Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band and The Here and Now
Venue: Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2014
Time: 8:00 - 10:00 PM
Event Types: Music
Cost:

Description:
Live at The Lyric presents musician Jeff Austin of the Yonder Mountain String Band and his band The Here and Now on Thursday, June 5th. Jeff will be joined by musicians Danny Barnes, Eric Thorin and Ross Martin.

Mandolinist Jeff Austin is unstoppable. He is celebrated for his fleet fingers and penchant for improvisation on stage, but those qualities also speak volumes about how he chooses to live. Austin has cultivated his natural musical abilities and allowed himself to be driven by his boldest instincts. In this way, he has been able to build positive, exciting momentum around his life’s greatest passion.

In 1998, Austin and his band mate Dave Johnston of The Bluegrassholes relocated to Nederland, Colorado. While working at a bar called the Verve, Austin met Adam Aijala and Ben Kaufmann, with whom he and Johnston would form the Yonder Mountain String Band. Together, the four musicians have created a wild, high-energy niche among the bluegrass legends of old and the up and coming jam band scene. Over fifteen years, Yonder Mountain String Band have built an intensely loyal fan base by playing festivals and venues across the nation, sharing the stage with legends like Jon Fishman, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzman, Earl Scruggs, Pete Thomas, and Jimmy Herring, and releasing five studio albums and five live recordings.

It is with this rich personal history at his back that propels Austin into a new creative direction as he prepares to step into the spotlight as a solo artist. On his forthcoming debut project, Austin’s songwriting remains rooted in Americana inspiration and the frantic energy of the jam genre but also, reaches even further weaving in more mainstream themes, reminiscent of his co-write contribution “Fiddlin’ Around,” that was featured on the 2010 Grammy nominated Dierks Bentley album, Up on the Ridge. While the upcoming, untitled solo effort is still a work in progress, it can already be summed up succinctly as Austin’s love letter to storytelling. “I love writing a three-minute song with a hook that would grab a five-hundred-pound marlin as much as I like writing something that goes, ‘okay, after the bridge, it’s going to open up and just go wide.’”

Indeed, “wide” is what Jeff Austin is all about. He wants new and different, complex and interesting. He wants everything the music world has to offer, and he’s willing to work hard to get it.

For more information, visit: http://www.jeffaustin.com/

Tickets and information available by calling the box office - 540-951-4771 or online at http://www.thelyric.com/live

Live At The Lyric is a semi-annual series of live entertainment events at the Lyric Theatre, including music, family events, comedy, theatre and much more! These events are programmed in-house by The Lyric staff to provide the community with a diverse selection of arts entertainment.

For more information, visit: http://www.thelyric.com/live