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Yonder Mountain String Band plays Rogue Theatre Yonder Mountain String Band. [Photo by Jay Blakesberg] Friday Mar 24, 2017 at 12:01 AM Alan Sculley Last Word Features Adam Aijala says Yonder Mountain String Band has never been a group to plot out its career — or just about anything the group does. To hear him tell it, these guys couldn’t be calculated if they were math majors. “That’s kind of the way we do it,” says guitarist and singer Aijala during a telephone review. "From the  beginning, even our shows were like that. We don’t play the same set every night. We’re always kind of winging it in general. I’d like — in the business sense — to maybe not wing it as much, but as far as the artistic side, I like that element of it.” So it's no surprise that Yonder's future was uncertain in 2014 after mandolin player Jeff Austin left the group. The band had no clear plan how to move forward but, after a time, came out smelling like a rose. Two new members have joined — mandolin player Jacob Jolliff and violinist Allie Kral — and the group is moving full speed ahead, touring behind its 2015 album, “Black Sheep.” “The way it all played out was not planned at all. We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Aijala says, referring to the Austin-less future. “The way it worked out, I hope Jacob and Allie stick around. I love playing with them." The remaining original band members, Aijala, banjo player Dave Johnston and bassist Ben Kaufmann, met Kral when she sat in with the band during a series of shows on Austin’s last tour with Yonder Mountain. Jolliff, meanwhile, was recommended for the mandolin slot by Yonder Mountain’s former manager, D.J. McLaughlin. The two new recruits stepped right into the lineup, and Yonder Mountain resumed its touring schedule without missing any gigs. Then the group turned its attention to the studio, recording “Black Sheep.” Fans will recognize “Black Sheep” as the work of Yonder Mountain, even without Austin, who along with Johnston, Aijala and Kaufmann, formed the group in 1998 in Nederland, Colorado. The largely acoustic album, recorded without drums, is in some ways similar to Yonder Mountain's first releases — which introduced the group's tuneful and energetic blend of bluegrass-rooted music and rock improvisation — than the band's 2006 self-titled album and its 2009 "The Show." The latter two albums were produced by Tom Rothrock (who is known for his work with rock acts like Beck, the Foo Fighters and Elliott Smith), who added drums to Yonder Mountain's music. “I think 'Black Sheep' is more akin to ‘Elevation’ and ‘Town By Town,’ ” Aijala says, referring to the band’s 2005 albums. "But the band's been around for 17 years, so it’s evolved, as well. And that’s not to diminish the records we did with Tom. I think those records were great, and they were really fun to do. He helped us get to a point where our only limitations in music were our musical abilities. It’s not the style or what we do with it, or what instruments we play or any of that.” Aijala doesn’t hesitate to say Yonder Mountain also is a different live band without Austin, who was a charismatic performer and a focal point on stage. But he likes what Joliff and Kral bring to the band's live shows. Their skills will be showcased officially April 7, when the band releases its newest in a series of live performance compilations, "Mountain Tracks: Volume 6." “I think it’s a huge difference,” guitarist Aijala says of the new lineup. “You know, it’s one of those things where it’s different, but it’s still good. It’s different, and for me, I’m loving it. I feel like the Yonder energy is still there. This is not a dig on Jeff at all, but he tended to take us to a darker place sometimes. We don’t really do that as much now. "Ben’s picked up a lot of the interaction with the crowd. I think he’s doing a really good job,” Aijala says. “Allie’s stage presence is awesome. People just love her. There are, like, women and men screaming ‘Allie, Allie,’ at every show. It’s awesome. And Jake’s just a demon. People just look at him while he’s soloing and put their arms up the air like, ‘What the hell? This dude’s out of control. He’s so good.’ So it’s a different dynamic completely. It feels like there's more camaraderie. "Even though we were super tight with Jeff, maybe it’s because these dudes are stepping into something new, and so they’re paying a lot of attention," he says. "But I feel really synced on and off stage.”