Sounds Good: Yonder Mountain@Liberty Hall, Andrew Bird@Uptown, Kinetiks@Jackpot

Thursday, March 29nd

Yonder Mountain String Band at Liberty Hall in Lawrence

It’s hard to believe these fresh-faced jamgrass revivalists have been around for almost 15 years now.  Starting out as just a couple dudes in the mountains west of Boulder, playing open mics and bonfires, and eventually self-releasing their first record, it’s not a stretch to say that both their initial and sustained success was unlikely.

But here they are in 2012, headlining their own festivals, and still selling out shows.  They’re in St. Louis at the Pageant for two nights right before Lawrence, and two-day passes are sold out.

So what can you expect out of YMSB on their Spring tour?

"You better come with shoes tied tight because it’s going to happen and it’s going to happen for a long, long time,” mandolin player Jeff Austin recently told Pollstar’s Jay Smith. “We don’t do a 75-minute set, thank everybody and come out for an encore or two. That’s our first set, about an hour and a half. Expect the unexpected and get ready to have a big fuckin’ party.”

Friday, March 23rd

Andrew Bird at the Uptown Theater in KC

This guy has been doing music basically his entire life, growing up as a multi-instrumentalist who focused mainly on the violin.  You may have recently caught him performing live on the Colbert Report, singing Eyeoneye off his recently released album Break It Yourself.

And, oh yeah, he’s probably the baddest-ass whistler you will ever see.  Seriously.  Here’s what Mr. Bird recently said about his new album:

"This is the first time I’ve trusted a group of musicians to just play what they hear and use our collective instincts. The session that yielded this record was to be no more than a week-long rehearsal. I wanted to show my band these new songs and give us all time and space to feel them out," Bird said.  "This is not the carefully crafted, one-layer-at- a-time puzzle that recording/producing often turns into. This is just musi- cians playing together in a room."

Saturday, March 24th

The Kinetiks at the Jackpot in Lawrence

This is the last ever show for Lawrence indie-dance-rock band the Kinetiks, so you know they’re going to pull out all the stops.  Comprised of 2 guys and 2 girls, they’ve been known for their high-energy sets that sometimes result in people sweating and shedding clothing. 

I’m going to go and try and get them to break their instruments.  What better time to smash a bunch of expensive stuff on stage than your band’s last show ever, right?