LIVE AND DANGEROUS: Look at that Yonder Mountain

Wednesday night at the House of Blues equaled a boot full of redefined bluegrass.

Bluegrass is a timeline of music as unique as rock ‘n’ roll. A musical gumbo, mix of jazz, old-time music, deep guitar twangs and country, if you will. This style of sound relies mainly on acoustic string instruments that create harmonic sound that sours into melodic storytelling of miners, cowboys and of hard-living folks generally in blue collar-type work. 

Those who love deep-rooted music often wonder in worry where this community of music is heading. Like all other root music, the original makers are being lost and forgotten. This makes it more challenging for fans and musicians to grasp the origins of this art to create and craft new elements of music.  

Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band pours itself a heavy helping of this challenge and decided to drench a little bit of its foot stomping high energy on San Diego’s own House of Blues.

From the get go, Yonder (Jeff Austin, mandolin; Dave Johnston, banjo; Ben Kaufmann, bass and Adam Aijala, guitar) accompanied by fiddle extraordinaire, Darol Anger, combined the sound of traditional bluegrass with jam-rock and charged into “Peace of Mind,” “Dawns Early Light,” the back into “Peace of Mind.” 

The good vibes stretched throughout the tight venue, thanks to the band’s kinfolk following. Yonder was obviously thankful as it expressed kind words of appreciation throughout the show.

Similar to other publicly proclaimed jam bands, Yonder tended to focus its energy on one member of the band doing what he does best, yet leaving a little door open so that the others can creep in and combine the same talent with their instruments. Freight-training through the first set, Yonder coexisted with the eccentric family friendly crowd, while the crowd coexisted with evocative tunes, including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.” 

After taking a breather for some tall boys, the lads picked up where they left off with a frenzied “Finally Saw The Light” track. The energy kept rising throughout the set with fun-filled fiddling (say that a few times real fast) and a massive mandolin session by  Austin. Austin seemed like a man having periodic strokes, given his strumming and facial gestures. At one point, he fell into the throes of a scat that rivaled Ella Fitzgerald in her heyday. The hoedown transcended into a funk filled “Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie.” 

Naturally, when all was well, an unknown winner in the crowd decided bassist Kaufmann needed to be cooled down by throwing a cup of ice on the band during its last song of the second set, “Casualty.” Verbally acknowledging the gesture of appreciation with my favorite four-letter word, Kaufmann and the boys gracefully pushed through an encore, not letting one bad egg ruin a stellar performance. 

Yonder Mountain is becoming one of the more popular touring bands with an ever-growing fan base that relies on pushing the boundaries of music. 

For more information about the band, visit www.yondermountain.com.

For gig information at the House of Blues, take a peak at its Web site, www.hob.com.

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