Yonder Mountain String band to hit Kent Stage

June 18, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

Feeling like the black sheep of the contemporary bluegrass scene, the Yonder Mountain String Band plays by its own rules.

“Some people will argue you shouldn’t record anything that you can’t pull off in the live show, and I don’t agree with that,” said guitarist-singer Adam Aijala, calling from Boulder, Colo. “In the studio you can get away with more, so why not play two different guitars on the same track?

“I always liked the idea of you have a studio album from a band you enjoy, you see them live and it sounds different – it still sounds good but it has a different feel to it.”

Therein lies the modus operandi of the Yonder Mountain String Band; however, for the group’s 2015 album “Black Sheep,” the quintet – Aijala, Dave Johnston (banjo, vocals), Ben Kaufmann (bass, vocals), Allie Kral (violin, vocals) and Jacob Jolliff (mandolin, vocals) – recorded an all-acoustic affair for the first time.

The results were positive with the critically acclaimed album hitting No. 3 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart and No. 22 on the Americana Airplay chart, as well as receiving more than 150,000 streams on Spotify.

The effort marked a second chapter for the group with Kral and Jolliff added into the mix, while the band for the first time self-produced “Black Sheep.”

“It was actually really fun, and was kind of a clean slate or a blank page for us,” Aijala said. “We didn’t really have any expectations.”

The band has the same mindset for its next album, which Aijala said is about 75 percent complete. Fans attending the group’s upcoming show Thursday at the Kent Stage may hear an unreleased song. Or not.

Confirming Yonder Mountain String Band’s jam-band bona fides is the fact the outfit never repeats a setlist. That means on any given night you can hear anything from the group’s vast catalog, as well as a slew of cover songs from artists that range from The Beatles and The Grateful Dead to Merle Haggard and The Misfits.

Also on the list is the occasional live performance of the theme song from HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” It turns out Aijala is a huge fan of fantasy, calling the popular show one of the best stories out there.

“To be honest, I read the books when they come out years ago,” Aijala said. “I have this season’s episodes all recorded but I haven’t watched yet. I have friends who have read it, too, and said it’s a different story now. It’s gone off track, but they love it.”

The analogy of being established but perhaps going off track is apropos to criticism wielded by diehard fans about Yonder Mountain String Band, which is currently ending its second decade together.

“I like that, but I still think it’s a continuation of what it was in the beginning,” Aijala said. “We are a bluegrass band. People who are into contemporary bluegrass will argue that we’re not, but anybody who doesn’t listen to bluegrass obviously thinks we are because of our instrumentation – a banjo, mandolin and now a fiddle – and a lack of a drummer.

“I don’t feel like we’re old hat. In fact, it feels fresher than it’s been probably because of the addition of Jake and Allie. It’s more of a cast change than a different book.”

Does that mean Yonder Mountain String Band’s Red Wedding is coming up or it’s already passed?

Aijala laughed, “Oh, it’s definitely passed.”