For the past several years, the Yellowstoners – John Corrigan on mandolin and percussion, Casey Neal on guitar and banjo and Jon Lukawski on bass – have been performing their unique brand of mellow mountain music before appreciative audiences at area venues. Backed by original songs and two CDs, the band transports its listeners to a bluegrass/folk paradise. Greenville & Hockessin Life recently spoke with John and Casey about their musical influences, their collaboration as songwriters and their love of playing at Dew Point Brewing Company in Yorklyn.

Greenville & Hockessin Life: Before we start talking about The Yellowstoners, let’s begin at the beginning – your individual introductions to music. Let’s start with you, John.

John: My first influences were my mother and father, who introduced me to bands like the Beatles when I was young. My older brother also got me into playing music, and I followed in his footsteps by learning how to play guitar. When I was in college, I joined some friends on a trip to Wyoming and Montana, and that was my first real exposure to bluegrass and folk music. When I got back to the University of Delaware, we started a band known as Delaware Rag and focused on the folk-bluegrass genre. The joke was that when we were out west that if one guy got a banjo, the other would have to get a mandolin, and that became the preface to the band.

We eventually needed to fill our sound out, and that’s when we got Casey in the band. He and I clicked immediately, and we began writing songs together.

Casey, when were you first introduced to music?

Casey: I was an athlete through high school and didn’t get into music until after college, when I began taking guitar lessons at Mal’s Music in Newark. He was a great teacher and really turned me on to music. A few years later, I met John, joined Delaware Rag in 2003 and things started clicking. I had been in a few electric bands before Delaware Rag, but the bluegrass instrumentation that they were adopting was interesting to me, so I fell into the acoustic music scene with John.

You toured often as members of Delaware Rag. What was that experience like?

John: We toured out to the Midwest and back, and then to Florida and back. Going down to Florida was amazing, because we played a lot of big clubs. We called ourselves a unique bluegrass experience, and we used to wear three-piece suits we picked up from Goodwill as an homage to the original bluegrass heroes. The moments that were best were when we walked into a gig and no one knew who we were, but they realized that we were the band and there to play. For me, it was about the music, and putting our brand of music out there.

Casey: It was exciting to get out on the road and play our music to new audiences, but there were also a lot of logistical hiccups, such as when our car broke down one time and a few other unpredictable things that came when we were on a shoestring budget.

When one door closes, another door opens. Delaware Rag disbanded in 2008 and was followed by the formation of The Yellowstoners. When and how was the band formed?

Casey: Several members of the band moved away from the area, but John and I were able to stay connected through songwriting because in the latter stages of Delaware Rag, we morphed from a bluegrass band into an act that had bluegrass instrumentation with original songs. We developed a good rapport bouncing ideas off each other. I was living in Indiana at the time, but the technology at the time enabled us to send files back and forth to each other.

John: When Casey moved back to the area, we decided to start performing and writing together. We then took a hiatus to Wyoming to write songs with a mandolin and some guitars, and that’s when The Yellowstoners were formed – in 2012 – and we began performing as The Yellowstoners in 2015.

One winter, Casey and I hiked 15 miles into the back country of Wyoming and stayed the night, and it was one of the most inspirational moments we could ask for. It inspired our song, “Whiskey and a Winter’s Moon.”

Describe how the two of you work together.

John: It’s been about the creative process with us – being able to come together with our different ideas and freely bounce them off one another so easily, with no ego involved. It’s about writing something that has a good story, a good feel and a good idea to it. When Casey and I started sinking our teeth into songwriting, we also began growing as musicians.

This article would be remiss if we didn’t talk about the third member of the band. Talk about how Jon Lukawski helps layer The Yellowstoners’ sound.
Casey: Jon is a talented musician and a terrific upright bassist. He soon became an integral part of our sound. He seems to enjoy our sometimes-imperfect songwriting process. And he has been invaluable as a sound engineer.

John: Jon is fine playing covers, but his heart is behind playing original music. He jumped at the chance to be a part of something where he can help write songs, create arrangements and be a part of our sound and recording.

As defined on your social media page, The Yellowstoners define themselves as crafting “mellow mountain music - the perfect soundtrack for a campfire with friends... or a venue looking for original acoustic music.” Take a deeper dive into what mellow mountain music is, and tell me how you arrived at that particular genre?

Casey: The entire Western vibe that we experienced when we were out in Wyoming fit what we were trying to do – to take this bluegrass instrumentation and push it – writing melodies and harmonies and chord progressions that didn’t fit a particular style.

John: We want to give our music a Big Sky feel. It’s a different feeling when you are that close to the clouds. We’re not attempting to channel that, but that’s the vein we try to place out songs in.

Locking into a particular kind of music demands finding that sweet niche of finding the right audiences. Talk about how The Yellowstoners have found those audiences.

Casey: We have tried to stay true to what we have wanted to do, and it has opened the doors to where we ultimately play. For instance, we found Dew Point Brewing Company, which has been the perfect setting for our music, and we have gained a lot of fans by performing here. We focus on crafting good songs and see what doors it opens for us.

The Yellowstoners seem to have secured a regular gig at Dew Point Brewing Company in Yorklyn. How did you first connect with the Hoffman family?

Casey: It all happened organically. My wife, Sara and I moved with our two daughters right down the road at about the time the brewery first opened. We sensed a great vibe from the beginning, and Sara approached John Hoffman and told him, “My husband has this great band, and this would be perfect for them to play.” We became one of the first acts to play at Dew Point.

The outdoor, natural setting is perfect. The stage is nestled between the trees. Who wouldn’t want to play here?

John: We don’t really want to be a jukebox band and play other people’s songs and have people talking over us. We would rather have audiences who come to hear the band, and Dew Point is a perfect place for us. People respect musicians here much more than in other places. It’s hard to find venues where they come for the music first. More importantly, everyone knows everyone else at Dew Point, and there is a collective feeling of community here.

You all have other responsibilities in your lives that battle with your music for your time and energy. Do you ever imagine a time in your lives when music will take up a larger plot of space, and if so, what do you imagine it will eventually look like?

John: I have no desire to make a million dollars or become famous from music. I want to continue having people continue to appreciate and notice our music, and if that happens, that’s all that matters to me. It’s about getting the music out to the people. It’s about learning, because the more I learn the more I can experience and give to the people who come to see us perform. That’s what drives me.

Casey: I would wake up at my own pace every morning and strum a guitar, because I wouldn’t have the need to find a sliver of time in which to play. That would be a perfect day. Wake up, play, do something else, come back and play, and have that freedom to be creative when it comes.

Are there any new projects on the horizon?

John: We’re starting a new electric project, where I am playing upright bass guitar and Jon is playing pedal steel. We’re gearing the music more toward the sound of The Highwaymen and Waylon Jennings, blending some covers with a lot of original music. We’re still going to perform as The Yellowstoners, but this new project is about us branching out, evolving and growing with our music.

Casey: It’s the expansion of our sound. When we did The Yellowstoners albums, we overdubbed drums and added some additional ornamentation – the extra bells and whistles – and by adding them, our songs have begun to take on a new life.

What is your favorite spot in Greenville or Hockessin?

Casey: I like Auburn Valley State Park. I go there a lot. I take the dog on walks there. I think it’s a cool, still largely unknown state park.

John: I enjoy the Auburn Heights Train Museum. That’s mainly because of my memories of having gone there a lot when I was a kid.

Either of you throw a dinner party and can invite anyone – living or not, famous or not. Who would you want to see around that table?

Casey: To keep it simple, I would love to have my grandfather, Howard Wise, to see me play and write music in a band. He would be stunned. He was an athlete, a minor league baseball player and a football coach, and for him to see me transition from an athlete to a serious musician would be a delight for him. I would also invite Jerry Garcia, because of all the musicians I have a fondness for, I would have to pick him first. He had a major influence on me. He was a perfect musician to be inspired by.

John: I would like to invite my father, William Corrigan, who passed away when I was 19 years old. He saw me in bands in high school but never lived long enough to see me tour and record music, and to be able to sit with him now would be cool. I would also like to invite any songwriter as long as I am allowed to pick his brain: Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney and John Lennon immediately come to mind.

What item can always be found in your refrigerator?

Casey: Blueberries.

John: Ginger ale and fruit.

You can find The Yellowstoners music on all the major music-streaming platforms -- Spotify, Apple Tunes, Amazon Music -- as well as on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
Come hear them live at the Dew Point Brewing Company and elsewhere this fall. CDs are available at all shows.

• Richard L. Gaw