Since folks here seem to like inventive groups, I thought I'd share this. I found out Friday night that Yonder Mountain String Band was playing in Northampton, MA on Saturday. Having been curious, I went down to see them; I was blown away. These are four talented young men who start from tradition and move out to the edges. There were some standard bluegrass style songs with the traditional type breaks, but there were also some great free-form jams. They did Talking Heads' "Girlfriend is Better" with a jam that just had me floating away. (I am an addictions counselor by profession, so no chemical help was involved. The music just carried me.   )

I went there as a curious person and left as a fan. Any other YMSB fans out there?

Yeah, take your pick.  Some are more traditional/acoustic, some more electric/rock but the following five run the gammut...

Railroad Earth

   The most acoustic sounding of these. I really like "Smiling Like A Budha", "Just Another Bird in the Hall" and many of their other songs.

Leftover Salmon

   A bit more electric.  I love the jam on "Whispering Waters".  

Drew Emmit Band

   DE is formerly of LS.  Some good mando mixed with a bit more electric sound.

String Cheese Incident

   Probably the most rock/electric of them all.  I like "Miss Brown's Tea House" and many of there other sounds.

Waybacks  

 Waaaay competent musicians.  Chops out the wazoooz!!!  A lot of western swing jazz but they are fun, not just chops and no soul.  And... if you've got nothing to do for 20 minutes, check out their cut of Cumberland Blues; it will knock yer pants off.  I believe they  backup Bob Wier at some of the festivals now and then but they are waaaay more than worthy on thier own.  THey're playing in Somerville in a couple weeks on a THursday night.  If I wasn't a work-a-daddy that goes to be at 9:30, I'd definitely check them out.

All five of these have lots of free recorded shows (as does YMSB) on archive.org, furthurnet.org, and other places.  You can check them out for free.    Please go to a show or buy an album if you like them.


Oh, and don't forget about them boyze that started the whole "traditional music meets psycho-jam" thing but since you recorded an album of them guyz songs, I figger y'll ready know about those guyz.  ;)  

--Last edited by kvk on 2006-10-09 20:54:06 --

I take it you are referring to the band formerly known as Mother Macree's Uptown Jug Champions?  

I'll have to check out some of those other bands. I just downloaded an August show by YMSB recorded in Edgartown, MA. Two discs woth of music for a 9.95 download fee. Great deal!  

I saw YMSB at the Norva last month and I agree they were awesome. The mando player played his mandolin slung low like a guitar player it was pretty cool to watch.

They were opening for the Blues Traveler and if you haven't ever seen them you have to because John Popper is the man on the blues harp.

At one point John Popper came out and did a duet note for note with the mand player of YMSB and it was fantastic.

I very much enjoyed both shows.

I was thrilled to see how the girls in the audience reacted to the mandolin player. He wears slightly nerdy glasses (a lot like mine), plays the mandolin (a lot better than me), and had the girls going wild. It gave me hope.  

Of course, he is about 20-25 years younger than me...

I've not hseen Blues Traveller, but am familiar with them. John Popper is indeed quite a harp player.

Have not seen YMSB in 2-3 years.  Very good band with a lot of talent.  They are probably even tighter thatn when I saw them.  I remember the first live recording for them at the Planet Bluegrass Show in Lyons, CO.  They encored with Crazy Train (yes Ozzy's tune).  

They choose some neat covers. The live show I downloaded includes Neil Youngs "Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere" and the Beatles' "Only a Northern Song". which is an obscure Beatles song for sure.

Anyone know what brand mandolin hr plays? Even plugged in it has a nice sound.

I emailed YMSB once with the same question. For years Jeff Austin (mandolin player) played a Flatiron Festival, plain and simple. Now, he plays a souped up Collings MF5V or something like that. Once he made some money, he went for the Collings. He also plays with a pick-up of some sort. You can email them and someone will get back to you. I think it's their sound guy or promotions person.

Jeff's decision to stay with the Flatiron for so long is a good reality check regarding MAS. Even as a professional, touring musician - one that makes some serious loot - he used a relatively inexpensive mandolin for a while.