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.

History

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 A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, 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 In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

, 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. It was during this time in Nederland that Johnston and Austin met

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Ben Kaufmann and guitarist

Adam Aijala 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 t ...

at a local club named the Verve. 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 An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

run by the band, in the fall of 1999. From 1999 to 2001 they performed as one of the many attractions at NedFest, a

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

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 The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...

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. In April 2014, Austin left the band due to "creative differences and conflicting career goals". 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. 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.

Members

Ben Kaufmann at DelFest, 2010 Adam Aijala at DelFest, 2010 YMSB 2012

*Ben Kaufmann - bass, vocals *Dave Johnston - banjo, vocals *Adam Aijala - guitar, vocals *Nick Piccininni - Everything, vocals

Former members

* Jeff Austin - mandolin, vocals (1998-2014) – He picked up the mandolin only a few years before forming YMSB. He would often break into a freeform scat during a song. Austin died on June 24, 2019, at the age of 45. * Jacob Jolliff - mandolin (2015-2020) *Allie Kral - fiddle, vocals (2015-2022)

Discography

Music videos

*"Classic Situation" *"Insult and an Elbow" *"Bad Taste" *"Ailson"

Frog Pad Records

Frog Pad Records is an

run by the Yonder Mountain String Band. Used as a platform to launch their CDs, the label has since released numerous albums, as well as an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

and some

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

work by Jeff Austin and Chris Castino.

References

External links

Official site
* {{Authority control American bluegrass music groups Jam bands Jammy Award winners Country music groups from Colorado 1998 establishments in Colorado Musical groups established in 1998