Yonder Mountain String Band - Nederland, Colorado
Live at The Showbox - Seattle, WA 11/14/2002
by Pat Ferris and Kelley Guiney

Last night was a musical experience...one of those magical shows that you can reminisce about years later and say "I was there".

The band, Yonder Mountain String Band, is a straight-ahead bluegrass band from Nederland Colorado, a town about 15 miles west of Boulder, Colorado, nestled in the middle of the Rocky Mountains at 9600 feet.

The event took place at The Showbox, the largest live music nightclub in Seattle, which can accomodate well over a thousand people. I've seen several shows at The Showbox, but with a room that big, if it's not full, it looks empty. Last night's show was the first time I've seen the Showbox PACKED! The crowd had to be at least 1500 people, with 1400 of them dancing, the remainder in the bathroom or getting a drink.

As they took the stage, I was struck at how young they all looked. I thought about this, wondering if it was because I was just getting older, or because I expected to see much older musicians because of how large their following had grown. The band’s incredibly tight and intricately woven sounds also belie their obvious youth. They’ve been together only four years, but the sound, groove, and incredible three part harmony generated by this energetic quartet, is, no doubt, the result of thousands of hours of playing together. Bassist, Ben Kaufmann and guitarist, Adam Aijala are both from the Boston area while banjo player Dave Johnston, and mandolin player, Jeff Austin are originally from the Chicago area.

The band brought one of their close friends and contributing songwriters on the road for the last part of this tour. Ben (Burl) Galloway is a Durango, Colorado meat cutter by trade and a singer/songwriter by night. Burl played a few of his songs during the first set, and afterward, I had the opportunity to talk with him. Burl explained that bluegrass has been in the hills surrounding Boulder for years, but in the last couple of years, the hillbillies have been coming down to the city and the city-folk have been coming up to the hills. "There's a jam going on 7 nights a week, and there are some really good musicians at these jams".

This feeling of community is something that Yonder Mountain takes with them on the road – the audience was packed with members of their Colorado and West Coast fan base, – a loyal bunch who think nothing of traveling across the west to catch every show of their favorite band’s tour. This results in a palpable feeling of excitement throughout the audience, and a crowd that is willing and able to connect immediately with the band and with each other. By the end of the show we were on a first name basis with people we had just met, who assumed that we would be heading, like the rest of them, down to Portland for the next night's show.

Maybe it’s a good thing that, as banjo player Dave Johnson explained, "The price of housing in Boulder is ridiculous...students, artists and musicians have to move up to the hills where we can afford to live". Judging from the quality music coming from this area, (Leftover Salmon, our featured artist this month, is from the same area) the cold weather and lack of oxygen from high altitudes seems to attract talent, and inspire tremendous creativity.

For more information on Yonder Mountain String Band, CLICK HERE

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