"Rewriting the hip progressive-bluegrass genre," Yonder Mountain String Band will perform Saturday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center in Huntington, West Virginia, according to Angela Jones, director of Marketing & External Affairs for the Marshall Artists Series.
Presented by the Miller Investment Group at RBC Wealth Management, Yonder Mountain has spearheaded a renegade movement to rewrite the definition of the genre, Jones says.
Rolling Stone has written that the band "liberates bluegrass' hot-stuff riffing and blue-sky harmonies from its hidebound formalism.”
Made up of two guitarists, a banjo player, a fiddle player, and a mandolin player, Yonder Mountain has redefined bluegrass music for nearly two decades.
"While the traditional line up of instruments may appear to be old-timey, don’t be fooled," Jones says.
"Yonder Mountain String Band takes old-timey Bluegrass roots and fuses it with rock, soul, and funk. The result is music that doesn’t stand still, is always moving forward, and breaks unprecedented ground."
The band has become a regular performer at major music festivals like Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Summer Camp, Bonaroo, Austin City Limits Festival, and Rothbury.
In 2009, Jarrett Bellini from CNN Showbiz Tonight stated, “The pickers from Colorado had the audience dancing and shaking, kicking up a joyful storm of dust into the cool summer sky."
This band is guaranteed to get you out of your seat and moving your feet, Jones says, quoting Paste Magazine's critique: "Yonder Mountain String Band has found a formula that works: take rootsy bluegrass influences, add in some rock 'n' roll, and seek out an adventurous audience."
The band has followed a trail blazed by Bela Fleck, Leftover Salmon, and Sam Bush, namely, introducing a high-energy and modernistic form of bluegrass to a younger generation of thrill-seekers, Jones says.
Founding members Adam Aijala, Dave Johnston, and Ben Kaufmann reconfigured the band as a traditional bluegrass instrumental five-piece with the help of Allie Kral and Jacob Jolliff in 2014.
Tickets to share an adventurous, energy-fused musical evening with the quintet are $70.58, $48.76, $37.84. To purchase tickets, contact the Marshall Artists Series Box Office at 304-696-6656 or order tickets online at Ticketmaster.com.
Guests may also visit our box office located in the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse on the Marshall University campus. Box office hours are Monday through Friday noon to 5 p.m.
The performance is also sponsored David and Kim Robinson, Reger Funeral Home, Community Trust Bank, The Chirico Family, Dr. Jeff and Mrs. Brooke Leaberry, WTCR, KEE 100, The Herald Dispatch, WSAZ, Marshall University, and the Marshall Artists Series.
