Yonder Mountain
String Band has always been about playing a strictly unorthodox brand of
bluegrass. Almost a decade ago the Colorado
string quartet introduced itself as a high-octane picking outfit with an affinity
for stretching the boundaries of acoustic music. But on an autumn Saturday
night at Chicago’s raggedly charming Congress
Theatre,
the group unveiled a different Americana
direction.
Listed on the show bill as a special guest was Phish drummer
Jon Fishman—a presence that helped
bulk attendance up to around 3,000. The majority of the first set, though, was
straight Yonder. Right out of the gate Jeff
Austin (mandolin), Dave Johnston
(banjo) and Adam Aijala (guitar)
ripped through rotating solos and ventured into psychedelic atmospheric
interplay on an extended “Peace of Mind.” Back down in the traditional mindset,
bassist Ben Kaufmann sang road weary
tales (“Rambler’s Anthem”), rolling nature poems (“River”) and jug-band jaunts
(“What’s Going on in the Head of That Woman?”).
The lights dimmed when Aijala delicately finger-picked into
the mellow instrumental “Midwest Gospel Radio” and without grand entrance Fishman
slyly sat down behind the kit. Instead of bringing out the iconic jamband
drummer to deliver his flashy antics of yesteryear or novelty covers, the band
instead utilized his tasteful backbeat
to showcase a new style of songs.
Austin and Kaufmann have recently written a cache of
tightly-focused tunes that wouldn’t be out of place on the streets of Nashville. “Fine Excuses,”
“How ‘Bout You?” and “New Deal Train” were a far cry from the fast and furious
picking of the high lonesome sound, as they bounced with catchy hooks and Music
Row sheen. “Classic Situation” came off as a modern-day country-love lament,
ripe for praise from CMT, and “Fingerprint” torched the room with an arena-rock quality
that even found Aijala adding a distorted, electric effect to his six-string
solo.
Despite the surprises, old-school adventure was not totally lost. When the
band chose to interpret outside material, it veered back into open-ended jam
grass, turning Bill Monroe’s “Kentucky Mandolin” into a multi-layered acoustic
odyssey and Talking Head’s “Girlfriend is Better” into a cosmic dance party.
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