The mere mention of the Mission Mountain Wood Band spawns images of frayed jean cutoffs, cowboy boots, and Aber Day circa 1977. In their heyday, the band that Montana Sen. Max Baucus once introduced on the U.
S. Senate floor as "Montana's favorite sons" opened for the Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett and play-ed shows in every state but Hawaii. But their most memorable shows were Missoula's Aber Day keggers where hordes of exuberant teenagers came of age.
I never got the chance to see Mission Mountain, or M2WB as they're also known, perform live. But I have seen many shows by co-founder Rob Quist and his band Great Northern. They still play some of my favorite Mission Mountain songs, "Sweet Maria" and "Mountain Standard Time," and Quist has maintained a storytelling flair that makes you feel honored to live in Montana.
I have a vinyl copy of "In Without Knocking" in my basement, a recording that remains a perennial best-seller at Missoula's Rockin' Rudy's, even though it was produced 30 years ago. M2WB split up in 1981 and in 1987, lead singer Terry Robinson and his group, Montana Band, were killed in a fiery airplane crash on the Fourth of July near Flathead Lake when the plane they were in flew low to buzz the crowd. When we spoke by phone Monday, Quist recited the chorus from one of his newest songs, "Highway 2," about ambling along Montana's northernmost highway that runs border to border.
He started the lyrics while he was on a road trip to Washington and finished it after he returned to his hometown of Cut Bank. Someday Quist said he'd like to set up a tour along Highway 2, stopping every 75 or 100 miles to play a concert because folks up there don't get to see many live concerts. "I just love touring the state.
A lot of people don't like the driving part. I just love to drive. I realized when I first learned to love driving so much - it was sitting on my dad's lap when I was a little kid in my dad's vintage Packard Clipper.
That's the spirit of 'Highway 2.' " Quist has blended homegrown bluegrass and country with the jam band vibe of his Wood Band days and remains one of the most prolific members of the original band, along with co-founder Steve Riddle. Quist has formed other solid music collaborations since M2WB parted ways, most notably with Native American musician Jack Gladstone, who will share the stage with Quist and Great Northern Thursday as the kickoff event at St.
John's Lutheran Home's summer Concert on the Lawn series. Quist and Great Northern hold the distinction of being the first band to play the St. John's Lutheran Home concert series, and the only band to play in it all 10 seasons.
That first show drew only about 50 people, but now Quist and Great Northern are the biggest draw. "It's not unusual to have 2,000 people come to hear Rob play," said Jerry Pearsall, St. "It's become the event that St.
John's is known for." The Great Northern Band includes Dave Griffith, who plays a variety of instruments; drummer Mark Whitman, who also played drums with M2WB; and bassist Chris Craiger. Quist also performs in a bluegrass group, Out of the Blue, with more of his M2WD buddies, including Riddle on bass, Christian Johnson on mandolin and fiddle, and Craig Davey on acoustic guitar.
"I just play my banjo all night long," Quist said. "I don't even bring my guitar. Banjo was my first instrument and I just love playing it.
" Quist said his songwriting has never been sharper. And at 59, he's excited to be working with two formidable songwriters, including fellow Montanan Kostas and Michael Martin Murphey of Nashville. A song Quist recorded with Murphey, "Close to the Land (America's Heartland)" won Texas Song of the Year and was selected for the theme song to a PBS show "America's Heartland.
" He also co-wrote a song with Kostas called "Breaking up, Making Up," that they have yet to record. "That's just the fun part, working with these guys, becoming a tunesmith," Quist said. "I always get really excited when a song is in its birthing process.
To me the final test is to play it for a crowd." When we spoke this week, Quist had just come off a week-long kayak trip down the Missouri River where he and Gladstone were hired to be the entertainment around the campfire at night for a group following part of the Lewis and Clark expedition. "I've already played the big cities, so something like this is very special.
Jack and I have had a great friendship since 1985. We've had two different shows, Western Harmony and Odyssey West Show, and we've been all over the country with the Lewis and Clark Show. We got out to Monticello for the first signature event and we've gotten to perform at most of the national signature events across the country.
" Back home in Creston with his wife Bonni, Quist raises horses on his 20-acre ranch and his wife runs a yogo retreat with Quist's occasional help. "We've had a guest lodge for many years, but this last January, we all went to a family yoga retreat in Costa Rica and became certified yoga instructors. There were 58 people in the class and I was the oldest and the newest student in yoga so I ended up getting the most out of it.
When I played all the mountain resorts this last winter, I skied like I was 20 years younger." In 2006, M2WD produced a box set "Private Stash" with five CDs and a special 75-minute documentary DVD. It's sales are strong and interest in M2WB is high enough to prompt the occasional reunion show.
"Even though Mission Mountain quit active touring in 1980, people still enjoy our music," Quist said. "I just can't believe how wonderful my life is. I have my ranch in the Flathead Valley and I'm still doing what I love - playing music.
Coming up at St.
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