First of all, Ben Kaufmann is a gracious, thoughtful human being. He soldiered on through not one, but two interviews. I am a technical Neanderthal. If you'd like to hear what the second interview sounded like, it will be posted on kbac.com (HERE)
I felt as though there were some things worth repeating from the first (unrecorded) interview, though. Firstly, Kaufmann is 5 months clean and sober, not that he was anxious to be preachy about it - far from it, actually - but he seemed very forthcoming about YMSB and their place in the world. I am truly sorry that his insights were lost to the ravages of technical ineptitude on my part.
Let me just say in summary, because I feel it may be a document to anyone who may write about them in them future, that when pressed to sum up the 4 characters who comprise YMSB, he listed them as follows:
Ben, himself, "The Foundation," which I took to mean "The Roots," as in, without those you have nothing upon which to stand, musically, philosophically, what have you.
Jeff Austin (mandolin), "The Rockstar." Hardly surprising an assessment, as I've seen him play that role happily through many years, despite not being in a rock band.
Adam Aijala (guitar), "The Rock," as in solid, the touchstone which grounds all the madness -- and grounded Ben after a particularly "out there" episode involving multiple shots of tequila. Not that Kaufmann wants to say that anyone out there doing something similar shouldn't be allowed to gauge their own abilities, just that it was, for him, time to rein it back and see whether or not he could perform sober. He admitted it has been, at times, difficult.
Dave Johnston (banjo), "The Mad Genius." Actually, what Kaufmann said was that he reminded him of Keith Richards and that he's written more amazing, groundbreaking material than will probably ever see the light of day. Apparently, Johnston has notebooks full of unrecorded, unreleased, absolutely brilliant material.
As for the show, itself - fun, fun, fun.
Xavier Rudd, the opener, said it best when he said it was like "being at a family barbeque." I didn't take it as an insult (though it may have been meant to be, due to the change of venue from an amphitheatre to a large outdoor patio). It really did have that casual feeling, as if you vaguely thought you actually knew everyone there, but just couldn't quite remember their names.
Carolyn Wonderland and Pigment both seemed good sports about sharing the evening with the displaced Rudd and YMSB, who'd been scheduled for a date at Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre which was, we are told, suffering from severe old age in the plumbing department.
After hearing YMSB rip through the John Hartford number "Up on the Hill Where We Do the Boogie," via Leftover Salmon's arrangement, they had me very nearly from the beginning.
Somewhere in the middle of the show they managed to invent, on the spot, a nice little ditty about changing a string while Dave Johnston restrung his banjo. It seems these guys are so dedicated to the string band art form they each have only one instrument, so all we could do was wait while Jeff Austin regaled us with ad libbed “lyrics” to the string-changing song, teasing Johnston for not being ready because he “never breaks a string.” Austin conceded to a string-breaking tally in the thousands, and told how even Kaufmann had broken a bass string once (in Moscow, ID, for the curious – having grown up near Moscow, I wondered if the gig might’ve been at John’s Alley, a quintessential roadhouse-style dive bar where many amazing up-and-comers have played). Finally, the banjo was restrung and retuned, and the show continued. Maybe I imagined it, but the banjo seemed particularly bright and plucky (no pun intended) for the remainder of the show.
Absolute highlight was their rendition of Frank Zappa's "I'm the Slime." You should be so lucky to hear something this amazing in your lifetime. After Adam Aijala's brain-melting guitar solo, the band seemed a little amazed as well.
I've seen Yonder many times over the years, and listened to many show recordings besides, and they seem to have a whole new show every time I see them. Yes, they played the "Boatman" dance, and yes, I've sat through many a rendition, and it's just impossible for me to resist its charms every time.
But most of the material was new to me, possibly because they just finished a new studio album (one of few in their collective career), and that's one thing I really like about YMSB - like snowflakes, no two shows are even remotely alike.
Kaufmann expressed immense gratitude that the audience seems to be there for their particular brand of jamgrass, which I can't help feeling needs some official moniker to carry it into the annals of music history. I was enjoying the show with an acquaintance from “the south” and it occurred to me that this kind of bluegrass might be a little different from the traditional "Kentucky" style, and I decided to call it "Colorado Bluegrass." The kind Sam Bush (uncrowned "king" of the venerable Telluride Bluegrass Festival) and Benny Galloway (unsung architect of the Colorado folk sound) have been championing for years without getting radio play. Though YMSB are about to release a studio album ("The Show," in September), I suspect their real fans have accumulated through word of mouth on the "Colorado Bluegrass" scene. It's like bluegrass, only without having to apologize for taking you into orbit for a few turns around the planet.
Thank you all for a great show. And if rumors that the opening soundcheck number was Metallica were true, and I missed it, well, sucks to be me.
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