One of my many friends I have made in my travels on the West Coast Mr. Julian Davis whom is a prodigy in his own right, recently began playing in the band of the mighty Bluegrass juggernaut Mr. Jeff Austin. As many of you already know ,Austin is a 15 year founding member of the Yonder Mountain String Band.
This past week he had cancelled a string of upcoming shows because of medical emergencies, and his band reached out for prayers. On Monday June 24th he was pronounced dead after being put into a medically induced coma, he was 45.
If you ask mefor my opinion, who it was that singlehandidly pionerred the Jamgrass or Newgrass movement for the future pickersto evolve it was Mr. Jeff Austin or Mr. Sam Bush. Back in 1998 he founded the Yonder Mountain String Band in Colorado with Mr. Brian Johnston on banjo, Mr. Ben Kaufmann on bass and Mr. Adam Aijala on the guitar. They were formed to open for a band at the Fox Theater in Boulder Colorado, and quickly built a loyal following. In April of 2014, he left the band for creative differences and conflicting career goals, and he was replaced by Mr. Jake Joliff.
He grew up in Illinois and quickly mastered the mandolin, where Mr. Brian Zjohnston reportedly told him to play anything loud and fast. From there on the four gained steam and created an iconic band that usheredin new growth for Bluegrass that is loathed by purists and praised by younger generations.
