NYS Music 20​19

Tag: Yonder Mountain String Band

  • Nick Piccininni Discusses Joining Yonder Mountain String Band as New Mandolinist

    Yonder Mountain String Band announced a lineup change this week. Mandolinist Jacob Jolliff will be leaving the band at the end of this year. His final show will be Yonder Mountain’s New Year’s Eve show at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, CO. Nick Piccininni

    In a statement, the band wrote, “As of January 1, 2020, we will be saying farewell to our brother and fellow musician, Jacob Jolliff. This comes to you as a deeply considered decision. We are grateful for the music, the memories and friendship we forged with Jake and are in full support of his future endeavors with The Jacob Jolliff Band. We hope to join forces with them down the road.“

    Joining the fold is multi-instrumentalist Nick Piccininni, who will be joining the band as its new mandolinist. Piccininni, a Central New York native, has been a part of several projects, one of them is Floodwood, which includes mandolinist Jason Barady, who also performed with Piccininni in Woodenspoon, moe. drummer Vinnie Amico and guitarist Chris Eves. Al Schnier of moe. is a former member of Floodwood. Piccininni also performs as a duo with Barady and in a recent project, Follow the Muse.

    Piccininni sat in with Yonder Mountain at a few shows this past year, paving the way for his joining the veteran string band. When reached for comment, he told NYS Music that the foundation of this new opportunity has its roots in the Summer Camp Festival, an annual event jointly hosted by moe. and Umphrey’s McGee in Chillicothe, IL each May.

    We used to run into the fiddle player, Allie Kral, at Summer Camp in Illinois when we would go out there with Floodwood. She made the suggestion to try me for the few shows I filled in this summer. I guess it went well enough that they felt comfortable with asking me along with this change! I felt really comfortable with everyone in the band and crew. My first show is in Park City, UT on Jan. 6. I’ve never been to Utah so that’s cool.

    Nick Piccininni
    Photo courtesy Misse Thomas, AzureEyes Photography

    Piccininni has every intention of making this a permanent gig while still hoping to maintain time for his other projects.

    “I will say that on both sides, I think the idea is to get into this winter tour to make sure the fit is right. But they have expressed that their first choice would be to just move forward with me as their new mandolinist. Piccininni continues, “Barring any personality conflicts, which I don’t think any of us really see being an issue if this becomes my main gig it will be tough to maintain everything I already had going. But I do intend to do my best to keep up with it all. Yonder doesn’t play a super intense schedule, so that does leave room for other projects, which is awesome.”

    Piccininni’s next performance is with the Amico-Barady Quintet, moe. drummer Vinnie Amico’s annual jazz show at Tiny’s Grill in Utica on Dec. 29.

  • Jeff Austin, Co-Founder of Yonder Mountain String Band, Dead at 45

    Jeff Austin, 45, passed away in Seattle, WA on Monday, June 24. This news comes after an announcement on Saturday that he was canceling his upcoming music sets due to a medical emergency. The cause of his death has not been released.

    The news was confirmed on June 25 with an official statement, reading, “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of a beloved family member, mandolinist, singer, songwriter and founder of The Jeff Austin Band, and Yonder Mountain String Band, Jeff Austin.  Austin passed away June 24, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. He was son of Eileen Austin, husband to Devlyn, and father to Lily Rose (12), Penelope (5), and Jude Patrick (2).  He was a dear friend whose music touched the lives of so many, and will be sorely missed.  If you would like to make a contribution to help his family, please visit Sweetrelief.org.”

    News of his death quickly traveled through the jam and bluegrass scenes, with many taking to social media to express their condolences.

    Austin co-founded Yonder Mountain String Band in 1998 and was with the band through some of their biggest career moments. Yonder Mountain brought the jamgrass genre to the forefront of the live music circuit. In 2014, Austin left Yonder Mountain to pursue solo projects including The Jeff Austin Band, The Here And Now, and Grateful Grass. In the last few years, the mandolinist had returned his focus to 30db, an acoustic duo with Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss. They released One Man Show in 2010, toured in support of the album intermittently and eventually began a tradition of a Chicago holiday concert. In May 2019, Jeff Austin canceled his performances with his band and 30db at the Summer Camp Music Festival, citing a family emergency.

    Austin was born in 1974, raised in Illinois and studied musical theater at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He first picked up a mandolin in 1996 with little experience, but quickly became a master at the instrument. Loved and renowned by fellow musicians and fans alike, this a huge loss for the music community.

    Austin performed with moe. at the 2008 moe.down in Turin, NY.

    https://youtu.be/lQ9I5-_s7gI

    Yonder Mountain String Band performs Danny Barnes’ “Death Trip” at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, on 7/15/2011 with special guests Ronnie McCoury and Jason Carter