Yonder Mountain String Band will fiddle about at the Nokia with Railroad Earth
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND / RAILROAD EARTH
Nokia Theatre
1515 Broadway at West 44th St.
Tickets: $27.75
800-745-3000
www.nokiatheatrenyc.com
www.myspace.com/yondermountainstringband
www.railroadearth.com
Times Square’s Nokia Theatre is setting for a highly anticipated dream bill of music for fans of “jammy bluegrass,” or “bluegrass-tinged improvisational rock,” or maybe “highly danceable string band music played with acoustic instruments,” or . . . well . . . Suffice to say that the evening’s lineup falls somewhere within the bluegrass/rock/danceable-jam-band sphere, without strictly adhering to any precise, limiting guidelines. The headliner, Colorado-based foursome the Yonder Mountain String Band — Adam Aijala on guitar, Dave Johnston on banjo, Jeff Austin on mandolin, and Ben Kaufmann on bass — are entering their second decade on the heels of THE SHOW (Frog Pad, September 2009), a new album showcasing the band’s strengths in a studio setting, actually a rarity for an ensemble best known as a live act. (In addition, Elvis Costello veteran Pete Thomas adds drums six of the thirteen tracks on the new album.) YMSB has released five official CDs of live material thus far, equaling their studio output, and gained a devoted national following of fans who would be quick to tell you that the music is best witnessed live onstage. For certain there is a bluegrass heart throbbing underneath the band’s music, but it is important — almost redundant — to stress that YMSB stretches boundaries, not so much flitting about genre-wise, but rather easing various influences into their overall groove.
While the Osborne Brothers, say, remain an influence, knowing fans might hear some western swing or cajun in the mix, or even a Talking Heads or Minutemen cover. Again, it must be stressed that YMSB achieves this without a smug, winking virtuosity that can inflict some genre-bending ensembles; instead, the music follows an inclusive, germane flow. Even the term “progressive bluegrass” can infer a bookish approach to the sound. Yonder Mountain are more about working up a sweat, and playing by their own rules.
Railroad Earth will open for Yonder Mountain String Band at the Nokia (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
The jam-band label has similarly vexed New Jersey’s Railroad Earth, a sextet who bring percussion to the acoustic mix and share a bluegrass-derived sensibility with their Yonder Mountain brethren, even as they, too, incorporate influences from Celtic to folk into their engaging repertoire. Over time RRE has mastered the science of being able to stretch out and improvise, without getting over-noodly or self-indulgent, two whammies that turn folks off of the jam-band scene — often folks who live for melodic, well-written music by artists such as the Band or Neil Young. Railroad Earth sounds like themselves yet draw from a similar pedigree. Railroad Earth will be performing a seventy-five-minute set of their music prior to Yonder Mountain taking the stage. Opening this dream-bill evening will be Danny Barnes, former leader of Austin favorite the Bad Livers, and a man who knows a thing or two about twisting bluegrass in intriguing directions.