Nick Forster
You could say that Chris Castino is a writer of dance music. Not the kind you hear at any club. It’s the kind you hear at a Dead show, or festivals, when the crowd moves together spinning and bouncing like an ocean of blissful and emancipated souls. Chris is the primary songwriter for his longtime popular Minnesota-based rock’n’roll jamband The Big Wu.
Last September a devastating “100 Year Flood” about fifty years overdue devastated parts of Colorado, in particular Boulder County. The historic town of Lyons, a beautiful gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park and precious wilderness was affected worse than most. The St. Vrain River and other waterways turned the town into a riverbed, destroying and displacing many homes and lives. One of the worst hits was the Planet Bluegrass Ranch. Festivarians celebrated their 41st Rockygrass Festival last summer a little over a month later the property was underwater.
When Yonder Mountain String Band gets the chance to play in Boulder, Colorado, they don’t pull any punches. The supposed “warm-up” show at the Boulder Theater the night before New Year’s Eve was filled with high-energy performances and dazzling musicianship that left the capacity crowd satisfied and happily exhausted by the time the music stopped at 1:30.
As I was walking on the hill in Boulder to get some Chinese food and a beer before the show, I passed by a very animated and excited Jeff Austin (mandolin player from Yonder Mountain String Band) talking to a friend.
After five years of writing and some one-off performances, Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band) and Brendan Bayliss (Umphrey's McGee
Archived news
- March 2023 (318)
- February 2023 (355)
- January 2023 (334)
- December 2022 (247)
- November 2022 (305)
- October 2022 (307)
