Yonder Mountain String Band – Nowhere Next (LP Vinyl) Vinyl Record

Review

“Tell all your friends/all of your friends/you’re livin’ better than them/you live by the ocean/you live in the land of the Grateful Dead/why, oh why, wouldn’t anyone want to live by the ocean?/why, oh why, wouldn’t anyone want to leave the Midwest?”

So sing Yonder Mountain String Band in glorious four-part harmony on the loping “Leave the Midwest,” a standout track from Nowhere Next, the LP that finds fiddler Colman Smith making his first appearance on a YMSB album and Dobro master Jerry Douglas sliding around on a few tracks.

Coleman joins Yonder co-founders, guitarist Adam Aijala, banjoist Dave Johnston and bassist Ben Kaufmann, along with 2020 recruit and multi-instrumentalist Nick Piccininni for 11 tracks of laser-focused musicality and playful lyrics that occasionally flirting with novelty status, particularly on half-sung, half-spoken barnburners such as “Didn’t Go Wrong” with its tongue-twisting wordplay and the title track, a tour diary in song.

Lyrical shenanigans aside, it’s the high-quality bluegrass music that sells Nowhere Next. And the album seems to foreshadow a successful run for Yonder 4.0, should this new lineup stay intact for a while.

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— Kristopher Weiss, jambands.com

Product Details

Yonder Mountain String Band’s new album, Nowhere Next, masterfully blends a multitude of stylistic impulses into a cohesive and seamless musical statement. This exploration showcases their roots in bluegrass while venturing into diverse musical territories.

The album opens with “The Truth Fits,” setting the tone with a message of independence and self-discovery. “Cruisin’' then subtly shifts away from initial certainties, embodying a sense of confusion and the quest to “find a way through,” reflecting one of Yonder’s core themes. In 'Here I Go,' the band confronts the ambiguity of growth versus failure, departing from traditional bluegrass with an instrumental bridge and solos, featuring Jerry Douglas offering an improvisational answer to the song’s central question. “Didn’t Go Wrong” delivers a sonic uplift, blending old country lyricism with modern jam band elements to celebrate new love, transcending typical “cheating song” narratives. The title track, “ Nowhere Next,” centers the album. It’s the middle of the compass with all cardinal points possible, alley ways, hotel stairs, and the traps we find ourselves in. “Leave the Midwest” captures an introspective moment of revisiting one's past and reckoning with the present of where we tell ourselves we’re ok with where we’ve landed. “Second Hand Smoke” continues this theme, making a distinction between authenticity and pretense, while “Come See Me” offers a straightforward bluegrass tune that invites listeners to join in the journey of music, travel, and time. “Outlaw” celebrates unexpected positive changes and “Wasting Time” offers a humorous take on self-reflection and resignation. The album concludes with “River”, a serene and reflective piece, that embraces a peaceful mindset and a “lovely day.”

In “Nowhere Next” Yonder Mountain String Band takes listeners on a rich journey through diverse musical landscapes and personal introspection, ultimately revealing that the journey itself holds as many destinations as we can imagine.