Dan's Papers - July 20, 2007 - Yonder Mountain String Band at the Talkhouse

When you first hear the joyful blend of the mandolin, banjo, guitar and stand-up bass that make Yonder Mountain String Band, you may find your shoulders shaking unconsciously. You may find your hips swinging and your feet lifting weightlessly off the floor of the Talkhouse, which the band will be filling with sound on July 25. These four men have been playing together since they stumbled into each other at a casual bar in Nederland, Colorado nine years ago and the sweet melodies that they create have helped bring the bluegrass genre closer to mainstream music culture.

But if you talk to these boys of bluegrass, you'll learn that they don't really look at themselves as a bluegrass band. While they have a deep appreciation for such bluegrass legends as Del McCoury and John Hartford, none of them actually had a background in bluegrass. When they were younger, they listened to everything from classic rock to punk to reggae. But when they happened upon each other, the instruments they played just shouted bluegrass.

So how did it all begin? Nederland is a quiet town about 20 minutes up the mountain from Boulder, Colorado. And in Ned, there are a myriad of opportunities for musicians to walk into a jam session and carry their weight. One night, at an "open pick" like any other, two friends, Jeff and Dave, brought their mandolin and banjo, respectively. The two had been playing together casually since their college days in Illinois. That same night, bass player Ben and guitarist Adam decided independently to head up to the open pick. But these boys noticed something special about the way they gelled. Adam headed over to the bar with his guitar to order a Guinness, and the other three guys were already there. "You want to be in a band?" they asked him. That was nine years ago this month and the music has not stopped since.

Life has changed pretty intensely from those days. When they first started out, Yonder Mountain String Band was traveling around in an RV and playing in restaurants while people ate dinner. Now they sell out the Bowery Ballroom in New York weeks before the show. Their New Year's Eve and Halloween tickets are scalped for five times face value. They are also the headliners for music festivals around the world.

"Musically," Adam says, "we've evolved a lot. At first, it was just traditional bluegrass, but we unconsciously moved to more freely doing what we do, without worrying about boundaries." This fall, they'll be playing at the legendary natural amphitheatre made from Red Rocks in Colorado, where such greats as the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan have wowed audiences.

Yonder Mountain String Band recently came out with a new album with a unique sound. While on other albums, each musician would create songs and bring them in to share with the others yet this album is more of a group venture. In addition, Tom Rothrock joined the group for this album to mix the sounds together and bring a little more rock into their bluegrass style. Mandolin player Jeff Austin calls this album "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."

The first song they recorded for the new album is called "Sidewalk Stars." The song means a great deal to the whole group because it's the first song they ever wrote all together. It was also the first song they did for the new record, and Adam called its production "unifying and satisfying." They just got together and started trying out different things. Then, they went home. When they came back the next day, Tom had blended it all together beautifully. Adam also loves Sidewalk Stars because "the lyrics say something but doesn't spell it out for you. I'm drawn to songs with imagery that allow you to draw your own conclusions."

It will be exciting to see these four string instrumentalists strum their new tunes at Stephen Talkhouse, though I am hoping they'll swoon some of their old acoustic stories as well. After nine years, Yonder Mountain String Band is finally jamming their way into the cozy confines of Stephen Talkhouse, and the show is sure to be a good ol' fashioned hoedown.

Yonder Mountain String Band will be at Stephen Talkhouse on Wednesday, July 25. Tickets are $45 or $50. Call 267-3117 or check out stephentalkhouse.com for more info.