Spring Break
'Progressive' grass band to play Theatre
JOHN BARRETT
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Out & About
Fans of bluegrass and jam-based music alike, rejoice: the Yonder Mountain String Band is returning to Athens tonight. It is set to take the stage at the Georgia Theatre as part of its annual "Cabin Fever Tour," which this year marks its 10-year anniversary as a band.
"We've been cooped up in the winter in Colorado for the past three months, hence why we call this tour the 'Cabin Fever Tour,'" said Ben Kaufmann, Yonder Mountain's upright bass player. "That's why we tour the South in the winter - we're not dummies. It's better than freezing in the North. People are friendlier in warm weather, and a lot of people are in the South around this time of year for the same reasons."
The band's active touring career has garnered them a considerable amount of attention, including a spot on the main stage at this year's approaching Bonnaroo festival. Its music often is described as "progressive bluegrass" - bluegrass that incorporates a wide variety of other styles.
Where: Georgia Theatre
Cost: SOLD OUT
But Kaufmann insists that genres tend to pigeonhole music and that "progressive bluegrass" doesn't sum up the band completely.
That being said, what exactly inspires the Yonder Mountain String Band, in a world full of flavor-of-the-month genres, to predominantly adhere to the bluegrass style?
"It changes every day," Kaufmann said. "Initially when we formed, bluegrass appealed to us because of its sound: it was this banjo-driven music that had a certain drive and energy behind it that's unique to itself. You can't capture it any other way."
But while the band could easily be content to rest on its bluegrass laurels, it has trodden a different path in recent years by paying homage to influences outside the realm of bluegrass.
According to Kaufmann, these influences are as far-reaching as Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Phish, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and even the punk rock movement.
"We've been cooped up in the winter in Colorado for the past three months, hence why we call this tour the 'Cabin Fever Tour,'" said Ben Kaufmann, Yonder Mountain's upright bass player. "That's why we tour the South in the winter - we're not dummies. It's better than freezing in the North. People are friendlier in warm weather, and a lot of people are in the South around this time of year for the same reasons."
The band's active touring career has garnered them a considerable amount of attention, including a spot on the main stage at this year's approaching Bonnaroo festival. Its music often is described as "progressive bluegrass" - bluegrass that incorporates a wide variety of other styles.
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND
When: 9 tonightWhere: Georgia Theatre
Cost: SOLD OUT
But Kaufmann insists that genres tend to pigeonhole music and that "progressive bluegrass" doesn't sum up the band completely.
That being said, what exactly inspires the Yonder Mountain String Band, in a world full of flavor-of-the-month genres, to predominantly adhere to the bluegrass style?
"It changes every day," Kaufmann said. "Initially when we formed, bluegrass appealed to us because of its sound: it was this banjo-driven music that had a certain drive and energy behind it that's unique to itself. You can't capture it any other way."
But while the band could easily be content to rest on its bluegrass laurels, it has trodden a different path in recent years by paying homage to influences outside the realm of bluegrass.
According to Kaufmann, these influences are as far-reaching as Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Phish, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and even the punk rock movement.
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