Yonder Mountain String Band began with a mandolin player who could not play the mandolin. In Urbana, Illinois, banjo player Dave Johnston recruited Jeff Austin into the Bluegrass Holes and told him to play fast and loud. This episode follows both musicians west to Boulder and Nederland, Colorado, where they met bassist Ben Kaufman and guitarist Adam Aijala at a club called the Verve and formed the band in December 1998 to open a gig at the Fox Theater.

We examine how the progressive bluegrass scene turned raw energy into an asset, why launching their own label, Frog Pad Records, in 1999 was a hedge against the collapsing record industry, and how relentless touring took them from Ned Fest to headlining the Fillmore within a year. From a Rubber Soul tribute and the 2008 Democratic National Convention to founding the Harvest Festival in Ozark, ...