Yonder Mountain String Band Announces New Band Member Line-Up!

Yonder Mountain String Band
Announces New Band Member Line-Up Featuring
Violinist Allie Kral and Mandolinist Jacob Jolliff

Boulder, CO -- Tuesday, May 12, 2015 -- Embarking on the June 16, 2015 release of their latest full-length studio album, Black Sheep (Frog Pad Records), Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB) officially announces today its new band member line-up moving forward, which features the additions of violinist Allie Kral and mandolin virtuoso Jacob Jolliff. Joining founding members Adam Aijala (guitar, vocals), Dave Johnston (banjo, vocals) and Ben Kaufmann (bass, vocals), Kral and Jolliff have been touring with YMSB over the past year and appear on Black Sheep. Black Sheep marks the first time in Yonder's history that they're utilizing, throughout an entire record, the conventional five-piece instrumental arsenal of bluegrass introduced in the 1940s: guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and bass. YMSB is available for interviews upon request.

Jolliff is an award-winning mandolinist (First Place, The National Mandolin Championship 2012, Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, KS), and was a longtime member of the Americana band, Joy Kills Sorrow. He's performed with many of today's most distinguished mandolin players, including Ronnie McCoury, Chris Thile, Sam Bush, and David Grisman. Kral is well-known as the former fiddle player for Cornmeal (2003 - 2013), and she's worked alongside various notable artists such as Warren Haynes, moe., and Railroad Earth. With the addition of these two standout musicians, YMSB sets forth on its new path of re-exhibiting itself and broadening its parameters.

"Just months ago, we were playing music for the first time together," says Allie Kral. "We were getting to know one another and 'testing the waters' so to speak. What we found was that we have the dedication and the drive to practice all day long, the hearts to hang out together as friends, and the souls to play together on that stage. I'm equally blessed and humbled to become a member of Yonder Mountain String Band, and forever a Kinfolk."

Jacob Jolliff adds, "It's been such an honor and a privilege to perform with Yonder Mountain String Band for the last year. I'm so grateful to the band for the opportunity, and to the fans for being so welcoming. I'm excited to continue to spend time with these great people, and push each other to make better and better music!"

"Playing with Jake and Allie, working with them in the studio, and traveling with them has been a real blast," says Dave Johnston. "I couldn't have anticipated how they have simultaneously provided a host of great possibilities and potential for Yonder Mountain while at the same time fitting in with our vibe. They are truly part of our Yonder family and I welcome the days to come."

It's apparent that Black Sheep is the work of a new Yonder Mountain String Band. While it's immediately recognizable as YMSB music, there's undeniably a raw aesthetic to the studio tracks -- a sense of daring is embedded in both the instrumental interaction between these five singular musicians and in the lyrical content of each song. With the band's 17th anniversary coming this summer, YMSB continues to redefine bluegrass music as they expand the traditional acoustic genre beyond its previously established boundaries by steadily pushing the envelope into the realms of rock n' roll and improvisation.

Commencing in May 2015 and running throughout the rest of the year, YMSB performs at premier music festivals and venues, including Dear Jerry: Celebrating the Music of Jerry Garcia (May 14: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD), Summer Camp Festival (May 22 - 24: Chillicothe, IL), Rooster Walk Music & Arts Festival (May 23: Axton, VA), Blue Ox Festival (June 11 - 13: Eau Claire, WI), Telluride Bluegrass Festival (June 17 - 20: Telluride, CO), Electric Forest (June 28: Rothbury, MI), Brooklyn Bowl (July 7: Brooklyn, NY), All Good Music Festival (July 11: Summit Point, WV), Mountain Sol Festival (July 12: Felton, CA), Northwest String Summit (July 16 - 19: North Plains, OR), Hinterland Music Festival (August 1: Des Moines, IA), Red Rocks Amphitheatre (August 21: Morrison, CO), Hangtown Halloween (October 22 - 24: Placerville, CA), Strings & Sol (Dec. 10 - 14: Puerto Morelos, Mexico), and many others!

Yonder Mountain String Band Announces 4-Night NYE Run @ Boulder Theater!

Yonder Mountain String Band
Announces 4-Day NYE Run @ Boulder Theater
December 31, 2014 - January 3, 2015
Boulder, CO

Boulder, CO -- Thursday, September 25, 2014 -- New Year's Eve in Boulder, CO has become a tradition for Yonder Mountain String Band. Come ring in the New Year at the Boulder Theater for a 4-night run with plenty of foot stompin' and hand clappin' as Yonder burns it down with special guest violinist Allie Kral and mandolin player Jake Jolliff; additional special guests will be announced in the coming weeks. This year, YMSB kicks off the run on Wednesday, December 31, 2014. On New Year's Day, the venue will roll out some mighty fine Bloody Marys and other libations to help fans start the year off right as YMSB keeps the party going through Saturday, January 3, 2015. Pre-sale tickets are now available via YMSB's Tour Page with the general on-sale starting this Friday, September 26, 2014 via the Boulder Theater box office and online. Leading up to the NYE run, YMSB will be on the road for their Fall Tour 2014 with headlining stops at the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival (Oct. 4: Raleigh, NC), Mulberry Mt. Harvest Festival (Oct. 16 - 18: Ozark, AR), and select venues in the South, East Coast, and Midwest. For some fun in the sun this December 11 - 15, don't miss YMSB's Strings & Sol happening in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. YMSB interviews and hi-res photos are available upon request.

Bluegrass is a music steeped in tradition, but over the past decade and a half -- much of it spent on the road -- Yonder Mountain String Band has spearheaded a renegade movement to rewrite the definition of the genre. Alongside other neo-bluegrass friends such as Leftover Salmon, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, The Travelin' McCourys, and Railroad Earth, YMSB has thoroughly revitalized and contemporized bluegrass and introduced it to many thousands of new fans. Rolling Stone said that YMSB "liberates bluegrass' hot-shit riffing and blue-sky harmonies from its hidebound formalism," while Paste Magazine wrote, "The Yonder Mountain boys have found a formula that works: take rootsy bluegrass influences, add in some rock 'n' roll, and seek out an adventurous audience."

Yonder Mountain String Band is comprised of Adam Aijala (guitar, vocals), Dave Johnston (banjo, vocals), Ben Kaufmann (bass, vocals), and select special guest artists who will appear with the band throughout 2014. Two standout musicians regularly performing live with YMSB are Jake Jolliff (mandolin, vocals) and Allie Kral (fiddle, vocals). Jolliff is an award-winning mandolin player (First Place, National Mandolin Championship 2012, Walnut Valley Festival), and was a founding member of the disbanded Americana outfit, Joy Kills Sorrow. Kral is well-known as the former fiddle player for Cornmeal (2003 - 2013), and she's worked alongside various notable artists including moe., Railroad Earth, Warren Haynes, and others. For confirmed line-up information, please see the tour dates listed below.

With the band having one of the strongest touring bases in the industry, fans and critics alike have been drawn to both their live shows and singular studio albums. Reporting from the All Good Music Festival (2009), journalist Jarrett Bellini from CNN Showbiz Tonight notes, "The trophy for best musical set goes to Yonder Mountain String Band who, as the sun began to set, left it all on the stage for an hour and a half. The pickers from Colorado had the audience dancing and shaking, kicking up a joyful storm of dust into the cool summer sky."

YMSB has evolved into something of a phenomenon on the concert and festival circuit. The band has sold out Colorado's famed Red Rocks several times, and played sold-out shows with Grateful Dead and Furthur bassist Phil Lesh at his Terrapin Crossroads venue in August 2012. They also host three singular music festivals every year -- Northwest String Summit (now in its 14th year and hosted by YMSB every year), Harvest Music Festival (where they will host for the fifth time in October 2014), and Strings & Sol (Yonder hosts for the third year-in-a-row in Mexico in December 2014) -- and have consecutively sold out runs of shows at Telluride Bluegrass Festival year after year. Every other year, YMSB also hosts Kinfolk Festival @ Planet Bluegrass. In all, Yonder Mountain logs over 100 live dates per year.

Yonder has always played music by its own design. Bending bluegrass, rock and countless other influences, they've come to pioneer a sound that they alone could only champion. With a traditional lineup of instruments, they may appear to be a traditional bluegrass band at first glance but they've taken the customary old-timey instrumentation to new heights, transcending any single genre. Yonder has become a regular performer at major music festivals like the iconic Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Summer Camp, and DelFest as well as massive multi-stage events like Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits Festival.

YMSB is currently working on a new full-length studio recording; fans can expect a new album to be released in early 2015.

For more information on Yonder Mountain String Band, please visit www.yondermountain.com.

YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND FALL & WINTER 2014 TOUR DATES
10/4 - Raleigh, NC - Wide Open Bluegrass*^
10/16 - 10/18 - Ozark, AR - Mulberry Mt. Harvest Festival*^#
10/23 - Augusta, GA - Riverwalk Revival*^
10/24 - Birmingham, AL - Iron City Music Hall*
10/25 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theater*
10/26 - Savannah, GA - Trustee Garden*
10/29 - Louisville, KY - Mercury Ballroom*^
10/30 - Chattanooga, TN - Track 29*^
10/31 - Roanoke, VA - Shaftman Performance Hall @ Jefferson Center*^
11/1 - Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy’s*^
11/5 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom*^
11/6 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue*^
11/7 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues*^
11/8 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues*^
11/12 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Ballroom*^
11/13 - Boston, MA - House of Blues*^
11/14 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts*^
11/15 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl*^
12/11 - 12/15 - Puerto Morelos, Mexico - Strings & Sol*^
12/31 - 1/3 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater*^

Special Guest Performers:*Jake Jolliff (mandolin, vocals)
^Allie Kral (fiddle, vocals)
#Jerry Douglas (dobro)

(NEW EP) Yonder Mountain String Band Releases "YMSB EP '13" (Oct. 8, 2013)

Yonder Mountain String Band

"YMSB EP '13"

(Frog Pad Records: October 8, 2013)

Bluegrass is a music steeped in tradition, but over the past decade and a half -- much of it spent on the road -- Yonder Mountain String Band has spearheaded a renegade movement to rewrite the definition of the genre. Alongside other neo-bluegrass friends such as Leftover Salmon, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, The Travelin' McCourys, and Railroad Earth, YMSB has thoroughly revitalized and contemporized bluegrass and introduced it to many thousands of new fans. Rolling Stone said that YMSB "liberates bluegrass' hot-shit riffing and blue-sky harmonies from its hidebound formalism," while Paste Magazine wrote, "The Yonder Mountain boys have found a formula that works: take rootsy bluegrass influences, add in some rock 'n' roll, and seek out an adventurous audience."

That adventurous audience will eagerly embrace YMSB EP '13, to be released on CD and vinyl Oct. 8, 2013 on the band's own Frog Pad Records, and October 15 digitally. Self-produced by YMSB, the four-track EP features one song written and sung by each member: "Straight Line" by Ben Kaufmann (bass, vocals), "Don't Worry Happy Birthday" by Dave Johnston (banjo, vocals), "Rag Doll" by Jeff Austin (mandolin, vocals) and special guest songwriter Danny Barnes, and "All the Time" by Adam Aijala (guitar, vocals). The recording was cut at Electrical Audio in Chicago during a momentary break from the road, a method that seems to suit Yonder Mountain String Band's hectic pace.

"The EP is something we recorded while on the road," says Kaufmann. "We seek out studios to work in while touring, and while the juices are flowing and chops are at maximum potential, we take a couple of days to record. There are four singers and four songwriters in the band; what a perfect way for us to release studio material."

Touring is in this band's DNA, and YMSB has evolved into something of a phenomenon on the concert and festival circuit -- they are, in fact, one of the top touring bluegrass bands in the country today. Yonder Mountain has sold out Colorado's famed Red Rocks several times, and played sold-out shows with ex-Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh at his Terrapin Crossroads in August 2012. They also host three singular music festivals every year -- Northwest String Summit (now in its 12th year and hosted by YMSB every year), Harvest Music Festival (where they will host for the fourth time in October 2013), and Strings & Sol (Yonder hosts for the second year-in-a-row in Mexico in December 2013) -- and have consecutively sold out runs of shows at Telluride Bluegrass Festival year after year. In all, Yonder Mountain logs over 100 live dates per year, allowing them to polish their material -- and after hunkering down in a recording studio for a couple of days at a time, to release studio tracks at their highest level of ability.

"YMSB EP '13 is the first in a series of EPs we'll release," says Aijala. "We dropped one show per tour to head into the recording studio. Touring is such a big part of Yonder's life that recording while out on the road is an excellent new paradigm for us." Kaufmann adds, "The music world is so different these days, it's all about bite-sized chunks, so we felt a series of EPs was the best way to capture magic in the studio, and something that our fans could truly relate to. We asked ourselves, what's really feasible when you have a band with so many songwriters? When you have an EP, you can have all these connections and interrelations in four songs, it just works for YMSB."

"Yes, we will make a full-length album again," Aijala assures, "but for now our focus while out on the road is to find special recording studios, and lay down a handful of tracks at a time."

The result this first time out is a testament to the hit-and-run concept. That inter-connectedness Johnston talks about becomes apparent when the four songs are absorbed as a whole. "There's a discussion going on with all the tunes," he says. "At the core of the whole thing, there are four different voices, talking about different ways of being apart from things. The characters are examining how to relate to the circumstances unfolding around them in their lives. In 'Don't Worry,' at the heart of the song there's a guy guilty for being gone. It goes deeper than a man who has forgotten the birthday of someone he loves; it is an apology for all the things he has forgotten, missed or neglected."

"Straight Line" examines the failure of good intentions, about realizing that while it seemed easier at times to take the straight line, the narrator of the song missed a lot of growth, adventure and experiences. By being too focused on the future, one loses sight on what is happening now.

Aijala, who wrote "All the Time," says, "You can find connections if you really pay attention." But, about his own contribution, he adds, "'All the Time' didn't come from a personal place. I'm totally happy in the relationship I'm in. I felt in the mood to write a song, and it came out in a single day. Other songs are different, I mean, Ben and I have a song we started in 2002 and it's still not done."

"Rag Doll," co-written by Jeff Austin and Danny Barnes, taps back into a 25 year-old daydream. Austin notes, "This song started as a daydream I would have as a kid. I would walk around and make up songs, singing them to myself all the time. I'm capturing a kid dreaming about what can be possible in the future. I had written the first part of the chorus, and took it to Danny, who I've known for many years. The connectivity of his voice, I just love what he came up with, 'I'm a rag doll peepin' in your window shade.'"

At the core of each song, there's distance, adds Johnston. "The speakers are not in the middle of the action, they are away from the action. But every one of the speakers is trying to examine his life. I think all artists unconsciously wonder, 'How effective is what I'm doing? What difference does it make if I act good or bad?'"

For YMSB EP '13, the band dispensed with outside producers and took the studio reins themselves. "I thought that self-producing the record would provide us with an opportunity to understand our music as we saw it, not that we are averse to working with a producer," says Johnston. "Also, scheduling time to get away after a busy tour left us limited options. But it's exactly these sorts of constraints that make for creative solutions and hopefully creative music."

"These days it's about flow, for me," adds Kaufmann, who wrote his contribution, "Straight Line," about a decade ago, started playing it live with Adam in 2010, and finally brought it into the studio for the EP. "What are the things I can do to keep creativity flowing?" he asks. "And how can Yonder continue to create and produce material with ease? Yonder spends so much time on tour, performing live music, and we're at our best when we're playing live. What better time, then, to record? By integrating studio recording with touring I feel we give ourselves every opportunity to capture Yonder Mountain at our best. The new EP captures the true sound of Yonder better than any of our previous releases, in my opinion."

Adds Jeff Austin, succinctly, "It's always inspiring to try new things, so, why not?! To take some songs that people have only known live and to give them a different take, it's always interesting to hear their reactions."

In addition to the music itself, fans will surely take notice of the striking artwork that graces the cover of YMSB EP '13. It was created by Johnny Sampson, who has produced 27 different poster designs for YMSB since 2009. Describing his intent with the cover, Sampson says, "The design represents four different elements (spine, veins, tree branch, various instrument strings) intertwining to form a unified whole. Implied is the bond of the four members of the band. Separately, they each have their own distinct contrasting attributes, but together they exist as a tight-knit group of organized chaos. I like that it's an enigmatic image and tells an open-ended story, with no real right or wrong interpretation."

Says Johnston, summing up, "I'm really excited about putting out the EP because it is a step in the right direction: working under our own creative control and intuition, being motivated to record on tour, and keeping an open dialogue about what we want out of our releases. The next EP could be songs we've never performed before," he adds. "We could work with a producer. Fans can expect the unexpected!"

And that, in the end, has always been what YMSB has been about: expecting the unexpected!

For more information on Yonder Mountain String Band, please visit www.yondermountain.com.

YMSB FALL TOUR DATES
10/9 - Wilmington, NC - Greenfield Amphitheater
10/10 - Charlotte, NC - Amos’ Southend
10/11 - Athens, GA - The Georgia Theater
10/12 - Silk Hope, NC – Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival
10/13 - Chattanooga, TN - Track 29
10/16 - Oxford, MS - The Lyric
10/17 - 10/19 - Ozark, AK - Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival
10/23 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
10/24 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10/25 & 10/26 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
10/29 & 10/30 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl
10/31 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
11/1 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
11/2 - Portland, ME - State Theater
12/11 - 12/14 - Puerto Morelos, Mexico - Strings & Sol
12/27 - 12/31 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater