Mandolinist Jeff Austin is unstoppable, and will be in Livingston, MT August 17. He is celebrated for his fleet fingers and penchant for improvisation on stage, but those qualities also speak volumes about how he chooses to live. Austin has cultivated his natural musical abilities and allowed himself to be driven by his boldest instincts. In this way, he has been able to build positive, exciting momentum around his life’s greatest passion.

In 1998, while working at a bar called the Verve in Nederland, Colorado, Austin met Adam Aijala and Ben Kaufmann, with whom he and Dave Johnston would form the Yonder Mountain String Band. 

“My time with Yonder has taught me what is possible,” Austin says. “It has shown me that if you work hard at it and you believe in it and there’s a part of you that’s meant to do it, it will happen. It’s clichéd, but it’s true.”

It is with this history at his back that Jeff Austin will step out into the spotlight as a solo act. “My ideal sound is between Phish, My Morning Jacket, and Zac Brown Band.” Austin plans to continue songwriting for his solo project but might be weaving in a bit of mainstream, in the style of his John Scott Sherrill/Shawn Camp co-write “Fiddlin’ Around,” featured on Dierks Bentley’s 2010 bluegrass album Up on the Ridge. “I love writing a three-minute song with a hook that would grab a five-hundred-pound marlin as much as I like writing something that goes, ‘okay, after the bridge, it’s going to open up and just go wide.’”

Indeed, “wide” is what Jeff Austin is all about. He wants new and different, complex and interesting. He wants everything the music world has to offer, and he’s willing to work hard to get it.

A band that is perfect to play between the pines of Pine Creek Lodge! PLUS opening for Jeff Austin will be our great friends Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs!

Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs are a relentlessly energetic folk-rock band based out of Bozeman , Montana. Combining a soaring four part harmony and rock ‘n’ roll drive, a Bird Dog show gets people dancing and singing along to original tunes and covers alike. 

With a combined 30 years of experience in blues, rock, country, metal, folk, and indie bands, the members of Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs found their common ground in bluegrass and country music, and bring a truly unique sound to the folk scene. 

This award-winning band has been taking their infectious sound on the road since 2013, sharing stages with the likes of Keb Mo’, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Jeff Austin Band, Amy Helm, Leftover Salmon, The Infamous Stringdusters, Corb Lund, The Mavericks, Mark Chesnutt, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, Amy Helm and many more. The Bird Dogs released a live self-titled studio album in 2016, recorded at Basecamp Studio in Bozeman. Their follow-up album, titled The Vigilante Session, was recorded live at a forest service cabin in the Tobacco Root mountains.

Born under the big sky in Bozeman, Montana, Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs consist of Lena (Laney) Schiffer on vocals/guitar/percussion, Matt Demarais on vocals/banjo/dobro, Ethan Demarais on bass, Brian Kassay on fiddle/mandolin/harmonica, and Josh Moore on vocals/guitar.

Tickets to this August 17 Pine CReek Lodge show are $10 and $15 Early Bird tickets have SOLD OUT. Advance tickets are now available for $20. Tickets will be $25 at the Gate. Tickets and the full event lineup are currently online at: www.pinecreeklodgemontana.com/events/