Looking To The Future With A Respect For The Past: The New Yonder Mountain String Band

Photo by Tobin Voggesser

2014 was a year of transformation for Jamgrass titans Yonder Mountain String Band.  The departure of mandolin player and defacto front-man Jeff Austin was abrupt and found YMSB searching for a new identity.  But, with a little help from their friends such as Allie Krall (formerly of Cornmeal), mandolin player Jake Jolliff, and John Bell (Widespread Panic), among others, the band didn’t miss a beat, honoring all of their tour dates and putting on their annual Kinfolk Celebration this year on home turf in Lyons, Colorado.  Another Colorado tradition is Yonder’s New Year’s Eve run and do they have a doozy planned for this year with a list of guests that reads like a who’s who of the Colorado Jamband and Bluegrass scene.  The band also has a new album “in the can” that is slated to come out in 2015 according to banjo player Dave Johnston.  Recently, Listen Up Denver! had a chance to chat with Johnston about Yonder’s star studded New Year’s run, the band’s new album, and what the future holds for Yonder Mountain String Band.  Dave also spoke candidly about the challenges faced in the wake of Jeff Austin’s departure from the band as well as YMSB’s search for a new identity, but Johnston’s insights might not be what you’d expect.

When we caught up with Johnston he was practicing banjo rolls at home in Boulder.  Dave Johnston is a soft-spoken guy but his dedication to his band and craft is anything but reserved.  There is no doubt that every interviewer Johnston has spoken with in the past few months has had Austin’s departure on their mind, but Johnston and Yonder are looking into the future, with a respect for their past.  In that immediate future is Yonder’s annual New Year’s Eve run and Johnston offered a glimpse into how the band locked down their illustrious list of guests.  “We thought it would be a good idea to cast a wide net and try something Yonder Mountain hasn’t done too much which is play with horns.”  Johnston was speaking of Jen Harstwick and Natalie Cressman of Trey Anastasio Band who will join Yonder on January 2nd.  Yonder’s connection with the Phish family goes back to their work with Phish drummer Jon Fishman.  The Jamband scene is like one big family and the next guest that Johnston gushed about could be credited with starting it all.

It is rumored that John Popper came up with the idea of the H.O.R.D.E. tour while staying at a Deadhead run dude ranch in Parksville, New York called Arrowhead Ranch.  H.O.R.D.E., or Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere, would be a way for up and coming bands (not yet labeled Jambands) such as Blues Traveler, Phish, Widespread Panic, The Spin Doctors, and Dave Mathews Band, among others, to play large amphitheaters in the summer in order to compete with larger, more mainstream acts.  Today, H.O.R.D.E. is looked at as the birth of the modern Jamband scene, the same scene that Yonder Mountain String Band stepped into in 1998, the same year as the last H.O.R.D.E. tour.  The towering figure of Popper in the Jamband scene is not lost on Johnston or Yonder [Editor’s Note: Watch them Jam with Popper here].  “The scene that we’re in right now, he (Popper) kind of created. So we feel like we’re going back to the roots of a lot of different things and we’re really psyched about it.”  But his legacy as a founding father of Jam aside, the fact that John Popper is possibly the greatest harmonica player that has ever lived is certainly not lost on Johnston either.  “John Popper is musically fluent in everything.”  Agreed, but how will the rest of the guests fit into the Yonder framework and catalogue?  Johnston keyed us into the method in the madness.

Infamous Stringduster compatriots Andy Hall (dobro) and Andy Falco (guitar)—who will join Yonder on January 3^rd—may seem like obvious choices as guests for a Bluegrass band but the Yonder/Stringduster connection goes deeper than just Bluegrass.  “We’ve worked with them pretty extensively in the past.  We’ve done tours with their band.  We feel like we’re pretty good buddies with them and we’re psyched to work with them.  Andy and Andy, they’re a great hang and also quick studies.  Andy Hall lives around here now and so they’re kind of a Colorado band.  So we thought we’d invite them up to the gig.”  Colorado roots run deep with Yonder as they will also have Colorado musicians Dave Watts and Joey Porter of The Motet with them on January 1st along with Popper and Grammy winner Shawn Camp, the latter of whom Johnston spoke very highly of.  “He (Camp) has worked with Jerry Douglas and is a phenomenal singer-songwriter and musician. He’s great.”

How did Yonder decide who would play on what?  While Johnston wasn’t about to give away any set list information he did talk about the process of deciding who would play on what tunes.  “We are going through our list of possible songs and seeing what everyone wants to play on.  Certain songs are going to lend themselves to horns and other songs will lend themselves to stuff like Dave Watts brings to the table, which is many, many things, he brings a big meal.”  Although Yonder’s guest list is heady, the two most important guests are Allie Krall and Jake Jolliff, who have played with Yonder consistently since Austin’s departure.  The question on fans’ minds is will they remain guests or join the band as permanent members?  Johnston had a bit to say about this and he waxed philosophical on his views of the word “permanent.”

Many of you may know Allie Krall from her work with Cornmeal but Jake Jolliff is a fairly fresh face on the scene.  Former Yonder manager DJ McLaughlin, who also manages Jerry Douglas (there’s those connections again), clued Yonder into Jake’s expertise.  “It ended up being really fortuitous and good for us.  So we’re pumped about Jake,” says Johnston.  Although Krall and Jolliff have played consistently with Yonder in 2014 and are scheduled to play with them on their winter/spring tour, Johnston was reluctant to use the word permanent when it came to the new lineup.  “We’re looking forward to having them out with us in 2015.  We’re really pumped about it.  Everyone throws the word permanent around and it’s hard to answer that because I don’t think any band is ever permanent. That said, we are going to be working with them all next year.  That’s what I want to emphasize: the five of us will be working next year.  We’re really psyched and they’re psyched.  It feels like a really good group of collaborative people with a lot of potential.”  Perhaps the sting of Austin’s departure is still fresh but there is a lot of truth to what Johnston says.  The show must go on.  What speaks volumes are Krall and Jolliff’s presence on Yonder’s new album, slated to come out in 2015.

The only thing Johnston would reveal about the album itself is that it is a full-length album and that it is “in the can,” but he did speak glowingly about the highly collaborative recording process on this new project.  “Recording it felt really good.  There were kind of two processes happening.  One was the recording but a bigger part of it was the compositional aspect of it and coming up with how we wanted to do different parts and how we wanted to arrange different solos.  We have Jake on mandolin and Allie on fiddle and they’re both on vocals as well. So we have five different voices now all working together and it feels like the first record we did.  It has that energy to it and it was really a fun process.  We’re really psyched about it.”  Considering the changes that have taken place this year with Yonder, Johnston’s assertion that this new album feels like the first may seem a bit counterintuitive but Johnston explained.  “It just feels acoustically like the first album.  It reminds me of our earlier records in its acousticity.  It’s not going for ostensible Rock & Roll or anything like that.  It’s not a radical departure; it still feels like Yonder Mountain music.  We feel really fortunate that we can preserve that energy.  It’s exciting to feel that well up again.  You feel like maybe you’re standing on a gusher.”  There’s that respect for their past.  It is great to hear that the new Yonder is jiving so well but there were challenges faced when Austin left the band.

While Yonder has always been the sum of its parts, no one can deny Jeff Austin’s electrifying stage presence.  “You can’t match Jeff’s onstage charisma.  The way he connects with the crowd is something that is unique to him.  Some people just have a rapport with others and Jeff is one of those guys.  So that was kind of an adjustment for us.  It also changes the sound.  No one really plays the same; everyone plays differently.  So how things go together is gonna be a little bit different.  But surprisingly, at least for the band and what I can guess from the people who have seen the new configuration, it feels like there is a lot of energy being put out.  And it feels like it’s connecting in a real hardy way with everyone.  There’s a period of adjustment that feels like going to the chiropractor.  After you get adjusted in feels a lot better.”  While Johnston stated creative differences as the reason for the parting of ways, it was tempting to read between the lines when Johnston spoke about “radical departures,” or the lack thereof when making the new album. Perhaps radical departures were what Yonder was trying to avoid and was what Austin was seeking.

Yonder is looking into the future, which is exactly what they should be doing, and Johnston wanted to leave this message for all the Yonder fans out there.  “We really look forward to seeing everyone out at the shows.  We really appreciate everyone’s continued support.  We love our fans and we want to make sure that they know that and we’re looking forward to throwing down for them.”  Well said.  That’s what it’s all about.

Yonder Mountain String Band Plays The Boulder Theater December 31st-January 3rd
Find Tickets Here