Since the mid-aughts, Craig Finn has built a strong reputation by writing clever, witty and pop-culture-infused story songs as the front man for The Hold Steady . With five albums under his belt with the "world's greatest bar band" , Finn will release his solo debut, Clear Heart Full Eyes (whosetitle is a reference to Friday Night Lights), via Vagrant Records on January 24. Recorded in Austin, Texas and backed by members of White Denim, The Heartless Bastards, Phosphorescent, and Centro-matic, the 11-track set is being described by Finn as, "a bunch of songs that were outside [...]
Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band has never hidden his love for HT faves Phish. Austin has been seeing the jam titans for decades and recently caught many shows on Phish's summer tour. The mando wiz even performed with drummer Jon Fishman (who has toured with YMSB in the past) in Lake Tahoe at the Bluegrass Ball following one of Phish's gigs in town. So it shouldn't be a huge surprise that one of Trey Anastasio's songs has made it into the Yonder repertoire. [Photo by Tobin Voggesser] [...]
Yonder Mountain String Band has always been more than a bluegrass band. Their sound touches on everything from reggae to rock, and even the occasional Ozzy Osbourne or Frank Zappa cover. Their jam band improvisational style sets them apart from most of their compatriots. Rather than merely trading solos of blistering virtuosity (which they do plenty), YMSB likes to take things out there, exploring harmonic and melodic territory away from the song's structure, weaving together songs with insane bursts of jamming, working through a completely different setlist every night. Usually, all those elements combine to deliver a [...]
Although last week there were a ton of shows going on due to CMJ, I think I'm actually more impressed with this week's selection. Check it out...
In an era where it seems like just about every other day another great jamband decides to scale back, break up, or go on the dreaded hiatus, it's refreshing to hear that Yonder Mountain String Band has no plans whatsoever of slowing down. In fact, quite the contrary, this weekend kicks off the band's second annual Harvest Festival , followed by a 20-date fall tour, and capped off with a sure-to-be-epic five night stand at the tiny Boulder Theater over New Years. Meanwhile, the band recently sold out the 9,000-capacity Red Rocks and has a [...]
Jam titans Widespread Panic teamed up with jamgrass faves Yonder Mountain String Band for a three shows down south this weekend spawned some fine collaboration between the two bands. Click here to view the embedded video. Widespread Panic w/ Jeff Austin - Fixin' To Die The action started on Friday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where Panic dusted off the Rev. Gary Davis tune made famous by Bob Dylan Baby, Let Me Follow You Down [...]
The lineup for next year's Suwannee Springfest was just announced featuring Yonder Mountain String Band , Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, Justin Townes Earl and Emmitt-Nershi Band all topping the list of artists announced so far. The festival returns to Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL for the weekend of March 22-25, 2012 and three-day passes are now on sale for $125. Read on for the lineup... 2012 Suwannee Springfest confirmed lineup (so far): Yonder Mountain String Band Peter [...]
We keep our eyes peeled for new tour dates announcements each week and compile them on Tuesdays for this handy column… While still remaining active over the last few years, via festival appearances and curated multi-day runs, String Cheese Incident haven't done any sustained touring since announcing a break from the road in 2007. Well, that's all about to change, as the venerable jam act has announced their Roots Run Deep tour , a 10-date East coast run that will kick off on November 25 at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in [...]
While Katy Perry was littering the tween-filled Sprint Center with confetti and frosting, there was something a world apart going down at Crossroads KC. Something a little dustier, more tattooed, and assuredly more stoned.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
iClips.net will be broadcasting from this year's All Good Music Festival starting tomorrow at 2pm CST with The Werks . For the fifth year in a row, iClips .net will be on site at All Good to document a handful of the many guaranteed unforgettable performances in their entirety, in addition to backstage b-roll and interviews, festival features, and more. Then, the weekend following the festival, iClips .net will broadcast a highlights from the festival that have been hand-picked by the iClips and All Good Festival teams. The broadcast will [...]
I made a point of getting up early on Saturday morning of the 15th Annual All Good Music Festival to catch some of the local talent at the Grassroots Stage. Having been told by numerous local media sources that they were a hot ticket, I made a point of seeing a bit of Fletcher's Grove from nearby Morgantown. As usual, I was not as quick making the trek as I'd hoped and arrived about halfway through the fledgling jamband's first set, just as they were finishing a very strong cover of Buddy Holly's classic Not Fade [...]
HT faves Umphrey's McGee and Yonder Mountain String Band teamed up for a co-bill last night at the Saranac Brewery in Utica, NY. The two bands came together on stage for a rollicking two-song encore that included a take on the YMSB original East Nashville Easter and the UM original Partyin' Peeps after the groups played one long set a piece. [Photo by Adam Kaufman of Austin and Johnston sitting in with UM on 7/28/07] Umphrey's and Yonder have a long history together highlighted [...]
Yeah! It's finally time for this year's High Sierra Music Festival up in Quincy, CA, and my crew in Camp Cock Awe has already secured a healthy chunk of Big Meadow to get ready for the music starting today at 12pm noon. My out-of-office is officially on and I'll only get a minor chance to check in on what's happening at Phish Super Ball IX (for coverage, stay up on the twitters and especially @YEMblog and @ohkeepahblog) because of the awesome disconnection factor that comes with a weekend away in the mountains. I like to [...]
We keep our eyes peeled for new tour dates announcements each week and compile them on Tuesdays for this handy column… While Paul McCartney may not be able to hit a 95-MPH fastball, he will be taking the field at a number of Major League Baseball stadiums this summer. With two show already set to take place at Yankee Stadium in July, Macca announced today that he will hit a trio of other ballparks for his On The Run tour. The former Beatle and Wings frontman has added gigs at Comerica [...]
Yonder Mountain String Band's Ben Kaufmann and Dave Johnston sit down with PopMatters to discuss their ever-evolving sound, their alliance with the Harvest Festival, and why they never want to be That Bluegrass Band That Plays "Crazy Train". Whether you call it Progressive Bluegrass, Jamgrass, or otherwise, the Yonder Mountain String Band has a sound all its own. Combining bluegrass and other roots music with a rock 'n' roll sensibility, the band has spent the past decade gaining a sizable following on the road while maturing as songwriters and musicians along the way. For their latest release, [...]
Following recent trends in Americana, the Yonder Mountain retain twang while sacrificing grit, dirt, and songs. A little over ten years ago, I reviewed Yonder Mountain String Band's Elevation. The first song, "Half Moon Rising," not only stuck in my head for a long time but in the heads of friends for whom I played the track. It was like bluegrass, written slightly differently, and given a nice ritardando - a change-up this antiquated genre really needed. Unfortunately there's nothing like that on The Show, the band's latest album. These four...
The Bluegrass Ball @ The Old Rock House, March 12-13 Fellow music junkie Rex Thomson , a photographer and journalist, has made quite a name for himself over the past few years shooting and writing about bands from the jam, bluegrass, Americana and rock scenes for various publications and his own Rex-A-Vision Facebook page . We're honored to welcome Rex to the HT Team for the occasional review and photo set starting with this piece on The Bluegrass Ball... We can all use a little help from [...]
The lineup for High Sierra 2011 was just announced, nearly a full day early here on the West Coast and the same day that Electric Forest announced their lineup. Some fans may consider a tough choice between the two festivals, but not me and about 50 other friends out here in California. High Sierra is an obvious choice as it is, but with My Morning Jacket headlining the 21st annual festival and Ween , Neko Case , Warren Haynes , Yonder Mountain String Band , [...]
Like every other festival in 2011, the All Good Music Festival is celebrating an anniversary. This year marks the jam fest's 15th year, and to celebrate, three of the genre's biggest names have been tapped to headline the festivities. Furthur, moe., and Umphrey's McGee will head this year's edition of All Good, set to take place July 14-17 at Marvin's Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia. Other confirmed heavyweights include Primus, Pretty Lights, John Butler Trio, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Keller Williams. Galactic, Toots & the Maytals, JJ Grey and Mofro, The Infamous Stringdusters, Papadosio, Toubab [...]
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