Having met in
Urbana,
Illinois, banjo player Dave Johnston requested Jeff Austin to join and sing in his band The Bluegrassholes. Austin, who played no
instrument, revealed to Johnston that he owned a
mandolin, who then told him to come to the performance and "play anything, just play fast and loud." After the collapse of The Bluegrassholes, Johnston moved to
Boulder, Colorado, in order to further his bluegrass musical skills. Similarly, Austin moved to Colorado, but instead took up residence in the mountain town of
Nederland, Colorado. Johnston soon joined him there. It was during this time in Nederland that Johnston and Austin met
bassist Ben Kaufmann and
guitarist Adam Aijala at a local club named the Verve. a
music festival held in the band's hometown. By 2000, the group was also playing larger venues, such as
The Fillmore in
San Francisco, California. In 2005, their recording of "
Think for Yourself" was included on the album ''
This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul''. In 2008, the band performed at the
2008 Democratic National Convention in
Denver. In 2010, Yonder Mountain decided to host a music festival at Mulberry Mountain in
Ozark, Arkansas called Yonder Mountain's Harvest Festival. This is the same site where the larger Wakarusa festival is held and where the previous Mulberry Mountain Harvest Fest was held. In 2011, the festival's headliners included
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the Simcha Aknin Band,
Railroad Earth and the
Emmitt-Nershi Band. In April 2014, Austin left the band due to "creative differences and conflicting career goals". After touring with the band since Austin's departure, fiddle player Allie Kral and mandolin player Jake Jolliff became official members of Yonder Mountain String Band in May 2015. In 2020, multi-instrumentalist/mandolinist Nick Piccininni joined after playing with the madgrass group Floodwood. Their 2022 album
Get Yourself Outside was a nominee for the
2023 Grammy for
Best Bluegrass Album. ==Members==