on Friday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where Panic dusted off the Rev. Gary Davis tune made famous by Bob Dylan Baby, Let Me Follow You Down for the first time in over 350 shows. While the two bands didn’t share the stage that night, Yonder’s Jeff Austin sat in with Widespread Panic on Fixin’ To Die at the FedEx Forum in Memphis on Saturday night. WSP’s first set ended with a pair of The Band covers in Ophelia and The Shape I’m In and the group also played Green Onions during the second set in the middle of Henry Parsons Died.
Last night in Biloxi, Widespread Panic welcomed YMSB’s banjo wiz Dave Johnston out for C. Brown and then Austin lent a hand on mandolin for Who Do You Belong To? Fittingly, John Bell and his bandmates also busted out Thin Air (Smells Like Mississippi) at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Sunny Ortiz and Todd Nance will appear at Portman’s Music Store in Savannah this afternoon at 4PM for a drum demo and Q&A before Widespread Panic returns to the stage tomorrow at Savannah’s Johnny Mercer Auditorium. Next up for Yonder Mountain String Band is the group’s Harvest Music Festival in Ozark, Arkansas on October 13 – 15.
HT faves Umphrey’s McGee and Yonder Mountain String Band teamed up for a co-bill last night at the Saranac Brewery in Utica, NY. The two bands came together on stage for a rollicking two-song encore that included a take on the YMSB original East Nashville Easter and the UM original Partyin’ Peeps after the groups played one long set a piece.
[Photo by Adam Kaufman of Austin and Johnston w/ UM - 7/28/07]
Umphrey’s and Yonder have a long history together highlighted by a brief co-headlining tour of the Northeast back in 2007 and the Jeff Austin/Brendan Bayliss side project 30db. Bayliss and Austin have performed East Nashville Easter together in the past and a few members of YMSB sat in on Partyin’ Peeps back on July 27, 2007 at Lupo’s. Yonder heads off to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe, PA for a show tonight while Umphrey’s is set to perform at The Dome at Oakdale in Wallingford, CT this evening.
The Bluegrass Ball @ The Old Rock House, March 12-13
Fellow music junkie Rex Thomson, a photographer and journalist, has made quite a name for himself over the past few years shooting and writing about bands from the jam, bluegrass, Americana and rock scenes for various publications and his own Rex-A-Vision Facebook page. We’re honored to welcome Rex to the HT Team for the occasional review and photo set starting with this piece on The Bluegrass Ball…
We can all use a little help from our friends from time to time, and when you’ve been in the music business from birth, as Ronnie and Robbie McCoury have been, you make some fairly interesting friends. So when the brothers and the rest of their band, along with guest guitarist Cody Kilby, alongside Travelin’ regulars fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Alan Bartram decided to do a four-night, two-city barn storm run, they went thru their phone lists and called the finest players they could think of to help make it a special weekend for all lucky enough to witness the collection of talent on the stage.
[All photos by Rex Thomson]
Multiple award winning mandolin player Ronnie McCoury was joined on his beloved instrument by fellow wizards of the mando Drew Emmitt, of Leftover Salmon and The Emmitt-Nershi Band, and Jeff Austin of the Yonder Mountain String Band took the stage alongside Robbie McCoury and his five-string banjo. To help keep Jason Carter from feeling left out on the far side of the stage, fiery fiddler Allie Kral, of the band Cornmeal, was brought in to bring an element of grandeur and the lineup for the run was complete.
After two nights in the windy city of Chicago, the ensemble took to the road for a two night stand at the Old Rock House in St. Louis, a beautifully restored room with a variety of tiers to watch the action from, including a well situated U-Shaped balcony/second floor. The multiple vantage points gave viewers excellent angles to see the impressive light rigging in use. In fact, the clubs presentation reminds one of something far more like a concert hall than the classic façade would lead you to believe.
READ ON for more on The Bluegrass Ball…
