Yarn

Yarn delivers music steeped in bluegrass traditions yet charged with emotional depth and a rock & roll undercurrent, all guided by the band’s founder, vocalist, guitarist, and chief songwriter Blake Christiana. He launched the project in Brooklyn, New York, during 2006 while still leading his roots-rock outfit Blake & the Family Dog; the new endeavor started to coalesce through a regular Monday-night residency at Kenny’s Castaway. Once Blake & the Family Dog disbanded in 2007, Christiana devoted himself fully to Yarn and issued the group’s debut self-titled album that same year. Their follow-up, Empty Pockets, arrived in 2008 and included guest vocal contributions from Edie Brickell along with ex-Whiskeytown fiddler and vocalist Caitlin Cary. The ensemble soon stabilized as a six-piece featuring Trevor MacArthur on guitar and vocals, Andrew Hendryx on mandolin and harmonica, Rod Hohl on electric guitar, Rick Bugel on bass, and Robert Bonhomme on drums. Maintaining a rigorous touring schedule that sometimes reached 170 shows annually, the musicians cultivated a reputation for tireless live performances. Their third studio album, Come on In, surfaced in 2010, followed the next year by Leftovers, Vol. One, a set of rare and previously unreleased recordings. Shifting toward a stronger country-rock orientation, the 2012 release Almost Home foregrounded electric guitar and drums; a second volume of Leftovers material also appeared that year. On 2013’s Shine the Light On, Yarn reverted to a primarily acoustic sound while John Oates joined two tracks he had co-written with Christiana. After a stretch of personal and creative change, the band relocated to North Carolina. Reduced to a quartet of Christiana, Hohl, Bugel, and Bonhomme, they recorded and issued This Is the Year in May 2016.