September 1997 provided Jeff Austin with one of those earthshaking, life- defining, world-shifting moments — the kind of experience a guy is lucky to have once or twice in his life.
At the time, Austin was a normal dude living in Urbana, Ill. He had a band. He had a girlfriend — or an ex-girlfriend, rather, who was moving to Boulder. And he had an idea: He was going to help his ex with her move to Colorado.
The trip led him to the Hoodoo Bash, a short-lived festival on the Planet Bluegrass Ranch in Lyons, where he took in some uniquely Coloradan music that blew his mind.
“Leftover Salmon was headlining, and Sam Bush was sitting there listening to them,” Austin remembered. “String Cheese Incident played that afternoon at like 2 p.m. Zukes of Zydeco, they played after String Cheese.
“I stood there for the whole day and watched all this amazing music unfold. The Left Hand String Band, Drew (Emmitt’s) first group, they played. And I was like, ‘These are all local bands. And there are a couple thousand people out here, so the local scene is supporting this. I want in on some of this action.’ “
A few months later in January 1998, Austin wrapped his Illinois life, packed up his Chevy S-10 and moved to Colorado. He talked his former bandmate Dave Johnston into making the move, and that fall begat Yonder Mountain String Band — the group that headlines Red Rocks Amphitheatre tonight.
Colorado’s rich string-band heritage didn’t start with Leftover Salmon, and it won’t end with Yonder. But those names are two of the heaviest hitters to ever come from the Boulder/Nederland area. That’s why tonight’s Red Rocks date is a big deal — because Leftover Salmon will open for Yonder for the first time at the storied natural amphitheater.
“It’s a big compliment, and it’s great to know that we inspired somebody else, because so many musicians have done that for me,” said Emmitt, the Leftover Salmon frontman who now lives in Crested Butte and plays with a couple of other bands “Sam (Bush) and New Grass Revival changed my life and gave us a blueprint for Leftover Salmon, and to be able to pass that along to somebody like Jeff, who has taken the inspiration and run with it, is really great.
“To be part of that chain of handing down music — we’re one big chain of folk music that keeps going and going — is what it’s all about.”
Yonder’s Austin is expecting a full-on head trip at tonight’s show. Not only will there be plenty of minglin’ and pickin’, but it’s also likely to get emotional.
“This is a big full-circle kind of moment for us,” Austin said. “A couple months ago, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (of the Grateful Dead) came out and played with us. I have a feeling Red Rocks is going to be like that. It’s going to be heavy just standing there.
“I moved out here in ’98 because of a band named Leftover Salmon, and now all these years later I’ll be headlining Red Rocks while Leftover plays before me. It’s just an astounding way that the world can move around: Without them, I never move out here. If I don’t move here, the band is never put together. If the band is never put together, we wouldn’t be headlining our fourth date at Red Rocks this summer.”
Adding to the weight of tonight’s show is the supporting act, Split Lip Rayfield, a band celebrated for its good-times roots music and its stand-up bass, crafted out of an old gas tank off a 1978 Mercury. The band lost guitarist Kirk Rundstrom in 2007 to cancer, and his longtime dream was to play Red Rocks.
“We were just down in Tucson, Ariz., playing the Congress Hotel, one of the smallest places we’ve played in years, and while we were sitting in the lobby, (Split Lip bass player) Jeff Eaton walked in,” Austin said. “They were opening for the Reverend Horton Heat across the street, and we sat there afterward having drinks and talking about Kirk’s dream. Jeff said, ‘This is going to be heavy for us.’ I told him, ‘You’ll have a lot of love coming back at you.’ “
All three groups on tonight’s bill could accurately be called “string bands.” And it’s that simplicity and lack of pretense that still draws so many fans and musicians to the music in this hyper-digital age.
“The power you can get out of an acoustic instrument, without having to bring out the electric guitar or the drum kit — that’s what I still love about it,” Emmitt said.
“My other group, the Emmitt Nershi Band, we just played Steamboat last week and rocked the place. And to be able to do that with acoustic instruments, a wooden instrument, and inspiring people to get up and dance and have a great time, is really great.
“With a string band, you don’t even need electricity. If need be, you can play for a group of people without ever plugging in.”
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com;
Yonder Mountain String Band
Acoustic/jam. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, with Leftover Salmon and Split Lip Rayfield. Today. 6 p.m. $47.60-$52.70.
