Yonder Mtn. String Band back in the hood

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

When I was in college in Colorado around the year 2000, there was this new band starting to break into the music scene. Filled with fast-picking all-stars, Yonder rapidly became a household name for American progressive bluegrass. I even got to see them play in a small Denver bar filled with beer-drinking hippies and sweating bluegrass lovers. The show, in a word, was amazing.

Yonder Mountain String Band. Courtesy photo.

Fast forward to today and the Colorado-based five-piece is still as energetic, creative and fun as ever. Founding members Adam Aijala, Dave Johnston and Ben Kaufman reconfigured the band a few years ago with the addition of new players Allie Kral and Jacob Jolliff. Yonder released their latest studio album “Love. Ain’t Love” last summer, keeping their feet firmly rooted in traditional bluegrass, but always striving to keep the sound current and forward-thinking. They remain one of the hottest and most talented bluegrass bands on planet Earth.

“I think this is our best album yet,” said Aijala.

Catch Yonder as they return to Sandpoint at The Hive on Sunday, March 11. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 if bought in advance, or $30 at the door. This is a 21 and up show, www.livefromthehive.com for more info.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.