On Friday, March 8, Yonder Mountain String Band brought their winter run to First Avenue in Minneapolis. The jamgrass act teamed up with opening act Horseshoes and Hand Grenades during their encore on a tune written by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and a Faces cover.
The Colorado-based band opened their evening in the Twin Cities with an expansive take on “Traffic Jam.” The quintet would then lean on cover songs during the first half of their headlining set delivering takes on Merle Haggard’s “High On A Hilltop,” the Steve Miller Band classic “Jet Airliner” and Bill Monroe and Doc Watson’s “Kentucky Mandolin.” Yonder Mountain would then cherry pick songs from throughout their career highlighting everything from 1999’s Elevation with “40 Miles From Denver” to “Sidewalk Stars” from their 2006 self-titled effort to 2017’s Love. Ain’t Love for “Landfall” and “Dancing In The Moonlight.”
When the five-piece act emerged for their two-song encore they were joined by the members of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades. The meaty ensemble first offered up a take on the outlaw country classic “Good Hearted Woman.” The tune was originally recorded as the title track for a 1972 Jennings’ album. The collaboration continued with a version of “Ooh La La” the title track from the Faces final LP.
Listen to full show audio taped by Tommy The Beard below:
Yonder Mountain String Band Setlist
Set: Traffic Jam, Left Me in a Hole, High on a Hilltop, Jet Airliner, Troubled Mind > Twenty Eyes In My Head > Troubled Mind, No Rain > Kentucky Mandolin, Another Day, Forty Miles From Denver, Dancing in the Moonlight, Landfall, Chasing My Tail, Bored Again, Sidewalk Stars
Encore: Good Hearted Woman*, Ooh La La*
* with Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
