All who "Yonder" are not lost

The Paradise Rock Club was full of an interesting mix of bluegrass lovers, hippies and music-buffs for Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB) on Wednesday. It was quite fitting for a band that delicately and expertly bridges the genres of traditional bluegrass and the jamband. Classifications aside, YMSB provided three hours of exhilarating, energetic music that got everybody dancing. Pretty good for a quartet with no drums.

YMSB hails from Colorado, and their music certainly evokes images of the forests and mountains of their home state. The band consists of Jeff Austin on mandolin, Ben Kaufmann on standup bass, Adam Aijala on guitar and Dave Johnston on banjo. All four members of the band play their instruments expertly and all sing as well.

Contrary to popular opinion, bluegrass is not hick music. It is extremely complex, while maintaining a quality of musical purity. Few chords are used in any one song, and harmonies are kept simple and tight. The real complexity comes in the individual musicians' abilities to play both very fast and very cleanly.

The band succeeds in blending elements of traditional bluegrass music, which typically involves short solos by all band members, with whole group improvisation resembling the Grateful Dead and Phish. Songs like "Forty Miles From Denver" and "Idaho" draw heavily on the mandolin and banjo, like the music of bluegrass legends Bill Monroe and The Stanley Brothers. YMSB is also capable of jamming out songs like the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" for upwards of fifteen minutes while still keeping the songs rooted in a bluegrass feel.

Wednesday's performance got off to a good start with some traditional sounding YMSB originals. Aijala's guitar work is impeccably precise. He flatpicked every note with great speed and soared up and down the neck while circling around a few notes. Kaufmann's traditional bluegrass bass lines are slightly jazzed up to make them a little more interesting; Austin and Johnston are virtuosos at both soloing and comping on their instruments.

One of the things YMSB does exceptionally well is get people energized and dancing without drums. Kaufmann plays with a percussive feel, while Austin's muted strumming has the effect of keeping the time. Bluegrass harmonies are simple but so good, and echoed around the room Wednesday night.

The band also played a number of medleys, segueing seamlessly from song to song _ then back while never stopping. They capped off the evening after two sets with an acoustic, microphone-less encore of two of their most loved songs. There is no doubt that bluegrass is alive and well in the 21st century. Bands like YMSB are helping to bring one of America's most beloved and ancient musical traditions to an entirely new, young crowd with the energy of an Appalachian freight train.