yamn

With the jam band trend fading, Yamn is doing its best to shed the image formed by the likes of jam-band heavyweight Phish.

“The scene is just getting too bitter with Phish and the big bands,” said Ryan Ebarb, Yamn’s keyboardist. “They blew up, and the whole scene was modeled after them, and everyone automatically associates you with those jam bands.”

Now, many young bands are finding it difficult to emerge from the hole left by preceding jam bands and the stereotypes associated with that style of music, Ebarb said.

“You don’t want to be classified as (jam band) before anybody’s heard you yet.”

Yamn was formed in Lubbock, Texas, in 2002 under the name “One Big Groove.” Band members changed the name to Yamn upon their move to Breckenridge. They moved to Denver two months ago.

“We’re moving in a new direction again by getting more progressive with it and doing more electronic stuff,” Ebarb said. “But we are jam-bandish with psychedelic rock and jazz infusion.”

On its Web site, Yamn says it is demonstrating the ability to breed a new monster in music.

“It’s a monster in the closet, and it scares you,” Ebarb said. “Because the sound is pretty loud for four people.”

Band members are more focused on developing their musical sound than their lyrics.

“We are very tentative about singing and are just kind of slowly working our way into it,” Ebarb said. “We are still learning our instruments and will get to singing one of these days.”

Ebarb and his bandmates — Brian Hamilton, Adam Ebensberger and Kyle Stewart — quit their jobs when they moved to Denver to fully commit to their music.

“We’ve just been bouncing around, not on any lengthy tours — just a monthlong so far,” Ebarb said. “Now we are going on the road indefinitely for a few months. And every few weeks, we will go through the mountain towns.” - Steamboat Pilot - Allison Plean

Homegrown electro-fusion rock charges the Silverthorne Pavilion May 1.

Both Yamn and Big Richard hail from Colorado.

Yamn delivers its self-proclaimed “progressive-electro-transfusion-grass-rock” with a high-energy, sonic explosion.

The musicians met in 2006 in Breckenridge and have created a significant word-of-mouth following with their jams. Now they blast out a full-blown rock-show experience, incorporating reggae beats and trance-fusion jams.

“With the help of our great fans, Yamn shows have become a place to shed all inhibitions and just have a good time,” said Brian Hamilton, guitarist and vocalist.

The band released its self-titled debut album in November, and a month later it was named New Groove of the Month on Jambands.com. The musicians recorded the album after selling everything they owned and moving into a school bus to play throughout the western United States (they hung out in a cabin in New Mexico for two months to rehearse before recording in Nashville).

Every time Yamn takes the stage, they mix it up — from throwing in a new song or cover to mashing up their songs or performing an entire night of theme music. And, lighting director Paul Whitehouse always keeps it fresh with his creative lighting.

The core members of Big Richard have been performing in various outfits, including Summit County’s Promethean Monk and Rhythm Pig. But when lead singer and guitarist Matty Bauerle joined in, he added a Southern rock influence to the predominately progressive rock sound.

“Now they basically ride a Southern rock groove,” said Thomas Berger, manager. “They have this tension and release. They build it up and ride it and at that moment they spring it, where it can go into this, I guess you could say, contained chaos.”

The six-piece band formed a year ago, and they’ve been creating a buzz with their tight rhythm section and powerful lead vocals.

“They’re just so tight,” Berger said. “They’ve been together for so long, they all seem to know what the other person’s going to do three steps ahead of time.”


- Summit Daily

BRECKENRIDGE — Meeting in college in Texas, the formerly named One Big Groove band, moved to Breckenridge in 2005 and changed their name to YAMN! The original members of the group which started in 2002 are Brian Hamilton on guitar, Adam Ebensberger on drums and Ryan Ebarb on keyboard. Summit countian David Duart on bass joined the band earlier this year. They’ve played 90 shows already in 2007 and have a couple gigs this weekend before heading out on tour, then going to New Mexico for several weeks to rehearse for an upcoming recording session.

Duart described the music as “a little bit of everything.” He cited Pink Floyd influences and some electronica sounds and said they consider themselves a jam band.
- Leslie Brefeld - Summit Daily News - Summit County, CO

Wednesday, 07 January 2009:

Yamn puts fun back into psychedelic. They are masters of the modern day craft of progressive-electro-trance-fusion, executed with Colorado Jam Rock enthusiasm. They are masters of the late night stage at festivals all across the mountainous west and are proud enthusiasts of the funkadelic realms of tension and release jamming. As festival promoter Thomas Cunningham explains, "There's no better band to play the sunrise set than Yamn. These guys execute their madness with precision. Their distinct brand of psychedelic trance has gives new meaning to the orange harvest root otherwise known as Yamn."
During Summer Touring Season '08, the electro-trance quartet performed at a plethora of festivals around the region. As festival attendee Chelsea LeFontaine describes it: "I thought the music was over when the man in the ducky stood on top of the cliff and screamed for redemption. Little did I know, it was just the beginning. For the next three hours the trip continued and when the sun came up everybody held hands like we had just traversed the collected works of Rumi. Yamn led the parade. It was fabulous."
In October '08 the group released ‘Yamn’ – a self-titled record of astronomical proportions. The compositional jam masterpiece is reminiscent of the greatest 20th century expressionist paintings. They are the current recipients of the Jambase.com ‘New Groove of the Month Award’ and are toting in the rewards on the freshest powder of Summit County.
The Denver/Breckenridge based band is in the area for a short while before embarking on another tour across the western slope. The opportunity to encounter the group in such an intimate setting is well worth the journey to the big lights of downtown Nederland. The passion these guys bring to their live shows creates positive response from classical hippies and rainbow junkies alike, but even miners and cattle drivers have been overheard asking: "What is the madness that we're listening to? It's captivating." All across the land, the electro-trance-fusion of Yamn is steadily infiltrating the collective consciousness of the new generation. Come and see for yourself this Saturday January 10 at The First St. Pub to see what the word is all about. - The Mountain - Ear - Marc Tonglen

Thanks to your votes, our latest New Groove of the Month is Yamn. The Colorado-based group consists of Brian Hamilton (guitar/vocals), Adam Ebensberger (drums/vocals), David Duart (bass/vocals) and Ryan Ebarb (keyboards/guitar/vocals). Yamn, which currently calls Colorado home, first came together in Texas five years ago. The group answered our questions collectively and spoke about the perils of touring across the Rockies in winter, detailed its various Halloween themes and highlighted the occasional butter knife fight.

Stay tuned for our interview with the group. First off, you're still a developing act, making the rounds. How surprised were you that folks voted you as our New Groove of the Month? We were very surprised and extremely excited to be voted the New Groove of the Month. We have been close before and it's nice to be part of such an amazing list of New Grooves and to represent our Colorado scene on Jambands.com.

Can you talk about the development of the group? How did you meet and how did the current line-up solidify?

It's been a slow development over the years, with the past 2 years hitting it hard touring the Western US and working on gaining crowds and new fans in Colorado. The band originally began in Lubbock, TX in 2003 and in June 2005 transplanted to Breckenridge, CO where we met Massachusetts native David Duart (Dewey). Dewey was then brought in as the new bass player in January 2007. At that point we sold everything we owned, moved onto our bus and went on the road for 8 months.

We continued on the road until the fall, when we decided to record our first album. We went to a cabin in Mayhill, New Mexico for two months to rehearse and write new material. Then drove to Nashville, TN in late November and recorded our debut album in 6 days. We then moved into our current home in Denver and have been here since. This was a huge development and learning period for us and really solidified what the band is today.

Since April of this year, we have been very fortunate to have our Lighting Director Paul Whitehouse on board with us. Paul has been very active in the growth of this band in all aspects and is basically the 5th member so to speak. His lightshow is amazing and it helps turn small bars and clubs into epic Rock shows.

You describe Yamn as "a four piece Progressive-electro-trance-fusion-grass-rock band." Can you talk about the varied backgrounds and interests that the four of you bring to bear?

Our whole mantra seems to be anything goes. This consists of us being open minded and accepting any style or genre of music and making it our own. Everyone in the band brings a unique insight into what they enjoy about playing and listening to music.

In terms of those genres mentioned above, is there one that seems to predominate in the live setting as of late?

Trance and progressive rock have been at the forefront of our live shows. Our keyboard player Ryan also double duty's on guitar, adding versatility to the band. We take a lot of risks on stage so at any time any genre can pop out in a live setting. It really depends on the night and how bad we train wreck!

How would you describe the vitality and support of your local Colorado music scene?

Strong and Growing! People love music in this state and bands all across the country love playing here. We are extremely fortunate as a band and musicians to be a part of this scene. Breckenridge and Summit County especially have been great to us, the people in that area love to party down and we love being their band. Denver has been awesome as well, the local bands in this city are great and we love sharing shows and fans with each other. It's a very community-oriented scene. A lot of us bands get together and party when the big shows come to town! This state has so many great venues from cool bars to clubs to theatres and of course RED ROCKS. This allows a lot of opportunity for local bands to grow and play with national acts.

We also have to give a big shout out to the Northwest scene in general. It's such a beautiful part of the country and touring through these states we have met so many great people and bands. There is a large support network for bands of our size and we can't thank people enough for always helping us out on the road.

Can you talk a bit about the challenges in trekking through Colorado during the winter? Do you have any interesting stories of mishaps or near-mishaps?

Driving through Colorado in the winter is tough! Let us paint a picture for you. Five grown men in a ragged school bus broken down in an apartment parking lot in Keystone in sub zero temperatures. Three of them huddled together under a jacket trying to sleep, another curled up in a drum rug on his bunk, and one zipped up in a piano case on a couch, all happening in the early hours of the morning after leaving The Goat. Cause of breakdown: a plastic bag in our fuel tank. This is one of a hundred.

Touring through the Northwest in the winter is also tough, there are too many mishaps or near-mishaps to list. Either way we use to roll in a 32 foot school bus named AJ Ward. Towards the end of AJ's life she ran on waste vegetable oil, which has even more stories. She became terminally ill in San Francisco in late July on our summer tour and we had to cancel 12 dates and head home to Denver. Upon arrival in Denver, she then passed away. We would like to thank John and Eric from Ashbury park in Portland, OR for selling us their bus because she was one of the greatest things to happen to this band since its inception.

Who writes the band's music? How it is typically presented to the group and how does it then come together?

We tend to all write music for the band, Brian (Guitar) and Ryan (Keyboards) bringing more to the table as of late. Sometimes they present it to the group on an 8 track with a bunch of different parts or thru MIDI computer software such as Reason. From there the band as a whole develops and finishes the song.

How do you approach original songs in the live setting?

Our original songs are pretty straightforward and most of them have sections open for improvisation. At one point early on, we did asterisks on our set list next to a song or two. We would pick a point in that song and everyone would have to play something different. It created for a lot of good moments and some not so good but it really made us take a risk and that's what we enjoy doing during our live shows. Now we don't use asterisks and have moved towards listening to each other so if someone decides to play away from the norm we will all latch on and see where it goes. Yet on the other side of the spectrum we still feel very strongly about playing our rehearsed compositions as tight as possible.

What about covers, can you talk about what songs you toss in from time to time? Who selects them?

We usually have an indoor butter knife fight about what covers we play. If you get cut and blood drawn you are out, so the last one standing gets to choose a cover. One night the fight went on till morning so we said "Forget this, let’s just do a night of disco tunes." We learned 13 Disco songs and threw a Disco dance party in Breckenridge.

In terms of cover tunes can you talk about any spectacular successes and failures?

Halloweens have been fun. In 2006 we did Willy Wonka. In 2007 we did a set of 80's covers under the name Glam, make-up, hair spray, the whole nine; a success and failure all in one night. This year on Halloween we performed songs from the Star Wars sound track as part of a Disco Star Wars theme.

We have hacked quite a few cover tunes along the way and would rather not discuss them.

How often do you rehearse? What do you focus on when you get together for rehearsal?

We rehearse as much as possible seeing that we live together. But our main focus in rehearsal is to talk as much trash to each other as possible and really pick at each others playing. Each of us then tells each member how they should play their instrument. Ending in another indoor butter knife fight and onto the next cover.

Can you talk about some of your performance highlights thus far. Is there a gig (or gigs) that stand out? Why?

Playing the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO have been great gigs, we have played there three times this year and it's like a vacation for us. The sound, the crew they have, and the bands we get to play with are all great. Opening for Omega Moos (Members of Umphrey's McGee and New Deal) at the Fox this past month was a highlight because we are huge fans of all the musicians and their respective bands.

Our first show in Breckenridge with Dewey on June 9, 2007 was an extreme highlight for us. That time of year is mud season in the mountains so there are no tourists, just locals. We had just come back from months on the road and the bar wasn't expecting anyone to show up. When we went on, the place was at capacity with people even dancing on the sidewalks and in the streets. The crowd was so loud after every song and after being on tour playing in front of no one night after night, we felt at home and on top of the world. Breck has continued to support us with large crowds, ever since.

There's a festival just outside of Moab, UT every memorial day weekend called Desert Rocks. In 2007 we played from about 2:30am to 7:30am and this past year we didn't get started until about 5am and we don't really remember what time it was when we finally stopped. There's only one big stage at the festy and all the campgrounds surround the stage, so even in the wee hours of the morning there's still an insane amount of energy emanating from all around.

We are also looking forward to our upcoming Holiday Shows in Denver at Owsley's Golden Road on Dec. 26th and 27th and our New Years Eve performance in Breckenridge at Three 20 South.

What about a studio or live release, where do things stand there?

Our first studio album was released on Oct. 31, 2008, which was paid for largely by donations from our supportive friends and family. It is self-title and self-released. We recorded it in 6 days at our friend Steve Corroao's studio apartment in Nashville, TN where he attends Belmont University. We are just happy to have a studio album so people can listen to Yamn wherever they go. There is much discussion now about a new album, it is just a matter of time and money but it's going to happen soon. This time we will take more than 6 six days to record, that is certain.

Any final thoughts to folks across the country who may be hearing about you for the first time from this piece?

Support your local music scene! When you can, grab your friends and come party with Yamn. ..Third Rock!

- www.jambands.com

Concert promoters bill Yamn as one of the best jam bands around. Recently transplanted to Breckenridge from Lubbock, Texas, the four-member band plays long, Pink Floyd-style jams that build spacey landscapes through a series of rolling crescendos.

The tension and the volume build, crash and build again. It's almost as if the band is musically breathing.
"The band plays with the whole concept of tension and release," Yamn drummer Adam Ebensberger said. "We do a lot of changes that don't sound right at first to the average listener. They may not feel right, and then they start to make sense."

Through a series of chord changes, the band does a kind of musical contortionism in the tradition of avant garde jazz.

Yamn moved to Breckenridge in May after searching for a mountain location that would be close to a number of other towns with music venues. In Lubbock, touring was economically impossible because everything was so far away.

Now, the band is planting stage roots in Breckenridge, Denver and now Steamboat. This will be the band's first time playing here.

Moving together to a new state was a sort of declaration that each member was committed to the band.

"I couldn't explain how, but moving has changed our music," Ebensberger said. "We've all gotten better. We're living together and practicing more, and our songs are more creative." - Autumn Phillips - Steamboat Pilot