Essential Bluegrass Renegades: The Yonder Mountain String Band

By Brian T. Atkinson

Yonder Mountain String Band finds personal fulfillment on the road less traveled. Eschewing any notions of fame and fortune when they united seven years ago, the four 30-something musicians sought only to deliver an unlikely message to anyone who would listen: Bluegrass is cool. Turns out, that simple focus has lead to professional fulfillment, too.

“I don’t think anyone ever says they’re going to join a bluegrass band to have success,” says bassist Ben Kaufmann. “That’s just bars-on-the-windows crazy talk. But that’s what’s happened with us. We’re just interested in relaying that there’s nothing fundamentally hokey or hillbilly or backwoods about a banjo or a mandolin or bluegrass. That’s a total misconception. I can tell you, brother, the banjo rocks.”

That’s abundantly clear on Yonder Mountain’s new self-titled album. After three studio records hemmed into the fabric of traditional bluegrass, the group – Adam Aijala (guitar, vocals), Jeff Austin (mandolin, vocals), Dave Johnston (banjo) and Kaufmann – allows its early musical influences to shine through on Yonder Mountain String Band. In fact, ethereal traces of classic rockers like Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead are as apparent as the thumbprints of Bill Monroe and Del McCoury.

The band enlisted noted producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliot Smith) to help broaden its sound. “We have to be very careful that all of our influences can be expressed,” Kaufmann says. “Working with Tom was such a great opportunity because he has such a great rock and roll mind. The new record is so satisfying. [Traditional] bluegrass is great, but this represents us all so perfectly.”

Rothrock gambled big by challenging Yonder Mountain’s improvisational creativity: he insisted that all songs be written spontaneously in the studio. Rothrock would suggest a sound – say, spiritual – and maybe a key, and the rest was up to the band to write on the spot. Easy, right?

“At first, it’s like, ‘Um, what?’” Kaufmann remembers. “But we found that if you provide a little energy, it’ll pick up its own head of steam and then it just goes. It’s very different from how we’ve written in the past. Before, one of us would bring a song in they’d written, show the others the chords and then we’d play along. It had been a very individualistic approach, but this record was much more collaborative.”

Writing together might be a new technique, but a communal feel has always been a large part of Yonder Mountain’s live show. High-energy sets at festivals from Bonnaroo to Merlefest have helped boost its popularity, and Yonder Mountain’s unwavering commitment to musical fellowship has established it as a return favorite at gatherings like the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

“Yonder Mountain is absolutely in love with the festival community of Telluride,” says Craig Ferguson, Planet Bluegrass president and Telluride Bluegrass Festival director. “They have a real respect for the traditional bluegrass. This is not a jam band, not a hippie band – it’s a bluegrass band. Every one of their shows is different and special for them as well as the audience.”

  Yonder Mountain’s off-the-cuff jams and joyous stage presence have a way of winning over more than just the crowd. The band has earned scores of fans among fellow performers from the Bad Livers’ Danny Barnes to acclaimed Nashville songwriter Shawn Camp to folk icon Todd Snider. The latter has even collaborated with the band he calls kindred spirits. (He and Austin co-wrote the new record’s rollicking sixth track, “East Nashville Easter.”)

  “Most people you meet on the road want to sit in the dressing room and talk about their careers,” Snider says. “Not Yonder Mountain String Band. Townes Van Zandt said to sing for the [sake of] the song. The guys in Yonder Mountain String Band sing for the song, and that’s why I like to be around them so much. I will always love them for that.”

  So, we can assume, does Benny Goodman. A local jack of all trades, Goodman met the band at a small mountain town music festival not long after they settled in Nederland, Colorado, outside of Boulder. The guys quickly learned that in addition to being able to fix a fussy water heater and find a good cut of meat at the butcher, Goodman had written an immense backlog of amazing tunes. In 2003, they selected a baker’s dozen to include on Old Hands, a collection of their favorite Goodman songs.

  “I think Benny’s a brilliant songwriter, and don’t think he’s gotten the recognition he deserves,” Kaufmann says. “For us to be able to hang around him and get to show him ideas is invaluable. He’s got hundreds of these songs; picking the music for Old Hands was so hard. Every one you want to play. I’d like to make another album of his music, but in the immediate future we’ve got a lot of music to make ourselves.”

And a lot of touring to do. Yonder Mountain plans to enjoy a full summer on the road. After all, that’s where the band is truly in its element, both personally and professionally.

“Something about the bluegrass instrumentation is very positive, tons of energy,” Kaufmann says. “People have such a shared experience at our shows. There are so many smiles – whether they’re dancing or singing along – it’s a very buoyant and uplifting experience. People come to our shows and seem to have a very deep and personal reaction with the music, and that’s the biggest compliment in the world.”