Photo by Jay Blakesberg/courtesy of the artist.
Since forming nearly 20 years ago, Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB) has modernized bluegrass music while staying true to the genre’s traditional roots. Known for its incessant touring schedule, the band also runs its own record label, Frog Pad Records. Currently, YMSB is touring in support of its 2015 release, Black Sheep. The album is the band’s first release following the departure of mandolinist/founding member Jeff Austin. On Wednesday, October 5, the Colorado-based quintet will return to Birmingham for a performance at Workplay Theatre. In anticipation of the upcoming show, Weld discussed YMSB’s latest album and future plans with the band’s vocalist/violinist, Allie Kral.
Weld: Tell me a little about the writing and recording of Black Sheep.
Allie Kral: For Black Sheep, these were mostly newer tunes that [fellow band members] Adam [Aijala], Dave [Johnston] and Ben [Kaufmann] wrote in the studio. They had Jacob [Jolliff] and myself join in as special guests even before we became members of Yonder. We put our own spin on things as instrumentalists but the tunes were pretty much figured out in the studio.
Weld: Black Sheep is the band’s first self-produced album. How did this album in particular become the first one?
Kral: It gave us a chance to get back to our roots and have full say in what we wanted to present our new band as. It ended up sounding more like our first album than any other. Adam spent a ton of time learning [recording software] ProTools and produced and edited much of the album himself. No one can argue how it came out this way — we had full veto power and got to use our own judgment on our own songs. It means a lot more work, but in the end [it’s] a product that we really ended up loving.
Weld: You’re nearing the band’s 20th anniversary. Are any plans in the works to celebrate the milestone?
Kral: We’ll have to talk about that — we haven’t discussed it yet. I think it would be cool to bring back oldie-but-goodie tunes that have gotten lost over the years and maybe do something extra special for the kinfolk that have stuck by us for so many years.
Weld: Are you currently writing new material or shelving writing while you tour in support of Black Sheep?
Kral: We’re constantly writing new material and experimenting with covers as well. We practice an hour a day at the very least when we’re on the road — some days getting up to three hours of rehearsal — so we can constantly give the audience a fresh new sound and a fresh new show. By this fall tour, it almost seemed like Black Sheep tunes are old now compared to how many new tunes we’ve learned since Black Sheep’s release. That’s great, though, in my opinion.
Weld: What are the band’s touring and recording plans for the rest of this year and next year?
Kral: We’re back at it in the studio again, writing an entirely new album expected to be out at the beginning of 2017. Like Black Sheep, we’re self-producing this one too. It’s going to have a great new spin to it. I can’t give the details away quite yet but we’re on a roll right now and can’t stop. The creative juices are flowing.
Yonder Mountain String Band will perform at WorkPlay on Wednesday, October 5. The show begins at 8 p.m. For more information, visit workplay.com.