Yonder Mountain String Band concludes winter tour at Keith-Albee

Yonder Mountain String Band performed the last show of its winter tour Saturday night at the Keith-Albee.

Southern Belles performed as Yonder Mountain String Band’s opening act. Southern Belles is a Richmond, Virginia based band whose style is a mix of southern psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll. The band played a set list of five songs, including songs from its recent album “In the Middle of The Night.”

Yonder Mountain String Band opened its performance by asking the audience to sing along and enjoy themselves. While the band was preparing to play, the audience was suggesting songs that they wanted to be played. The most requested song of the night was “River.”

“On the Run” was the first song of the night. Yonder Mountain String Band performed hit songs including “Black Sheep,” “High on the a Hilltop,” “River” and “Take a Chance on Me.”

People of all ages joined one another in the aisles of the Keith-Albee to dance along with the band.

Yonder Mountain String Band covered four songs during its set list, including “All Aboard” by the McCoury Band, “I’ve Always Been Crazy” by Waylon Jennings, “Years with Rose” by Benny Galloway and “It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City” by Bruce Springsteen.

The band’s base player, Ben Kaufmann, introduced the band members during the performance: Allie Kral on the fiddle, Adam Aijala on guitar, Dave Johnston on banjo and Jake Joliff on mandolin. Along with playing their instruments, each member does vocals. The band has been together since 1998 and they call Colorado home.

“If this is your first time here, men, and you’re with your lady, she’s going to be spending the whole night thinking about Jake Joliff,” Kaufmann said during the performance.

Kaufmann also played a game with the audience called “Guess Which Member is Pregnant” as a way of announcing to the crowd that fellow member Kral was expecting soon.

The band closed the set with its song “Landfall” and by thanking the crowd for giving them a good show.

Yonder Mountain String Band earned a standing ovation and came back to play a cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s hit song “Crazy Train” with its own bluegrass spin on it.

The band’s spring tour will begin March 8 in Utah.

Rachael Cook can be contacted at [email protected].