Jeff Austin has been playing professionally for nearly 20 years, most of them as the vocalist/mando­linist of the game-changing bluegrass jam act Yonder Mountain String Band. Austin has long harboured urges to stretch out musically—and even cast a few pop hooks of his own. He finally makes the leap on The Simple Truth, his solo debut (releasing Feb. 10th, 2015) and maiden voyage with Yep Roc Records.

Accompanying him is an eager troupe of trustworthy fellow travellers chartered as the Jeff Austin Band: Danny Barnes (of Bad Livers fame) on banjo, guitars and vocals; Ross Martin on guitars; and Eric Thorin on basses and vocals, with North Mississippi Allstar Cody Dickinson on drums, percussion and electric washboard. The result is an album that truly reflects Austin’s goal of crafting a sonic document unconstrained by the limitations jamgrass, newgrass or whatever other names it wears. The Simple Truth captures the energy and excitement of that party, as well as the quiet moments of contemplation that happen after guests leave. If one must give it a label, Americana will do, but he prefers to call it, simply, “American music, written from my experience as a 40-year-old guy in America.”